Ask the Author: Geoffrey Wells
Answered Questions (8)
Geoffrey Wells
By definition, mysteries start with finding a dead body. And that has not happened to me--thank goodness! However, I had a tour of the Medical Examiner's Lab, where I saw a large dissected cadaver on a table. Did I see something that no one else saw? That, my friends, could be a great start of a mystery...
Geoffrey Wells
Molly and Paul Christopher in Charles McCarry's Tears of Autumn. I love their uneasy relationship that always craves more--yet their affection for each other is obvious.
Geoffrey Wells
Just write down a fully-realized story, and do it as well as you possibly can.
Geoffrey Wells
I can't say I ever had writer's block, but there a days when just stringing words into sentences and paragraphs is enough to lead me into the next set of ideas, the next turn in the conversation.
Geoffrey Wells
For me, it's that I can create the completed piece without having to rely on anyone else.
Geoffrey Wells
I am preparing to release my latest thriller, THE FACES IN THE RAIN.
Here's a quick summary:
Twenty-four-year-old composer Allison Schwartz is certain that no one will find the code she has hidden in her music. The cybercrime syndicate would agree with her.
Adding to her already stressed state over her commissioned symphony due in three weeks, a CIA agent confirms that Allison’s code is facilitating Syndicate transactions of arms for ivory. Allison must now bait a trap before she loses her work and the trust of the musicians with whom she collaborates on-line. Her virtual orchestra can no longer rely on her to protect their music from piracy. Her unlikely comrade is Sipho, a Manhattan street vendor from Tanzania, who snitches for the NYPD—so they don’t deport him. To protect her in Dar es Salaam, where he and Allison are to pick up the vanished digital trail, Sipho signs Allison into the Dark Web used by vendors legally trading in the underground markets. Under cover, Allison is abducted and brought before a warlord. She is poisoned during a poaching raid and awakes from a coma, in Zanzibar. Her handlers bungle her necessary, though abhorrent bitcoin purchase of tusks from the warlord. Sepho’s network however, has exposed a Webmaster who is covertly marketing drugs contaminated with animal parts and who will use Allison’s code as a gateway into the U.S. market. Out of her depth and disillusioned with her naive zeal, she persuades Sipho to go dark with her. They fall for each other in an analog paradise and return to New York with a newfound confidence, more determined honor their right to privacy.
Thanks for your support!
Here's a quick summary:
Twenty-four-year-old composer Allison Schwartz is certain that no one will find the code she has hidden in her music. The cybercrime syndicate would agree with her.
Adding to her already stressed state over her commissioned symphony due in three weeks, a CIA agent confirms that Allison’s code is facilitating Syndicate transactions of arms for ivory. Allison must now bait a trap before she loses her work and the trust of the musicians with whom she collaborates on-line. Her virtual orchestra can no longer rely on her to protect their music from piracy. Her unlikely comrade is Sipho, a Manhattan street vendor from Tanzania, who snitches for the NYPD—so they don’t deport him. To protect her in Dar es Salaam, where he and Allison are to pick up the vanished digital trail, Sipho signs Allison into the Dark Web used by vendors legally trading in the underground markets. Under cover, Allison is abducted and brought before a warlord. She is poisoned during a poaching raid and awakes from a coma, in Zanzibar. Her handlers bungle her necessary, though abhorrent bitcoin purchase of tusks from the warlord. Sepho’s network however, has exposed a Webmaster who is covertly marketing drugs contaminated with animal parts and who will use Allison’s code as a gateway into the U.S. market. Out of her depth and disillusioned with her naive zeal, she persuades Sipho to go dark with her. They fall for each other in an analog paradise and return to New York with a newfound confidence, more determined honor their right to privacy.
Thanks for your support!
Geoffrey Wells
I don't over-think it. I just start writing sentences. Most writing is perspiration; inspiration comes out crafting well-executed ideas.
Geoffrey Wells
Hi: Thanks for asking. My most recent book came from an idea that ivory smuggling is a sophisticated business and therefore ripe for exploitation by cyber criminals. My book, soon to be released (THE FACES IN THE RAIN) connects these two concepts. Also, the inciting incident that starts the story comes from seeing someone cross through a crowd of runners and collide into someone on the other side--what a good start to a story!
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