Inside the Mind - C. L. Thomas

My father was born in 1919 and grew during the Depression. He had to quit school at the age of twelve and go to work in his uncle's garage. He wasn't an educated man, but he had an imagination. When I was a kid, he created this character named Archibald Popscaluski who took bad little boys to the little factory to trade them in for a new model. My dad created a whole world where all of this took place. My first book, The Hollow is dedicated to my father without whom I would have no imagination. I really started writing stories in high school and kept at it while raising my family and working. Today I have published three books so far and plan on publishing several more.

My latest book is called, Missing. It is based off of a real story from the Houston, TX area where a young girl got off the school bus one day and was never seen again. I have my private detective, Bruce Westman take up the case to search for a girl who went missing 16 years ago. He is hired by the girl's mother who is dying of cancer and wants him to find her daughter before she dies. As a retired police officer this actual case touched my heart in a way other crimes and disappearances didn't. Even the Houston girl has never been found I do allow this story to have a happy ending.

Bruce Westman was created while I was in high school. Back then he chased vampires and werewolves as a PI. After three stories I set him aside and didn't really think about again until six years ago when I was back home in Connecticut. It was late fall and I went out for a drive through my old stomping grounds. During the drive I came upon an old swimming pool where I played as a kid. It was early evening as I pulled into the parking lot, parking beneath a tall oak tree. As I sat there peering through the chain link at the pool, I found myself wondering, "What if a body was floating out there?" Later, I went back to my hotel and began writing down notes and before I knew it, I had the workings of a story, and as this story began to take shape I thought of Bruce Westman. I thought what if I brought him back and grounded him in reality. From those early thoughts and ideas, the first book in the Bruce Westman series, The Hollow emerged. Today I am hard at work in the 8th book in the series.

Well, I take my granddaughter to the gym for gymnastics practice. Practice lasts fours and during this time I get most of my writing done. I also have an office above the garage where I write for two to three hours a day when I am not at the gym.

Going to book shows. I am like most police officers, an introverted/extrovert, but I am very capable of putting myself out there if I have too. When I started going to book shows I didn't think I'd be any good at selling myself and my books but oddly enough, I am. I love telling people about my books and myself and I love hearing what they have to say.

Promotion, promotion, promotion. I think if you ask any writer and they will say the same thing if they're being honest.

Nope. I just write/type it out. I don't outline anything, I just allow the story to take me where it wants to go, and many times the places it takes me to totally surprise me. When I started The Hollow, I thought it was just one book and done, but before I reached the end, I had the idea for the second book, Killer Art. Same thing happened as I drew near to the end of book 2. After that I just kept writing the stories as they came. Today I'm on book 8, but I already know what book 9 is about. I didn't plan any of this, I just went with wherever Bruce Westman wanted to take me.

Just write. It doesn't matter if you its good. It doesn't matter if no one likes the story. Just write whatever your heart desires. Read everything you can get your hands on and always write a review. This is so important and so hard to get others to do. Amazon loves reviews, so make sure to always write one to support your fellow writers.

Mostly I just go to book shows all over the country. I meet interesting people and get to sell myself and my books. I also try to weed through the endless emails from all kinds of people who promise they can make my book into a best seller for a price. I ignore 99% of these but sometimes one will catch my eye and I will investigate further.

As I said, I am at work on book 8 at the moment. The title is, Nobody Calls. I think this is a good Bruce Westman story. I'm 41000 words into the story and plan on something between 65000 and 70000 words.