Today’s #TalkTuesday interview is also our #TeaserTuesday and First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, all of which feature The Gray Ghost by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell. A joint effort by Elise and I! Enjoy!
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The Gray Ghost by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell takes readers on a thrilling car ride as they race to find a valuable antique car before the bad guys find it. Amateur sleuths Sam and Remi Fargo, smart and philanthropic self-made multimillionaires, find adventure at every turn.
The authors brilliantly explain the backstory through a journal, that becomes almost a secondary character. The back and forth between 1906 and the current time makes the story even more riveting. A distant relative of theirs seeks their help in finding a rare 1906 Rolls Royce prototype, The Gray Ghost to clear his uncle’s name. In the course of their investigation they find that it might contain a rare treasure of money stolen in a 
Elise Cooper: How did you become a co-author with Clive?
Robin Burcell: I was told Clive wants to talk. Need-less-to-say I was thrilled because I considered myself a mid-level author. When he asked me to come on board I thought to myself I am getting paid to take a Master’s Course on writing. He is paying me and yet I get to learn. It is great fun to write with him because he is a wonderful storyteller that has a great sense of humor.
EC: Was it hard to write someone else’s characters and series?
RB: I first thought that as a mystery writer how hard could it be to write adventure stories. Boy was I wrong. It was very challenging. Finding my way is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I had to change from writing the dark police procedurals to writing a “G” rated book, without swear words and sex.
EC: You appear to have found your groove with this book?
RB: This is the third book we have written together. It took me a few books to find my stride. We hash out the synopsis that usually takes a few days. Because he is a ‘hands on writer’ we go back and forth. I hope readers can’t tell where one of us left off and the other begins. I also hope that I complement the way he writes.
EC: Do you have an example?
RB: There was this scene I wrote in our first collaboration, The Pirate. Clive re-wrote this scene and had the main character, Sam, shoot this guy in the head after he exits a warehouse. I guess my police background came into play because I said Sam needs probable cause. Then I looked at him and knew he wanted it this way. I made it work by having Sam peering into the warehouse and seeing everyone armed.
EC: So are you a fan of antique cars?
RB: No, that would be Clive. He actually has a museum in Colorado full of his collector cars. I saw him bid on two different cars including the Ahrens-Fox fire-engine, the one written about in this story. While watching him bidding on it I thought it would be cool if we wrote it into the plot. As I was doing the research the idea of writing a plot around something that has been lost was formulated. We decided on having the artifact a prototype to the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. This story takes real history, tweeks it, and has a ‘what if’ aspect: what if it is about a car that never made it to the car show.
EC: Throughout the plot you put in some fun facts about cars, but it is never over the top?
RB: We must balance what we find interesting with what is necessary for the story. Clive likes to be a little sparse with the detail. Writers must always decide how much detail is put in because we never want the story to be weighed down.
EC: Does each of the books mention Clive Cussler, something similar to what Alfred Hitchcock did?
RB: Yes, there are shout-outs to Clive. I noticed in reading the previous Fargo books before I started writing with him that he makes cameo appearances. He will come in and help the protagonist with the investigation. In this book there are two references, one where his name is mentioned outright and one with a cameo appearance where readers have to figure out by the description.
EC: Two issues explored are memory loss and abuse?
RB: I want to get the information out for people to know about and be aware. But we do not make it graphic. These books will never have gore but issues like these can be dealt with without hammering a point home.
EC: Can you describe Sam and Remi Fargo?
RB: People have referred to them as a modern Nick and Nora Charles from the “Thin Man Series.” For me, I think they are more like the couple that was in the “Hart to Hart” TV shows. I think the Fargos are the vehicle for the plot. They are able to be sleuths because of their background. Sam is a CIA type who knows hand-to-hand combat, while Remi is a linguist and an expert marksman. Together they are a forced to be reckoned with.
EC: Can you give a heads up about your next Fargo book?
RB: It will start off in Africa and explore human trafficking a bit. As with this book, there will be a tangible artifact, a lost library from Parmenides, the Greek founder of philosophy.
THANK YOU!!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Gray Ghost (Fargo Adventure #10)
The search for a legendary automobile almost puts an end to both the careers and the lives of husband-and-wife team Sam and Remi Fargo, in the thrilling new adventure from the #1 New York Times -bestselling master of adventure
In 1906, a groundbreaking Rolls-Royce prototype known as the Gray Ghost vanishes from the streets of Manchester, England, and it is only the lucky intervention of an American detective named Isaac Bell that prevents it from being lost forever. Not even he can save the good name of Marcus Peyton, however, the man wrongly blamed for the theft, and more than a hundred years later, it is his grandson who turns to Sam and Remi Fargo to help prove his grandfather’s innocence.
But there is even more at stake than any of them know. For the car has vanished again, and in it is an object so rare that it has the capacity to change lives. Men with everything to gain and a great deal to lose have a desperate plan to find it – and if anybody gets in their way? They have a plan for that, too.
Grab a Copy!
Teaser Tuesday
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday
First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros
I’m also taking part in First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros
Every Tuesday Vicki @ I’d Rather Be at the Beach now hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where readers share the first paragraph of a book that they are reading or plan to read soon.
The Gray Ghost (Fargo Adventure #10)
Looking forward to visiting your blogs and seeing what your Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, are this week!
Luv Sassy x
x
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I can’t believe I’m typing this–I’ve never read a Clive Cussler book! Hope you’re enjoying this one.
I’ve never read anything by Clive Cussler. This sounds good.
I’ve never read this author, but now I’m curious. Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
Clive Cussler has always been filed under books that I didn’t think would appeal to me – may have to revise my opinion.
I haven’t read this author, I do like the first paragraph.