Ask the Author: Bill Powers
Answered Questions (11)
Bill Powers
No concerns about confidentiality. I set my story "The Pharm House" in a fictional company. I never referred to any specific or real product or process. Using generalities and making things up works just fine. What was helpful was coming from big pharma, being able to realistically use the language of the business in order to sell the story. Hope this helps!
Bill Powers
My daughter and I have had a few travel-related “events” that I could spin into mystery stories. We were returning from North Carolina to New Jersey, and the plane experienced a rapid depressurization, causing the pilot to make an emergency descent and landing. On a trip from New Jersey to Omaha on a late-night flight, we all heard a loud bang that woke and startled us. We had lost an engine forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in Cleveland. Fortunately, the gate at Cleveland airport where we deplaned was next to the bar. I’m guessing it was one of the best nights in their history. On an Amtrak trip from Washington DC to New Jersey, we made a planned stop in Baltimore. The train stayed there for nearly an hour. Dogs and police boarded the train, and then we were all told to get off the train. There had been a bomb threat. Each of these events worked out well, but it would be easy to envision an alternative ending…
Once when I was working in the pharmaceutical industry, a group of us had to make a last-minute trip to Puerto Rico to visit a manufacturing site. Our plane left Newark at 7:30 am. About two hours into the flight, the pilot announced that we were making an emergency landing in the Bahamas. He promised to give us more information later. It appeared to be a routine flight. When we landed, there was a lot of activity in the luggage bay of the plane. The pilot finally told us what was going on. There was a dog show in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and several show dogs were in the plane's cargo bay. Also traveling in the hold were some parrots who managed to get the dogs all riled up. The dogs moving around in the cargo bay made the plane hard to control. The solution to the dilemma? They brought the two parrots up into the first-class cabin for the remainder of the flight, and off we went to San Juan.
When we landed and deplaned, as we all walked out the front of the plane, we were bid adieu by the pilot and two of the weirdest parrots I had ever seen. Imagine Johnny Depp as a big green parrot! And when my team got to our hotel, of course, the dog show was there! There has to be a mystery in there somewhere!
I also like to play “what-if” with more ordinary events. The book I am currently working on started when I watched a History Channel show on how the United States and Allies were planning on their post-war victory over Germany and Japan as early as 1942 – at the very beginning of the war. I thought that Germany and Japan were most likely doing the same and had post-war plans for what to do with the United States. In The Lost Codicil, Nicholas Harding and his friend Don Marshall go on an adventure looking for The Lost Codicil, but is it what they think it is?
Another story I was thinking of was what if Germany and Japan had taken a very different direction in the 1930s and avoided war with the United States. What would the U.S. look like without World War II? Would the Great Depression have ended when it did? Would the U.S. still become a Superpower?
These are some of the things that I think about in creating a storyline for a book. Fiction is often just a slight twist of fact.
Once when I was working in the pharmaceutical industry, a group of us had to make a last-minute trip to Puerto Rico to visit a manufacturing site. Our plane left Newark at 7:30 am. About two hours into the flight, the pilot announced that we were making an emergency landing in the Bahamas. He promised to give us more information later. It appeared to be a routine flight. When we landed, there was a lot of activity in the luggage bay of the plane. The pilot finally told us what was going on. There was a dog show in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and several show dogs were in the plane's cargo bay. Also traveling in the hold were some parrots who managed to get the dogs all riled up. The dogs moving around in the cargo bay made the plane hard to control. The solution to the dilemma? They brought the two parrots up into the first-class cabin for the remainder of the flight, and off we went to San Juan.
When we landed and deplaned, as we all walked out the front of the plane, we were bid adieu by the pilot and two of the weirdest parrots I had ever seen. Imagine Johnny Depp as a big green parrot! And when my team got to our hotel, of course, the dog show was there! There has to be a mystery in there somewhere!
I also like to play “what-if” with more ordinary events. The book I am currently working on started when I watched a History Channel show on how the United States and Allies were planning on their post-war victory over Germany and Japan as early as 1942 – at the very beginning of the war. I thought that Germany and Japan were most likely doing the same and had post-war plans for what to do with the United States. In The Lost Codicil, Nicholas Harding and his friend Don Marshall go on an adventure looking for The Lost Codicil, but is it what they think it is?
Another story I was thinking of was what if Germany and Japan had taken a very different direction in the 1930s and avoided war with the United States. What would the U.S. look like without World War II? Would the Great Depression have ended when it did? Would the U.S. still become a Superpower?
These are some of the things that I think about in creating a storyline for a book. Fiction is often just a slight twist of fact.
Bill Powers
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the question. I haven’t gotten the ‘pharma-world being a turn-off’ response, but that being said, everyone’s taste is different and I’m sure that some folks will have no interest in reading about a fictional story set in the pharma world. Actually, I’ve gotten more interest from folks outside the pharma world. Even though it’s large in terms of market capitalization, in terms of numbers of employees, the world of big pharma in the United States is relatively small and insular, compared to the auto manufacturing world for example and most who have never worked in big pharma have no idea of what it’s like inside. So, I may get the ‘Phew, I can’t face that’ from insiders, but I find that outsiders like the small glimpse inside that The Pharm House gives them.
Also, my first novel, The Pharm House, is set inside the pharma world. The second, The Torch is Passed, which continues with the Harding Family story is more of a traditional thriller and has nothing to do with big pharma. The same for my third novel that I’m working on, The Lost Codicil.
So hopefully there’s something for everyone!
Bill Powers
Thanks for the question. I haven’t gotten the ‘pharma-world being a turn-off’ response, but that being said, everyone’s taste is different and I’m sure that some folks will have no interest in reading about a fictional story set in the pharma world. Actually, I’ve gotten more interest from folks outside the pharma world. Even though it’s large in terms of market capitalization, in terms of numbers of employees, the world of big pharma in the United States is relatively small and insular, compared to the auto manufacturing world for example and most who have never worked in big pharma have no idea of what it’s like inside. So, I may get the ‘Phew, I can’t face that’ from insiders, but I find that outsiders like the small glimpse inside that The Pharm House gives them.
Also, my first novel, The Pharm House, is set inside the pharma world. The second, The Torch is Passed, which continues with the Harding Family story is more of a traditional thriller and has nothing to do with big pharma. The same for my third novel that I’m working on, The Lost Codicil.
So hopefully there’s something for everyone!
Bill Powers
Bill Powers
One of my top fictional book worlds is the Victorian and Edwardian London of Sherlock Holmes. Not the Hollywood version, which I try to avoid, but the world created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the foggy, shadowy world of Sherlock, Dr. Watson, their landlady, Mrs. Hudson, Professor Moriarty and Inspector Lestrade and of course, Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft. Most of the stories were set in or around London from 1880 to 1914.
As a young boy, I became obsessed with the eccentric, neurotic, brilliant Sherlock and remain so to this day.
As to what I would do, hmm… maybe I could “tag-along” with Sherlock and Watson as they solve a crime. I am a toxicologist and perhaps my knowledge of poisons could be helpful. And if Sherlock did not want my help, well then, I just may have to go and see Professor Moriarty…
As a young boy, I became obsessed with the eccentric, neurotic, brilliant Sherlock and remain so to this day.
As to what I would do, hmm… maybe I could “tag-along” with Sherlock and Watson as they solve a crime. I am a toxicologist and perhaps my knowledge of poisons could be helpful. And if Sherlock did not want my help, well then, I just may have to go and see Professor Moriarty…
Bill Powers
On the Fiction side - one of my new favorite authors, Dennis Lehane 1) "Sacred" and 2) "Darkness Take My Hand" #s 2 & 3 in the Kenzie/Gennaro series and "Shutter Island". Dennis is a thinking man's suspense/thriller writer. I'm currently reading his new book, "Since we Fell" - I highly recommend...
Lincoln Child's new book "Full Wolf Moon" about the Enigmalogist Jeremy Logan
"The Deadline" by Brian DeSilva (A Liam Mulligan story)
I love history and try to weave a bit of historical truth into my fiction writing, so this summer I plan to take a look at:
"What If 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Have Been" by Robert Cowley and
"Black Slaveowners - Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790 - 1860" by Larry Koger. Yes, there were black slave owners in America! They didn't teach you that in your history classes did they?
Lincoln Child's new book "Full Wolf Moon" about the Enigmalogist Jeremy Logan
"The Deadline" by Brian DeSilva (A Liam Mulligan story)
I love history and try to weave a bit of historical truth into my fiction writing, so this summer I plan to take a look at:
"What If 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Have Been" by Robert Cowley and
"Black Slaveowners - Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790 - 1860" by Larry Koger. Yes, there were black slave owners in America! They didn't teach you that in your history classes did they?
Bill Powers
An easy answer for me would be Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but as much as I adore them, I'll pass.
My favorite couple is a tie between 1) Aloysius Xingus Leng (A. X. L.) Pendergast and his ward/research assistant/Amanuensis, Miss Constance Greene. The young looking Constance (I'll say no more about her age) clearly loves Pendergast, almost violently so and he her, but he cannot allow himself that happiness.
2) My second favorite couple is Niles Crane and Daphne Moon from Frasier. This was one of the best written comedies on television and the long-running love affair between Niles and Daphne in which they never speak of it or touch each other for 8 season was masterfully done and very romantic.
My favorite couple is a tie between 1) Aloysius Xingus Leng (A. X. L.) Pendergast and his ward/research assistant/Amanuensis, Miss Constance Greene. The young looking Constance (I'll say no more about her age) clearly loves Pendergast, almost violently so and he her, but he cannot allow himself that happiness.
2) My second favorite couple is Niles Crane and Daphne Moon from Frasier. This was one of the best written comedies on television and the long-running love affair between Niles and Daphne in which they never speak of it or touch each other for 8 season was masterfully done and very romantic.
Bill Powers
Like most writers, I have lots of stories in me. I play with them, dream about them, day-dream about them and when they are ripe, they have to get out - that is when I get inspired to write them. I am about to start plotting my third novel - it's ripe!
Bill Powers
I enjoy historical/political fiction and one of the best in this genre is Steve Berry. So I guess Steve would be my first choice if I got to choose a writing partner. I enjoy the way Steve takes a historical fact and give it a fictional "what-if" twist, the way he did in The Patriot Threat and The Lincoln Myth - his two most recent books.
I tried to weave small historical facts into my first two books, The Pharm House and The Torch is Passed. In my next book, I may take the leap of twisting a historical fact into a major subplot.
I tried to weave small historical facts into my first two books, The Pharm House and The Torch is Passed. In my next book, I may take the leap of twisting a historical fact into a major subplot.
Bill Powers
I am working on a sequel to The Pharm House; working title is The Torch is Passed. Andrea, the young daughter of Nicholas in The Pharm House is now an adult and must step into the role of head of the family when there is an attempt to kill her father and uncle.
Bill Powers
I was always the weird kid with his own little world of adventures going on inside his head. As a writer, I get to spend time inside those worlds and to eventually share them with others. In other words, I get to be a perpetual kid!
Bill Powers
I find the best way is to just plow through and make yourself write for a specific time. What you have written may not be your best, but once you start writing you will eventually get back into the flow.
Alternatively, you can try walking away for a while, but it cannot be for long and you must have the discipline to get back to work.
Alternatively, you can try walking away for a while, but it cannot be for long and you must have the discipline to get back to work.
Bill Powers
The idea for The Pharm House came from my experiences working for a major pharmaceutical house for 25+ years. I had wanted to write a thriller for some time, however when I started working on The Pharm House, I was working full time. There was no time for research. Using the adage of "write what you know", I decided to set my thriller storyline into the background of a global pharmaceutical house.
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