As someone who covers pop culture, it’s always frustrating when a writer, game designer, or director deny that their creation is even remotely similar to someone else’s, even when it so clearly is. Which is why it was so refreshing during the following email interview about his new military sci-fi novel In The Black (paperback, Kindle, audiobook) that writer Patrick S. Tomlinson freely admitted that this story — the first in a new series — wears its influences on its sleeves.