In 2002, I came across a book entitled, Left Behind written by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim Lahaye. Many of you may know that it was one of the most successful series of the millenium. Anyway, I remember anxiously awaiting the next book and then the next. The series finally ended with Glorious Appearing. I remember standing on line outside of Borders Bookstore at Pentagon Centre wishing the sales associate would stop playing around and just open the door. Didn't she know that I wanted to read the book before the rest of my friends?
Well, I'll probably be doing the same thing in 2009. One of my fellow AWers, J.J. Cooper, has been fortunate enough to sign with Random House and o/a Father's Day, his book Interrogated will be released. I'm so excited for J.J. and of course, I wanted to ask him a few questions.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about Interrogated?
INTERROGATED is a story of betrayal and nightmarish conspiracy firmly rooted in the highest levels of government across international alliances. Jay Ryan is an interrogator with a dark past and a tortured soul; he’s also the keeper of secrets Israeli spies will kill to get their hands on. Renowned for his skills, he is used to commanding a certain level of respect amongst his peers. Then one day Jay is drugged, tortured, tattooed and accused of rape. He is forced to reveal information that could further destabilise fragile Middle East relations and plunge the entire region into war. The story rockets toward a shattering finale that will leave the survivors changed forever.
2. Why did you write it?
I had seventeen adrenaline-filled years with the military. After I left, I landed a nine-to-five office job. Great money, but boring as…well very boring. I needed an outlet and I found it in my writing. My writing is fast paced and it bridges that gap nicely in my life.
3. Take the unsigned and waiting author through the process of moving Interrogated from a WIP to an accepted manuscript? The rewrites, researching, critiquing, querying, etc.
Most people advise to just write the story and edit later. Not me. I write ten chapters (around 15,000 words) then edit. It helps me identify areas to strengthen the plot and look at sub-plot elements as I go. It allows me to check the flow and ensure the right characters are doing the right things. Mostly, it helps me to review and strengthen the writing early. After I have given those ten chapters a solid edit, I send them away to my Beta readers. Whilst they review those chapters I move on to the next ten chapters. After I completed Interrogated, I only needed a couple of final runs before I was happy to send it out.
Being an ex-interrogator, the research was fairly easy. I figured for the first book you write you should write about what you know. (Note to my ex-employer…it’s fiction. I know that Secrecy Act you made me sign lasts forever)
The hard part of the whole process was trying to figure out how to write the dreaded query letter. I’d prefer to write a 200,000 word romance (sorry romance enthusiasts – just not my thing) than write that query letter again. I spent a very long time researching and reading everything I could to try to understand what was supposed to be in a query letter. I must have written the query letter a couple of dozen times until I was happy enough to send it out. Then it was more detailed research to find an agent who would be a match. This took a couple of weeks to narrow down the field in some sort of order for query submission. I got lucky that the agent I wanted also liked my query and requested the full manuscript to be sent. After a few weeks wait I was offered representation.
After offering representation, my agent then did a review of my manuscript. Being an ex-editor herself, I expected to be working fairly hard with endless amounts of revision. I was pleasantly surprised to get a detailed review that took less than a day to make adjustments to.
From there my agent wrote a proposal for publishers. The first round went to three publishers and three weeks later we got the offer from Random House.
4. You know J.J., I'm always embarrassed when it comes to writing certain scenes for fear that my mother will gasp and say, "OMG, girl that scene was way toooooo graphic." Were there any parts of the book that you were uncomfortable writing for any reason?
I avoided the love-making scene. I used the excuse that, because I write thrillers, I don’t need to be writing a romantic scene. There is certainly sexual tension throughout the first book. And thankfully someone invented the chapter break to save me some embarrassment. It was something I later discussed with my agent and I’m happy that she said I didn’t need to write the scene.
I don’t recall any other uncomfortable scenes.
5. If it were made into a movie, who would you like to play the MCs?
Maybe Eric Bana as the main male character. I’m an Ashley Judd fan, so either of the two female characters (one is nice – one not so nice). The other could be played by Katherine Heigl…please. I’ll take suggestions for the evil antagonist.
6. Have you written any other books?
I know a lot of writers don’t have their first book published and that it normally takes a few before they are picked up. I am fortunate. Interrogated is my first book. And on the back of a two paragraph synopsis for another book, Random House offered a two-book deal. I am now about a quarter of the way through my second book.
7. Okay, many of us are waiting for that call from Random House, Harpers, Avon, etc. Tell us what you were doing and how you found out that Random House won the bid for the ms?
I was at my desk at work. Because my agent is in another City (Sydney), we had never met and only ever exchanged emails. The first time we spoke on the phone was when she called and let me know of the deal. That was on a Friday and I had the weekend to think it over. All I could think about was the platform they were going to give me and the slot for the book. After the weekend we had other interest and my agent arranged for a call to the acquisition editor at Random House. At the end of the call I knew we had a very good match and I advised her I would accept the offer.
8. The release of Interrogated is 2009. Why so long? What's involved in the process once it's in the publisher's hands?
One of the reasons I accepted the offer from Random House was the timing for the book’s release. At this stage we are looking at a release for Father’s Day 2009. This is a big deal for a first-time author, and a great slot to be in.
I don’t know how much editing is required just yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I enjoy learning the process to improve my writing. In normal terms I suppose I’m fairly new to it all.
2009 seems so far away, but I’m sure it’ll be well worth it when I see Interrogated in all good bookstores.
9. How long have you been writing?
I had the goal of writing a novel just over a year ago. Once finished I had the goal of getting an agent. That done, my next goal was getting a publisher. Fortunately, I was offered the deal with Random House three weeks after we sent them the proposal. Very quick in publishing terms.
10. We're both Absolutewrite Fanatics. Why did you join? How long have you been a member? How has it helped you?
I landed at Absolutewrite just over a year ago with around 10,000 words that I thought were well written. I was wrong. I submitted the first part for critique and received excellent feedback. It was a make or break point, because some writers may have taken offence, and their bat and ball, and left. I spent weeks searching the site for the great tips and advice (still do). Over the next year, I wrote Interrogated and interacted with the Absolutewrite community. The advice received was, and still is, invaluable. I wouldn’t have a great agent or a two-book deal with Random House if not for the Absolutewrite forum.
11. What's next for you?
I’ll start working with the editors and marketing people at Random House shortly. I’ll also be continuing along with the follow-up book. And think about when I can quit work. I’ve recently joined the Debut Authors over at International Thriller Writers, so I’ll be spending some time learning the ropes over there.
12. Complete this sentence. If I could, I'd discourage new authors and writers from:
Giving up. My Journey to publication has been freakishly quick, but I worked hard to be where I am. Start with goals that lead to your dreams and believe that you can do it. If you believe you will never be published – you won’t. Beliefs drive thinking, actions and results. Also, you need support from other writers and readers in reviewing your work before sending it out. Accept constructive criticism.
J.J., I'm so happy for you and I look forward to reading Interrogated.
Thank you all for the support and I hope you’ll enjoy reading Interrogated as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to pop into my Blog for regular updates on the countdown to release http://jjcooperaus.blogspot.com/
Other...: www.carolinewilsonbooks.com
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