Robbie Bach practiced the art of storytelling while in the business of creating video games. During a long career at Microsoft, he served as President of Xbox where he learned the importance of well-developed characters, dynamic dialog and perfect pacing. Bach says, “It’s just like writing a novel, except it requires great technical skill too!” After completing his first book, Xbox Revisited, he decided to dive into fiction with a contemporary thriller. In The Wilkes Insurrection, Major Tamika Smith and an unlikely collection of committed Americans must answer a fundamental question: how far would you go to save what you love?
“The very first thing I did when I sat down to write the initial words of The Wilkes Insurrection was to establish three clear goals: 1) Develop a compelling story that was worthy of the genre; 2) Write great plot lines and characters because the art matters; 3) Deliver a powerful message because impact is the ultimate measure of success.”
Influenced by his strong love for our communities and country, Bach developed The Wilkes Insurrection as an action-fueled twister that reflects the challenging times we live in, but also connects back to his home environs with easter eggs that nod to Bellevue neighbors and pacific northwest culture, including, he says, “a key scene at the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, an appearance by the ‘Legion of Boom,’ an homage to Senator Patty Murray and I could not resist including an Xbox reference.”
Nearly everyone daydreams about chasing wild hares or risking it all for a big adventure. Kim Brown Seely went a step further, in the ultimate flex, she not only leaped at the chance for adventure, she decided to write about it armed with unflinching honesty and award-winning talent honed through hers years in publishing as an editor, journalist, and travel writer. In her first book, Uncharted, she takes readers along for a choppy ride as she and her husband embark on a sailing adventure and search for a mythical creature (insert your own obvious joke about teenagers here) that marks the end of their days as hands on parents and the beginning of a new figurative and spiritual journey.
Seely Brown says, “My goal was to try and capture what it felt like being on Northwest waters as novice sailors, to convey the wildness of the northwest coast in all its weather and various moods – and of course, to write a beautiful book that people might not only want to read, but be inspired by.” She loves hearing from readers who tell her about their own empty-nest adventures because “Freedom takes many forms!”
Uncharted, also covers familiar ground, “Since both my boys went through Bellevue Public Schools (Cherry Crest, Chinook, and Bellevue High), there are references to those years, to the lives of all us moms and dads driving early morning carpools, and to the distinct culture every family creates. And if (Bellevue Lifestyle) readers have ever wondered what it feels like to provision a sailboat for weeks of coastal cruising, untie from a dock, and point yourself north to explore the watery wildernesses we’re surrounded by in Bellevue and Seattle, they’ll recognize that too.”