“Never fear (the audience) nor despise it. Coax it, charm it, interest it, stimulate it, shock it now and then if you must, make it laugh, make it cry, but above all…never, never, never bore the living hell out of it.”
– Noel Coward
Tom D Wright lives in the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest with his wife and a small pack of dogs and one cat. He’s written most of his books while commuting on the train to his day job in Seattle (where he works in IT for a globally-known non-profit) but when not writing he is likely to be camping and stargazing with his 12″ telescope.
He also writes Paranormal Romance under a pseudonym, and is open about being neurodivergent – ADD (ADHD without the hyperactivity), ASD (self-diagnosed high-functioning Aspergers) and childhood PTSD – a potent combination.
He graduated with a Masters in Psychology from Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland and served on the Board for Cascade Writers, a non-profit dedicated to providing educational seminars and workshops for writers.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
– Antoine de Saint Exupery
Reviews:
October 13, 2015: The Archivist review on Sci Fi Monkeys
Interviews:
January 1, 2016: An online interview with Wendy Van Camp at “No Wasted Ink” where I discuss The Archivist.
August 31, 2015: An online interview with DJ at “My Life, My Books, My Escape” where I discuss The Archivist.
August 26, 2015: Online interview with Gef at “Wag The Fox” again plugging The Archivist and answering some very thought-provoking questions.
“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
– Bertrand Russell
Q: What are you working on right now?
I recently wrapped up the audiobooks for the five-book reverse-harem romance series that I wrote during COVID under my pseudonym, and am now free to turn back to my long-neglected (but never forgotten) SciFi work. After some additional polishing, Fang and the Knife of Darkness is finished and in the query process.
While sending out Fang queries, I’m debating whether to finish the Gizaki trilogy (Book Two, The Rings of Ersi is outlined and the first third rough-drafted) or dive into the second and third books of The Archivist trilogy – my one book that was traditionally published. Both are timely and close to my heart in different ways, so it’s just a question of which series I write out first.
And my story collection The Baylah Run is a seed pack of material for my novels. Both The Malhutan Chronicles and main characters in Fang and the Knife of Darkness are spin-offs from Baylah, and I’m confident that the next spin-off will come from “Last Flight of the Aven,” which is one of my favorite stories from that collection.
Q: How did you start writing?
Like most people I began writing some bits and pieces of a novel, found it much harder than I expected and being honest with myself, the quality was far short of what I hoped for. That recognition was the start of my journey as an artist, which has taken me through a couple shelves of books on writing, more writers conferences than I can recall, a number of writing critique groups and many drafts and revisions. The writers’ journey requires enormous perseverance and brutal self-honesty – there is no promise that it will be easy, just that it will be worth it.
Q: Where do you get your ideas?
My ideas come from a variety of directions. Sometimes they are inspired by a song, sometimes I want to incorporate a cool scientific idea into a story, and other times they come from an unlikely convergence of thoughts. But whatever the kernel idea of the story may be, that is just the start of a sequence of development. Still, for almost any story, I can trace it back to a single core idea that kicked it off.
Q: Do you have any advice for other writers?
I would give this advice to any creative person. Do not give up something that is your passion. If the demands of life force themselves upon you, as they will, put your passion on the back burner—but never take it off the stove.
Q: How would you describe your specific writing style?
My writing style varies from piece to piece, depending on what the story demands. For instance, The Archivist is written in First Person Present Tense, as is much (but not all, by any means) of my fiction – I think my neurodivergence wires me to write best from that perspective. In general I would say that my prose strikes a balance between providing enough description to bring color to the tale, while leaving room for the reader to envision it in her or his own way.
“Willed introversion, in fact, is one of the classic implements of creative genius and can be employed as a deliberate device…This is a basic principle of the Indian disciplines of yoga…Rather, it is a deliberate, terrific refusal to respond to anything but the deepest, highest, richest answer to the as yet unknown demand of some waiting void within.”
– Joseph Campbell
Online resources for my work, writing resources, other authors and anything else others might find particularly valuable.
Tom D Wright on the web
Amazon “Author Page” – listing both print and e-books along with reader reviews
Goodreads Author Page – listing books, ratings, etc.
Writing Resources
Wordle is a site where you can paste in a body of text and visually see the words that you use and abuse
Ask Polly: Should I Just Give Up on My Writing? – This is a very from-the-heart column that really speaks to the pain, frustration, self-doubt and yet the unyielding drive that writers experience. Whether you are a writer asking that question, or you are in relationship with a writer and want to understand her or his inner struggles, this piece provides wonderfully eloquent insight.