Bill Schweigart
The Guilty One
DOSSIER: What was working with James Patterson on 3 DAYS TO LIVE like?
SCHWEIGART: A bit like clinging to the roof of a speeding bullet train by my fingernails. It’s common knowledge that Mr. P has many, many irons in the fire. He rocks multiple projects at once and eats, breathes, and lives story. So when I sent him pages, I would think, “Ah, I bought myself a few days of rest…” Hours later, there’d be an email in my inbox with edits and suggestions and new directions. He’s a machine!
DOSSIER: In your book THE GUILTY ONE, what thing about your protagonist Cal Farrell surprised you most after you created him?
SCHWEIGART: How humane he is. I’d always wanted to do my take on a “detective on the trail of a serial killer” story. For years, I had a sense of the killer, but not my detective. Cal was never going to be a door-kicking, indestructible action hero. He’s new to this, wracked with imposter syndrome, and even goofy at times. He works with a therapist, rather than resisting or resenting it. He’s vulnerable. Which is not to say he’s not tough – he takes an incredible amount of punishment, physically and mentally – and keeps going. But despite it all, Cal remains kind and decent and open-hearted.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/closet?)
SCHWEIGART: When it’s time to write, I charter a plane to take me to northern Canada. I hike into the wilderness until I reach the shore of a pristine lake that doesn’t appear on any map. I unlash a small boat and row to a small, wooded island where a lone cabin sits. I enter the cabin, pull a dusty rug from the floor, revealing a hatch. I enter, seal the hatch behind me, and descend several sets of dark, subterranean stairs to a solitary room. Only then, when I am completely alone and ensconced in that pure, still silence, I CRANK Kylie Minogue at bone-rattling volume. What was the question?
DOSSIER: What would you be doing if you weren’t a published author?
SCHWEIGART: Not much would change. I’d have the same family, the same day job, but I’d have more time to sleep, more time to relax. My favorite way to relax is to read, so I’d probably grab a crime paperback. I’d become engrossed pretty quickly. I’d finish it and read another. And another. Eventually, I’d start thinking, “I wonder if I could write a book…”
DOSSIER: What’s in store for Cal Farrell?
SCHWEIGART: Detective Cal Farrell is handed a strange assignment: serve as the personal protective detail to the world’s most famous singer on a visit to Alexandria. Lia Orchid is a global superstar with over 200 million followers on Instagram. She’s also a 16-year-old girl. Before Cal can stop to think why he was chosen to babysit, he saves the young singer from a daring daylight attempt on her life in Old Town.
Shaken but undaunted, the star proceeds with a a secret show that evening, with the caveat that Cal continue to keep an eye on her. The gig soon becomes a ghastly crime scene. Lia flees the venue and disappears into the night, on the run from powerful forces: a dogged assassin, jealous rivals, and a terrifying fan hellbent on proving his deranged devotion. For one bloody night in Alexandria, it’s open season on Lia Orchid, and only Cal Farrell can save her.
Website: billschweigart.com
Jeff Circle 