August and the Language Barrier

One of the most difficult battles in my writing career has been the language barrier. Spanish was, and remains, my native language. The American Dream has reached outside North American borders, and I wanted to become a writer with a publisher in New York City. I figured all I had to do was write in English. A simple plan, right?

At nineteen, I was blessed with a job where I had to speak and write in English. Then there was the reading. Every early customer presented me with books. That’s when I discovered Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy, Ken Follett and Clive Cussler. I got proficient, and people kept telling me I was good at speaking too. Match that praise with the desire to put ideas in writing and you have a recipe for publishing dreams.

I started my first novel in 1998 and made the rookie mistake of showing it to people who cared for me and didn’t want to break my heart. I can’t help but wonder if someone who disliked me would have helped me improve faster.

The very best thing I’ve done is investing in the Merriam-Webster and Oxford English dictionaries.

The second thing that helped me improve has been the support of native speakers willing to go through hell correcting the typos that would spring out of nowhere as they tried to navigate my stories.

I have writing friends who show me mistakes and help me make corrections. I will not claim I am master of the language, but one of those friends claims she can now concentrate more on plot or character development than grammar mistakes. And although the wars on Oxford comma and splitting infinitives still rage on, at least the difference between irony and coincidence is no longer a mystery to me.

The August edition of The Big Thrill is out and I contributed a piece about Preston & Child's new book Old Bones:

Up Close:  Preston and Child by J. H. Bográn: http://bit.ly/2K5NNbk 

The June edition of The Big Thrill

For the June edition of The Big Thrill, I had the opportunity to interview two people I admire:

I met D.P. Lyle in the hallways of ThrillerFest in 2010, so I jumped at the opportunity to talk to him about his newest book, Sunshine State, and how he intertwines thriller with humor.

Read it here:
http://bit.ly/2EN0Awt

The first novel I read from Steven Savile was Silver. It had been recommended to me by a then-mentor. I was enthralled with the tale, the scope. Then later I discovered he also wrote novels for two of my favorite TV serials, Doctor Who and Torchwood. It's not surprised that when he submitted his newest, White Peak, I made sure the editor knew I was interested, even when it meant a second assignment for the month. The things you do for the love of writing!
There's also a catch, it turns out Steven novel was released under the alias of Ronan Frost.

Read it here:
http://bit.ly/2I9aw49 

The January Edition of The Big Thrill

It's truly an honor to be featured in The Big Thrill, the e-zine managed by the International Thriller Writers.

The month of January not only did they feature my new novel, Heir of Evil, but also granted me the opportunity to interview and New York Time Best Selling author, my gratitude for John Lescroart for answering my questions.

Heir of Evil, or what if Hitler had produced an off-spring? Book 2 in The Falcon Chronicles Series:
http://www.thebigthrill.org/2018/12/on-the-cover-j-h-bogran/


The Rule of Law, by John Lescroart
http://www.thebigthrill.org/2018/12/up-close-john-lescroart/

New Year Resolution: Release Day for Heir of Evil.

Here's wishing you a Wonderful 2019! 

I start the year not with resolutions consisting on diets or reducing waist size, but with a party! 

Today is the release date of HEIR OF EVIL, the second novel in The Falcon Chronicles. 

About Heir of Evil

The Third Reich collapses. With the siege of the Soviets in Germany and the Second World War lost, Hitler's doctor finds out that Eva Braun is pregnant. A man, close to the Führer, conceives the plan to give continuity to the political-philosophical ideas of Adolf Hitler: we must save at all costs the legitimate heir of the leader of Nazism.

As the 20th Century dies, Oscar Brown emerges a financial superhero on Wall Street. On his thirtieth birthday, he discovers the inevitable skeleton in his family closet: his grandfather is none other than the most hated man in the world: Adolf Hitler. With a Neo-Nazi radical group looking up to him as a symbol, the Mossad wanting him dead, and the CIA turning a deaf ear to his plead for help, Oscar must now run for his life and discover the true origin of his heritage.

Discover how the shedding of police actions, a beautiful Mossad spy, an adventurous archaeologist - of the Indiana Jones type -, a great executive of the New York Stock Exchange and other characters intermingle to give rise to this novel.

J. H. Bográn covers the days from the end of the Second World War to the globalized present in a thriller that takes us across Europe and America in search of evidence that clarifies what happened with the cursed genes.

Blurbs:
"Heir of Evil is the ultimate high concept thriller, brilliantly conceived. J. H. Bográn has fashioned a classic tale that checks all the boxes from historical speculation, to a deadly secret, to a sinister international conspiracy. Reminiscent of Robert Ludlum, as well as Steve Berry and Brad Meltzer, this is storytelling at its level best."
--Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author of the Caitlin Strong series


“Gripping, spine-tingling, and explosively brilliant, Bográn’s Heir of Evil will grab you with its initial and very imaginative opening and keep you reading into the night.  A very original, fast-paced, and suspenseful thriller.  Highly recommended!”
--R.J. Pineiro, author of Avenue of Regrets.

You can start reading today for just $4.99 wherever e-books are sold.

Amazon  Barnes & Noble  IBoooks  Kobo

The Big Thrill did a wonderful article about, you can read it HERE:

And check it out, I even made the cover! 

 

 

 

The Killing Joke, now a novel

For the October edition of The Big Thrill, I had the opportunity to interview authors Christa Faust and Gary Phillips about their novelization of the graphic novel The Killing Joke.

Take a look here:
http://www.thebigthrill.org/2018/09/up-close-christa-faust-gary-phillips/

The Big Thrill and Topshelf Magazine

I had the privilege to interview author J.T. Ellison for the September edition of The Big Thrill, as well as reading her new novel Tear Me Apart. 

You can read it here:

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2018/08/between-the-lines-j-t-ellison/

Also my Forgotten Tomes column with Topshelf Magazine is also out now. This time I had the nerve to go on an write about Shakespeare.

http://topshelfmagazine.net/index.php/articles/1239-forgotten-tomes-shakespear-and-his-novel-plays

The July edition of The Big Thrill

The July edition of  The Big Thrill is out. For this month, I had the opportunity to interview a best-selling author, Alan Jacobson, about his new novel The Dark Side of the Moon, an exciting tale and the fourth book in his ongoing series.

Up Close: Dark Side of the Moon by Alan Jacobson
Story by J.H. Bográn: http://bit.ly/2KnIFkt

The January edition of The Big Thrill

For the January edition of The Big Thrill I had the privilege to interview two of today´s best thriller authors, plus I got to read their new books before they hit the stores. Here you go.

Operator Down by Brad Taylor
http://bit.ly/2q7POM2

Direct Fire by A. J. Tata

http://bit.ly/2ChZXLQ

December edition of The Big Thrill

For the December edition of The Big Thrill I had the opportunity to write about Con Lehane's new mystery Murder in the Manuscript Room.



http://www.thebigthrill.org/2017/11/murder-in-the-manuscript-room-by-con-lehane/

About The Spy Across the Table

My work with the Big Thrill has some great perks and allows me to read awesome books before their publishing date, but sometimes there are novels I really want to read and can’t get the assignment. That is the case with The Spy Across the Table by Barry Lancet. So, obviously, I went out and got the book.

The Spy Across the Table is the fourth book in the Jim Brodie series. Brodie divides his time between San Francisco and Tokyo, he’s an art dealer who inherited an interest in his father’s security company. While the setup from the previous novels stemmed from Brodie Security, this time is personal. When two of his friends are murdered in a meeting he helped put together, Jim stumbles into more trouble than he anticipated. Yet, he wants to do justice to his dead friends as he plunges along in an spiral of action that takes him to Korea’s DMZ, China, as he fights a battle almost nobody seems to want him involved with, FLOTUS being that exception.

By the way, I really meant Korea in the last paragraph. Yes, North Korea plays such a big role in this novel that one could almost call the book prophetic when you consider recent developments in the news.

One of the best sequences in the book takes place in the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ that separates North from South Korea. Is a border like no other, infested with barbwire, land-mines and even aggressive guards. The author graciously shared these pictures. 

Fans of the series will be treated to scenes with regular characters, but one in particular that made such a splash in Tokyo Kills now returns center stage, so much that he’s referenced in the title.

Luck should have it that I’ve not read all the books in this series, so I can confirm the author does a terrific job of introducing returning characters with enough information for a newcomer, and best of all, his references to the other stories are far from a commercial to buy the other books. Of course it’s better to complete the set.

About the author:

Barry Lancet is the author of the award-winning international suspense series featuring Jim Brodie. The latest entry is THE SPY ACROSS THE TABLE, from Simon & Schuster. The first Brodie book, JAPANTOWN, won a Barry Award for "Best Debut Novel” and the second, TOKYO KILL, was a Shamus Award Finalist. The third, PACIFIC BURN, was released in paperback earlier this year. An American expat raised in California, Lancet has lived in Japan for more than twenty years. His editorial position at one of the Japan’s largest publishing houses allowed him access behind many closed doors, and lend his novels a true insider’s authenticity.

Get your copy HERE.

The Big Thrill featured Poisoned Tears

The Big Thrill featured an article for POISONED TEARS in their March edition.

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2017/02/poisoned-tears-by-j-h-bogran/

Enjoyable interview, and they even asked me to share some pictures from the time I visited New Orleans for the research.

My interview with Lee Child about Night School

Writing for The Big Thrill has allowed to come in contact with many authors, some of them new to me, some of them, as in this month's edition, already a fan.

Here is the special interview with Lee Child about his new book coming out in November 07, NIGHT SCHOOL, and of course, we talked a bit about the movie version of Jack Reacher and every one's favorite actor Tom Cruise.

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/10/night-school-by-lee-child/

And yes, I had the privilege to read an ARC ahead of its publication. So hard to not brag about that. :-)

Honduras and The Big Thrill

In the September edition of the e-zine published by the International Thriller Writers I was honored to participate in three feature articles.

The first one, a guided tour of my beloved country. This time I refer to the capital city of Tegucigalpa and its predecessor Comayagua.
bit.ly/2ccEF20

I first read the work of Brenda Novak a few years ago, with the first entry in her romance series Whiskey Creek, now I was privileged to read an ARC of her newest novel HER DARKEST NIGHTMARE with a new set of characters. Now, this time a full time thriller.
bit.ly/2bCjR7j

Clive Cussler and his Dirk Pitt adventures inspired my love for the thriller and adventure genre, it was probably him that I learned to always put a prologue. Also through his spin-off series I met the work of Paul Kemprekos, and now I read his solo work. THE MINOAN CIPHER is an excellent adventure thriller. 
bit.ly/2bBZ5G6

Brad Thor's Foreign Agent

This month at The Big Thrill I got to interview a New York Times Best-Seller author. Here´s my take on Brad Thor and his newest novel Foreign Agent

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/06/up-close-interview-with-brad-thor/

Cambodia Noir in The Big Thrill

In the latest edition of The Big Thrill, I had the opportunity to read Cambodia Noir by Nick Seeley.

Here´s the interview as published last week:

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/03/cambodia-noir-by-nick-seeley/

March edition of The Big Thrill

Somebody at The Big Thrill must have thought I resented not having written a story for February--that was not the case--but still, now for March I'm pleased to say I have two, and they were quite different.

Peter Steiner's THE CAPITALIST

Author and cartoonist Peter Steiner writes about the a financial tycoon who thought he could get away with millions of his investor's dollars, until Louis Morgon, a defrocked CIA agent takes an interest in the situation. 

Read the interview here:  http://bit.ly/1QQjGUl

Mathew Betley's OVERWATCH

This is a debut author with his introduction of an action-packed globe-trotting hero Logan West. Logan is a former Marine officer and relapsing alcoholic who wakes up from a booze-induced sleep only to find a hitman next to him. 

Read the interview here:   http://bit.ly/1LQkGjN  

And of course, there are plenty of other awesome books you may want to catch on with just by reading the e-zine here:  http://bit.ly/1WeMBji

My interview of Brad Taylor

For the January edition of The Big Thrill I had the honour of interviewing a New-York Times best-seller author Brad Taylor about his new novel The Forgotten Soldier.

Here is the direct link:
http://www.thebigthrill.org/2015/12/the-forgotten-soldier-by-brad-taylor/

Enjoy.

Douglas Preston and Lincold Child discuss about Crimson Shore

This month The Big Thrill released my interview of the authors Preston and Child. We had a nice chat about their newest book with protagonist Agent Pendergast.
We also discussed about their method of writing and if it had changed over the years, and of course, as a Honduran myself, I had to ask about the recent descovery that Mr. Preston participated with National Geographic.

Here it is:

http://www.thebigthrill.org/2015/11/crimson-shore-by-douglas-preston-lincoln-child/