j stewart willis He grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and went to the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1958 and serving twenty-five years in the Army. During that time, he served in Taiwan and later Vietnam as a signal officer with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. During his career in the Army, he attended graduate school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Physics. He served as a professor of physics at the United States Military Academy for sixteen years before retiring from the Army in 1983. He then worked for TRW Inc. as a manager on communications projects and the Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project. , Snowfall. During this time, he lived in Rappahannock County, Virginia, where he has lived ever since. There he served as mayor-elect of Washington, Virginia (often referred to as “Little Washington”) for nine years. He currently lives in Sperryville, Virginia with Charlie, his greyhound/borzoi mix.

Welcome back, Stewart. For new readers, you can find my previous interview with J. Stewart Willis about his first novel, Gestation Seven, at readerviews.com. Today we are going to talk about his latest book, deadly highway. What is this story about?

The story centers on staff from the East Coast division of a major technology company preparing a proposal for a major contract for a highway to replace the Interstate Highway System. The contract will potentially be worth millions of dollars, and perhaps billions over many years, and will secure the future of the company, as well as its new East Coast vice president. As a result, there is enormous pressure on the proposal manager and his internal competitive staff to win the bid. The book involves not only the development of the proposal, but also the fiercely competitive actions and interactions of the staff and their wives.

How did you come up with the idea for this book?

I try to write my books on themes or approaches to themes that are not normally covered in novels. In my past, I worked for a technology company and was involved in the development of three proposals. Although my experiences developing those proposals were

constructive and friendly, the idea of ​​a proposal developed in a more bitter environment seemed to provide the opportunity for the development of a novel. That atmosphere, very different from my own experience, is what I have portrayed in Deadly Highway.

Tell us about a couple of your most colorful characters. What motivates them?

Charlie Hendricks is a recently retired army colonel trying to establish himself in the industry and competing with the more established tech company employees. He is a man who wants to be where the action is and suffers to some extent in the paperwork atmosphere.

linda hendricks is a woman who has been a military wife for twenty years and has suffered because her husband was in Iraq and Afghanistan for three tours while she raises their two children. In her frustration with what she considers a boring life, she has an affair that she regrets.

Bella Fortiano is the wife of a former employee of the technology company. Over the years, by sleeping with the proposal manager and supplying medicine to the manager’s wife, she has protected and supported her husband’s position in the company. When she discovers Linda Hendricks’ affair, she uses it to blackmail her husband’s new competitor.

How do you create your characters? Are they inspired by real people?

Some of the characters are loosely based on some of the people I met in the military and in industry as a starting point, but from there I went with my imagination. Fortunately, I haven’t really met any of them.

Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Charlie Hendricks, because I retired from the military and went into the industry.

What is it about corporate politics that inspires such creative plots?

The policies in the book are a bit extreme, but I have known managers who were very competitive, along with their wives, in working in friendship with their bosses.

I was intrigued by some of the ideas your characters came up with to build a new road system, especially some of the methods of guiding and controlling traffic using technology. Is this the realistic future?

I believe that the concept of driverless cars will govern the design of the roads of the future and hopefully the software involved will enable general traffic control on the roads to improve safety.

How extensive was your research for this novel, particularly as it relates to the construction of a highway system?

I primarily reviewed government regulations associated with acquisitions. Driverless cars, of course, receive extensive discussion in the media that we all read.

What have you learned since you wrote your first book, pregnancy seven?

I think people want stronger characters. The gestation was about a young man overcome by circumstances and surviving in that atmosphere.

Being an author these days involves more than just writing great books: what are you doing to market yourself and your book, and what has been your biggest challenge?

I have spent an incredible amount of money with “professional” sellers with little effect. I do book signings, but the impact is small. I also work on Twitter and Facebook, but my contacts there are usually other writers with the same problems that I have. The whole process is competitive and difficult.

What do you like most about being a writer?

Hearing someone say they enjoyed my book.

Do you have a muse? How does it motivate you?

No. I’ve had ideas in my head for years and now I’m trying to put them on paper.

Have you ever experienced writer’s block? If so, how do you get over it?

No. My books to date have followed what happens through time. As a result, I only write what happens next.

What can you tell us about your writing process?

I have some ideas to develop and then I just sit down and write linearly to include those ideas.

Whats Next? Do you have another project underway?

I am currently working on a book called “Three Degrees Fahrenheit, and Rising” set in the year 2087. At the time some of the coastal lowlands of the US find.

Taking what you’ve learned with two novels under your belt, what advice can you give to aspiring authors?

Since I haven’t had much success so far, I’m reluctant to give advice. I think I have written interesting books and received good feedback on them. You have to get people to read your books. With the thousands of books out there, that’s hard to do.

Do you have a website or blog (or both) where readers can learn more about you and your books?

My website is www.JStewartWillis.com.

How can readers connect with you on social media?

On Facebook: J Stewart Willis

On Twitter: @jstewartwillis7

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If you write, enjoy the writing. Be careful about spending money on marketing. The cost can eat you alive.