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I can say I officially started writing novels about eight years ago but in reality I've been writing most of my life. From stories in childhood through my college days as department editor of our weekly newspaper, my love for the written word has kept my imagination vivid and alive. I was a voracious reader, devouring everything from Mark Twain to Shakespeare, and many mystery novels in between. I think I was the only one I knew who read the first 60 books of the Hardy Boys adventures! Along the way, I discovered writing styles I liked and those I didn't. I began to think I could do just a good a job as these other writers, putting thoughts on paper that people would honestly enjoy reading. I took my life experiences and my things I knew most about - namely, my children and my love of God, and combined them into my first manuscript for young adults, Heaven Sent, which was completed in 2004. Heaven Sent was about two child angels, Sean and Elizabeth, names which held strong personal attachments to me. It was an adventure story first and foremost, but told with humor and grace, and some poetic license to boot. I created strong communities in both Heaven and in Earth's past, and weaved a saga of many decades through a writing technique I've often enjoyed.
This was followed two years later by a sequel, Heaven's Colors, which took the story to another level, and combined it with a journey of more physical proportions. One of the most remotest places on earth, Siberia, became the setting. The time - the height of the Cold War between Russia and America. The stakes - the life of one boy and yet, all humanity ultimately hinged on the balance of power being played out in the heavens above. I wanted to use the technique of dream sequences, and played it out several times in the storyline. This allowed the characters even more freedom to escape their own mental barriers and live out their hopes and fears in a very real way. My first historical novel, Time Capsule, was my most ambitious project yet, taking over two and a half years in the making. It combined not only a first person narrative, but a constantly changing one at that. We see the lives of four ordinary teenagers in a very unique way. This story, as much as it is about the characters, is ultimately controlled by something far more powerful. The Holy Grail, the chalice that Jesus used during the last supper, links all four stories into a single but powerful thread, combining two thousand years of history in a way never done before. Extensive research permitted me to recreate these eras in very authentic and historical fashion, something I feel very strongly about. I want the reader to experience the times as they really were, to place himself beside the characters and see the situations from their eyes. Its tricky to do, because you don't want to bog the story in too much detail, but just enough to see what's happening while keep the pace running. I think the most common threads all my stories share are adventure and character - from start to finish, each one is chock full of challenging situations and conflict. Unexpected twists keep the reader guessing, and the characters always stay true to themselves. They mature, they grow, and they learn - as all people do. And my hope is that readers will relate to them as I have come to relate to them. For these are not only my creation, they are my family.
My latest project, Lewis and Clark: Murder on the Natchez Trace is my most extensive and longest novel to date, combining four years of research and writing into this 128,000 word manuscript. Centered around the death of Meriwether Lewis in 1809, a few years after his return on his famed expedition west, four friends and colleagues come together again to bring his killers to justice. Centered around the War of 1812 (1812-16) and the expedition itself (1804-06), the story fully explores these characters in ways never before imagined. Chock full of 'golden nuggets', we get historical and political perspectives on many great people of the era, and see real history unfolding before our own eyes! Its a wonderful experience to get these ideas on paper and to share them with all of you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom earned his Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from St. Bonaventure University in 1988, and now works as a software engineer for a Fortune 500 company. He lives in New Jersey with his wife of 17 years, and his five children. |
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