An Interview with Larry Bond

Larry Bond is a successful fiction military writer, he has published several novels. He is also a game designer, and has designed games like Harpoon and Command at Sea. Larry Bond began his writing career working with Tom Clancy.

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was in a creative writing class in seventh grade, and I loved to read, but at the time, I only wanted to write science fiction, and didn't understand how to create a story. Shortly after that class I joined the computer club (they were coal burners back then) and my interest in writing faded.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

The first product that I wrote and was published was a wargame, Harpoon, which appeared in 1980. It was very successful, and has gone through many editions, and has expanded to include other eras. Harpoon covers modern air and naval combat. We now have other games that cover both WW II (Command at Sea), and WW I (Fear God & Dread Nought), as well as many supplements that provide scenarios for all three games.

How did you finally get published? When were you able to write on a full time basis? Please explain your success story?

When the first edition of Harpoon was published in April of 1980, an insurance agent in rural Maryland bought a copy to learn about modern naval warfare. My game is designed for people who don't know a lot about modern sonar, or missile seekers, etc., so I spend a lot of print explaining how things work. This was useful to the insurance agent, who wanted to be a writer and was working on his first novel, which was about nuclear submarines. His name was Tom Clancy, and the book was The Hunt for Red October, one of the most successful novels of the 1980s.

While he was working on his book, Tom wrote to me with some questions about modern naval combat, which I answered, and we started corresponding, and became good friends. I read Hunt in manuscript, for instance, and made some comments on terminology. He gave me a nice thank-you in the front.

After the tremendous success of HFRO, he was casting about for a new story idea. I was blathering about the game projects I had underway, which included one called Convoy. This game allowed the player to play either the Soviets or NATO as the US tries to reinforce Europe in a hypothetical World War III. It's a big, complex game, with hundreds of aircraft and ships, dozens of nuclear submarines attacking convoys of forty or sixty ships...

"That would make a good book," Tom said.

"Really?" I said.

So we plotted it out together, then Tom started typing, while I researched, ran some wargames, and tried to be useful. I was his apprentice and the book was Red Storm Rising, which sold very well.

After that I struck out on my own, with enough of Tom's reputation rubbing off so his agent was willing to represent me, and publishers were willing to take me seriously right off the bat. No slush pile. I've been pedaling like crazy ever since. I quit my day job (as a naval analyst) in 1986.

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel? How do you stay focused?

The contract helps.

Seriously, I like telling stories and never start a project without really wanting to work on the story idea I've sold to the publisher. As it is, by the time I'm done, I'm pretty sick of it, and usually have to leave the manuscript alone for a little while before I can give it a final read.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write in the mornings, evenings, and for how long?

I usually have two or three book and game projects going on at the same time, in different stages of development. If I'm under contract to deliver a book, I know how big the book should be, and doing the math, know how many words a day I have to finish to make the delivery date. I start in the morning. If I'm on a roll, I'll keep on writing, but usually when I've met my quota for the day I'll stop, usually around lunch, because other projects are also demanding my attention.

How do you get your ideas? What is your method for remembering them?

If I'm actively looking for ideas, I don't have to go much farther than the newspaper. Piracy, the environment, terrorism, and many more are all possibilities. I try to stay current on security issues, and my wargaming also teaches me a lot. I look for situations that are relatively stable, because I don't want the world to change too much while I'm writing the story.

How do you get over writer's block?

The concept scares me, so I take pains to prevent it. I have to write up a treatment of the story for the publisher before he'll sign off on it, so I take that and expand it into a detailed outline, chapter by chapter. Plot points, characters, are all sketched in so that when I sit down to start a new chapter I already know who's in it, and what's supposed to happen. Really helps prevent the blank screen syndrome.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a writer? What is a good starting point for them?

The only advice I give to perfect your craft. Write, talk about writing, learn what else has been done, and write some more. Don't assume you're the first person to have a particular (great) idea. It probably is a great idea, but that's only a starting point.

To learn more about Larry Bond or his work, check out the Larry Bond website. Or to read more interviews, go to my writer interviews page.