We caught up with the author ahead of the release of Benny Moon Saves the Standing People on December 3. 

Who is the primary audience for the book?
Although I have targeted the pre-teen and teen audience, the Benny Moon books can be enjoyed by all age groups.

Do you have advice for other writers?
Write for the fun of creating.  Commit to writing just one sentence a day.  Don't worry about being published, just do it for the joy it brings you.

Jackson Blaine, the President of the United States and a former defense lawyer, shocks his estranged son Brian and the entire world when he decides to personally go to court to help defend the young man after he’s arrested for murdering his best friend and college dormmate. This is the compellingly unique premise of First Line of Defense, a political/legal thriller and murder mystery coming out October 1 by one of IE's most awarded and prolific authors, Peter Berk. 

​First Line of Defense marks award-winning author Peter Berk’s third novel with IngramElliott, following the recent publication of TimeLock and TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy, the first two entries in an imaginative series of sci-fi and action novels co-authored by Peter’s father, Columbo and Mission: Impossible writer Howard Berk. 

And now, Peter adds legal thriller to his distinguished list. Tinged with action, suspense, romance, humor and more than a few unexpected twists, the new novel takes its 21-year-old lead protagonist, Brian Blaine, on a life-altering adventure that will dramatically change his relationship with his father and alter the course of his entire personal and professional life forever. 

We caught up with the author ahead of the release of First Line of Defense on October 1. 

Please tell us something about your book that is not in the summary. 
It can rightly be called a political legal thriller, but I mainly consider the book to be about a family - in this case, the First Family - and more specifically about a young man reconnecting with his estranged father. And because I had the opposite relationship with my late dad, Howard, Brian's turbulent rapport with the President through at least the first half of the book was the hardest part to write for me.

What do you most hope will be the reaction of readers to your book?
Like any author, I just hope people are compelled to keep reading, care about the characters, come across a surprise twist or two and enjoy the overall reading experience.

Why did you pick this particular subject matter to write about?
I hadn't written anything in the legal thriller genre and out of the blue had this wild notion of a President who's a former lawyer actually representing his own son in court. Not likely of course, but that's why it's called fiction!

What is your favorite scene in your book? Why?
Probably the meet cute scene when Brian first meets Emma; a later scene when the President catches a beet-red Brian and Emma after their first romantic encounter; the scene when father and son finally reconcile; and the "big reveal" at the end in the courthouse.

Writing a novel can be personal. Did you ever question whether to include or exclude any of your personal experiences or feelings?
Despite writing from a 21 year-old's perspective so long after I was in fact that age myself, I did include a lot of my own personal sensibilities throughout - being an only child like Brian, having a best friend who's like a brother (who is happily still very much in my life), possessing a self-deprecating sense of humor and more.

Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer. What inspired you to write your first book? 
My writing inspiration has been and always will be my father - a far better writer than I'll ever be. "First Line of Defense" was actually my first novel, but not the first one published, since I was fortunate enough to connect with IngramElliott after novelizing the screenplay of "TimeLock" my dad and I wrote several years back.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Only the corniest of advice - never stop writing! Unlike being a dancer or athlete where you have a limited number of years to perform on the stage or on the field, writers can write at any age. My dad was working on a new novel at 92 and look how long it took me to have a book published, so keep at it forever.

Tell me a little about your book’s title and what it represents?
Nothing too subtle here, I'll admit, but "First" as in First Family and "Defense" since that's what the entire story is about.

About The Author                                                                  
Peter Berk has written six novels, three TV pilots and a dozen screenplays, including several with his father which became the basis for the TimeLock series of novels. The original TimeLock novel was named as a Distinguished Favorite in the TechnoThriller category of the 2024 Independent Press Award and was a Finalist in the 2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards for Science Fiction, Mystery, and Global Thrillers. TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy was published in 2023 and the third book in the series, TimeLock 3: The Millennium Paradox, will be published in Spring 2025 by IngramElliott. Peter and his family live in Southern California.
​
Connect with Peter on Facebook and Instagram @peterberk_author.

New Sequel Novel Co-Authored By “Columbo” & “Mission: Impossible” Writer Howard Berk To Debut Sept. 26 From IngramElliott 

Available September 26 anywhere books are sold
Pre-order now!
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Apple Books
IndieBound
​

​One year after releasing the riveting sci-fi/action novel TimeLock – considered a “deftly crafted…compulsive page turner” by Midwest Book Reviews and now a contender for this year’s Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction – IngramElliott Publishing will debut the much-anticipated first sequel, TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy, September 26.

The second in a planned series of high-octane novels set in the near future, TimeLock 2, like its predecessor, was written by father and son Howard Berk and Peter Berk. An award-winning novelist and film and TV writer, Howard Berk’s credits include “Columbo,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Rockford Files,” and the feature film, “Target,” starring Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon.
 
The original TimeLock novel tells the first-person story of 23 year-old Morgan Eberly, who’s not only wrongly convicted of murder but selected to be among the first to undergo the radical TimeLock process in which prisoners are instantly aged the number of years of their sentence.
 
During a prison uprising, however, Morgan manages to escape halfway through his 40-year processing. On the run and coping with sudden middle age, Morgan turns to the woman who arrested him – FBI agent Janine Price – and the two eventually team up both professionally and personally to bring down the deadly TimeLock program – a program pushed through by the future president of the United States, Myra Winters.

Old Enemies, New Dangers
Set two years after the events of the first book, TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy finds the increasingly unhinged President Winters approving an immoral and illegal plan to develop a weaponized form of the TimeLock genetic alteration process for use on the battlefield. When it turns out that only one man  –geneticist Dr. Lionel Garvey – would be qualified to oversee the project, the president clandestinely authorizes a plan to force Garvey to comply by kidnapping him and his wife, Kiyoko, from their home in Kyoto, Japan.
 
After receiving a frantic text from Kiyoko’s brother, Yoshi, Morgan and Janine fly to Japan to attempt a daring rescue of Dr. Garvey and his wife. But saving the couple proves to be only the beginning of Morgan and Janine’s adventures when they quickly realize the only way to permanently stop the president’s insane project will mean launching a perilous midnight raid on a vast research facility deep in the heart of Siberia.

​About The Authors
An award-winning novelist and screenwriter, Howard Berk’s credits include memorable episodes of such classic TV series as “Columbo,” (including “By Dawn’s Early Light,” for which guest star Patrick McGoohan won an Emmy), “Mission: Impossible,” “The Rockford Files,” and several feature films.
 
Peter Berk has written four novels, an entertainment industry non-fiction book co-authored by “Eight Is Enough” star Dick Van Patten, three TV pilots and a dozen screenplays, including several with his father which became the basis for the TimeLock series of novellas.  
 
Commenting on the publication of TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy, Peter Berk said, “I’ll be forever grateful to the inspiring and extremely talented team at IngramElliott for allowing me to ‘collaborate’ with my dad again on the TimeLock series of novels, and I hope readers enjoy following Morgan Eberly’s exciting, romantic and sometimes even humorous global adventures in TimeLock 2: The Kyoto Conspiracy.”  

Congratulations to our author Vince Bailey as the second book in his award-winning Curtis Jefferson series was just named as a finalist in the 15th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. Celebrating excellence in independent publishing, the NIEA named Courses of the Cursed as a finalist in the Regional Fiction category for Southwest-focused fiction. 

Vince Bailey grew up in central Arizona, starting in the late nineteen-fifties. His youthful experiences there contribute significantly to the nostalgic aspect of his fiction writing. Courses of the Cursed is the second book in the award-winning Curtis Jefferson series. His debut novel, Path of the Half Moon, is the Winner of the Arizona Authors’ Association Literary Award and the Chanticleer International Book Awards for Paranormal and Supernatural Fiction.

Vince Bailey's award-winning Path of the Half Moon is the first book in the Curtis Jefferson series. Set in a remote detention facility for wayward boys in the early sixties, Curtis is tested by a murderous inmate and a century-old Native American curse.

Winner of the CIBA Paranormal Book Awards and the Arizona Authors' Association Literary Award, Path of the Half Moon presents an edgy and thrilling escape from the ordinary.   

 
More Praise for the Curtis Jefferson series:

Bailey's voice sparkles in this gritty tale about injustice, survival, and the mysterious world of angry ghosts and dark magic. Don't miss it."   —Todd Fahnestock (bestselling author of The Wishing World, Fairmist, and Wildmane)

"Curtis does what all great storyteller’s do—he creates a suspension of disbelief, granting the listener the right to believe.”
                       —5 Star Rating, Chanticleer Book Reviews

Vince has also been published in several college and local newspapers, and for the past ten years he has penned a column for a nationally distributed trade periodical. Mr. Bailey currently resides in Arizona with his family. He's currently working on the next book in the Curtis Jefferson series.

Connect with the author at VinceBailey.com

Sometimes our greatest strengths can come from what we view as our greatest weaknesses. Robin Elno says this idea was a huge inspiration for him when he was writing the Clown William series, which is about a young man, William, who suffers from a physical ailment we now know as Tourette's Syndrome. After being kicked out of his house by his father in the first book of the series, a self-defense situation teaches him that he has astounding accuracy with a six-gun.

​The book series follows this unexpected hero through Colorado and New Mexico as he defends himself and those around him with this unexpected talent. And now, Elno has the third installment in the series ready for readers.
 
Picking up where book two left off, Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance finds William still in New Mexico. In the book, he is obsessed with tracking down and finishing his war with the man he blames for his life turning out the way it has – Jesse Evans. 

​As always, William is a target for many. He battles an inner conflict, as well, deciding to wait until Jesse is out of a compromising position before making his attempt on Jesse’s life. William is in a race against his own inner tornado . . . Will he beat it before it takes him out?

Robin Elno brings his experience as a retired army colonel and semiretired psychiatrist to this book series. He says he was also inspired by neurologist Oliver Sacks’s work about the unusual speed and accuracy often displayed by people with Tourette’s syndrome. The third installment in this series, Clown William and the Wind of Vengeance, is now available for pre-sale at both Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. And, until then, here’s a little sneak peek . . .