N.J. Lujan is an internationally published author and Amazon best seller who discovered her passion for writing as a teenager. She served as a public affairs officer in high school, then joined the U.S. Army and had a successful corporate career alongside her work as a ghostwriter. The Atropos Maker series by N.J. Lujan is a highly acclaimed action-thriller series that provides insight into the lives of government agents and soldiers. In this interview, we will explore why this gripping series is a must-read for military and thriller enthusiasts.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now? Do you have any pets?
I was born in Washington, DC, then at the age of 5, my family moved to a small town in West Virginia. After graduating high school, at the age of 17, I went into the US Army as a Tactical Army Combat System Specialist, giving me flight to experience the world. I was even lucky enough to live in Germany for 4 years, before returning to the US. It was an experience that shaped me profoundly, and even creeps into some of my storylines.
Later, I jumped into corporate settings and built a career while still fueling my true passion… writing. Today, I own and operate a successful company, and when not in the field for the company, you can find me at home in North Carolina with my four dogs writing my next suspense, thriller novel.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can remember having an essay assignment in elementary school, where we had to read a book and write basically a synopsis on it. Elementary level of course. My father, being an advocate for education, wanted to see me truly dissect the author’s underlying meaning, sub-plots, etc. and tell him, on paper, my thoughts. Once I started delving into the assignment, the way my father wanted it to be done, I was fascinated by the layers and the power of words. It wasn’t until I reached my high school years, after becoming the Public Affairs Officer for ROTC, and creating stories for my drama class, that my fascination went from dissecting to creating my own voice.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read? Who inspires you in your writings?
Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, and for a modern author, I enjoy one of Dean Koontz novels. I appreciate thriller and suspense novels.
Virginia Woolf has been an inspiration over the years. Mrs. Dalloway represented modernist and had a consciousness style to it. Her unreliable narration and ability to make the reader become the characters inner thoughts was inspiring. In the Atropos Maker series, that was my goal. To explore the effects of battle more comprehensively, representing both the immediate damage and its long-term impacts.
Tell us a little about your latest book.
The Atropos Maker III: The Awakening begins several years later with Alexander at the helm. Alexander is Norma, the creator of Atropos, son and is readily prepared to lead the team wherever the government may send them. After all, it’s in his blood and what better warrior then one conceived by Norma. This is what the agency had been counting on.
As this final of the three-part series continues, Alexander is taken back when he is suddenly exiled by a new mysterious agent, seeming closest to the president, just when he needs agency resources the most. His pre-teen daughter is missing with little to no leads as to who is responsible for her kidnapping.
The reader follows as Alexander, with the help of a few retired Atropos members, still fiercely loyal to Norma and Alexander and with naught to lose, as he tries to figure out who and where this mysterious agent, named Nolan, came from, and his connection to his missing daughter. So, this retired team tries to warn him. Like Norma, he must go through hell before the awakening.
After six months of pounding the keyboard, The Atropos Maker III: The Awakening takes one final turn in the end leaving the reader with insight into the fears and internal anguish of these type of professionals as well as one final, “I did not see that coming”.
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- N.J. Lujan (@NJ_LUJAN) / Twitter
Purchase The Atropos Maker III: The Awakening
The Atropos Maker
“Over my dead body would I ever leave him and return to the agency.” Norma remembers those words that now prove to be untrue as she rejoins Atropos-a covert government organization-after so many bloodless years. She has just carried out her first mission back, suspiciously without her team. Something tells her things are not what they seem and betrayal is imminent.
It turns out a devastating weapon created by the agency may soon be decommissioned, and things need to change. Norma is beginning to speculate that it isn’t her skill set that the agency wants, Instead, accepting her back was their way of gaining access to a more lethal successor.
Is her gut feeling right? Will the agency soon turn on her? Norma must escape the clandestine smoky mirrors of Washington DC and see clearly before it’s too late.
