Background Notes:
D.L. Wilson was President, CEO, and Managing Director of U.S. and European corporations and consultant to industries
and governments in 32 countries. His extensive international travel spawned a
fascination with world cultures and exotic locales. His first book, The Kitchen Casanova--A Gentleman's
Guide to Gourmet Entertaining for Two, was featured on CNN, Evening
Magazine, and Regis & Kathy Lee.
Jan: Your books are described as
thrillers. What do you see as the most essential ingredients in a
successful thriller?
D.L. Wilson: A thriller novel must be exciting, a real
page turner, a book that readers just can’t put down. A successful thriller
must start with a bang, build excitement, create tension, and finish with a
bigger bang. I found a real challenge in writing thrillers. My goal was to
create fiction with content. I wanted my readers to become engrossed with my
characters, scenes, and terrifying plots and after reading my novels, come away
with a newer and better understanding of important factors in our complex world.
Jan: Your first novel, Unholy Grail, reached
the best seller list just behind one of Stephen King’s books and has been
translated into eight languages. Tell our readers a bit about this book
and why they might enjoy reading it.
D.L. Wilson: Unholy Grail, is based upon broad research into the facts, legends, myths,
and even conspiracy theories relating to Christianity and Judaism. A trip to
Vienna, Austria and the South of France presented great insight into Fr.
Berringer Saunier who had somehow amassed great wealth and built a beautiful
church and villa in the small village of Rennes-le-Château high in the
Pyrénées. In Unholy Grail, I created a Fordham University
theology professor, Fr. Joseph Romano, who receives an anonymous call offering
him a secret Gospel written by James, the brother of Jesus. When he arrives at
Grand Central Station to meet the mysterious caller, a shot rings out, bedlam
erupts, and Fr. Romano is thrust into a centuries-old conspiracy that threatens
the very sanctity of the church.
Jan:
When did you begin writing and why this particular genre?
D.L. Wilson: As part of my day job in the fashion
industry I traveled to over 32 countries. During countless hours on airplanes,
I became a novel reading junky. After reading 100s of thrillers, I decided to
focus on that genre and try my hand at becoming a writer when I retired. To learn about
the publishing world, I attended writing conferences and workshops where I
learned that writing is an art and a craft that requires serious dedication.
Top authors shared their secrets on how they became published. They wrote a few
novels that never saw the light of day to learn the craft. I followed their
advice and learned the importance of practice, practice, practice.
Jan: How did you find your
publisher and agent? How did you go about marketing your books?
D.L. Wilson: As I was
finishing my first serious novel, Unholy Grail, I decided to learn what
transpired in the inner sanctum of agents and editors. I wrote articles for Writer’s
Digest and The Writer where I interviewed agents and editors to
learn from the experts their criteria for weeding through hundreds of
submissions each month. One of the agents I interviewed asked me what I was
working on and asked me to submit my novel to him. I was
at the right place at the right time. He liked my work and got me a contract
with Berkley, Penguin.
Marketing and promoting novels is a whole different world that is
changing every day. Book signings, establishing a web site, Internet promotion,
social networking, interviews, conferences, advertising, it goes on and on and
on. I have found the promotional work takes a great toll out of an author’s
writing time.
Jan:
Your latest book, Sirocco, is described as a bio-terrorism thriller. How is
this book different in its structure and focus from Unholy Grail? What
did you do to research your book?
To keep the thrill alive, I had to start with a bang. Brett Reynolds,
an attorney representing the pharmaceutical lobby, is summoned to Washington
for an urgent meeting by Homeland Security to investigate a threat by a Middle
Eastern terrorist group, Sirocco, to unleash a bioweapon at the heart of the
United States. With a bioterror looming that could devastate the U.S., Brett
learns of his brother’s death in a bizarre murder/suicide. As the plot unfolds
he discovers connections between his brother and the terrorist threat. His
investigation leads him on a harrowing chase that ends in a deadly
confrontation with Sirocco and a chilling climax in the Oval Office
Jan:
I understand that Sirocco has gotten rave reviews from a
number of international best selling suspense/thriller authors. Who
are some of the more notable and how were you able to gather these wonderful
reviews from other thriller writers?
D.L. Wilson: I was
honored to receive great reviews from Steve Berry, James Rollins, and Andrew
Gross who are some of the top authors in the suspense/thriller field. I learned
the great importance of networking from my business career and experiences as a
novice author. I was very fortunate to meet top authors in my genre at
conferences and writing events and some of them agreed to read my manuscript
and liked my writing style.
Jan: You were recently elected to the board of
the International ThrillerWriter. Couldyou tell our readers more about
this writers organization and your duties as VP of Membership.
D.L. Wilson: The International Thriller Writers (ITW)
is an honorary society of authors, both fiction and nonfiction, who write books
broadly classified as “thrillers.” The organization provides opportunities for
mentoring, education and collegiality among thriller authors and industry
professionals and grants awards for excellence in the thriller genre. ITW
promotes literacy, gives money to worthy organizations, supports libraries, a
USO tour, and advances the genre. It brings together almost a thousand writers,
readers, publishers, editors and agents at its annual conference, ThrillerFest,
as well as at CraftFest, a writing workshop program, and AgentFest, where
aspiring authors can meet and pitch top literary agents.
I was honored to have been elected to the board of directors as VP
of Membership where I am responsible for bringing on board Active and Associate
members. You can find out more about ITW at our website: thrillerwriters.org
Jan:
So who are some of your early favorite writers in the thriller genre who had a
lasting influence on your work?
D.L. Wilson: Some of the
thriller authors who inspired me are: James Patterson, David Baldacci, John
Sanford, Dan Brown, Steve Berry, James Rollins, Clive Cussler, Andrew Gross,
and the list goes on. I try to read as many authors as I can. I learn bits and
pieces of their writing techniques that hopefully will help me improve my style
and keep my readers turning the pages.
Jan:
What is the worst advice and what is the most useful advice that you’ve
received during your writing career? What words of encouragement can you
offer to those hoping to break through in the thriller genre?
D.L. Wilson: I really haven’t gotten any bad advice
during the many years I spent developing my writing career. I’ve found authors
are very forthcoming with sharing their experiences in how they’ve fought to
succeed in the writing world. It’s a very close-knit group who appreciate the
years of dedication and focus necessary to get that first book published. Steve
Berry on his website shares his long and arduous road to getting published
spanning 12 years and 85 rejections over 5 separate manuscripts.
My advice to those hoping to break through in the thriller genre
is to stick with your hopes and dreams. Keep learning, keep reading, keep
writing. It’s like learning a musical instrument. It takes time, dedication,
and practice, practice, practice.
Jan Bowman’s work has
appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy,
Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato
Eyes, and others. She won the 2012
Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her
stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories
and a story was a finalist in the “So To
Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two
collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a
completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring
2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of
“Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and
publishers. Learn more at:
Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com
Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com
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