Ask the Author: Tom Collins
Answered Questions (10)
Tom Collins
As a young CPA the manufacture of industrial and construction machinery and equipment requested a surprise audit of one of its dealers. The dealer’s inventory was on floor plan—financed by the manufacture. Not only did I discover two sets of books—the owner and the female office manager were both in on it. I was followed. The office manager tried to seduce me.
Tom Collins
It is a routine operation.
We lost her.
We lost her.
Tom Collins
This is Mark Twain summer. I'm reading "The Innocents Abroad" and rereading the complete short stories of Mark Twain's. His attention to detail and use of satirical humor is worth studying.
Tom Collins
That is a really good question. My answer is just start writing. Even if it has nothing to do with your manuscript. Write about a vacation, growing up, anything. Usually once you get the juices flowing you can go back to your manuscript.
Tom Collins
Mr. and Mrs. North: I remember them most from the movies, but Frances Louise Lockridge and her husband Richard Orson Lockridge wrote over 40 books featuring the these lovable characters. Why--it was the golden age of New York that provided a wonderful backdrop and authors light touch made detecting fun--Murder without blood you might say, like the old western gunshot victims.
Tom Collins
I’ve always loved suspense and mysteries so it seemed natural to write about something I had a passion for. Where did these stories come from? They come from my life. For example, the idea for my latest mystery, "The Claret Murders", began on Christmas Eve when my son and I shared an old bottle of Chateau Cheval Blanc. That event, melded with the mental image of an old mansion that I had driven by for years, started mw thinking. I wondered what secrets and mysteries were buried inside. Life is where your stories will come from—and they’re just waiting to be told. Look for those stories and get busy. Write. The easy part is publishing your work. The hard part is making sure that your work is worth the reader’s time.
Tom Collins
I'm currently working on a novel with the working title of DIVERSION. It deals with drug diversion in and around Nashville. Drug diversion is legally prescribed pain medication diverted for illegal purposes. It is a big business, and it spawns other illegal businesses. One tragic off-shoot in the world of drug diversion is the disappearance of young girls who are seduced by drugs into a life of prostitution. A life that only profits the sex traffickers and drug lords.
Tom Collins
If you want to write don't let anything stop you. Recently, during a book signing event, a beautiful 80-year-woman asked me if I thought it was too late for her to start writing. I said, "Of course not--you just have to write faster."The more you write, the better your writing will be. The question, of course, is why would you want to write at all? Very few people acquire fame as an author or get rich on book royalties. Your satisfaction has to come from doing what you want to do—and writing for the pleasure of others. If you decide to write, don’t let anything stop you.
Tom Collins
Writing a novel is not much different than reading one except you get to decide how it ends.
Tom Collins
Readers frequently ask where the idea for a novel came from. In the case of The Claret Murders, I started the story with two images. One was old mansion that I have driven by for fifty years and wondered about its history. The second was the faded label on a now empty 1947 bottle of Chateau Cheval Blanc, the greatest wine every made. After that, the characters took over and the story began to write itself. The entry of the flood into the story was a complete surprise for me, but it became a central element--the complication that had to be overcome.
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