with Allen Wyler
We are delighted to welcome back author Allen Wyler to Omnimystery News today.
Allen's new suspense thriller with a techno edge is Deadly Odds (Astor + Blue Editions; September 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats), the backstory to which we featured last month. More recently, we had the opportunity to talk with him more about his books.
— ♦ —
Omnimystery News: Into which fiction genre would you place your books?
Photo provided courtesy of
Allen Wyler
Allen Wyler: Six of my books are fast-paced thrillers. Changes was my first departure from that genre. That story explores with the universal fantasy of being able to live life again, knowing what you know now. It was a fun write. Cutter's Trial, due out next Spring is also not a thriller. That novel is loosely based on a period of my practice and explores in fair, unblemished detail what it's like to be a neurosurgeon.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
AW: I'm a believer in outlines. When I start an outline, I usually figure out how I want it to end. Then I decide on a beginning. Only then do I start to figure out how to connect those two points. When I'm completely satisfied with the outline, I begin to actually write the story. But I always find problems once I get into the writing that I didn't anticipate.
Unless there are other pressing matters, I write every day, seven days a week, starting first thing in the morning. Perhaps for three hours. That's about all I can do before my ADHD personality compels me to other things.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
AW: Having been a practicing neurosurgeon makes writing medical scenes easy. Especially scenes that take place in the operating room and hospital. When straying into other areas, I don't hesitate to contact someone who can provide information. I'm lucky to have friends — such as a King County detective — who are gracious in providing details about things I have no experience with.
OMN: How true are you to the settings for your books?
AW: Most of my stories take place in Seattle simply because I live here, so it makes the research easy. Also, I think it's a great city, so love to showcase it in stories. The sequel to Deadly Odds (due out next Fall) takes place in Honolulu, which is another city I frequent and love. I don't take liberties with the geography because I don't want to have that come back bite me. I always visit the places used in scenes so I can realistically describe them. I often consult Google Earth for street names and geographic relationships.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
AW: Best advice was to believe in myself and keep on trying in spite of rejection. I could probably wall-paper the Pentagon with all the rejection I've received before finally selling my first thriller. The second best bit of advice was to write for myself and not a mold someone else thinks I should fit into.
OMN: How do you go about selecting titles for your books?
AW: My first published book, Deadly Errors, was titled Sentinel Event at the time it was submitted. My editor loved the story but hated the title. She said no one would ever know what that meant, so came up with the eventual title. Since then "dead" or "deadly" have become part of the brand for my thrillers even though they're not a series. The second word in the title has direct relevance to the theme. Because Arnold Gold makes his living through on-line gambling, Deadly Odds just seemed to make sense.
OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching?
AW: I love thrillers/crime. But more and more, instead of movies, I watch series. Some favorites are The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Killing, Happy Valley, The Fall. The Wire is my all-time favorite.
OMN: Have any films inspired the types of books you write?
AW: One film that inspired me to consider writing was Three Days Of The Condor. Yes, it's dated now, but the way in which the protagonist is quickly thrown into overwhelming adversity really appealed to me. I tend to use that as a model for my stories.
OMN: When selecting a book to read for pleasure, what do you look for?
AW: I always watch what comes out, especially books reviewed in the New York Times. If something interests me, I go to Amazon and read about it. If I'm still interested, I read a sample chapter and make a decision. I read almost exclusively on a Kindle, which is usually in my back pocket so I can read during down moments.
OMN: So what kinds of books do you read now?
AW: I read a ton, both fiction and non-fiction. On balance, I read more non-fiction than fiction, however. For fiction, I heavily lean toward crime. Some of my favorite authors are John Sanford, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Robert Crais, and Don Winslow. For non-fiction, I love to read science.
OMN: What's next for you?
AW: I have a couple projects coming out next Spring. Cutter's Trial is a non-thriller dealing with a liberal West Coast neurosurgeon who ends up practicing in the a conservative region of the South. It explores several issues including the debate over whether terminal patients have the right to end their own lives. The editors at Astor+Blue liked my character Arnold Gold so much that they encouraged me to write a sequel, so at the moment I'm working on Deadly Odds 2.0.
— ♦ —
Wyler's love of thrillers began in 1974 on his way to Cincinnati to take the oral boards in neurosurgery. At SeaTac airport he picked up a copy of William Goldman's Marathon Man to read on the flight. He became so engrossed he stayed up all night to finish it before stoking up on coffee and meeting with the examiners. In 2002 he left active practice to become Medical Director for a start-up medical technology company. At the end of 2007 he retired to devote full time to writing.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at AllenWyler.com or find him on Facebook.
— ♦ —
Deadly Odds
Allen Wyler
A Suspense Thriller
Twenty-three-year-old Arnold Gold is a Seattle-based odds-maker and local computer genius. Described as a "part-time hacker and full-time virgin" by his friends, the awkward young shut-in flies to Vegas to try and get lucky — in more ways than one.
But his high-stakes activity on the Net inadvertently thrusts him into a vortex of international terrorism. His dark net hacking has resulted in murder, and now it will take every last bit of Arnold's genius intellect and legendary hacking skill to stay one step ahead of the murderous terrorists, the FBI, the local cops, and his lawyer. Gold's only chance to save himself is to find the location of a bomb hidden somewhere in Vegas, and somehow prevent the explosion that will turn Sin City into the scene of the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11.
