G. W. Allison – Author Interview – A Quintillion Words

“I don’t care if the storm raged until the sun came up. There was a job to do.”
Into the Marrow – G.W. Allison

I’ve always been a sucker for a good thriller series and author, and I’ve certainly found another in the form of G.W. Allison and the Leroy Cutter series! I always appreciate when books in a series can be read as standalone books, and I recently enjoyed Into the Marrow, book two in the Leroy Cutter series. You can read my review of Into the Marrow here!

To find out more about the writing process of Allison’s latest, what’s next for this author as well as what his influences are, I threw some questions his way and got the best answers.

1. It’s clear you’ve done A LOT of research for Into The Marrow – have you been to the Florida Keys or any of the locations you’ve written about for your research?

When I set upon a story, I visit every location for as long as I am able. Of course, the Key West was an easy decision. Who wouldn’t want to spend a few weeks swimming in crystal blue waters and lying around on white sandy beaches? Of course, there was research involved. As you said, a lot of research. In the end, I didn’t get to spend much time swimming or sunbathing. But just like Leroy Cutter, it was my first time in the Florida Keys, so I was able to transfer that sense of adventure and wonder into the book while the world fell apart for poor Cutter.

2. What’s one of the strangest things you’ve Googled for Into The Marrow research? (Or for any of your books!)

Writing thrillers puts me in some disturbing rabbit holes. Nothing strange, but certainly disturbing. However, I get to learn new things, as well. For Into the Marrow, I learned a lot about the history of the Florida Keys, which involved Google and many books. I dove deep into sunken treasures (pun intended) and drug trafficking. For the fist Leroy Cutter book, The Sinful, I spent a lot of time googling the Detroit mafia, it’s history and current sins, as well as how the crime family is structured. Google is a great friend when you can’t find a book on a subject, and even when you do have books on a subject. Almost everything has a message board of some type with insider information, different points of views, and outlandish rumors. It’s all good for research

3. Leroy’s character is so well developed and it’s clear you had a lot of fun bringing him to life! What’s your process when creating a character? How do you make them so memorable and realistic?

Thank you for that. I spent a lot of time with Leroy Cutter. Some characters are composites of people I know or have met. Nothing like knowing a real character. However, I never create a character based on one person. That would be diabolical and rude.

As far as my process, though, characters are born out of story and location. Before I write a single word, I spend a lot of time thinking about the story. Eventually, a character will come to mind. It’s usually vague and superficial, almost as if he or she is in the shadows of the idea. When I begin researching locations, characters step further into the light.

That being said, Leroy Cutter came to me in a song, Still the Same by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. The song stirred a feeling in me and then I saw Cutter. At some point, I heard him talking to me while walking the streets of Detroit. The more I heard his voice, the more I would go into the city to experience it through his eyes. I got to know him well. Then I told stories about a guy I knew who did this or that. Complete fabrications, but useful to see what stuck with people. It was my way of bringing life to the character. Eventually, I put pen to paper and watched what happened.

4. How long did it take to write Into The Marrow from start to finish (including research and edits) and how does this compare to book one in the series?

The time to write Into the Marrow took a year spread out over four years. I wrote the first draft of Into the Marrow, book two in the Leroy Cutter series, before I wrote The Sinful, book one. I even outlined book three before I wrote book one. My general timeline, though, for writing a novel is a year, research to edits.

5. Give us your elevator pitch for Into The Marrow.

As much as I hate elevator pitches, I’ll make a valiant attempt just for you.

A Detroit private investigator visits Key West to see an old friend but is framed for murder and must clear his name by finding the real killer.

And this is why I hate elevator pitches. It’s an attempt to boil down a story to its simplest form, which is plot. But novels are much more than plot. If they’re any good, that is. Into the Marrow is so much more than good guy finds bad guy. It’s about desire verses need, how a man sees himself verses how he truly is. It’s about love and friendship, and how they hold on through the troubles they often bring. It’s about greed. It’s about acceptance and how the waves of destiny never stop beating against the shores of self. And it’s about death, how we live with it and how it’s so much more than physical. How can anyone put that into an elevator pitch?

6. What’s the best book you’ve read this year? Of all time?

My favorite book of all time is The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I always go back to it when I need to remind myself what great writing looks like. It’s not Hemingway’s best book, but it is still great. He took time and care to develop his voice and it shines through in his first novel. The Sun Also Rises is a brilliant debut by a young man that would become legendary.

The best book I’ve read this year, though, is tough. There are so many. I’ll list my top three genre books.

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

Recollection by Jerimiah Beck, a debut novel

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry, a debut novel

7. Tell us about book one in the Leroy Cutter series! Are you planning other books in this series?

The Sinful is a thrilling pager turner, the first book in the Leroy Cutter series. The reviews from readers have been wonderful. I love the twists in this book, and I love Cutter because we get to learn so much about him and his world.

The Sinful is a tad darker than Into the Marrow, more in your face, much like the city the story takes place in, Detroit. Cutter takes on a case to make a quick buck, only to find himself in the middle of political and police corruption, and a family’s dark secret. The Sinful is also the reason we find Cutter in Key West in book two. After nearly bringing the city to its knees and burning every bridge Cutter has ever crossed, he needs to get away. But as Hemingway said, “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.”

I’m currently 65,000 words into book three of the Leroy Cutter series. No title, yet, but Cutter returns home to Detroit to testify in a trial. While home, he gets involved in another case revolving around a series of disturbing murders in the Detroit Metro Area that threaten the very lives of those close to him. Book three also introduces a new character that I hope to spin off into another series.

There is a plan for a fourth book that takes Cutter to the Navajo Nation to help the brother of an old friend who is the Navajo Nation Police Chief investigating the disappearance of several children on the reservation.

Beyond those four books, we shall see.

8. What’s your favourite thing about being an author?

I enjoy the process, the planning, the research, the typing, the editing, rereading, working with book cover designers, editors, beta readers, all of it. I find being an author completely satisfying. I enjoy hearing theories, interpretations, and reflections from readers. I enjoy meeting readers. But my favorite thing of all is writing such a good sentence, paragraph, or chapter, that I get to sit back and appreciate the moment. Because, in that moment, I feel equal with the literary giants of the past, maybe even better, and with that, I know anything is possible. I don’t mean to sound pretentious or vain because I’m none of those things. But those moments are as good as any drug.

9. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

I see myself in five years as a best-selling author with two great series for readers to enjoy. Anything else is unacceptable.

10. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to new authors?

One piece? I don’t think there is one good piece of advice. I’m often asked this by people, some wanting to write a book, some thinking about writing a book, some having written part of a book. Those that have written a book, however, never ask. They know what they know. But I will give new authors, as well as seasoned, the same advice I give myself every morning.

This too shall pass.

That’s great advice for everything, including writing. By reminding myself that this too shall pass, I do so in the good times and the bad times. As for authors, we write a lot of bad sentences, paragraphs, chapters, books, short stories, poems, and essays. Some may even think they will never write anything good again, or, if they’re just starting out, ever write anything good at all.

This too shall pass.

Other than that, the advice every author should be following is read and write as much as you can.

About the author

Former Naval Intelligence, law enforcement recruit, corporate American slave, rock-n-roll roadie, who gave all that up to travel the world with a camera on his shoulder. GW Allison sold some writing, screeched into Hollywood with a horror script, had a few movies made, and started writing books. He’s the author of There is a Season, The Final Round, and the Leroy Cutter Series, the first book being The Sinful.