SPECIAL--July 2023--Author Spotlight

Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser.

Hello, I am David and this is not a mojo minute, but this is a special little episode that we started over two years ago and then, when I got sick with COVID and actually I completely, completely forgot about this type of format in this special little episode that we did back in July of 2021 and I can't believe that I did not remember it. So shame on me, but we today are resurrecting this episode format again because I'm excited to be sharing this stuff all about good books with you, and part of that sharing of all the stuff around the great books is to share with you the authors that I love, and sharing is easy and that's what sharing does. It's just one friend telling another friend of a great writer and a love of his or her good books, and friends do this all the time, all around the world. So this special segment we are resurrecting is the author spotlight. Now, to be clear, we did start this way back. We featured it back in July of 2021 and then I got sick with COVID in September and then, after two weeks of not publishing anything no episodes anywhere I completely forgot about this format. So we are going to go back and we are going to resurrect this thing from the ashes, like Phoenix rising from the ashes. I think it's going to be good. I think you're going to like it. The first episode was well liked and someone just actually reminded me about it, so I had actually completely forgot about it. So again, shame on me. So what we're going to do with these special episodes are we're going to feature a new author each and every month. We're going to highlight his or her books on a special page of the team Mojo Academy website. We are going to share some selected readings from their books. Hopefully, we can get a wide variety if they, if they write about a variety of different subjects, and we will do our best to introduce you to how they write so you can get a flavor of their stuff. Now, I personally have always loved these types of episodes, of these types of podcasts, where the host takes the time to introduce us to things that he or she likes, especially things that they like to read, and the authors who have influenced them most. So I just love that stuff and I'm hoping that you will love that stuff as well. So we're going to start here and now, and then we will continue to get your feedback just to see how we can make this type of format a little bit better and, frankly, here this is how we've been most successful here at the Mojo Academy, we ask you, the listeners, what are you wanting in our podcast? You tell us, and then we find ways to incorporate that into our workflow and into our processes. So that's how the Mojo Academy was started, that's how we've gotten to Mojo 2.0 and I think there's a lot of power behind that methodology. So that's a long way around the mountain to introduce you to our author of the month. So let's cue the music and let's introduce this person. All right, our July 2023 author in the spotlight is Brad Thor, the thriller bestselling author number one New York Times bestselling author. Let me read from his biography off his website he's the bestselling author of 22 thrillers, including Rising Tiger, black Ice, near Dark, black Lash, spy Master, the Last Patriot and Blowback. He's appeared on ABC, cbs, nbc, pbs, fox News channel, fox Business, cnn, cnn headline news and MSNBC, among others. He discussed terrorism as well as how closely his novels of international intrigue parallel the real threats facing the world today. Brad had served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security's analytic red cell unit. He's always so lectured to law enforcement organizations on over the horizon future threats that's what I love most and has been a keynote speaker for the National Tactical Officers Association annual conference. Graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California, where he studied creative writing, film and television production Prior to becoming a novelist. Brad was the award winning creator, producer, writer and host of the critically acclaimed national public television series Traveling Light, and Brad will be our author. We actually featured him, like I said, back in July of 2021. He's going to. He's going to help us to re kick off everything for two reasons Number one, because we didn't feature him well enough when we did the first round of this whole thing. And number two, he has a new book coming out on today. Actually, today it's getting released July 25. The new book title is Dead Fall. That will be his 23rd book in, I believe, 22 years. He used to. He releases a book each and every year, and one year he wrote two books and I heard about it on a radio interview that he will never, ever do that again. Can't imagine the back story there. Now I will be recording this week's episodes before. I could get a sneak peek at the opening pages, so I'm a little bummed about that. But you know, the primary job does call with tons of travel, so I can only record these episodes on the weekends. But what we know right now about this new book is the following from Brad's website let's go to the website real quick to get the inside scoop. And the war ravaged borderlands of Ukraine. A Russian military unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent and psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield. With all the attention focused on the front lines, they have pushed deeper into the interior to wage a campaign of unspeakable barbarity. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance, as all able bodied men are off fighting the war. Simultaneously, a team of Russian mercenaries has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums and private homes. When multiple American aid workers are killed, america's top spy is sent in to settle the score. But in a country about the size of Texas, will Harvath be able to find the man in question and, more importantly, will he be able to stop them before they can kill again. And that is what I think is just fascinating that all this happens all the time with the Bradthorne novels, and it's literally like he's writing. As he's writing, he's predicting the future. And why do I say that? Because when Thor started writing this novel, it was last year. It was July or August of 2022. Yes, the Ukraine war was going on and it started in February of 2022. But how in the world would Brad know that a Russian military unit would end up going rogue? What did Thor's teaser tell us? Again, let's go back to the website here. A Russian military unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent and psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon a modern battlefield. And what just happened some four or five weeks ago, headlined from CNN one month ago, wagner insurrection plunges Russia into uncertainty. Here's another one from NBC News the Wagner group rebellion challenges Putin's role over Russia. And so what do we know about this quote Wagner group? Well, here's some facts I was able to get after a quick Google search. It's Russian funded. It's a Russian funded military paramilitary unit. It's composed of mercenaries. Essentially, they have been described as Putin's quote de facto private army. They were run by this guy and former close ally to Putin named Pergosan. We have now found out that this group, the Wagner group, played a vital role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And where did they recruit from? Well, they recruited, ironically, from prison inmates all across Russia for frontline combat. Now, that's just unbelievable, because it's almost exactly the same group of facts that Brad Thor talks about in his novel. Is that not crazy that Brad Thor could write about a series of events that would almost, but not exactly, happen in one of his novels in the future? I think that's what attracts millions and millions of readers to Brad Thor's writing. This guy does some serious research for his novels and are turning those big events and small things that can blow up into very big and huge events, geopolitical events, and this isn't the first time that this has happened. This is like the third or fourth time that I can verify when Brad writes about something happening, and while it doesn't exactly happen the way it happens in the novel, brad does have some serious cojones to write and get right what happens in the future. Now I do know that Brad has some serious contacts within the Special Operations teams. So I'm sure he's getting some solid background information about what's happening around the world. Nothing classified, of course, but you know, in this area, certainly, over some steak dinners with a couple bottles of wine, a couple bottles of wine, I'm sure these guys can give Brad some tip-offs like hey, quote these guys. You know this group of guys, they're troublemakers, type of stuff. Or this hot spot is about ready to blow up. You might want to write about it. Or these guys, they're bad actors and they're pissing off these other group of guys. So something's going to happen. And all this does is provide for very compelling fiction reading, because you feel like you're reading behind the scenes action in real time. So it's just, it's just crazy that Thor has kind of an intuitive sense of where and how world events and geopolitical events will take us and is able to read the tea leaves, so to speak, and then write about them in a very compelling way. That's his art, that's where he, that's his wheelhouse. He can take those events and then shape the dialogue, shape the story in a very compelling way. So in today's special episode of Resurrecting Our Author Spotlight, brad Thor is our July 2023 author in the spotlight and he is bringing us thrilling fiction that might just be the stuff of tomorrow's headlines. Brad's new book is Dead Fall, which is released today, and you can be sure I'm listening to it as I'm driving. I hope you will check out Brad Thor's latest novel Now, be sure to check in on Thursday's episode, because we will take a real world look at an idea that started in 2005 in China but has slowly been spreading around the world, an idea that, ironically, brad Thor actually introduces to us in last year's incredible hit novel, rising Tiger. So be sure to come back then, and until then, keep reading the good books to find those nuggets of wisdom, and let's go mojo.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.