AUTHOR'S BACKGROUND
Thank you for visiting my website. My name is Russell Hamilton and I recently published my first novel, Agent of Influence. I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and have lived here all my life. I graduated from Trinity High School and received a BA in Business Administration from Bellarmine University. I have worked in the insurance/financial industry for the last fourteen years.
I am recently married and am enjoying my new life with my lovely wife Angie and our nine-year-old golden retriever Dubya. (Yes, my dog is named after our former President.) Surprising to some, my wife and I have rather polar opposite political views. Needless to say, this makes for some interesting dinner conservations in our household, but we never hold it against each other! I admit, she does not take our political banter nearly as seriously as I do which helps out, as well. It's safe to say that if Angie had been in my life before Dubs he most definitely would have assumed a different name!
AGENT OF INFLUENCE- THE EARLY YEARS
Enough about me, lets talk about the novel. This book is an outgrowth of my travels, voracious reading habits, and fascination with history, politics, and foreign affairs. I spent nearly eight years of my spare time researching, crafting the storyline, developing the characters, and, ultimately, writing Agent of Influence.
As part of my research for the novel I visited numerous cities including Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, and Washington D.C. on countless occasions. In addition to these travels, I also love skiing and scuba diving whenever I get the chance. I have been scuba diving in Cozumel, Nassau, the Exuma Islands, Key West, California, Cancun, Roatan, Grand Cayman, Belize, and St. Lucia. I hope to incorporate some of these travels in the sequel to Agent of Influence.
My most exciting adventure (and one I had to do by myself because no one else would accompany me) was a 2003 week-long expedition when I went "cage diving" with great white sharks off the coast of Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. In the past one would have to travel around the globe to South Africa or Australia to do this, but the sharks were discovered off the Pacific Coast of Mexico around 2000, and I joined a small group for the exploratory journey three years later.
The company that ran the excursion did not disappoint and provided an exhilarating trip. (If you are interested you should check out the link to their website.) During one of my stints underwater a 15-foot shark managed to lodge its nose in our cage and began violently thrashing about and rattling our cage with its four occupants inside! When the shark finally broke free the side door of the cage came unhinged underwater. Luckily, the person closest to the door grabbed it and pulled it shut without the shark taking notice of our precarious situation. (If you would like to see photos of these magnificent animals check out the photos section of the website.)
I digressed
Now, let's get back to the novel! The first ideas for the book came to me after several trips to Las Vegas. How interesting it would be, I thought, to have an Islamic version of a "mafia-type" boss in Las Vegas during the city's criminal heydays of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
AND THEN THE LIGHT BULB WENT OFF!
After two years of haphazard brainstorming and writing, I still only had about fifty pages of text. Around that time, a story in the news captured my imagination- and the rest is history! My idea for President-Elect Zachariah Hardin, one of the key players in the novel, came during California's special election for governor in 2003. After Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to office I read several articles discussing whether or not the Constitution should be amended to allow foreign-born Americans to run for the Presidency. I hypothesized that it could be difficult to perform detailed background checks on some individuals if they came from an underdeveloped country where events such as war or systematic and cultural differences prohibited the documentation and tracking of one's life like we are accustomed to here in the U.S. After all, birth certificates, medical records, and credit scores are simply not the reality of most human beings on our planet. I took this idea and ran with it.
Once I had established the trajectory of the novel, it came together rather quickly at that point. My intention was to create a fast-paced story that takes the reader through Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Washington DC, and Cairo. As a Louisville native, it was incumbent upon me to include a brief stop at the twin spires of Churchill Downs, as well. If you are a fan of the thriller genre I think you will find the novel to be an intoxicating and unique- although rather quick- read.
NOW FOR THE HARD PART
I finally finished writing Agent of Influence in 2007. I easily produced 12-15 drafts before I was partially satisfied with the product. I then spent the next several months trying to acquire an agent to market my work. Unsuccessful in that arena, and yet undeterred, I decided to self-publish my novel. The finished product finally arrived in my hand in July 2009, but I just recently started aggressively advertising the book in February of this year. Agent of Influence has been featured on the Cindi Sullivan show on 84 WHAS, and I recently received my first professional book review from a national review company, Foreword Clarion Reviews. You can listen to the interview or read the review on this website.
If you enjoyed reading Agent of Influence check out Russ's Recommended Reading List for a small sampling of some novels and non-fiction books that have influenced my thinking, imagination, and writing over the years. For now, I am focusing my energy on promoting Agent of Influence while at the same time creating an outline for the book's sequel. I am also batting around ideas for a revolutionary war novel.
If you have any questions or if you are an agent or publisher interested in Agent of Influence feel free to contact me at
russellhamilton1@gmail.com. Check out Agent of Influence on Facebook to find out more information on upcoming events including local book signings.
Thanks,
Russ
RUSS'S READING LIST
Fiction: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Live & Let Die by Ian Fleming
Nobel House by James Clavell
Shogun by James Clavell
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Company by Robert Littell
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
Without Remorse by Tom Clancy
Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
Memorial Day by Vince Flynn
Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn
The English Assassin by Daniel Silva
The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva
The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton
Non-Fiction: American Creation by Joseph Ellis
His Excellency by Joseph Ellis
American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
President Kennedy by Richard Reeves
Churchill by Martin Gilbert
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
The War Within by Bob Woodward
Nights Are Longest There by A I Romanov
The Atomic Bazzar by William Langewiesche
Twelve Days of Terror by Richard Fernicola
Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden
What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis
Wedge by Mark Riebling
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Siege of Mecca by Yaroslav Trofimov
