Ask the Author: Tom Golden
Answered Questions (6)
Tom Golden
Right now in my writing career ideas for novels are stacked high since I pull from my prior investigations. I'm writing a novel so I have lots of room to improvise. My first draft usually loosely follows a certain investigation. Then I'll write a bunch of scenes that may or may not fit into this particular novel. That's where the fun begins. Because it's fiction I can make myself, the protagonist smarter and better looking! So many stories needing to be written.
Tom Golden
I wake up and just do it. As soon as I sit down at my keyboard I write. So many stories waiting to be written. I am also a HUGE movie fan. Used to live at Michigan Ave and Chestnut in Chicago. Didn't need a car. We could walk everywhere and that usually included any of 13 movie screens. Now that I live in the country the closest movie theater is 35 miles away. So, I put in my own movie theater! Now I get to watch them any time I want. Movies inspire me and I am always driving my wife nuts when I pull out my phone and make notes in Evernote about plots and characters...while we are watching the movie! Traveling inspires me too. Sometimes I'll sit in a Starbucks in a new city and just write about what I see. You'd be amazed at what scenes I can craft from such routine happenings.
Tom Golden
The sequel to SUNDAY NIGHT FEARS, yet to be named. Sam Halloran picks up where he left off with an forensic investigation in a Central American country. His target, Javier Mendoza, is a controlling, manipulative and brutal General Manager of a liquor distillery employing about 900 locals, mostly women...whom he takes advantage of...often. His plant is a subsidiary company of Hampton Enterprises, a Fortune 200 company and audit client of Sam Halloran's firm. The management committee hires Sam to investigate the claims of a female plant employee who has bravely sent a letter, anonymously, pleading for help. One of the allegations is financial improprieties which is why Sam was engaged, but as the investigation proceeds many more acts of violence, corruption and treachery are revealed. This investigation will be Sam's most difficult in his fifteen years at this sport and goes way beyond just the numbers. Question is, does Sam possess the skills to expose not only the financial crime but the egregious proclivities that Javier Mendoza has taken in the lives of those that work for him. First draft is currently 45 chapters and 190,000 words which is too long. Now the real work begins...editing. I am eager to finish as I want to begin book three which takes place in a US city and has to do with political corruption and the mob. So many stories to tell!!
Tom Golden
Don't ever say "I just want to write a novel. I don't really care if it sells." When I hear that, I walk the other way. I mean...why go through the effort, and if you do it right it will be a GREAT effort! So be serious about it. Or, do something else. Use professionals throughout...publishing consultants, editors, cover designers, publicist, and Advertising and marketing experts. There has never been a better time to be a writer. The Indie market is exploding. No more gate-keepers. You have complete and total control. If you are Trad and you want to do an Audio version, good luck with that. But as and Indie I control ever thing, including running ads. In Trad you can't afford ads. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...write something someone else will want to read. Then test it by giving a draft to 15 people who will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Good luck!
Tom Golden
I suppose it's like any other passion. I just enjoy most ever aspect of writing. I have been a professional speaker for about 30 years. I began writing in 2002 when Wiley publishers came to me to write what they would market as "the seminal guide to forensic accounting investigation." That effort took 3+ years while I was still conducting large-scale investigations around the globe. In my speeches/seminars I talk about my investigations (keeping confidences). Oftentimes people would say "You tell a good story. You should write a novel." So I did. I just love to tell and write stories. I am a very extroverted introvert. Meaning...I love my alone time, but I also love to be around people, but on my choosing. That's why we live deep in the woods. Very private and secluded. But I still love to hop on a plane and give a talk somewhere...then head back to the woods, my wife of 47 years and my mixed-Lab Lexie.
Tom Golden
Once I start a writing session I never get writer's block. My problem is starting. My routine is to arise at 5:30 am and I sit down at my desktop in my office, alone, dog by my side, trees out my window. And I write for 2-3 hours. On some days when I get into the grove I can write for 5-7 hours but those days are rare--just have too many other things going on. I think that i am spared from writer's block because i write about financial crime investigations and I've done many, many of them. My first novel SUNDAY NIGHT FEARS is a fictionalized account of my first fraud discovery. It was not difficult to hammer out a first draft. It was difficult to get it right with the help of two professional editors and about 15 Beta readers., and, of course, my wife. My second novel in the Sam Halloran series is a fictional account of one of my largest and most dangerous investigations conducted in a Central American country. So, fortunately, writer's block is not an issue. Finding the time to write is!
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