We chat with author Bruce Borgos about his latest novel The Bitter Past, which is set in the high desert of Nevada and in the tradition of Craig Johnson and C. J. Box.
Hi, Bruce! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a recovering business executive, a reformed long-distance runner, and a rascally tennis player. I’ve been married to Pam, who I met in the second grade, for forty years now, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. I didn’t pursue that dream for a long time, but now it’s my second career and I’m incredibly happy in it.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I had a wonderful English teacher in high school. She encouraged creative writing and made it fun. She brought Shakespeare to life for me. But I had been in love with reading stories long before that. I would skip homework to read fiction of almost any kind, westerns, mysteries, thrillers, science fiction. I just wanted to read.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first novel I ever remember reading I didn’t actually read. I listened. It was Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I was in the fifth grade and my teacher read it aloud, a little bit every day. I thought it was the best story ever told. I still love that book. The first book that made me think about becoming a writer was Trinity by Leon Uris, almost fifty years ago. There are lots of books I never stop thinking about, but one of my favorites of all time is The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer. It’s a rip-your-heart-out WWII story.
Your latest novel, The Bitter Past, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Nevada desert nuclear “what-if”
What can readers expect?
A fast-paced, dual-timeline story set in both the present day and the 1950s in the high desert adjacent to the Nevada Test Site, where the United States tested its growing nuclear arsenal at the height of the Cold War. Murder, a sheriff named Porter Beck with almost total recall who suffers from a progressive eye disease, and Russian assassins on the ground hunting a spy who never came in from the cold. Oh yeah, a little romance sprinkled in and a hint of what’s to come in book #2 in this series.
Where did the inspiration for The Bitter Past come from?
I grew up about 70 miles south of the place where America tested it’s atom bombs all those years ago. I was always fascinated by spy stories and had learned about the Americans caught spying for the Soviets during the Cold War. Those real-life accounts made me wonder about the spies we never knew about, the ones that got away. I was also intrigued by the people who lived “downwind” of those nuclear tests and who suffered the effects of repeated radiation exposure. But I wanted to find a way to tie that period in our history – a period a lot of people know little about these days – to the present, and I wanted to write a mystery. So I created a “what-if” scenario involving spies, assassins, and murder, events that would set a bunch of wheels in motion and keep them in motion until the very end.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Sure. My protagonist is a rural county sheriff. I hate supermen, so I gave him a progressive, sometimes-debilitating eye disease, and I loved learning about how a person in law enforcement might have to adapt to deal with it. I also created a female character to be his adopted sister, and she comes from a horrific, abusive childhood, one that she managed to overcome by becoming a weapons expert. She knows more about guns than anyone and can shoot as well as any military sniper. And then I have a Russian assassin in the story. Creating him and hiding him from the reader until just the right moment was challenging and fun!
What’s your process when it comes to writing?
I’m a real plotter. I couldn’t “pants” my way through college, so why would I try it in my writing? Everything you see in my books comes from a very detailed outline. Every chapter and major event has been laid out well in advance of me typing the first sentence of the first draft. Yes, there are minor changes along the way, but I try to work all the bugs out of the story before I start the actual writing. I have no idea how some authors can make it up as they go. It just wouldn’t work for me. And I can write from anywhere really, as long as it’s a quiet place. I try to write a little everyday, just to keep the story’s momentum and action clear in my brain, and generally that happens in the morning and early afternoon.
What’s next for you?
The second book in the series, Shades of Mercy, will be out in July (I hope) of 2024, so I’ll be working with my editor at Minotaur Books to put the final touches on that manuscript so we can begin planning its release. The goal is a book every year, and that’s a schedule I can live with. The hope is it goes on for lots and lots of years. I would love it if Porter Beck caught on as well as Joe Pickett or Walt Longmire. Early signs are that he might, so fingers crossed!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I love historical fiction, especially from the WWII era, and lately I’m in love with anything Kelly Rimmer writes. The Things We Cannot Say, The Warsaw Orphan, The German Wife, and her latest, The Paris Agent, are all amazing. If you like fantasy mixed with mind-blowing-Larry McMurtry-like dialogue, pick up The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree. And then there’s Deadlock by James Byrne, the second in the Dez Limerick series. So much to read. So little time!
