10 Follow-Up Questions with Amazon Bestselling Thriller Writer Douglas Wickard (@DouglasWickard)



This Author Spotlight
features a follow-up
interview with

Douglas Wickard

author of



I'm pleased to welcome once again Douglas Wickard, author of A PERFECT SETUP and A PERFECT HUSBAND. (You may read the interview for Douglas's debut novel A Perfect Husband HERE.)

Let's get right to it!


1. This is a follow-up interview, but for people who are not already familiar with your work, tell us what kind of books you write and what readers should expect from your stories, and what is your latest novel A PERFECT SETUP about?

I write psychological thrillers, suspense novels. Readers can expect a quick-paced, turning-of-the- pages, can’t put down until it’s finished sort of read. I particularly enjoy getting inside the heads of my characters so the readers can expect twisted personalities. Oh, and I also push the envelope, so my novels are not for the faint of heart. A PERFECT SETUP is the sequel to A PERFECT HUSBAND. It takes place in New York City. Sami returns from her near death experience with a serial killer at the country house and settles into a fifth floor condominium on the Upper West Side.

2. What was the duration of the writing process for A PERFECT SETUP?


That depends. When I’m working on the first draft, I let my imagination wonder. I never plot out anything, so the initial creative process usually takes around three months. I go to the end. The rewriting process takes all the time. For A PERFECT SETUP, the rewriting took six months.

3. When A PERFECT SETUP is adapted to film, and the producers ask for your dream cast, what will you say?

The current list of actors changes so frequently from hot to not hot, I don’t really think about it. I initially wrote the Sami Saxton character with Diane Lane in mind. She has all the characteristics I envisioned when I created her. Vulnerable, able, strong-willed, determined, yet flawed.
4. Stephen King often makes a cameo in films adapted from his work. Stan Lee is also enjoying doing so these days. What supporting role would you like to play in the film adaptation of A PERFECT SETUP?

I’m better on the sidelines. I don’t have any fantasies of being in the limelight.

5. For a writer, word of mouth is everything. What was the last book you read that you enjoyed so much that you wanted to share it with everyone you know?

Phillip Roth’s PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT. What an amazing author. I’m reading three of his novels now.

6. As of this writing, the trend in publishing is toward series novels as opposed to stand-alone books. Is A PERFECT SETUP a part of a series? If so, where do you see the story going (ie how many books in the series)? If not, do you have a series you’ve written or plan to write, and if so, what is it? And if not, good for you. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Yes, APS is the second in the PERFECT series. Readers can expect a few more Sami outings before she retires. I am going to start rewrites on a book I finished last year called ENCOUNTER which will also be a series revolving around a detective named Dan Hammer from Charleston, South Carolina.

7. Saul Bellow said “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” Where do ideas for your books come from, and where are you and what are you typically doing when inspiration strikes?

My crazy imagination, newspapers, articles in magazines. My inspiration hits me usually while I’m in the bathtub with a glass of wine. For some reason all kinds of ideas begin formulating while submerged under hot water. The next book I plan to write came to me from a New York Times article. Its working title is called DEVIL MAY CARE.

8. Brett Easton Ellis once said, “Do not write a novel for praise. Write for yourself; work out between you and your pen the things that intrigue you.” Indie publishing phenom Amanda Hocking has said that it messed with her head a bit when she realized so many people were going to read the books she’s now writing. Now that Douglas Wickard is rapidly gaining recognition in the publishing world, has an established fan base anticipating his next novel, and is being talked about in the highly-reverent third person, will reader expectation influence how and/or what he writes? Or will he hold to Ellis’ suggestion?

I’m an artist. I work out everything in my writing and as much as I would love to say I don’t write for praise, of course I do. We all do, I’m sure even Brett Easton Ellis does, who I happen to be a huge fan of. Nobody is an island. I write what I choose to write. I don’t buffer my voice. I don’t take safe chances. I don’t try to write the next hit, although wouldn’t we all love that. I write because it is my voice, cultivated and true, warts and all. I’m not an imitator. I want my stories to pulse with life, sex, conflict and drama.

9. The world of Indie authors is the new slush pile. What are you going to say/do when a traditional New York publisher and/or agent contacts you and asks for a meeting?

I’ll cross that bridge when it arrives.

10. Someone once said, and it may have been my dad, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Where do you want your writing career to be in five years’ time?

Why not aim for the top. A PERFECT HUSBAND became an Amazon Kindle bestseller. Why not strive for the New York Times?

Finally, because no artistic endeavor is a solo flight, would you care to share the names and contact info for your supporting players, namely your cover designer, editor, proofreader(s), research assistants, hairdresser, dog groomer, chauffeur, maid, butler, etc?

My current cover designer is the talented Maddee James. XUNI.com. She designed my web page also. My current editor is BZHercules. I have a group of beta readers who I trust the first draft with, of which many drafts follow so I have to thank them as well. Karen Needles, Lynn Hill, LaDonna Perry, Helen White, Tori Klein, Penelope Childs.

Thanks, Douglas. The new book looks great. I'm sure it'll be as well received as your first book.

Visit Douglas's website DouglasWickardBooks.com and be sure to grab a copy of A Perfect Setup today!

         

Comments

  1. Great Blog and interview guys. Have read both A Perfect Husband and the sequel A Perfect Setup - totally absorbing and edge of the seat thrillers that you won't be able to put down once started. Looking forward to your new book Encounter Douglas that comes out in October- I'm sure it will be just as brilliant as the last two.

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