Character Interview: SCOTT ROARKE from GARY GROSSMAN’S POLITICAL THRILLER EXECUTIVE COMMAND

We’re thrilled to have here today, MR. ROARKE, from GARY GROSSMAN’S new POLITICAL REALITY THRILLER, EXECUTIVE COMMAND.  MR. ROARKE IS 34…

 …ah, that’s actually 36.

Thank you, 36-years-old living and a Secret Service Agent living in Washington, DC.   Please note that given Mr. Roarke’s high level clearance some of the information cannot be made public. Thank you so for this interview, Mr. Roarke. 

Scott’s okay.

Okay, Scott it is.  Now that the book has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers?

Actually, I feel that author Gary Grossman revealed too much about me.  For example, dfkfhgpioghujsad has serious consequences given my current investigation and mission.  Moreover, there was the time when he revealed lfpgp[gpgpgpgpgpg which should put him under immediate investigation.  So, under Homeland Security directives I really can’t talk about specifics regarding the attack on lsdldldldeririririri or dgaertgaxgggggaeer.  In fact, I’m  uncomfortable even being asked.

Do you feel the author did a good job colorizing your personality?  If not, how would you like to have been portrayed differently?

That’s okay.  I can answer that question on-the-record.   Grossman got my personality right.  But that’s no surprise.  It’s his third political thriller with me.  Bottom line, I’m a former Army officer who saved the Morgan Taylor’s life in Iraq before he became president.  He was a Navy commander then.  He got his sorry butt shot down and he was damned lucky I was in the desert to save him.

What do you believe is your strongest trait?

I’m a little complex for the job, but maybe that’s why the president hired me.  I operate outside the system.  I don’t wear a suit or talk into my sleeve.  The president has me working under a special directive called PD1600. You won’t find it in Google.   Right now I’m tracking down an assassin.  That much I can say.  And we’re investigating the poisoning of America’s most valued and vulnerable resource.  Water.

Worse trait?

I am on a hunt.  You might call it revenge for murderous things that were brought upon the country, described by Grossman in his reports titled Executive Actions and Executive Treason.  Check out the usual platforms like Amazon or www.garygrosman.com to learn more.  You’ll find everything you need to know  by reading those.  I am not at liberty to comment.

If you could choose someone in the television or movie industry to play your part if your book was made into a movie, who would that be (and you can’t say yourself!)?

 

Chris Pine looks the part.  He’s got my edge, though I don’t know how he’d do against dldlldlgfhgi dkjdgkgkgkgk in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.  That’s where I’m heading now that the evidence is pointing to the likelihood that dkgkgkgk rkdldlei is dead. I also like James McAvoy.  But maybe when I retire I’ll play myself.

Do you have a love interest in the book?

The love of my life is Katie Kessler.  We met in Boston.  She’s an attorney, now special counsel to the president.  Trouble is there is this other woman I have to cozy up to.   We believe that her association with jkdjkdjkgl was part of the conspiracy that affected the last presidential election and I can only imagine where this will lead.  Her account begins in EXECUTIVE ACTIONS and continues through EXECUTIVE COMMAND.  Let’s just say she sees me for all I am.

At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out?

 

You’re talking like it’s fiction.  Like Russian sleeper cell spies are fiction.  Like hate radio can’t affect public opinion or lead to a White House coup.  Like our water is safe from terrorist attack.  At what point in the book did I start getting nervous?  Try at what point on the front page of tomorrow’s newspapers! That’s where Grossman is drawing his story from.  And if you think it can’t happen here, then think again.  In fact, you think about the consequences and what can happen the next time you flkdfjsdf dlfjdlflfkdk glm jhgfidia anh right in your home town or gkglagjlglg in your house when you turn on the faucet!

If you could trade places with one of the other characters in the book, which character would you really not want to be and why?

I’m the central figure in the investigation.  But I work with Katie, CIA agent Vinnie D’Angelo who is currently in Russia before heading south of here, the FBI’s resident computer geek “Touch” Parsons, Army intelligence officer CPT Penny Walker and my boss, the pres.  Change places.  No way.  It’s a Scott Roarke novel.

How do you feel about the ending of the book without giving too much away?

What book.  This is friggin’ reality.  Maybe it hasn’t happened yet, but you do some research about how vulnerable America’s water supplies are…how dangerous a place Ciudad del Este is, what’s under that damned city, and who’s running it.  Ending to the book?  If only we could consider it ended on the last page.  But we can’t.  The threat is far too great.

What words of wisdom would you give your author if he decided to write another book with you in it?

Do exactly what you’re doing.  Keep the research front and center.  I’ve confidentially worked with author Grossman.  Trust me, he drills down to the detail.  That’s what makes the account in EXECUTIVE COMMAND, like EXECUTIVE ACTIONS and EXECUTIVE TREASON all so timely and relevant.  I understand you can access copies through Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBookstore, scribd.com and others.  You’ll have to use your security codes to log in and purchase.  Then keep the secret safe.  Otherwise, dldkgfkg fgdfdfdfafd could end up in your next drink, too.   And it won’t be my doing. You’ll be the reason djgkgkgl got away!

Thank you for this interview, Mr. Roarke, you’ve been, shall I say, “enlightening.”  Will we be seeing more of you in the future?

I work for the President of the United States.  In today’s world, I’m busier than ever.  You bet.  Just keep my name out of the article.

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Gary Grossman is an Emmy Award-winning network television producer, a print and television journalist, a novelist and a film and TV historian.  His career has included stints producing for NBC News, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and 36 cable networks. He is author of three celebrated International “political reality thrillers,” EXECUTIVE COMMAND, EXECUTIVE ACTIONS and EXECUTIVE TREASON and two acclaimed non-fiction books covering pop culture and television history –  Superman: Serial to Cereal and Saturday Morning TV.

Grossman has been partnered with Robb Weller in Los Angeles-based Weller/Grossman Productions, a prolific television production company.  Together, they produced more than 9,000 programs and earned numerous awards including the prestigious Governor’s Emmy Award for their USA Network special, “Healing the Hate,” and an Emmy for Best Informational series with the production of “Wolfgang Puck” for Food Network.  Their documentary “Beyond the Da Vinci Code” (History Channel) earned two national Emmy nominations.  In all, Grossman has received 14 Emmy nominations.

In addition, Gary Grossman is now a principal in World Media Strategies, a new International branded entertainment marketing content company with offices in Los Angeles and Miami.  WMS produces television specials and series for travel destinations, corporate clients and government entities.

Grossman earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Emerson College in Boston and a Master’s Degree in Urban Affairs from Boston University.

He began his broadcasting career as a rock disc jockey at WHUC, in Hudson, New York.  He worked at Boston television station, WBZ; joined The Boston Globe as a special contributor, and then became the television critic and media columnist at The Boston Herald American.  His freelance articles have appeared in The New York Times and numerous magazines.  He taught journalism and media at Emerson College, Boston University, and USC and guest lectured at colleges and universities across the country.

Grossman helped formulate, program and launch television cable networks including HGTV, Fit TV, National Geographic Channel, and The Africa Channel.

Grossman serves on the Emerson College Board of Trustees and chairs the Academic Affairs Committee.

He is also a member of the Boston University Metropolitan College Advisory Board.  For was chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the Caucus for Television Producers, Directors & Writers, a Hollywood-based media activist group and a member of The International Thriller Writers Association.

His latest book is the political thriller, Executive Command.

Visit Gary on the web at www.GaryGrossman.com.