AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Darin Gibby, author of 'Chasing Hindy' & $25 Amazon GC Giveaway

In addition to a thriving career as a novelist, author Darin Gibby is also one of the country’s premiere patent attorneys and a partner at the prestigious firm of Kilpatrick Townsend (www.kilpatricktownsend.com). With over twenty years of experience in obtaining patents on hundreds of inventions from the latest drug delivery systems to life-saving cardiac equipment, he has built IP portfolios for numerous Fortune 500 companies. In addition to securing patents, Gibby helps clients enforce and license their patents around the world, and he has monetized patents on a range of products.

Darin’s first book, Why Has America Stopped Inventing?, explored the critical issue of America’s broken patent system. His second book, The Vintage Club, tells the story of a group of the world’s wealthiest men who are chasing a legend about a wine that can make you live forever. His third book, Gil, is about a high school coach who discovers that he can pitch with deadly speed and is given an offer to play with the Rockies during a player’s strike. Gil soon discovers, however, that his unexpected gift is the result of a rare disease, and continuing to pitch may hasten his own death.

With a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Business Administration degree, he is highly regarded in Denver’s legal and business community as a patent strategist, business manager, and community leader. He is also a sought-after speaker on IP issues at businesses, colleges and technology forums, where he demonstrates the value of patents using simple lessons from working on products such as Crocs shoes, Izzo golf straps and Trek bicycles.
An avid traveler and accomplished triathlete, Darin also enjoys back country fly-fishing trips and skiing in the Rocky Mountains. He lives in Denver with his wife, Robin, and their four children.

His latest book is the thriller, Chasing Hindy.

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About the Book:

ADDY’S DREAM AS a patent attorney is to help bring a ground breaking energy technology to the world. Addy’s hopes soar when she is wooed by Quinn, an entrepreneur, to join his company that has purportedly invented a car that can run on water using an innovative catalyst. After resigning her partnership to join Quinn, Addy discovers things aren’t as they seem. The patent office suppresses the company’s patent applications and her life is threatened by unknown assailants if she doesn’t resign.

When she is arrested for stealing US technology from the patent office she realizes Quinn has used her. Now, Addy must find a way to clear her name while salvaging her dream of propelling this technology to the world, all while powerful forces attempt to stop her.

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

How did I come up with the idea that a car could run on water?

Ideas for books come in the strangest ways. For me, they often just seem to fall out of the sky, usually at the most unexpected times. I’ve written books or articles from ideas that woke me up in the middle of the night, from thoughts that came to me while running triathlons, and while taking hikes deep in the Rocky Mountains. I’ve even had some ideas come while sitting on a ski lift during a freezing blizzard.

The genesis behind Chasing Hindy came from a surprising source—a hypnotist. When I was in high school, we had an assembly where a hypnotist put a group of volunteers under hypnosis. One of the questions he asked them was what would be the fuel of the future. What fuel would people pump into their tank? Almost without exception they all said, “water!” The hypnotist then told the audience that every time he asked that question he received the same answer.

That was several decades ago, but I’ve always wondered whether that could possibly be true—and why all these people thought we’d all be driving cars that used water. In the following years, I realized that a car wouldn’t run on water per se, but from hydrogen that is extracted from water. The question, of course, is that if we know how to produce hydrogen, why aren’t there hydrogen cars? The answer is quite simple. As an engineer and patent attorney I know the science behind extracting hydrogen from water. The problem is that it takes more energy to do this than to just run a car on gasoline, or even electricity.

But what if somebody invented a way to make it happen? That’s the germ of an idea that led to Chasing Hindy.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

It was hard enough that it took me nearly fifteen years—whereas my other books all took less than a year.

I think the hardest part was finding an idea for a main character. For me, a good character is far more difficult than finding a story idea. Not only does the character need to make the story line happen, but the readers need to relate to what the character is experiencing. I wrote the book five times and threw them all in the garbage can because I didn’t like the main character. What made the story finally click was my discovery of Addy—a patent attorney with a dream to change the world. I decided on a female character (who was also a patent attorney) for several reasons. Perhaps the main reason was that female patent attorneys are in short supply and I wanted to encourage women to enter the profession. So I created Addy to hopefully show what a difference one person can make, and through her experience more women would want to become patent attorneys. What I love about Addy is her determination to make the world a better place, no matter the cost.

But explaining how a car can actually run on water was also a challenge. I had to condense some pretty complicated technology down to a very simple level and also try to make it sound somewhat sexy.

And what did I learn from all this that I could pass on? Don’t give up is the first piece of advice. If you are passionate your story, keep working at it. The second piece of advice is get a good writing coach. I write a lot for my profession, but getting all the parts in the right places requires the help of someone who has been down the road before. I found my coach to be invaluable.

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

My publisher is Koehler Books. They also published my last two books, The Vintage Club and Gil, and we’ve had a great working relationship over the years. As such, I decided to use them for Chasing Hindy as well. I was introduced to Koehler Books by David Hancock of Morgan James Publishing when they joined forces a few years ago. My first book, Why Has America Stopped Inventing? was published by Morgan James. My next book was fiction and when I floated it past David, he suggested I send it to John Koehler. Fortunately, John loved the manuscript and we’ve been together ever since.

The good thing about a small publisher is that they work with you and usually let you call the shots. I love that flexibility.

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

Yes, finding a literary agent. That’s a lot more difficult than finding a publisher. I tried the letter route for about a year, with no luck. Then I went to the Maui Writer’s Conference and pitched my idea to Jillian Manus. She loved the idea and agreed on the spot to take me on. She did all the heavy lifting in getting me published.

The other surprising thing was how fun it was to be part of the marketing plan. When I released my first book, I did a two day PR event in New York City. A limo ran me around to about 8 studios for interviews. It was a blast. I ended up doing over 50 radio shows and made several television appearances.

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

I am currently working on a piece of historical fiction based in the mid-18th century. I was just at the New Jersey Historical Society doing research. I’m going to tell about an important and fascinating part of American history that has somehow been overlooked. The research (which has taken several years) is now finished and I’m going to start writing as soon as I finishing my marketing campaign for Chasing Hindy. If all goes well, it will take me a year to finish.

Q: What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

That it might just be possible to run a car on water. If you want to find out how, you’ve got to read the book.

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

I would like people to know that there are all kinds of technologies out there that could really benefit the world, but are not commercialized for a variety of reasons. It’s amazing that we are still running cars on gasoline. It doesn’t have to be that way!

Q: Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?

As Stephen King is fond of saying, as long as you can wake up and write, life is going to be okay.