About the Book

Book: The Home Team

Author: Dave Pratt

Genre: Military / Romance

Release Date: November 11, 2025

Sam Anthem has always been a team player, leading his Home Team on secret missions around the world and chasing down bad guys for the U.S. government. But Sam has never had a place to call home or someone to go home to.
Consuelo Zamora has been serving as a missionary nurse, but her work has led her to be forced to work with some South American drug lords in order to provide medicine for the common people. After being rescued by Sam and his Home Team, Consuelo settles into a new position in Olympia, Washington, to work with a community center there. But somehow, trouble always follows her, and Sam Anthem seems to always be nearby to save the day.
When Sam is forced on a two-month vacation, he is introduced to a former covert ops soldier-turned pastor. But the vacation takes a turn when the Home Team comes under attack. As the team fights to stay alive against an unknown adversary, Sam begins to wonder if there is more to life than just the job. With his life on the line, Sam must decide between the job or his newfound faith and possible love.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

David Pratt is a native of most of the U.S. west coast, from Bakersfield, California to Anchorage, Alaska. A retired U.S. Army officer and private sector project manager consultant, he is based in Olympia, Washington, and spends the majority of his time living and wandering the Pacific Northwest with his wife and family. Mr. Pratt has wide and varied publication credits, including magazine articles and short stories in a variety of regional and national magazines and journals, and six fiction and nonfiction books. His guiding light in life is Our Lord Jesus Christ, and his focus is glorifying God in all he does. He considers his wife, family, and friends as some of God’s greatest blessings in his life.

Author Interview

• What is your favorite genre of books? Why?

I love suspense and intrigue, followed close by romantic suspense, science fiction and fantasy. I’m a voracious reader, but I love suspense because of the places it takes a person, the fast pace, the action, and the well-developed, strong but vulnerable characters created by many of the writers.

• Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

Definitely one project at a time. I always have a premise or outline in mind or sketched out on the computer for another project, but I put myself fully into the crafting of the novel I’m working on at that moment.

• How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

I learned how to write once I’d graduated from college and was braced by a captain early in my army career, who braced me in a hallway and said, “Pratt, you can’t speak and you can’t write. Fix it or you’ll fail.”  As a 2nd lieutenant, I was inclined to follow his advice, so I signed up for the Writer’s Digest Short Story correspondence course. I published my first professional article shortly after completing the course and was hooked.

But it didn’t stop there. What I learned from that course and the experience of writing for publication carried me, on a part-time basis, for many, many years. I spent the next ten years largely being rejected for my fiction and non-fiction work. Then, at about that ten-year mark, I started publishing in a variety of national and regional magazines and even wrote w bi-weekly humor column for a weekly newspaper. That experience taught me the value of hanging in there through the rejection process and learning the craft. I’m not the world’s greatest writer by a long shot, but I love writing and learning about readers who’ve read and appreciated my work and got some sort of personal value or message from what they read.

• What is the funniest thing to happen in the process of writing one of your books?

I submitted my first novel, written for the Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Course, to my mentor, a romance writer. She cut 50% of the book. I was shocked and then, after we talked, realized that it was the right thing to do. It made the story so much better. We laughed about that experience for years afterwards.

• How do you relax after a long day of writing?

I spend time with my wife, watch movies, hike, or read a good book. That last one never gets old!

• Where do you find your greatest inspiration?

I get my greatest inspiration from Jesus Christ and the message He provides. Every time I learn something new about the Word, it seems to impact some experience I’ve had or direct me to someone else with a unique experience, which might make a great story.

• Who is your favorite author? Why?

I have so many, but right now they are Linda J. White and Marc Cameron. White delivers great suspense and a subtle but important message, along with tight prose. Marc Cameron’s Arliss Cutter series is clean suspense, which I totally enjoy. He’s one of the best suspense writers I’ve ever read.

• Do you have extensive outlines when writing or do you write a book as you go?

A bit of both.

I generally start with a character and put them into a unique situation, then craft the first two chapters of my story. It is during those first two chapters that the character reveals himself or herself to me, and the premise is revealed. Having said that, The Home Team was an exception, where the premise was in place before the writing started, and the characters showed up to chase the premise.

The combination of the premise, the character, and the first two chapters usually reveals a plot line, along with numerous potential subplots. It’s at that point that I outline the novel, tracing the plot throughout, which is followed by me wrestling with the characters as they try to drag me off-plot and down different roads than originally planned. Sounds weird, I’m sure, but I spend a lot of time keeping my characters on-plot as they evolve through the story. It can be challenging, but it is fun and often results in a much richer story line.

• Do you remember the first book you read? What sort of impact did it make on you?

The Hardy Boys, and it ties into an important story in my life.

Until the 4th grade, I didn’t read much at all. In fact, my reading teacher advised my parents that because of my poor reading skills (so slow), I wasn’t very intelligent and would not amount to much in life. Fortunately, in the same school, my science teacher advised my parents that I was his best student. That suggested to my mom that my reading issue might not be related to intelligence, but perhaps to my vision. Right after that experience, my mother took me to an optometrist, who prescribed eyeglasses. My grades immediately shot up as my reading ability improved. And I discovered fiction. It started with the Hardy Boys and I’ve been addicted ever since. Back then, fiction provided an escape from a challenging family situation. Today, it’s a short vacation every time I open something new to read.

• What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

Quiet, and my writing board – a bulletin board where I keep my outline, scene maps, and edit to-do lists. I also benefit from coffee and chocolate chip cookies from the Fuels So Good coffee shop in a nearby town.  Every now and then, my amazing wife comes to the door of my office and gives me a smile or a hug. That helps a lot.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 24

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 25

Stories By Gina, October 26 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, October 27

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 28

Vicky Sluiter, October 29 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 30

Cover Lover Book Review, October 31

A Reader’s Brain, November 1 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, November 2

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, November 3 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, November 3

Guild Master, November 4 (Author Interview)

The Sacred Line, November 5

Fiction Book Lover, November 6 (Author Interview)

Holly’s Book Corner, November 6

Giveaway

To celebrate his tour, Dave is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d285/the-home-team-celebration-tour-giveaway