Meet Memphian Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author. Best known as Tom Clancy’s collaborator, Mark co-wrote the final three Jack Ryan books before Clancy’s death in 2013 and then continued to write another four in the series. His international thriller series, The Gray Man, has been made into a Netflix movie starring Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas. Mark traveled to Los Angeles to meet with the movie’s directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, to talk about the book before they began to write the screenplay.
Q: Describe your career path and what it means to be a New York Times bestselling author.
A: I grew up reading nonfiction books about history and international affairs, but in my late teens I found I really enjoyed reading novels, especially in the political, military and espionage genres. While I was in college studying international relations, I got the idea to try and write a book of my own. I spent 15 years writing that first manuscript, finishing it in 2005, then I immediately shelved it and started my second book, which I finished in about seven months. The Gray Man, my first published novel, was actually my 4th completed manuscript.
Although I’m proud to be a number one New York Times bestselling author, I'm always focused on whatever book I'm in the middle of writing, so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about books that have already been published.
Before becoming a novelist, I worked several jobs, mostly here in Memphis. I bartended in Overton Square in my twenties and worked for Medtronic in their international customer relations department before I became a full-time author.
Q: How were you given the opportunity to work with Tom Clancy? What was your relationship with him like?
A: Tom Clancy and I had the same publisher and the same editor, so when Tom was looking for a co-author, I was asked if I was interested. This was back in 2011 and I had only released two paperback novels at that point in my career, so it was a huge leap for me to work with Clancy, but also an incredible opportunity. Within a month of signing on, I was up in DC at the Pentagon and at intelligence agencies trying to get information for our first collaboration.
Tom was great to me personally and it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
We had just finished our third book together in 2013 when he passed away. His family asked me to continue the series, so I did four more Jack Ryan novels in the next four years while also working on my own novels. All in all, I wrote seven Clancy books in six years, before stepping aside in 2017.
Q: Describe your writing process. What inspires you and what do you do when you experience writer’s block?
A: I try to write first thing in the morning and I write every day, even weekdays and holidays. Sometimes that means all day and sometimes that just means an hour or two, depending on where I am in the writing process. In the afternoons I mostly do research or any other administrative business, like publicity, travel planning or reading other author’s works, etc.
I get inspiration from what's going on in the world. I'm a news hound and a history buff. Really, all 26 books that I've published involved something that was in the news and I was able to create a fictional representation of the events. I usually only have about 6 months to write a book, so inspiration is not as important to me as discipline. I tell myself that every hour I'm sitting at my computer and working on my manuscript it is getting better; so even if I don't wake up particularly inspired or with any great ideas, I still go to work and make the best of it.
Writer's block is just part of the writing process and I suffer some form of it every single day. There is never a time when I sit down at my computer and the words just flow for the entire writing session. The only solution is to keep calm and carry on - and trust that the ideas will come.
Q: How do you conduct your research, particularly about the Middle East and the CIA?
A: I like to do as much research on location as I possibly can while writing my novels.
I've been to 36 countries so far, visiting several countries multiple times. I also do a lot of research with the men and women involved in whatever line of work I'm writing about, and that includes intelligence professionals. I count several former CIA officers among my friends and they are great subject matter experts I can call on when writing.
I do a lot of physical research as well for my books. I’ve trained with firearms and battlefield medicine, I learned to scuba dive, I’ve taken stunt driving lessons and I've flown in a U.S. Navy F-18 jet.
Lastly, I read. A lot.
Q: How do you develop your fictional characters? Specifically, what is the inspiration behind Court Gentry, The Gray Man series’ former CIA assassin, and Josh Duffy, professional bodyguard in the eponymous series?
A: Court was a character I came up with after seeing an American guy in a bar in rural El Salvador many years ago. I just made up a backstory about him - that he was an ex-CIA officer living off the grid in the developing world. The entire first novel came out of this backstory and I’ve expanded his personality and the world he lives in into 13 subsequent novels.
I got the idea for Josh Duffy after doing a lot of training at a firearms school in Tennessee that taught high-threat civilian military contracting. Josh is a bodyguard with a dangerous but, ultimately, blue-collar job. I built him from that background and gave him a family, debts and vulnerabilities, but also a good moral compass and a lot of skill.
Q: Describe your childhood and adult life in Memphis. What do you love about your city and how has Memphis been a part of your overall career?
A: My dad was the head of the news department at WMC Channel 5, so I grew up around current events. He was also a WW2 veteran and my granddad was a WW1 vet, so I grew up reading books about the military. I got degrees in international relations and political science at (then) Memphis State, then lived and worked in Memphis, both in restaurants and in some form of international business. I studied foreign languages and I read a lot of novels while trying to write my own.
I love a lot of aspects of Memphis - the people, the opportunities and the culture. It’s been my home virtually my entire life, so I’m very much a part of the city.
Q: What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
A: I have a wife, three stepchildren, four dogs and we also foster puppies regularly. Most of my free time is devoted to my family. I do love to travel and I love shooting, scuba diving, watching movies and working out in my home gym. I go to the Outback off-leash dog park at Shelby Farms several times a week and my wife and I go out to eat a couple of nights each week.
Q: What are your career and personal goals for the future?
A: At this point in my career, my ambition is centered mostly around getting better at the craft. I'm always trying to improve my writing with each book and attract more and more readers. Long-term, I always say I hope I die with a half-written novel, meaning I never want to retire!
"I try to write first thing in the morning."