Welcome, Reading Friends. David Telbat here. The second book of the Never Lost Series, Shadow Slave, is now in the hands of our local proofreader, but I've already jumped into the next series! Yes, what many of you have asked for—the next is another COIL novel series focused on the Caspertein family.

If you've followed me for any amount of time, you may have read some of my interviews where I, David, have interviewed one of my novel characters. (Yes, a fictional character! 😉) Below is a recent conversation “I had” with Titus Caspertein about his new role in The ELM Series. The working title of Book one is Eve of Chaos. Are you ready for more of the Casperteins? I hope so! I have a whole series lined up, and the first draft of the first book is already written! Enjoy this little peek into the new series.

INTERVIEW WITH TITUS CASPERTEIN

by D.I. Telbat

David: Titus, it's great to be working with you again. I took a couple years to work with your friend Brody Sladrick as he fought human trafficking, but here we are again, back with the Casperteins!

Titus: It ain't easy being put on the shelf for a while, David, but I'm honored my family and I will be telling our story again. I think it's an important story.

David: I think so too! Let's share with readers a little about your part in this first book. A couple vague spoilers are okay since our closest fans will be reading this interview and they're chomping at the bit for more adventures in the COIL timeline. How does this new series fit with the other books about you and your son, Levi?

Titus: Well, book one starts ninety days after Distant Harm, that tumultuous mission we had in North Korea. At the end of that book, North Korea fired a missile toward the US mainland. It detonated over Meridia, Oregon, but it wasn’t carrying an explosive warhead. We discovered, though, that it carried a virus that behaved and spread much like Ebola. I gathered people around me in San Diego as the virus was expected to devastate the country.

David: So, if this first book starts immediately after Distant Harm, Book Three in the COIL Legacy Series, then it must also transpire before The Steadfast Series, which takes place up in Wyoming?

Titus: Correct. And keep in mind that twenty years after the COIL Legacy Series, the Last Dawn Series features my son Levi as well. That leaves you twenty years to describe what happened in San Diego during some very volatile days that brought on the collapse of America.

David: So, who’s in the first book that we know already from past series?

Titus: Well, obviously my wife, Annette, is with me. And Levi, who is nineteen. He's ready to find his own way as a young man even though we all live together in a high-rise apartment building overlooking Seaport Village. Also, life wouldn't be the same without Oleg Saratov teasing me about my age or ear hair or something. He and I have been through a lot of adventures together around the world.

David: What about your sister, Wynter?

Titus: Oh, yes, Wynter is married now to one-eyed Wes Trimble and they are expecting a baby. They're with us. Oleg was with Interpol for years, but Wes brings a different intelligence tool set to the team. And Chevy—the only survivor of the Kindred of Nails from the North Korea mission—wanted to stay with us. Chevy's not too outspoken socially, but when he starts teaching the Bible, he's not short on words. And Chevy is, of course, a master mechanic. He and Wes are close.

David: Okay, and maybe just as important—who isn't in this series that we already know?

Titus: Sadly, but necessary, Corban Dowler decided to set up his own post-COIL center of operation in New York. So before the country was ravaged by the Meridia Virus, he took with him his family, Chloe Azmaveth, Nathan Isaacson, Bruno, and Scooter. Of course, Luigi Putelli remained at Corban's side, too, so none of those early COIL operators are in this new series, but chronologically, they appear in the next series, the Last Dawn Series. You will see them all again later.

David: So what's it like raising a teenage son like Levi in a chaotic world after America's collapse?

Titus: As your readers know, I didn't get to know Levi until he found me after his mother passed away. She had been an old girlfriend from my worldly years. At this point, Levi is nineteen, and as his newly-found father, I'm both terrified and thrilled to see him mature in this age of virus and strife.

David: Are you afraid for him?

Titus: I'm afraid for everyone who's chosen to trust me to protect them. It's no longer just Oleg and me running all over Africa and the Middle East. Now, there are threats all around us. The virus is still popping up after three months of us laying low, but we can't hide out forever. There's also the military that's established itself across the bay at Coronado Island. They're more focused on stealing resources and control than they are on rebuilding and serving the remaining citizens. Neighbors across the city are suspicious of neighbors. Everyone is hungry and low on drinkable water. Gangs roam the streets, killing anyone with provisions. And then there's the bandits from the hills threatening what little stability we're trying to gain in the city as they raid the suburbs and destroy what they can't capture.

David: Are there people around the city relying on you?

Titus: Not just on me, but on Wes, Oleg, Chevy, and Levi, too. I really see Levi stepping up through all this. He's interacting with civilians, offering them hope, sharing the gospel in simple ways, and rescuing them from troublemakers. Chevy took him under his wing to disciple him in the Scriptures, so he's received the head knowledge. But we’ll see what he becomes after he's tested out there with real conflicts in this new world of wickedness.

David: Can you tell us about ELM? What's that stand for?

Titus: Early in the weeks after Pan-Day—when the pandemic and civil panic had reached its peak—I realized my team and I needed a cause to bring us together in Christ. And something by which the locals could know us. I picked the elm tree. ELM stands for Every Life Matters.

David: So, an elm tree is your symbol?

Titus: Yes. Across San Diego, ELM becomes a symbol for God's people and the way they treat all people, friend or foe. Since every soul matters to God, every soul matters to us. We're followers of Jesus Christ. He gave His life for even His enemies, as it says in Romans 5:8, so we've resolved in our hearts to give of ourselves in whatever way may be needed. We Casperteins are a resourceful bunch, David. I think your readers will find that under ELM, we’ll answer the call around us in this new book. It ain't easy being lights in a dark world, but since we've got Christ's light inside us, the darkness is about to be confronted.

David: Thank you, Titus, for taking time to share with us about this new series. We'll see you again soon in the pages of . . . Eve of Chaos, Book One of The ELM Series.

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And thank you for reading, dear friends. Until the Lord appears, we'll stay the course and maybe take a lesson from Titus' ELM concept, remembering that—Every Life Matters.

See you all on the next page!

David Telbat

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COMING UP: Join us next time for a new Author Reflection, “Mind your own Business?”

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