Ask the Author: Tom Vater
Answered Questions (5)
Tom Vater
My most recent book The Man with the Golden Mind is an espionage thriller set in Laos that harks back to the CIA's secret war in the country in the 1960s and 1970s. A few years back I co-wrote a documentary about this covert war, the largest in the agency's history at that point, called The Most Secret Place on Earth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8cIki...). It was the work on this film and the connections I made while being involved in the project that provided the context and factual backbone of the novel.
Tom Vater
I have never had a great deal of writer's block. Sometimes I procrastinate.. In the past this used to freak me out and I used to put huge pressure on myself to get back into the groove. Now I just wait a couple days and the urge to continue the story comes back. For me, writer's block or the lack thereof also has to do with money. If I am writing while receiving an advance, I feel more secure and generally write faster and in a more focused manner.
Tom Vater
I am just finishing up the text for a coffee table book on Cambodia by photographer Kraig Lieb and I am some way into my third Detective Maier novel Monsoon Ghost Image.
Tom Vater
I enjoy an inordinate amount of freedom in my life. I don't have a boss or an office to go to. But I also need to have a certain amount of discipline and self motivation. Because I am my own boss I am also the guy who tells me to go to work. I love this balancing act. But what I love most about being a writer are these moments when I'm really flying, writing fast and solid prose that doesn't need a great deal of revision. Those are some of the best moments in my life.
Tom Vater
Write. All the time. A thousand words a day. Write in different genres and mediums. Get work. Get paid. Don't give up hope.
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