Sid Balman Jr.
Author Interview - Sid Balman Jr.
Author of Murmuration
Charlie Christmas, Ademar Zarkan and Prometheus Stone are the best of America, united by war, scarred by displacement and resolute in the face of the troubles that rip the nation apart over three decades. Christmas, the Somali translator with a split personality and Zarkan, a Syrian Muslim woman raised in West Texas, a West Point graduate and a US Army sniper who struggles to reconcile her roles as an assassin and a mother; are brought together by Stone, a lapsed Jew and an Army captain amid a war and famine in East Africa the likes of which the world has rarely seen.
Their journey from the mean streets of Mogadishu to the high desert of West Texas, the barren plains of Indian country and the rolling hills of Minnesota is both tragic and uplifting. Charlie’s son, Amiir, is the bookmark in their lives, and the struggle to raise him amid the predators of white supremacy and violent radicalism is their life’s work. With the help of Buck, the bomb-sniffing dog with a nose for danger, they prevail over Somali militias, pirates, white supremacists and ISIS terrorists in a splintering world that has turned on itself like a serpent in the singularly obscene act of devouring its own tail.
Murmuration digs deeper into the backstory from some of the beloved West Texas characters in Balman’s awarded debut novel, “Seventh Flag,” and defines what it means to be American in the 21st Century.
Author Interview - Sid Balman Jr.
Author I draw inspiration from: Karl Marlantes
Author Interview - Sid Balman Jr. | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: In a tent in the mountains
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Augustus McRae; Lonesome Dove; Larry McMurtry
Author Interview - Sid Balman Jr. | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: After reading On the Road (for the 3rd time) in college
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Paperback
The last book I read: Blacktop Wasteland; S.A. Cosby
Author Interview - Sid Balman Jr. | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Computer
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Augustus McRae; Lonesome Dove; Larry McMurtry
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Journalist
Favorite decade in fashion history: The next one
Place I’d most like to travel: India (again)
My signature drink: Mezcal
Favorite artist: Leonardo DaVinci
Number one on my bucket list: Nobel Prize for Literature
Find more from the author:
Instagram:sidbalman
Facebook: @seventhflag @sidbalman
Twitter: @seventhflag @sidbalman
Author Bio: The Writer in Residence at Sul Ross State University and a Pulitzer-nominated national security correspondent, Sid Balman Jr. has covered wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has traveled extensively with two American presidents and four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic missions. With the emergence of the web and the commoditizing of content, Balman moved into the business side of communications. In that role, over two decades, he helped found a news syndicate focused on the interests of women and girls, served as communications chief for the largest consortium of U.S. international development organizations, led two successful progressive campaigning companies, and launched a new division at a large international development firm centered on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments and nonprofits. A fourth-generation Texan, as well as a climber, surfer, paddler, and benefactor to Smith College, Balman splits time between Alpine Texas, where he is the Writer in Residence at Sul Ross State University, and Washington DC with three kids, and two dogs.
