Date of interview: 21 April 2020
As a graduate of Indiana University with an MS in Education Administration, Patrick Sydor split a long career between teaching in an urban high school and executive business positions in Transportation. He currently lives on the beach in Canoa, Ecuador. He and his wife travel extensively to bring authenticity to his historical fiction writing.
When asked about starting a writing career at the age of sixty-eight, he said, “After surfing at 7:30 a.m. and a breakfast of eggs and bacon, what the hell else am I going to do?”
His debut novel, Cobra Talon, draws from his experience as a Combat Security Policeman at a remote radar site during the Vietnam War. His second book in the Nick Parker series, Liberian Gold, will be available on Amazon in June 2020.
MWSA: What do you think are the main benefits of being an MWSA member?
Patrick Sydor: I joined MWSA in March 2020. My debut novel, Cobra Talon, was posted on Amazon September 2019. After it was published I began researching the best ways to market a novel. I discovered MWSA on-line and instantly related to a website of military writers, many of which were veterans as I. I joined because I wanted to be reviewed by a community of writers within the military genre and not so much by Aunt Molly, neighbor Tom, and friend Jimmy.
I was then impressed by the professionalism of MWSA in their approach and ease of the submission process, step by step directions and automatic links to social media. Diving in deeper I discovered a great library of current authors, author interviews, beta readers, and the quarterly Dispatch articles. Thanks MWSA for all you do to support military related writing and writers.
MWSA: What was your inspiration for your book Cobra Talon?
Patrick Sydor: In 1973, I was a USAF Combat Security Police Sgt stationed at a small radar site in Northeast Thailand. Ko Kha was a satellite tracking and listening site for the USAF, CIA and NSA. The CSP provided the security for the base. My experiences and vivid imagination were weaved into a historical fiction novel, telling an adventure story that male and female readers will relate to and enjoy. I was finally able to finish the novel when I retired from teaching.
MWSA: What writing projects are you working on these days?
Patrick Sydor: Cobra Talon was the first book in the Nick Parker series. I just finished the second book in the series, Liberian Gold. It will be available on Amazon June 2020.
A fictional thriller based on historical events, Liberian Gold is an action-filled tale about a young analyst drawn into the dark world of CIA intelligence and foreign government manipulation.
Nick Parker, after four years, has finally put in the rearview mirror: Vietnam War, drug addiction, firefights, and horrific injuries with long bouts of physical rehabilitation and self-doubt. With his longtime girlfriend, Eliz, and a Master Degree, he vows to live a normal life.
But, the CIA come calling again. An easy non-dangerous assignment. Good money. He agrees. Four factions seek to overthrow the Liberian Government. He’s to analyze the validity of each.
Then an attractive and very complex french NGO talks him into traveling twelve hours into the dense jungle and the forbidden gold mining villages. Against orders. His hunches trigger a trail of death and destruction.
Getting closer to the truth, his enemies multiply. With Liberia in flames and friends' lives at stake, he’ll put his life on the line to make the right call.
MWSA: How did you research this project?
Patrick Sydor: I brought back photos and memories. I wrote twelve chapters of scenes based on my experiences, and the men I served with. Believe me, it was a wealth of information that I wrote soon after returning stateside and would have forgotten most of it if not for that. Some extremely interesting scenes were left out to protect the not-so innocent. The scenes flowed with the info and pictures in front of me.
The actual research was a slow process. I only found two people that I worked with, forty- eight years later. I strived for accuracy so I spent a lot of time on the internet about weapons, radar sites, USAF Bases in Thailand and the Mayaquez incident.
A side story, I applied for disability because of the agent orange that was sprayed on the perimeter where the CSP's patrolled but was denied in early 2000s. The reason sited for the denial was that Ko Kha Air Station never existed. It was finally acknowledged around 2010.
I found out that Ko Kha Air Station was connected to the Secret War, deciphering movement and listening sensors in Laos.
MWSA: What was your motivation to write Cobra Talon?
Patrick Sydor: I just wanted to tell an interesting story that people would enjoy reading.
MWSA: You have two strong females in your book, how did you develop your characters?
Patrick Sydor: Nick Parker is the protagonist, no doubt. He uses his instincts and empathy to make it through a difficult tour of duty. The two female characters, Ott and Eliz, are based on women that are determined, smart, and loving. The women in war and on the home front we're the unsung heroes, and I portrayed them as such.