Welcome To BarryOzeroff.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author Barry Ozeroff

Read About Barry's Brother,
and New Author Mark Ozeroff

"Charged with adrenaline, Return Fire is a high-speed police thriller that never lets you off the edge of your seat. Equal parts mystery and action thriller, Return Fire is page-turning fiction at its very best."
--the American Author's Association (www.americanauthorsassociation.com/)

"RETURN FIRE leaps off the page, and hits the reader between the eyes like a high-powered rifle bullet. Barry Ozeroff's writing is gritty, hard-edged, and utterly compelling. This book has bestseller written all over it."
--Jeff Edwards, Award-Winning Author of TORPEDO, and THE SEVENTH ANGEL

Gresham Author's First Novel a Winner:
His debut effort is a potent tale that drips with authenticity. Chock full of authentic detail and action, 'Sniper Shot' is a first-class police procedural. The plot moves at breakneck speed, but with a certainty that permits readers to vicariously walk in Geller's [the protagonist's] shoes. Ozeroff's finale leaves many questions unanswered, making a sequel likely. That's a welcome pleasure to look forward to.
-The Cannon Beach (OR) Gazette, 12/15/05

A Good Inflight Read
Sniper Shot will keep you at the edge of your seat at 30,000 feet ...the high-adrenaline suspense novel is as accessible as any mystery or thriller. If you're looking for quality distraction during the upcoming holiday traveling season, Sniper Shot is for you.
-- The Source Weekly (Bend, OR)

Is Sniper Shot the first book you've ever written?

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

What kind of books do you like to read?

What authors have had a strong influence on you?

Can you describe what it is like when you actually sit down to write?

Do you intend to keep in touch with your readers after you get published?

What are your goals as a writer?

Do you think Sniper Shot will be made into a movie?

What do you have to offer that other writers in your genre do not?

How do you do your research?

What about deadlines(is it difficult to meet them?

Is writing more of a hobby, a passion, or a living to you?

Do you read a lot?

Any final advice for prospective writers?

ABOUT WRITING

Is Sniper Shot the first book you've ever written?
No, it is the second. I wrote one called Morning has Broken first. It is the story of a man who, at age 40, after having lived a life fraught with personal tragedy dating back to his teenage years, discovers a way to transport his conscious mind back to his fifteen-year-old body. He is able to retain all of his memories from his forty-year life, enabling him to make decisions "knowing" the future that is actually his past.
Morning has Broken is a fine book, and in many ways I like it better that Sniper Shot. But Shot is much more marketable, and much more action-packed. Morning has Broken has been in the works for several years. It is a good deal longer than Shot, and by writing it, I have made and corrected so many mistakes (I've had editors help me out a lot with both manuscripts) and leaned so much that I've been able to produce a very good manuscript in Sniper Shot.
Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I've always enjoyed writing, and I've always had a natural flair for it. I've written various articles for work, and plays for a large children's group, and whereas I realize these really amount to nothing in the way credits, they have certainly impressed those that read them.
Many of you no doubt have a dear old Ma who is under the illusion that you are really something special. Well, I'm no exception. Mine has told me from the first day I was a police officer that I should make a record of some of the funnier and more bizarre experiences I've had, and put them all into book form. Well, I hope she's not reading this, because dear old Ma was right (I should have. I'm afraid I've forgotten more funny stories than I'll ever remember, and that's a shame.) The point is, I've considered writing for about thirteen years, and seriously decided to do something about it about five years ago.
What kind of books do you like to read?
I love thrillers, action/adventures, and apocalyptic disaster type books the best. I love stories of human triumph, set against the backdrop of war or other large-scale disasters. One of my all-time favorites is Leon Uris' Mila 18, the true story in novel form of the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. And, though it may not be to many people's tastes, perhaps my favorite book of all time is Gary Jennings' Aztec.
What authors have had a strong influence on you?
As much as I like all of Gary Jennings' novels, I could never begin to write in his style. I think Tom Clancy's attention to detail has had a big influence on the way I focus on an event or an action sequence, large or small, and bring it alive. I also think John Grisham's character and plot development has taught me a lot about making characters alive and making the story flow as well.
Can you describe what it is like when you actually sit down to write?
I can try. I use a laptop, which I bought with the intention of sitting under a tree with nobody around for miles while words flowed across the screen as fast as my little fingers could make them happen. In reality, I plug it in and sit at a desk in a converted bedroom and hit the backspace key on every third or fourth keystroke while three little kids fight over Cat Dog, Pokemon Cartoons, and Brady Bunch reruns. While that is happening, three older kids ask me for help with ninth grade math that looks more like rocket science to me than anything else, or want me to coach them in advanced speech and debate, or beg for another death-defying session at I've-had-my-permit-for-almost-a-month-now behind the wheel driver's training. But despite what has become the Musak of my household, words do flow rapidly across my screen. There are times when I am literally amazed at what my characters do, how they think, and the situations in which they find themselves, all the while forgetting that I'm the one who put them there.
The books really do take on a life of their own, all within the boundaries that I set. Often, I have to take some time and think well ahead of a situation for a way out of the situation, but that is more the exception rather than the rule. Usually, things have a way or working out that surprises me, and I'm a stickler for details. I hate nothing more than reading a book in which it is painfully obvious that a particular scene has been put there merely to set up a character for a move or a situation in the future that is all too predictable. I strive never to do that.
"Writer's block" was virtually non-existent during the writing of either Morning has Broken or Sniper Shot. I once heard that the artist who created Mt. Rushmore said that the images were always contained within the stone; they just needed someone to uncover all the rock that was hiding them (or something like that). Well, so far, my stories have been like that as well. They have been inside me, growing and developing, and just needed me to sit behind a computer for a while so they might come flowing out, as if of their own accord. It's an amazing process for me to watch, and I only hope that I never have to struggle to write. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun that way, and I doubt the results would be the same.
Do you intend to keep in touch with your readers after you get published?
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm basically a ham at heart, and that I love being in the limelight. Yes, I intend to do all the book signings, interviews, talk shows, and anything else I can think of as soon as I possibly can. I love travelling very much, and it doesn't have to be any place special. I also love meeting people, and hearing things (yes, good and bad) about my books. Meeting readers at book signings will probably be the most enjoyable part of the entire writing experience, and it is certainly the part I look forward to the most.
I also intend to keep in touch with readers personally through this website, via email. That is a lesson that was taught to me by an excellent author and a good electronic friend, Michael DiMercurio (ussdevilfish.com), who has communicated with me so frankly and endlessly thus far in the writing process. That all got started after I picked up one of his books in a bookstore, and decided to email his website a letter when I was done with it. I will strive to answer every email personally, and I greatly look forward to new relationships that will start that way. I especially hope to mentor some as-of-yet-unpublished novelist who could use frank advice from one who's been there.
What are your goals as a writer?
I'd like to be able to say that I hope to have some big influence on the way people think or something equally lofty, but I can't. I'd also like to be able to say I want to become rich and famous and be able to retire early from law-enforcement, and that I can say. But my biggest goal always has been, and still is, to be walking through an airport thousands of miles from my home, and see someone deeply engrossed in Sniper Shot. At that time, I would simply approach that person and say something to the effect of, "Hey, I've heard of that book. Is it any good?" When that person answers me, regardless of whether he says it's the best book he's ever read, or it's so-so, or it really sucks, a huge life-goal of mine will be met, and I bet the elation of that moment will far exceed that of the day I sign the publishing deal, or the day Sniper Shot first appears on a bookstore shelf. That is my main goal in writing.
Do you think Sniper Shot will be made into a movie?
All I can say is, "I hope so." Some people who are supposedly in the know seem to think it has great potential to be a good movie. I certainly do.
What do you have to offer that other writers in your genre do not?
So far, I have a rather unique voice and style, first of all. Also, I haven't found much in the way of SWAT type books out there, other than non-fiction books about their weapons and a bit about their tactics. Being a writer and being on SERT has given me a unique voice, and a unique perspective. There is certainly no lack of books about police work, but so far, there hasn't been a book that reveals the world of SWAT anything like Sniper Shot. As stated before, SWAT officers tend to hide their world from view. This is partly due to a desire not to let potential bad guys know what their tactics are, but mostly, it's because cops, SWAT cops especially, are a very private kind of people.
I've taken care not to reveal too much of SWAT tactics in this book, however, it could not have been written without being tactically accurate. I did make sure, however, that I haven't revealed anything that isn't readily available to anyone who wants to look for it on the Internet or in any of the non-fiction books about SWAT.
How do you do your research?
Most of the research I had to do for Sniper Shot was done in years of SERT training and actually going on SERT callouts. There is no better research than living something, and I've spent hundreds of hours behind the gun on actual SERT activations. No amount of researching SERT, or interviewing SERT team members, or even going along on SERT training operations, could ever give you the same believability as laying behind the gun all night on a real SERT callout in which you've seen bad guy shooting out a window for hours, and then getting a "shot of opportunity" order to kill him the next time he takes a shot.
For the inevitable parts of the book where research is necessary, I have found that interviewing those who have actually been there and done that is the best way for me to get a human feel for what I am trying to convey. If I wanted to do a chase scene through the streets of, say, Rome, and I wasn't able to go there and see the layout for myself, I would go right to the Internet. I have no doubt that soon I'd be able to sound as if I know something of what I was talking about.
What about deadlines; is it difficult to meet them?
Deadlines are actually motivators. If I'm under a deadline, I don't have the luxury to decide that today would be a good day to go canoeing instead of sitting at the computer. Deadlines motivate me to get on my duff and do something. I can remember when writing went from something fun, to something more businesslike, and in a way, that was a sad day. When I realized that I actually had a shot at writing a successful novel, the writing, of necessity, became more serious. But it wasn't too long before the basic fun of it crept back into the process of creating something worthwhile. Deadlines are just a part of that businesslike aspect of writing professionally.
Is writing more of a hobby, a passion, or a living to you?
So far, it hasn't been much of a living, because I haven't been published yet. However, I hope to make it a living. It is definitely a passion, albeit a passion that borders on being an obsession. I would also have to admit that it is a hobby. But since I absolutely love to read, and I cherish books (even the feel of them) I can safely say that to me, there is no greater hobby that I'd rather have than creating something that other people will enjoy every bit as much as I do.
Do you read a lot?
I read voraciously. As soon as the end of one book is in sight, I start looking for my next one. I keep them all, too, at least until I run out of room. And, not being very bright (despite that my parents call me "son"), I can go back and re-read a good book a few years later and enjoy it every bit as much as the first time. I think I've read Gary Jennings' Aztec at least four times, and I'll bet I read it again someday.
My children all love to read, even the little ones. The older ones also have developed a natural talent for writing as well. I think the desire to read is one of the greatest gifts we as parents can bestow upon our children.
Any final advice for prospective writers?
Yes, and you'll find the same advice everywhere you look. Be persistent. Don't accept defeat, at least for the first forty or fifty rejections. Of course, if you suck, you should accept defeat (maybe that's not some advice you'll find everywhere you look, but it's true). But you'll know that, whether or not you care to admit it to yourself. So if you don't suck, keep on plugging. Seek advice from those who have been there. Then listen to them. Accept criticism gracefully. Close your ears when listening to relatives (sorry, Mom) and friends praising your work. Seek out knowledgeable critics, and listen to them.
And finally, read. Read a great deal. Soon you will see past the words and the great stories they tell. You will begin to see how the plot is developed, how the story comes together. How characters are introduced, given backgrounds, made to come alive. How some stories make you feel as if you're there experiencing what the characters are experiencing. Read Nevil Schute's On the Beach, an old classic, to see what I mean.
If you're anything like me, writing can be the greatest fun (well, one of the greatest funs, anyway) you'll ever have.
And once you start, don't stop.

BarryOzeroff.Com
Oregon, USA
E-mail:
readermail@barryozeroff.com