1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE LONG MARCH HOME: A WWII Novel of the Pacific
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Three best friends from Mobile, Alabama enlist in the Army in 1941 and are shipped off to the Philippines. Within hours of the December 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Philippines is attacked and the boys are plunged into a war that will culminate in the largest ever American surrender and the atrocity known as the Bataan Death March.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Marcus: Twelve years ago, I read an oral history project about Bataan, and I became fascinated with the subject. We wanted to immerse our readers in the setting.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Tosca: For sure. Jimmy loves playing football, fishing, and hanging out with his best friends.
Marcus: Yep. Jimmy’s a good friend.
5--What are three phrases that describe your protagonist?
An everyman. A preacher’s kid but he doesn’t want to be. He always tries to do the right thing.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Tosca: I actually was unaware of the events that took place in the Philippines during WWII and had never heard of the Bataan Death March until Marcus reached out about working on this project together. I’m so happy and honored to shine a light on these too-often unsung heroes and what took place on the Bataan peninsula, and so glad and grateful Marcus asked me to be part of this project.
Marcus: The resilience of the human spirit is truly incredible. I’ve interviewed many World War II veterans in real life, and their stories always astound me. Our novel is based on true stories.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Tosca: I really try not to edit as I draft.
Marcus: I do both. At times, the writing flows, and the draft pops out like a newborn calf. But that’s rare. Usually, I edit as I write. Once a draft is completed, I’ll read the draft aloud, then print it and read it on paper, editing always, never quite satisfied.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Tosca: Bacon. Buttered popcorn. Korean comfort food like mandu (dumplings), galbi ribs, or, ox bone soup.
Marcus: We have an artisan creamery near where we live. Eating their ice cream is like taking a vacation.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Tosca: My office is the upper floor of the old, original part of our 1940s farmhouse. I look out over the evergreens in our yard and can often see the cat stalking some kind of prey. On the wall behind my desk chair hangs a print by artist Raina Gentry called “It’s All In Her Mind.”
Marcus: A home office. More than two decades ago, when I was just beginning to write professionally, I was working at a newspaper and freelancing on the side. Money was tight, and I needed a desk for home. As I was driving back from the newsroom one evening, I spotted a neighbor throwing away an old wooden door. It was literally in the trash. I took it home and built a desk out of it, and today I’m still writing on that same door. It’s not beautiful. But I’ve written every book I’ve ever published on that desk, so it’s become like a winning baseball glove. No way could I get rid of it now.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Tosca: Anne Rice.
Marcus: Cormac McCarthy.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Tosca: Not one, but several, that I would say changed my reading and future writing life. Books like The Red Tent, The Mists of Avalon, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Memoirs of a Geisha. Books that took me into a new world or another time and showed me what was possible to explore in words.
Marcus: When I first started writing, I typed out most of “The Old Man and the Sea” by Earnest Hemingway. A few years later I did the same for “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. I wanted to let the words of the modern masters flow through me.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Tosca: I’d been pursuing publication for 15 years, so honestly, I think I was a little in shock. But I was also someone who always believed if I tried hard enough and stuck with it, that day would eventually come. It’s just very surreal when the thing you pictured happening for so long finally comes true.
Marcus: I started out in books by doing editing and collaborations, so I saw my name in print in the acknowledgments section of several books before I ever saw it on a front cover. It’s satisfying either way.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Tosca: Historical is one of my favorites. But I love a good dystopian yarn.
Marcus: With fiction, I love historical, anything clear and bright. For work-related projects, I read a lot of military nonfiction.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Tosca: Out of Africa.
Marcus: The Black Stallion.
15--What is your favorite season?
Tosca: Spring
Marcus: Fall.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Tosca: On vacation, with yummy food.
Marcus: Riding a shark into a volcano.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Tosca: The Last of Us. I haven’t played the game, but I’m always up for a good zombie apocalypse.
Marcus: All Quiet on the Western Front. I read the book then saw the movie, a rare instance where the movie is just as good as the book.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Tosca: French.
Marcus: Roadside steakhouse.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Tosca: I watch wayyyy too much TV. I like to make soup (but am terrible at baking). Anything I can do to hang out with my husband—which may include riding in his combine with him during harvest - I’m there.
Marcus: Life is mostly kids, kids, kids and work, work, work. My wife and I take walks together. I ski in winter and take the kids tubing in the summer.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Tosca: A medieval thriller!
Marcus: I’m working on a collaboration with an actor who I can’t name yet due to the contract. He’s a great guy doing noble work that impacts a lot of people.
A World War II Novel of the Pacific
Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire.
Life in the Philippines seems like paradise--until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.
What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive.
Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.
Historical [Revell, On Sale: May 2, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780800742751 / eISBN: 9781493441266]
Marcus Brotherton is a journalist and professional writer, the author or coauthor of eighteen books. He has collaborated with Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton on his memoir Call of Duty. He lives with his family in Washington State.
Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of THE PROGENY, ISCARIOT, THE LEGEND OF SHEBA, DEMON: A MEMOIR, HAVAH: THE STORY OF EVE, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker (FORBIDDEN, MORTAL, SOVEREIGN). A notorious night-owl, she loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games and football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband.
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