Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
MP Woodward, Good morning, welcome back to the Vinie Penn Project.
I appreciate you coming back on and congratulations on book
number two as far as Jack Ryan Junior is concerned.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, thanks, Vinnie. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Former Naval intelligence officer, yourself, author of your acclaimed Handler
CIA espionage series, and what I find really interesting about
and I can't wait to dive into in Line of Demarcation,
the latest you know, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Junior, the
(00:36):
latest novel. Your second is the Oil End of the Equation,
the discovery of this oil field off the coast of Guyana.
Maybe it's because I'm hot off you know, season number
one of land Man, and I realized that that takes
place in Texas, and that reference might even be lost
on you. You might not watch the show, but.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
No, sorry, I was just not lost at all. I
had fun writing about the oil and gas industry, and
so when Landman came out, I'm right, I'm like Yay
Taylor's Sheridan.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
This is fun to watch and I don't know how
much it can dovetail with anything involving Jack Ryan Junior,
but perhaps the conversation that he has in the last
episode of that first season with Andy Garcia, who's the
head of a cartel, and how they both talk about
we've got ex presidents in our backpock and Andy Garcia says, Tom,
(01:28):
if you recall, I've got all the same ex presidents,
I've got all the same senators. You know, We're doing
two decidedly different things with the same allies. And that's
I think that's something people really need to embrace. Americans
in particular really need to embrace. And I wonder what
Jack Ryan Jr. Is facing when it comes to this
(01:52):
oil field discovery, because that's dirty politics all around it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. Well, first of all, this is a real world
oil and gas discovery off the Orinoco Shelf, which is
off the Orinocle River and that sits right at the
southern end in between Venezuela and a country most people
haven't really heard of called Guayana, and Guyana is the
only English speaking country in South America. It's a US
(02:20):
ally and with the discovery of this massive shelf, it's
going to make the Guyanese, who are only about a
million people, the wealthiest on Earth per capita. So all
kinds of things are going to happen. It's going to
upset the worldwide oil and gas market, which you know,
geopolitical actors like Russia and Iran have a vested interest
(02:43):
in controlling. And so that's what leads to the politics
right away in this book, and Jack Ryan Jr. Is
thrown into political intrigue, as you know, the little Green
men from Russia's Wagner group come to basically try to
try to take.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
This I could be way off here. The Guyanese very
spiritual people.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Correct, they are a spirit They are a former English colony,
so there's infrastructure of you know, the Protestant religion. But
they most recently did elect a Muslim president. I don't
think of it. It's nowhere close to being a theocracy
though it's not like one of the countries down there
(03:24):
that that's controlled by a religious party.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Huh. That's interesting. And how much from when does this
this latest book line of demarcation? When do you even
go so far as to say it's twenty twenty two?
Do you give a year? No?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But I knew, I mean I knew when it was
going to come out, and so it comes out next
week May twentieth. Planet Demarcation. It's number one in war
fiction right now on Amagulation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so highly anticipated.
But I knew it would come out in late twenty
twenty five. What I didn't know is that Marco Rubio
would be down in Guyana a month ago telling the
(04:06):
Venezuelans to back off. And Venezuela has made, you know,
lots of noise about going and grabbing this this this
oil shelf as well over a disputed region, and of
course they're in cahoots with the Russian So the geopolitics
are for this book are very timely.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, that's that was my knee jerk reaction to it.
And you know, watching it circling background, squaring off with
drug cartels in Texas, you know, par for the course Guyana.
Is there a gang element? Was there a gang element
that you plugged in cartels, anything of that nature or no,
(04:47):
that doesn't even play a factor in.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
This Oh yeah, no, absolutely so. In this book, the
competing forces are basically a drug cartel who's backed but
you know, Venezuela turns a blind eye to, but that
the Russians align with with the Wagner group. And in
the real world, what has happened is that many of
the cartels that came out of Columbia get free reign
(05:10):
in Venezuela because it's you know, an autocracy where they're
more than happy to you know, trade favors amongst strong men.
And that's effectively what happens in this book is that,
you know, an alliance between one of those cartels, the Venezuelans,
and the Russians attempt to take to take over Guyana
(05:30):
right under the US his nose.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Is that one of the first things that you think
about when sitting down and preparing to start writing your
next Jack Ryan Junior novel. Again, this is Tom Clancy's world,
of course, but it strikes me as the first thing
MP Woodward would think, it's the where Where's it taking place?
(05:56):
Not what's gonna happen? But let me decide local Jack Ryan,
you know, in general, never mind Jack Ryan Jr. It's
all about the where. To me, it seems.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yes. I think Tom Clancy is a is a brand,
just like you know, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a brand.
And I think, yeah, exactly, And so with the Tom
Clancy brand, I want to make sure that read it
that I that I help educate readers on flashpoints. So
you're absolutely right. You know, Yes, the novel I want
to have, you know, character driven themes and have them
(06:29):
complete in arc and all of those things. But that
has to happen somewhere, and living up to the brand
means final flashpoint. Quick a quick word on that. I
have a third Tom Clancy book that's already up for
pre sale on Amazon or you know everywhere, and it
is called Terminal Velocity. And for that book, I traveled
to India and UH and wanted to set something with
(06:51):
India Pakistan in Kashmir, and I have the I have
the opening scene being a terrorist attack by Pakistan UH
elements on Indian elements in cash Bear. Then Sam there.
It was in the news, so yeah, I think trying
to deliver those headlines is part of the brief.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah. And readers have come to almost even expect it,
and that's what they want out of this particular hero.
It's Tom Clancy Line of Demarcation, a Jack Ryan junior novel,
officially in bookstores next week. MP Woodward, so amazing. How
many authors have former military got these writing chops, and
(07:33):
you're one in a long, strong line again, MP Woodward,
thanks so much for taking time to come on, and
line of demarcation goes on sale bookstores everywhere next week.
MP Woodward, Good morning, welcome back to the Vinie Penn Project.
I appreciate you coming back on and congratulations on book
number two as far as Jack Ryan Junior is concerned.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Yeah, thanks, Vinnie. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Former Naval intelligence officer, yourself, author of your acclaimed Handler
CIA espionage series, and what I find really interesting about
and I can't wait to dive into in Line of Demarcation,
the latest you know, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Junior, the
(00:36):
latest novel. Your second is the Oil End of the Equation,
the discovery of this oil field off the coast of Guyana.
Maybe it's because I'm hot off you know, season number
one of land Man, and I realized that that takes
place in Texas, and that reference might even be lost
on you. You might not watch the show, but.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
No, sorry, I was just not lost at all. I
had fun writing about the oil and gas industry, and
so when Landman came out, I'm right, I'm like Yay
Taylor's Sheridan.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
This is fun to watch and I don't know how
much it can dovetail with anything involving Jack Ryan Junior,
but perhaps the conversation that he has in the last
episode of that first season with Andy Garcia, who's the
head of a cartel, and how they both talk about
we've got ex presidents in our backpock and Andy Garcia says, Tom,
(01:28):
if you recall, I've got all the same ex presidents,
I've got all the same senators. You know, We're doing
two decidedly different things with the same allies. And that's
I think that's something people really need to embrace. Americans
in particular really need to embrace. And I wonder what
Jack Ryan Jr. Is facing when it comes to this
(01:52):
oil field discovery, because that's dirty politics all around it.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah. Well, first of all, this is a real world
oil and gas discovery off the Orinoco Shelf, which is
off the Orinocle River and that sits right at the
southern end in between Venezuela and a country most people
haven't really heard of called Guayana, and Guyana is the
only English speaking country in South America. It's a US
(02:20):
ally and with the discovery of this massive shelf, it's
going to make the Guyanese, who are only about a
million people, the wealthiest on Earth per capita. So all
kinds of things are going to happen. It's going to
upset the worldwide oil and gas market, which you know,
geopolitical actors like Russia and Iran have a vested interest
(02:43):
in controlling. And so that's what leads to the politics
right away in this book, and Jack Ryan Jr. Is
thrown into political intrigue, as you know, the little Green
men from Russia's Wagner group come to basically try to
try to take.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
This I could be way off here. The Guyanese very
spiritual people.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Correct, they are a spirit They are a former English colony,
so there's infrastructure of you know, the Protestant religion. But
they most recently did elect a Muslim president. I don't
think of it. It's nowhere close to being a theocracy
though it's not like one of the countries down there
(03:24):
that that's controlled by a religious party.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Huh. That's interesting. And how much from when does this
this latest book line of demarcation? When do you even
go so far as to say it's twenty twenty two?
Do you give a year? No?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
But I knew, I mean I knew when it was
going to come out, and so it comes out next
week May twentieth. Planet Demarcation. It's number one in war
fiction right now on Amagulation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so highly anticipated.
But I knew it would come out in late twenty
twenty five. What I didn't know is that Marco Rubio
would be down in Guyana a month ago telling the
(04:06):
Venezuelans to back off. And Venezuela has made, you know,
lots of noise about going and grabbing this this this
oil shelf as well over a disputed region, and of
course they're in cahoots with the Russian So the geopolitics
are for this book are very timely.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, that's that was my knee jerk reaction to it.
And you know, watching it circling background, squaring off with
drug cartels in Texas, you know, par for the course Guyana.
Is there a gang element? Was there a gang element
that you plugged in cartels, anything of that nature or no,
(04:47):
that doesn't even play a factor in.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
This Oh yeah, no, absolutely so. In this book, the
competing forces are basically a drug cartel who's backed but
you know, Venezuela turns a blind eye to, but that
the Russians align with with the Wagner group. And in
the real world, what has happened is that many of
the cartels that came out of Columbia get free reign
(05:10):
in Venezuela because it's you know, an autocracy where they're
more than happy to you know, trade favors amongst strong men.
And that's effectively what happens in this book is that,
you know, an alliance between one of those cartels, the Venezuelans,
and the Russians attempt to take to take over Guyana
(05:30):
right under the US his nose.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Is that one of the first things that you think
about when sitting down and preparing to start writing your
next Jack Ryan Junior novel. Again, this is Tom Clancy's world,
of course, but it strikes me as the first thing
MP Woodward would think, it's the where Where's it taking place?
(05:56):
Not what's gonna happen? But let me decide local Jack Ryan,
you know, in general, never mind Jack Ryan Jr. It's
all about the where. To me, it seems.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yes. I think Tom Clancy is a is a brand,
just like you know, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a brand.
And I think, yeah, exactly, And so with the Tom
Clancy brand, I want to make sure that read it
that I that I help educate readers on flashpoints. So
you're absolutely right. You know, Yes, the novel I want
to have, you know, character driven themes and have them
(06:29):
complete in arc and all of those things. But that
has to happen somewhere, and living up to the brand
means final flashpoint. Quick a quick word on that. I
have a third Tom Clancy book that's already up for
pre sale on Amazon or you know everywhere, and it
is called Terminal Velocity. And for that book, I traveled
to India and UH and wanted to set something with
(06:51):
India Pakistan in Kashmir, and I have the I have
the opening scene being a terrorist attack by Pakistan UH
elements on Indian elements in cash Bear. Then Sam there.
It was in the news, so yeah, I think trying
to deliver those headlines is part of the brief.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah. And readers have come to almost even expect it,
and that's what they want out of this particular hero.
It's Tom Clancy Line of Demarcation, a Jack Ryan junior novel,
officially in bookstores next week. MP Woodward, so amazing. How
many authors have former military got these writing chops, and
(07:33):
you're one in a long, strong line again, MP Woodward,
thanks so much for taking time to come on, and
line of demarcation goes on sale bookstores everywhere next week.
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