Evan Graver: Welcome back to Plot Recon, Where Thrillers Get Tactical. I'm your host, Evan Graver. Today, I'm joined by Moran Tomer, an Israeli author based in Singapore and the creator of the Brewster Protocols series. With a background in military and security work and more than 20 years in cybersecurity leadership roles, Moran brings real-world tradecraft and operator perspective to his fiction. His debut novel, The Brewster Protocol, launched in April and his books are blend geopolitical tension, grounded action, dry opera, humor, and the reality of what happens when carefully built plans collide with chaos. Welcome to the show, Moran.
Moran Tomer: ⁓ thank you, thank you very much. Happy to be here.
Evan Graver: my first question is, out of the gate is always, what got you interested in writing? And then what made you finally sit down and write a complete book?
Moran Tomer: Well, that's... I saw some of your podcasts. I saw the answers of lot of other authors and it's ⁓ very different. So didn't like writing. ⁓ Never writing. Ever since I was a kid, it was something, I think, the worst thing for me. I used to run away to the other side of the world when I needed to write anything. If it's homework, if it's, you know... Basically, if it has a pen, back then it was only pens, know, it didn't really have computers. So... ⁓ I just completely hated it. I think that's the good word. At some point, I think with maturity and with time passed and experiences I had in my life, found it, I found thing of being to live a little differently ⁓ maybe bring a of things that I had like inside, put it out ⁓ and And when I started experimenting, started seeing that, you know, it's something that I enjoy it because it's like, you know, providing myself of a different angle, different story, maybe a different way of looking at things and maybe, you know, take out the things that are locked inside and maybe can, you know, put it out. And it was a very good, you know, a good way for me. I found it fun and just... without really realizing the first book came out, the second one is coming soon. just very but a good surprise.
Evan Graver: I think a lot of authors fall into that niche where you think, ⁓ I'm never going to write a book. then, and then it just kind of falls out. And it's like therapy for you to, you know, put all these things down on paper because you're, either reliving something because we write, we write about what we know or, you know, something from our past, funny story we're telling or, or some sort of trauma. it's almost like therapy.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. completely. Yeah, yeah. Really, it's really therapy. It's us with ourselves in a lot of our prior memories and experiences and finding right way to put it on paper in a way that maybe on paper it looks even better because some of our experiences, let's be honest, are not the best to be described. it comes with a different angle, maybe, ⁓ this is what I try to do, bring a little humor into the equation, trying to bring a different perspective, not just make it a very dark, gray It just made this entire thing fun and a very good tool for me to deal with all the things, which is therapy, basically.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. So how does an Israeli end up in Singapore?
Moran Tomer: Oh, so about five years ago, really, April, April, 2026 was my was the exact mark of the five years. I was as as I as you mentioned before, I'm working for cybersecurity. Israel is very well known in this in its cybersecurity capabilities, innovations. I did a lot of work in this field. I'm doing this for about 25 years. And A Singaporean company that wanted to build its complete cybersecurity practice just, I like to say, imported me to Singapore to basically build these capabilities from nothing. And this is what I'm doing in the last five years, still with the same company, still working for them. Love the experience and the city is... There's no other word describing the city other than wow. So...
Evan Graver: you
Moran Tomer: really make it difficult to do anything else. It's just stay here, enjoy the time I have here, and hopefully for as long as I can.
Evan Graver: Yeah. told you the other day, we, had a miscommunication and we were supposed to do this a couple of days ago, but, ⁓ I was out with some friends. came down to visit me in Fort Lauderdale and, she ⁓ had in Singapore for many years as a banking executive and he her online and flew, went over there and lived for, with her for about 10 years. And so they, they're, they're, constantly comparing downtown Fort Lauderdale in Miami to.
Moran Tomer: Which is the best. Yeah.
Evan Graver: Singapore and main term was that they didn't have any crackheads in Singapore. ⁓
Moran Tomer: Oh, okay. Singapore is very unique. Coming from this hectic chaos of cold Israel, which I love my country, don't get me wrong, but it is chaotic. Coming to Singapore, which is the complete opposite, 180 % degrees, just complete different city, different landscape, different culture, different atmosphere. For us Westerners coming from our Western, you know, known environments, it's just, you know, it's just a big slap in the face, a good slap in the face because you're living in this neutral area, environment that just gives you peace, relaxation, life is normal. And you finally see that normalcy and you're saying to yourself, Is it real? It really, you know, it gets you to question if life is... And I'm not kidding. It seems like an exaggeration, but living in Singapore is like, my daughters are walking at 1 a.m. freely in the streets. They're taking taxis alone. don't need... It's just security and living... Living like think human intended to live in a normal way. That's Singapore.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Well, my friend told me that they found a baby Cobra on the 10th floor of her office building. And I said, I'm out. I'm I can't do that. No snakes are no for me.
Moran Tomer: ⁓ That's the weird part. This used to be, you know, heavy rainforest and area is full with a lot of, well, questionable creatures that ⁓ can kill in many different ways and yes, there are, you know...
Evan Graver: you
Moran Tomer: know things that you can walk in the street and you can see a Cobra and we're talking the small don't keep Cobras there's if you go to YouTube and you just do you know Singapore Cobra you'll see people walking the streets and you know and the far pavement you can see just gigantic King Cobra just Well, that's that's that's part of living but but it's not you know, it's not something you see every day and not very You know, doesn't happen a lot in ⁓ built area. So there are very, you know, small greener areas like parks and ⁓ here. Singapore is not big, these not like big sections of city, but there you can probably ⁓ find a of these creatures. Yeah, makes it an interesting experience, but I'm completely with you. I'm not traveling to Australia because, and everyone tells me Australia is great, but I'm saying everything that bites you kills you. Why? Why? my point of view also. ⁓
Evan Graver: Yes So all these unique experiences in Singapore and how do you incorporate that in writing? Because your books are set there.
Moran Tomer: books are set there, so when we talk about Josh in a general sense, I try to bring a lot of myself into Josh, although Josh, the character itself and some of the experiences are shared, but Josh is my... ⁓ is my what would happen if I wouldn't choose the choices I So it's like a different, he's a different character of me just with different choices. And Singapore, I found that this contradiction a thriller ⁓ that has lot of to this. ⁓ peaceful, very, very well acclimated, relaxed state, country. It seemed like something needs to happen. And like I said, yes, I'm a Westerner coming from a specific past and experiences and coming to Singapore, which is the complete opposite. I felt like something needs to be shaken. ⁓ is how I ⁓ that different view to how, you to, thought that Singapore would be very interesting to make it a little different. And this is why, you know, I brought Josh and put it in Singapore. And because I, again, I'm here and the experience I had is so good, I able to put it inside a book. So a lot of the things, you know, you can find Marina Bay Sands there and, know, Tajong Pajar a lot of places that, you know, actually exist. can find it and, you know,
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: The dishes, the food, the drinks, a lot of the terminology in the book are literally everyday Singapore, so you can come here on the first day, first hour, you'll probably hear 90 % of the terminology, you're already in the book, you can hear it here, people saying it. So just felt like it's a great contradiction, this thriller on the one hand, this chaos. into the city that nobody really perceives as chaotic, just bringing a little and making it, I think, the perfect place. Because again, it's not what you're going expect from Singleton.
Evan Graver: Yeah. And it's, it's nice because you can walk outside and go look at that area that you're writing about and you can decide how he's going to go down that alley. How many doors are in that alley? What he, what he needs to climb to get up the building or whatever, whatever trouble he's getting into. So I like write a lot about South, um, you know, central and South America. And, um, many times I was like, I just want to get on a plane and go look at it.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. a lot of them.
Evan Graver: I'm stuck with Google Maps.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a... So a lot of people are not gonna come to Singapore. ⁓ is a hub. It's a great place to be. But if you want a real big vacation, big meaning long, Singapore is great if you want, you know, four or five days, spend your time here. It's a small city, unbelievable city, but very small. So the experiences, you can probably ⁓ the city in about a week. But who are looking for longer... times will not come here. But if you will come, eventually will come. You can probably use the book as a tour guide because there's a lot of places. And it also brings a lot of ⁓ the famous like chicken rice, ⁓ which Josh in the first book and loves it. So yeah, you can come here.
Evan Graver: You
Moran Tomer: which again, if you have a week, great, but if you don't, just pick up the book. You'll probably get a lot of interesting facts about Singapore, but if you are coming, yes, you can go to my website, ping me, maybe I'll give you a tour.
Evan Graver: you What is you can nail the ⁓ travel guide Nishan on Amazon?
Moran Tomer: Yeah, I'm trying to nail it on Google guides. trying to, know, put many, many things that I see and enjoy and, you know, I take pictures and I put my views on them. there's nothing like experiencing Singapore. Singapore is, especially for Western guys. Wow, it's ⁓ Western coming here. It's a shock, but a very, very good shock.
Evan Graver: Yeah. It's a, so how do you incorporate your security background and, what you're doing now into the real world trade craft that your character's doing throughout the book?
Moran Tomer: Yeah, lot of the voice of Josh ⁓ a corporate voice. And it's ⁓ because I'm a very cynical guy and made him very cynical. ⁓ He at everything from a view of... Everything is corporate work for him. because wants to forget the past. He wants to be in the present, bored. He wants to walk his dog. This is the main thing, the main line that I post on the book. When he walks his dog, he wants to be completely bored. And he wants to do the very basic work. He chose cybersecurity because cybersecurity is a little more dynamic. And that way he's not risking his life, but he's also keeping the flame. And I have a lot of years of experience in cybersecurity and a lot of funny things happen in cybersecurity, the way the world perceives cybersecurity. And I'm not talking about what you hear in the news, I'm talking about corporate. So when you talk to managers, when you talk to executives that are not in cybersecurity, things like, you know, everyone writing, you've probably heard this many times, but my password is password or my password is 123456. These things, you know, A lot of even standups are joking about this today, but they exist. It's real. It's not, and it's funny because it's real. these kinds of things themselves into the book. I was a hacker before I became ⁓ an in cybersecurity. So I brought a lot of the ⁓ knowledge had. manipulating things and you know using different tools and different kinds. It's not too technical. I didn't want to make it boring. So it's about five percent real tradecraft, but a lot of it is you know I'm not trying to get you guys to you know to be bored and put the book down, but everything that is technical there is based on true real you know things that are you know are can be can be done.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm.
Moran Tomer: But not to a place where you will sit and just say, oh God, he's putting commands in CMD or PowerShell. Why is he writing this? So I think it's just in the point where it's believable, but very, very much fun.
Evan Graver: So, so, so, so, so, so, so, is a fine line between being overly technical and you you want the reader to understand what the character is doing, but you don't want to bore them with all the technicalities of how they're hacking the cell phone with a, you know, a packet of information off a wifi carrier.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. portray the hacking part, portray the beginning it, but don't into the technical details because ⁓ once you the technical details, that's it. You lose the reader ⁓ and you the to be enticed, but bring him back to the story. Don't let him wander to places that you're not supposed to. ⁓
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. That you have to, you have to, um, put enough technical detail in there. So they understand that your character is proficient in what they're doing, you know, but not bore them with the, with the story.
Moran Tomer: Yes, exactly. Yeah, so there's a fine line. Unfortunately, I read books in my life where the fine line was not there. And to be honest, it takes you away because instead of thinking about the story, you're starting to think about what is he trying to explain to me? do I need to know this? It's enough that I know that he's going to do the hack, but why do I need to know the commands and the PowerShell and how he's using it?
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: That's, I think that's where experience and reading books comes to help you as an author. You knowing what is bad versus what is good. And I'm happy that I have this because it could have gone a different way.
Evan Graver: did you read a lot of books before you decided to write? I mean, that's the one thing that we always, you know, as writers, we always tell other writers to go out and read books, ⁓ everything in your genre or outside your genre, because then you see the craft and you figure out what works and what doesn't.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. So I'm not a bookworm. I never was a bookworm, I have ADHD. I had ADHD since I was a kid. A big part of what I did was writing. At our age, was never analyzed, diagnosed. So I did this in my late years. So I did read books that... got me interested. when you're interested, you can focus. If you're not interested, it takes you away. So Tom Clancy comes to mind. I love Tom Clancy for the realism. Daniel Silva, fellow Israeli, has very good books. Brad Thor, Mac McKinney. there's a lot of different authors. But I also like fantasy a lot. Of course, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, all these are mandatory as far as I'm concerned. In terms of more modern books like Harry Potter, for example, yes, I know it's a hit. I know everyone likes it, but reading these books, always takes to Tolkien because Tolkien, ⁓ he the original. Everyone based everything ⁓ on So I like but you know.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: wasn't able to read the books I started, I just, you know, so I saw the movies and I'll probably see the HBO series coming up, in terms books, I like the more heavy stuff, the more... ⁓
Evan Graver: you Yeah, you were, as you were talking about your character, I was immediately drawn to a comparison with Tom Clancy because Jack Ryan was an analyst and here's your guy is an analyst and so.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Tom Clancy was a big influence. I loved his books. Rainbow Six was a big, influence. Jack Ryan, course, especially the late series that I read with John Krasinski. I'm not sure you're aware on Amazon. I love those. There's a book.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm. Great series.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, two days ago the movie came out. I haven't seen it yet. Tom Clancy is a big influence. And lot of what he put in his books ⁓ are, when I wrote, I brought perspective I learned a lot from him. Shame there will be more. yeah, Tom Clancy is a big part of my writing.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. So when you decided that you were going to launch your book, you, obviously had a strategy because you pushed it to number one in multiple different categories. So talk to me a little bit about your strategy for the launch.
Moran Tomer: So have just, know, some say it's one word, some people say it's two word, AI. So artificial intelligence. This, think, since this thing came in, and I'm a technologist by nature, so since this thing came in, it changed everything. And for authors, self-published authors, this is the biggest probable tool you can have. So I used AI for being my publicist. I use AI to be my ⁓ editor. I use AI to be my partner in experimenting with different kinds of ideas I had and testing there's research, of course. So there's a lot of things you can do for an author. This is the best kind of tool you can have. And it saves a lot of money, especially if you're a author. ⁓
Evan Graver: It saves a lot of time too.
Moran Tomer: A lot of time, yeah, a lot of time. And you when I finished writing the book, of course I edited the book completely with AI, me and chapter by chapter, know, finding different mistakes and problems and logic issues and it helps you make the book much better. You cannot take it away. And eventually, you know, when the book was done, I just told AI I want you to be my publicist and I want you to be, to help me, you know, find the right angles and paths for this book to be successful. Now, I never intended to, you know, to be a, you know, a successful writer or an author. This was never, it was done out of pure fun. This is how it started. and think the biggest, the biggest success usually comes from things they do from your heart. and not from intention to succeed or something. I was shocked when I saw all those, the number ones, for me it was okay, maybe I'm doing something right. But was more of a, it was a fuel for me to go to book number two ⁓ and continue writing book number two because I started writing book number two about I think last year, July 2025, I, because the book, number one was already done and I had so much fun. So I started with number two, but it was not really, I didn't really push myself to write the second one. But when I saw the results of number one, I said, wow, this could be, this could be a great thing. So I pushed myself and we're moving forward for number two. And this, So promotions and different websites AI brought to me, like the written word ⁓ bargain ⁓ or kind of tools that he gave me and I installed and used. Basically helped build my entire promotion marketing platform. And using this, you can argue with results, right? ⁓ The results are there. It works. It's unbelievable. And, and it also me to write my own AI application that is called Quillwise. ⁓ it's a full blown app that helps every writer write a book.
Evan Graver: Okay, that's a plug right there, Quill-wise. Is that a chat-GTP add-on or is that a standalone AI?
Moran Tomer: Hahaha! No, ⁓ it's a full blown app. It's not a plug because it's not available yet. It will be maybe, but I'm still working on it. I have a friend that is writing, talked about this, you like cigars, and he's a cigar fishingato, and he's using this to write a book about cigars. But it's currently in a pilot. It works, it's nice.
Evan Graver: Okay.
Moran Tomer: not yet available, not sure it will be available, because it is for myself, know, as a tool to experiment. But AI is unbelievable. That's the main thing. And for authors, ⁓ you a lot of money, a lot of time, and, you know, brings results. That's bottom line.
Evan Graver: So are you seeing, you did a lot of free promotions to get to the end of those number one categories. Are you seeing that carry through into, know, pages read ⁓ read through and sales and all that, and you're ⁓ enough money to recover what you put out there and are, you know. ⁓
Moran Tomer: No, I wish. I did one free promotion and, and, you know, I started the free promotion, you know, that the KDP five days that you have free promotion, you have one time. It was very, very successful. And then moved to, to a paid, to the paid version. ⁓ I'm getting Yes. But as mentioned, ⁓ I never it for sale. So I'm not expecting to, to, you know, ⁓ to, get recovered. did invest.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm.
Moran Tomer: I think total in this entire process of the promotions, about $1,000 I think I invested, but this is like different, $65 there, $75 here, know, not, I didn't, know, this was the small investments, but I did it for a few different promotions. It brought results.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: I didn't recover the $1,000 yet. Probably will happen in the next few months. again, it's just one book. And part of the research that I did, if you want to really sit at home and go to work anymore, ⁓ you about 30 books. I'm not sure I'll get there. But ⁓ me, long as it's fun, I'll write. I'll have fun with it. And ⁓ hopefully people like it.
Evan Graver: No, I got 26 books and I'm still working on my side job. that's not, it's not a pan for me to stay home every day just yet. So.
Moran Tomer: I I saw. saw. Well, at least I hope that it gives you a little boost.
Evan Graver: Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's, it's a pain for itself, but it's, it's not making me rich by any means, but that's, that's. Yeah. I mean, it's, ⁓ I enjoy writing. enjoy being able to put a book out, ⁓ whether people read it or not is up to them as you know. So, so I think it's more, more for my, started from my enjoyment, like you did. And, ⁓ I just kept going because I found that it was something that it was halfway good at and it's.
Moran Tomer: But that's all we can ask. Yeah, I agree.
Evan Graver: probably the longest thing I've ever stuck to in my life, so.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, I haven't read yet, but I've put it in my to-do list. I'll you my word, and at some point, I will start reading it. And I will you what I think.
Evan Graver: ⁓ ⁓ I, it was funny. We were the day we were supposed to do this. We, I was at the cigar bar with some friends and, ⁓ Nick, work at a part-time at a dive shop and the owner of the shop was there and we were hanging out and, and, ⁓ we got to talking to some other people at another table and, and the guy was looking at the website. goes, you're the author guy. I've seen your books before. I'm going to buy one when I get home. But I saw a paperback pop up that somebody bought one. So I don't know if he did or not, but it was kind of fun that I got recognized. It was like, I've seen your books. So.
Moran Tomer: Wow, that's, this is a really big thing, especially, you know, for a self published author being recognized, that's, but I guess it's the 26 books. I don't think one book will help me yet.
Evan Graver: Yeah. And it's a, it's a lot of advertising too. And, um, Mike, I have a display at the dive shop because they're all, you the main series about diving. So, um, you know, if you walk into the shop, you'll see the books on display. So it's nice that I get the help from the, from the dive shop owner. So.
Moran Tomer: thank you. Yeah, yeah. If your book is about diving, my dad, my dad was, well, in Israel, we have like the counterpart for Navy SEALs. So that was my dad. He's 70 now, so it's not, but I heard a lot of very interesting stories about this world. And, and, and, know, you probably heard about that diving accident right now in the Maldives, which is very close to Singapore here.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, so if you basically you probably are very strong into diving, which is something I never did I have to say. ⁓
Evan Graver: Well, you're in the place to do it because there's a lot of great diving around where you're at.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, that's true. for some reason with my dad being, you know, ⁓ some reason I never, never found myself there. It's not like I'm against it, but I don't know, never, never found it like, but it is, it is an interesting mystery to me. So maybe one day, maybe.
Evan Graver: Hey, that's... Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I probably can't sit down and do what you do on the computer with cybersecurity, but I can go dive in. So we all have our own niche. So, yeah, so that, so let me ask you the final question. We'll get this wrapped up. ⁓ what is the one thing that you want people to take away after finishing one of your books?
Moran Tomer: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Take away, okay, so two things. If you are an author or wanna be an author, expect a lot of scams. Wow, that was the biggest slap. Like I'm not kidding. ⁓ book is like out for ⁓ a month and a half about. ⁓ already have about 60 different scam, ⁓ this not expected. ⁓ be ready for this. This is the most surprising thing. some them looks legit, which is even worse. And I'm coming cybersecurity. I know how to do the tests and checks. one of them almost got me. I had to go to the publishing office, the real publishing office, and ask and send an email to them to see if it's really them talking to me. And I think you ⁓ were involved the same one that I'm talking about.
Evan Graver: Yeah. you
Moran Tomer: Ezekiel, that guy that approached you. So this one thing. And for the readers, I want you to take away, I want them to take away the fun. Because, you know, the intention of this book was to be light. It was not to be, you know, not to take you to a journey where you'll be on, yeah, on the edge of your seat. Yeah, but not in a way that you will be left with, you know, with ⁓ some, you ⁓
Evan Graver: Yes.
Moran Tomer: a dark feeling inside. It's more of a whenever the dark feeling comes, there comes a little bit of humor and a little bit of normalcy to get it a little less intense. And I think, you know, when I wrote a big influence that I had to write that book, other than Tom Clancy and everything, was the TV series Chuck. And you probably know Chuck. I love that. And, you know,
Evan Graver: Okay.
Moran Tomer: a lot of the things that made me make and bring the humor and the fun was from that series. Because I found a very nice subject, which is very close to my heart, but the fun part made it fun. And it brought a lot of thinking into the book when I wrote it. And the humor is also I'm trying to bring something not similar, but at least in the same area of chat. nonsense, but not slapstick, but something that is a little more realistic yet real. yet fun and not taking itself too seriously. That's, think, the main thing. And that's all. if you know, if you with my book ⁓ and you felt like
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: like, wow, I had a great experience, I had fun, and I want to read the next one. Then, you know, that's good for me. I'm okay with it. You don't even have to buy it. can find it, don't know, be an art reader. can go to my website and ask to be an art reader, and I'll send you the book for free. Really, it's not for the commercial success. It's for the fun I'm having, and hopefully you're going to have the same fun to read it.
Evan Graver: Hahaha. Yeah. All right. So that's a wrap on this episode of Plot Recon, where thrillers get tactical. Thanks to Moran Tomer for coming on and talking through the real world trade craft cybersecurity and how those experiences have shaped the Brewster Protocol series. Be sure to check out the Brewster Protocol on Amazon and keep an eye out for the Typhoon Protocol coming later this year. You can learn more about Moran and his work at morantomer.com. That's ⁓ O A N T O M E R.com. It is a very cool website by the way. And, ⁓ I had a lot of fun, cruising around on it. So I encourage everybody to check it out. If this episode hit the mark, share it, leave a review and subscribe wherever you listen. And as always, you can find more episodes and support the show at plotrecon.com. I am Evan Graver. sharp, write hard, and keep your fiction tactical.
Moran Tomer: ⁓ thank you, thank you very much. Happy to be here.
Evan Graver: my first question is, out of the gate is always, what got you interested in writing? And then what made you finally sit down and write a complete book?
Moran Tomer: Well, that's... I saw some of your podcasts. I saw the answers of lot of other authors and it's ⁓ very different. So didn't like writing. ⁓ Never writing. Ever since I was a kid, it was something, I think, the worst thing for me. I used to run away to the other side of the world when I needed to write anything. If it's homework, if it's, you know... Basically, if it has a pen, back then it was only pens, know, it didn't really have computers. So... ⁓ I just completely hated it. I think that's the good word. At some point, I think with maturity and with time passed and experiences I had in my life, found it, I found thing of being to live a little differently ⁓ maybe bring a of things that I had like inside, put it out ⁓ and And when I started experimenting, started seeing that, you know, it's something that I enjoy it because it's like, you know, providing myself of a different angle, different story, maybe a different way of looking at things and maybe, you know, take out the things that are locked inside and maybe can, you know, put it out. And it was a very good, you know, a good way for me. I found it fun and just... without really realizing the first book came out, the second one is coming soon. just very but a good surprise.
Evan Graver: I think a lot of authors fall into that niche where you think, ⁓ I'm never going to write a book. then, and then it just kind of falls out. And it's like therapy for you to, you know, put all these things down on paper because you're, either reliving something because we write, we write about what we know or, you know, something from our past, funny story we're telling or, or some sort of trauma. it's almost like therapy.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. completely. Yeah, yeah. Really, it's really therapy. It's us with ourselves in a lot of our prior memories and experiences and finding right way to put it on paper in a way that maybe on paper it looks even better because some of our experiences, let's be honest, are not the best to be described. it comes with a different angle, maybe, ⁓ this is what I try to do, bring a little humor into the equation, trying to bring a different perspective, not just make it a very dark, gray It just made this entire thing fun and a very good tool for me to deal with all the things, which is therapy, basically.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. So how does an Israeli end up in Singapore?
Moran Tomer: Oh, so about five years ago, really, April, April, 2026 was my was the exact mark of the five years. I was as as I as you mentioned before, I'm working for cybersecurity. Israel is very well known in this in its cybersecurity capabilities, innovations. I did a lot of work in this field. I'm doing this for about 25 years. And A Singaporean company that wanted to build its complete cybersecurity practice just, I like to say, imported me to Singapore to basically build these capabilities from nothing. And this is what I'm doing in the last five years, still with the same company, still working for them. Love the experience and the city is... There's no other word describing the city other than wow. So...
Evan Graver: you
Moran Tomer: really make it difficult to do anything else. It's just stay here, enjoy the time I have here, and hopefully for as long as I can.
Evan Graver: Yeah. told you the other day, we, had a miscommunication and we were supposed to do this a couple of days ago, but, ⁓ I was out with some friends. came down to visit me in Fort Lauderdale and, she ⁓ had in Singapore for many years as a banking executive and he her online and flew, went over there and lived for, with her for about 10 years. And so they, they're, they're, constantly comparing downtown Fort Lauderdale in Miami to.
Moran Tomer: Which is the best. Yeah.
Evan Graver: Singapore and main term was that they didn't have any crackheads in Singapore. ⁓
Moran Tomer: Oh, okay. Singapore is very unique. Coming from this hectic chaos of cold Israel, which I love my country, don't get me wrong, but it is chaotic. Coming to Singapore, which is the complete opposite, 180 % degrees, just complete different city, different landscape, different culture, different atmosphere. For us Westerners coming from our Western, you know, known environments, it's just, you know, it's just a big slap in the face, a good slap in the face because you're living in this neutral area, environment that just gives you peace, relaxation, life is normal. And you finally see that normalcy and you're saying to yourself, Is it real? It really, you know, it gets you to question if life is... And I'm not kidding. It seems like an exaggeration, but living in Singapore is like, my daughters are walking at 1 a.m. freely in the streets. They're taking taxis alone. don't need... It's just security and living... Living like think human intended to live in a normal way. That's Singapore.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Well, my friend told me that they found a baby Cobra on the 10th floor of her office building. And I said, I'm out. I'm I can't do that. No snakes are no for me.
Moran Tomer: ⁓ That's the weird part. This used to be, you know, heavy rainforest and area is full with a lot of, well, questionable creatures that ⁓ can kill in many different ways and yes, there are, you know...
Evan Graver: you
Moran Tomer: know things that you can walk in the street and you can see a Cobra and we're talking the small don't keep Cobras there's if you go to YouTube and you just do you know Singapore Cobra you'll see people walking the streets and you know and the far pavement you can see just gigantic King Cobra just Well, that's that's that's part of living but but it's not you know, it's not something you see every day and not very You know, doesn't happen a lot in ⁓ built area. So there are very, you know, small greener areas like parks and ⁓ here. Singapore is not big, these not like big sections of city, but there you can probably ⁓ find a of these creatures. Yeah, makes it an interesting experience, but I'm completely with you. I'm not traveling to Australia because, and everyone tells me Australia is great, but I'm saying everything that bites you kills you. Why? Why? my point of view also. ⁓
Evan Graver: Yes So all these unique experiences in Singapore and how do you incorporate that in writing? Because your books are set there.
Moran Tomer: books are set there, so when we talk about Josh in a general sense, I try to bring a lot of myself into Josh, although Josh, the character itself and some of the experiences are shared, but Josh is my... ⁓ is my what would happen if I wouldn't choose the choices I So it's like a different, he's a different character of me just with different choices. And Singapore, I found that this contradiction a thriller ⁓ that has lot of to this. ⁓ peaceful, very, very well acclimated, relaxed state, country. It seemed like something needs to happen. And like I said, yes, I'm a Westerner coming from a specific past and experiences and coming to Singapore, which is the complete opposite. I felt like something needs to be shaken. ⁓ is how I ⁓ that different view to how, you to, thought that Singapore would be very interesting to make it a little different. And this is why, you know, I brought Josh and put it in Singapore. And because I, again, I'm here and the experience I had is so good, I able to put it inside a book. So a lot of the things, you know, you can find Marina Bay Sands there and, know, Tajong Pajar a lot of places that, you know, actually exist. can find it and, you know,
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: The dishes, the food, the drinks, a lot of the terminology in the book are literally everyday Singapore, so you can come here on the first day, first hour, you'll probably hear 90 % of the terminology, you're already in the book, you can hear it here, people saying it. So just felt like it's a great contradiction, this thriller on the one hand, this chaos. into the city that nobody really perceives as chaotic, just bringing a little and making it, I think, the perfect place. Because again, it's not what you're going expect from Singleton.
Evan Graver: Yeah. And it's, it's nice because you can walk outside and go look at that area that you're writing about and you can decide how he's going to go down that alley. How many doors are in that alley? What he, what he needs to climb to get up the building or whatever, whatever trouble he's getting into. So I like write a lot about South, um, you know, central and South America. And, um, many times I was like, I just want to get on a plane and go look at it.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. a lot of them.
Evan Graver: I'm stuck with Google Maps.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a... So a lot of people are not gonna come to Singapore. ⁓ is a hub. It's a great place to be. But if you want a real big vacation, big meaning long, Singapore is great if you want, you know, four or five days, spend your time here. It's a small city, unbelievable city, but very small. So the experiences, you can probably ⁓ the city in about a week. But who are looking for longer... times will not come here. But if you will come, eventually will come. You can probably use the book as a tour guide because there's a lot of places. And it also brings a lot of ⁓ the famous like chicken rice, ⁓ which Josh in the first book and loves it. So yeah, you can come here.
Evan Graver: You
Moran Tomer: which again, if you have a week, great, but if you don't, just pick up the book. You'll probably get a lot of interesting facts about Singapore, but if you are coming, yes, you can go to my website, ping me, maybe I'll give you a tour.
Evan Graver: you What is you can nail the ⁓ travel guide Nishan on Amazon?
Moran Tomer: Yeah, I'm trying to nail it on Google guides. trying to, know, put many, many things that I see and enjoy and, you know, I take pictures and I put my views on them. there's nothing like experiencing Singapore. Singapore is, especially for Western guys. Wow, it's ⁓ Western coming here. It's a shock, but a very, very good shock.
Evan Graver: Yeah. It's a, so how do you incorporate your security background and, what you're doing now into the real world trade craft that your character's doing throughout the book?
Moran Tomer: Yeah, lot of the voice of Josh ⁓ a corporate voice. And it's ⁓ because I'm a very cynical guy and made him very cynical. ⁓ He at everything from a view of... Everything is corporate work for him. because wants to forget the past. He wants to be in the present, bored. He wants to walk his dog. This is the main thing, the main line that I post on the book. When he walks his dog, he wants to be completely bored. And he wants to do the very basic work. He chose cybersecurity because cybersecurity is a little more dynamic. And that way he's not risking his life, but he's also keeping the flame. And I have a lot of years of experience in cybersecurity and a lot of funny things happen in cybersecurity, the way the world perceives cybersecurity. And I'm not talking about what you hear in the news, I'm talking about corporate. So when you talk to managers, when you talk to executives that are not in cybersecurity, things like, you know, everyone writing, you've probably heard this many times, but my password is password or my password is 123456. These things, you know, A lot of even standups are joking about this today, but they exist. It's real. It's not, and it's funny because it's real. these kinds of things themselves into the book. I was a hacker before I became ⁓ an in cybersecurity. So I brought a lot of the ⁓ knowledge had. manipulating things and you know using different tools and different kinds. It's not too technical. I didn't want to make it boring. So it's about five percent real tradecraft, but a lot of it is you know I'm not trying to get you guys to you know to be bored and put the book down, but everything that is technical there is based on true real you know things that are you know are can be can be done.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm.
Moran Tomer: But not to a place where you will sit and just say, oh God, he's putting commands in CMD or PowerShell. Why is he writing this? So I think it's just in the point where it's believable, but very, very much fun.
Evan Graver: So, so, so, so, so, so, so, is a fine line between being overly technical and you you want the reader to understand what the character is doing, but you don't want to bore them with all the technicalities of how they're hacking the cell phone with a, you know, a packet of information off a wifi carrier.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. portray the hacking part, portray the beginning it, but don't into the technical details because ⁓ once you the technical details, that's it. You lose the reader ⁓ and you the to be enticed, but bring him back to the story. Don't let him wander to places that you're not supposed to. ⁓
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. That you have to, you have to, um, put enough technical detail in there. So they understand that your character is proficient in what they're doing, you know, but not bore them with the, with the story.
Moran Tomer: Yes, exactly. Yeah, so there's a fine line. Unfortunately, I read books in my life where the fine line was not there. And to be honest, it takes you away because instead of thinking about the story, you're starting to think about what is he trying to explain to me? do I need to know this? It's enough that I know that he's going to do the hack, but why do I need to know the commands and the PowerShell and how he's using it?
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: That's, I think that's where experience and reading books comes to help you as an author. You knowing what is bad versus what is good. And I'm happy that I have this because it could have gone a different way.
Evan Graver: did you read a lot of books before you decided to write? I mean, that's the one thing that we always, you know, as writers, we always tell other writers to go out and read books, ⁓ everything in your genre or outside your genre, because then you see the craft and you figure out what works and what doesn't.
Moran Tomer: Yeah. So I'm not a bookworm. I never was a bookworm, I have ADHD. I had ADHD since I was a kid. A big part of what I did was writing. At our age, was never analyzed, diagnosed. So I did this in my late years. So I did read books that... got me interested. when you're interested, you can focus. If you're not interested, it takes you away. So Tom Clancy comes to mind. I love Tom Clancy for the realism. Daniel Silva, fellow Israeli, has very good books. Brad Thor, Mac McKinney. there's a lot of different authors. But I also like fantasy a lot. Of course, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, all these are mandatory as far as I'm concerned. In terms of more modern books like Harry Potter, for example, yes, I know it's a hit. I know everyone likes it, but reading these books, always takes to Tolkien because Tolkien, ⁓ he the original. Everyone based everything ⁓ on So I like but you know.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: wasn't able to read the books I started, I just, you know, so I saw the movies and I'll probably see the HBO series coming up, in terms books, I like the more heavy stuff, the more... ⁓
Evan Graver: you Yeah, you were, as you were talking about your character, I was immediately drawn to a comparison with Tom Clancy because Jack Ryan was an analyst and here's your guy is an analyst and so.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Tom Clancy was a big influence. I loved his books. Rainbow Six was a big, influence. Jack Ryan, course, especially the late series that I read with John Krasinski. I'm not sure you're aware on Amazon. I love those. There's a book.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm. Great series.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, two days ago the movie came out. I haven't seen it yet. Tom Clancy is a big influence. And lot of what he put in his books ⁓ are, when I wrote, I brought perspective I learned a lot from him. Shame there will be more. yeah, Tom Clancy is a big part of my writing.
Evan Graver: Yeah. Yeah. So when you decided that you were going to launch your book, you, obviously had a strategy because you pushed it to number one in multiple different categories. So talk to me a little bit about your strategy for the launch.
Moran Tomer: So have just, know, some say it's one word, some people say it's two word, AI. So artificial intelligence. This, think, since this thing came in, and I'm a technologist by nature, so since this thing came in, it changed everything. And for authors, self-published authors, this is the biggest probable tool you can have. So I used AI for being my publicist. I use AI to be my ⁓ editor. I use AI to be my partner in experimenting with different kinds of ideas I had and testing there's research, of course. So there's a lot of things you can do for an author. This is the best kind of tool you can have. And it saves a lot of money, especially if you're a author. ⁓
Evan Graver: It saves a lot of time too.
Moran Tomer: A lot of time, yeah, a lot of time. And you when I finished writing the book, of course I edited the book completely with AI, me and chapter by chapter, know, finding different mistakes and problems and logic issues and it helps you make the book much better. You cannot take it away. And eventually, you know, when the book was done, I just told AI I want you to be my publicist and I want you to be, to help me, you know, find the right angles and paths for this book to be successful. Now, I never intended to, you know, to be a, you know, a successful writer or an author. This was never, it was done out of pure fun. This is how it started. and think the biggest, the biggest success usually comes from things they do from your heart. and not from intention to succeed or something. I was shocked when I saw all those, the number ones, for me it was okay, maybe I'm doing something right. But was more of a, it was a fuel for me to go to book number two ⁓ and continue writing book number two because I started writing book number two about I think last year, July 2025, I, because the book, number one was already done and I had so much fun. So I started with number two, but it was not really, I didn't really push myself to write the second one. But when I saw the results of number one, I said, wow, this could be, this could be a great thing. So I pushed myself and we're moving forward for number two. And this, So promotions and different websites AI brought to me, like the written word ⁓ bargain ⁓ or kind of tools that he gave me and I installed and used. Basically helped build my entire promotion marketing platform. And using this, you can argue with results, right? ⁓ The results are there. It works. It's unbelievable. And, and it also me to write my own AI application that is called Quillwise. ⁓ it's a full blown app that helps every writer write a book.
Evan Graver: Okay, that's a plug right there, Quill-wise. Is that a chat-GTP add-on or is that a standalone AI?
Moran Tomer: Hahaha! No, ⁓ it's a full blown app. It's not a plug because it's not available yet. It will be maybe, but I'm still working on it. I have a friend that is writing, talked about this, you like cigars, and he's a cigar fishingato, and he's using this to write a book about cigars. But it's currently in a pilot. It works, it's nice.
Evan Graver: Okay.
Moran Tomer: not yet available, not sure it will be available, because it is for myself, know, as a tool to experiment. But AI is unbelievable. That's the main thing. And for authors, ⁓ you a lot of money, a lot of time, and, you know, brings results. That's bottom line.
Evan Graver: So are you seeing, you did a lot of free promotions to get to the end of those number one categories. Are you seeing that carry through into, know, pages read ⁓ read through and sales and all that, and you're ⁓ enough money to recover what you put out there and are, you know. ⁓
Moran Tomer: No, I wish. I did one free promotion and, and, you know, I started the free promotion, you know, that the KDP five days that you have free promotion, you have one time. It was very, very successful. And then moved to, to a paid, to the paid version. ⁓ I'm getting Yes. But as mentioned, ⁓ I never it for sale. So I'm not expecting to, to, you know, ⁓ to, get recovered. did invest.
Evan Graver: Mm-hmm.
Moran Tomer: I think total in this entire process of the promotions, about $1,000 I think I invested, but this is like different, $65 there, $75 here, know, not, I didn't, know, this was the small investments, but I did it for a few different promotions. It brought results.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: I didn't recover the $1,000 yet. Probably will happen in the next few months. again, it's just one book. And part of the research that I did, if you want to really sit at home and go to work anymore, ⁓ you about 30 books. I'm not sure I'll get there. But ⁓ me, long as it's fun, I'll write. I'll have fun with it. And ⁓ hopefully people like it.
Evan Graver: No, I got 26 books and I'm still working on my side job. that's not, it's not a pan for me to stay home every day just yet. So.
Moran Tomer: I I saw. saw. Well, at least I hope that it gives you a little boost.
Evan Graver: Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's, it's a pain for itself, but it's, it's not making me rich by any means, but that's, that's. Yeah. I mean, it's, ⁓ I enjoy writing. enjoy being able to put a book out, ⁓ whether people read it or not is up to them as you know. So, so I think it's more, more for my, started from my enjoyment, like you did. And, ⁓ I just kept going because I found that it was something that it was halfway good at and it's.
Moran Tomer: But that's all we can ask. Yeah, I agree.
Evan Graver: probably the longest thing I've ever stuck to in my life, so.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, I haven't read yet, but I've put it in my to-do list. I'll you my word, and at some point, I will start reading it. And I will you what I think.
Evan Graver: ⁓ ⁓ I, it was funny. We were the day we were supposed to do this. We, I was at the cigar bar with some friends and, ⁓ Nick, work at a part-time at a dive shop and the owner of the shop was there and we were hanging out and, and, ⁓ we got to talking to some other people at another table and, and the guy was looking at the website. goes, you're the author guy. I've seen your books before. I'm going to buy one when I get home. But I saw a paperback pop up that somebody bought one. So I don't know if he did or not, but it was kind of fun that I got recognized. It was like, I've seen your books. So.
Moran Tomer: Wow, that's, this is a really big thing, especially, you know, for a self published author being recognized, that's, but I guess it's the 26 books. I don't think one book will help me yet.
Evan Graver: Yeah. And it's a, it's a lot of advertising too. And, um, Mike, I have a display at the dive shop because they're all, you the main series about diving. So, um, you know, if you walk into the shop, you'll see the books on display. So it's nice that I get the help from the, from the dive shop owner. So.
Moran Tomer: thank you. Yeah, yeah. If your book is about diving, my dad, my dad was, well, in Israel, we have like the counterpart for Navy SEALs. So that was my dad. He's 70 now, so it's not, but I heard a lot of very interesting stories about this world. And, and, and, know, you probably heard about that diving accident right now in the Maldives, which is very close to Singapore here.
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, so if you basically you probably are very strong into diving, which is something I never did I have to say. ⁓
Evan Graver: Well, you're in the place to do it because there's a lot of great diving around where you're at.
Moran Tomer: Yeah, that's true. for some reason with my dad being, you know, ⁓ some reason I never, never found myself there. It's not like I'm against it, but I don't know, never, never found it like, but it is, it is an interesting mystery to me. So maybe one day, maybe.
Evan Graver: Hey, that's... Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I probably can't sit down and do what you do on the computer with cybersecurity, but I can go dive in. So we all have our own niche. So, yeah, so that, so let me ask you the final question. We'll get this wrapped up. ⁓ what is the one thing that you want people to take away after finishing one of your books?
Moran Tomer: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Take away, okay, so two things. If you are an author or wanna be an author, expect a lot of scams. Wow, that was the biggest slap. Like I'm not kidding. ⁓ book is like out for ⁓ a month and a half about. ⁓ already have about 60 different scam, ⁓ this not expected. ⁓ be ready for this. This is the most surprising thing. some them looks legit, which is even worse. And I'm coming cybersecurity. I know how to do the tests and checks. one of them almost got me. I had to go to the publishing office, the real publishing office, and ask and send an email to them to see if it's really them talking to me. And I think you ⁓ were involved the same one that I'm talking about.
Evan Graver: Yeah. you
Moran Tomer: Ezekiel, that guy that approached you. So this one thing. And for the readers, I want you to take away, I want them to take away the fun. Because, you know, the intention of this book was to be light. It was not to be, you know, not to take you to a journey where you'll be on, yeah, on the edge of your seat. Yeah, but not in a way that you will be left with, you know, with ⁓ some, you ⁓
Evan Graver: Yes.
Moran Tomer: a dark feeling inside. It's more of a whenever the dark feeling comes, there comes a little bit of humor and a little bit of normalcy to get it a little less intense. And I think, you know, when I wrote a big influence that I had to write that book, other than Tom Clancy and everything, was the TV series Chuck. And you probably know Chuck. I love that. And, you know,
Evan Graver: Okay.
Moran Tomer: a lot of the things that made me make and bring the humor and the fun was from that series. Because I found a very nice subject, which is very close to my heart, but the fun part made it fun. And it brought a lot of thinking into the book when I wrote it. And the humor is also I'm trying to bring something not similar, but at least in the same area of chat. nonsense, but not slapstick, but something that is a little more realistic yet real. yet fun and not taking itself too seriously. That's, think, the main thing. And that's all. if you know, if you with my book ⁓ and you felt like
Evan Graver: Yeah.
Moran Tomer: like, wow, I had a great experience, I had fun, and I want to read the next one. Then, you know, that's good for me. I'm okay with it. You don't even have to buy it. can find it, don't know, be an art reader. can go to my website and ask to be an art reader, and I'll send you the book for free. Really, it's not for the commercial success. It's for the fun I'm having, and hopefully you're going to have the same fun to read it.
Evan Graver: Hahaha. Yeah. All right. So that's a wrap on this episode of Plot Recon, where thrillers get tactical. Thanks to Moran Tomer for coming on and talking through the real world trade craft cybersecurity and how those experiences have shaped the Brewster Protocol series. Be sure to check out the Brewster Protocol on Amazon and keep an eye out for the Typhoon Protocol coming later this year. You can learn more about Moran and his work at morantomer.com. That's ⁓ O A N T O M E R.com. It is a very cool website by the way. And, ⁓ I had a lot of fun, cruising around on it. So I encourage everybody to check it out. If this episode hit the mark, share it, leave a review and subscribe wherever you listen. And as always, you can find more episodes and support the show at plotrecon.com. I am Evan Graver. sharp, write hard, and keep your fiction tactical.
