Sky writer

For those readers out there hungry for an action-adventure novel with an unusual premise, Dean O. Talley’s got one for ya. Talley, an initial-attack-qualified air-tanker captain, lives in Durham and recently published his first book, Flyboys Risky Business. It follows appliance smugglers across the border between the U.S. and Mexico … and the results of that smuggling. The book is available for order online at www.flyboys-riskybusiness.com.

Tell me a little bit about your book. What is it about?

It’s an action-adventure based in the Southwest—southern Texas—in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. It’s a group of people who are smuggling appliances into Mexico, if you can believe that. It’s kind of an odd occupation, but they were trying to beat the duties of importing into Mexico at that time. It was a pretty thriving industry, smuggling appliances.

I knew some folks who used to do that, and they have some pretty interesting stories about what happened. After that the storyline is, obviously they get into trouble. People want their airplane, they want their services, they want to import drugs into the United States. So it’s about their travails trying to extricate themselves from the situation.

Is this your first novel?

Yes, it is.

What made you decide to put this story into print?

I’m pretty hard-headed. It took about four years to write and four years to actually get it into print—just as much of a challenge as writing it and not nearly as much fun.

It’s an unusual story. Have you ever read anything like it?

No, it’s not a big industry, smuggling appliances into Mexico. [In addition to the main characters], there is a strong woman character. And a Honduran Indian who’s part of the plot. Some real bad guys, some government agencies. The first half of the book is about some of the poor choices—or difficult choices—that people have to make, and the last half is resolving their lives after some of the difficult choices they made.

How long have you lived in Durham?

We moved to Durham—I have a wife, three kids, dogs, cats, goats, stuff like that—we moved there in ‘89. I’ve been in the area since the 1970s. But I travel a lot, it’s part of my job. I fly air tankers, been doing it about 28 years now.