I love the whole concept of messing with people’s minds, which is a big part of this story, and that opens up avenues you can take in order to allow a character to create mayhem. It’s fun, and I will get on a roll in those situations.

Brian W. Peterson 8 March 2020

The Back Flap

Triumvirate Technologies is under attack. Murder and arson keep the business owners on edge. A government audit adds to the angst. Further turmoil weighs down the business leaders when a junior executive proposes an absurd – and illegal – bet: he will get rid of the auditors within two weeks in exchange for leadership of the business. As the business crumbles, the police reach their own stunning conclusion about the identity and motive of the murderer. Someone is waging death and destruction against Triumvirate Technologies. The over/under on survival is not favorable.Wager of Death, a psychological thriller from the mind of Brian W. Peterson.

About the book

What is the book about?

Wager of Death is a psychological thriller about a business owner whose company is under attack. Someone is tearing the business apart through arson and murder. In the meantime, a new junior executive moves to fill the void and take control of the company. He concocts a phony bet that, if he succeeds, he claims it would give him control of the company. To increase the pressure, the junior executive changes the parameters and tells the owner that the loser must commit suicide. Our main character is busy trying to keep his beloved company running and trying to stay alive.

When did you start writing the book?

March 2018.

How long did it take you to write it?

​ 6 months.

Where did you get the idea from?

I don’t recall. It was in my stack of stuff. I wrote it as a screenplay several years ago, when I lived in southern California, and when I moved back to the Midwest I decided to turn it into a novel. Both in my computer and in a paper folder I have lots of ideas, and at some point, I liked the idea enough to work on it and flesh out the intricacies of the plot and characters.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Unlike my first two novels, this story has a mystery element, and there were moments when I had to work out how I was going to have a matter resolved—get a character out of a jam—while keeping the sub-plot intact. I do a lot of thinking when I drive, so I like to use time alone in the car to work through sticking points. I rarely struggle with the story flow because of the way I outline and define story parameters and character descriptions before I start writing.

What came easily?

Certain characters. A stodgy character or a good guy has a lot of limits; a wild character or a bad guy has fewer limits and they are more fun to write. Additionally, I love the whole concept of messing with people’s minds, which is a big part of this story, and that opens up avenues you can take in order to allow a character to create mayhem. It’s fun, and I will get on a roll in those situations.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

They’re fictitious, but for some characters I will tap into my character profiles I’ve kept over the years. I’ve known some entertaining people (in good and bad ways), and I’ve recorded notes on a lot of personalities. I’m sure it sounds weird to non-writers. Overall, it’s all fiction with a touch of people I’ve known.

Do you have a target reader?

People. Okay, a little narrower: people who enjoy a good story. Obviously having a sci-fi narrows the audience for that particular novel, but with my thrillers, I’m able to get a much wider audience. I struggle a tad with convincing some people that my thrillers are not scary. I realize some thrillers are, but mine aren’t. Intense, but not scary.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

​If I think of a great idea today, I’ll think about it until I like it enough to write down notes. The better the idea, the longer it will take me to write (or type) notes because I’ll play with it in my head for days, weeks, even months. When I believe I have a genuinely appealing story, I’ll sit down and record all my thoughts about the story, from beginning to end.

I have a sci-fi trilogy I’m going to write, beginning probably next year. I have heavily outlined the first novel, moderately so for the second, and just a few paragraphs for the third and final story. I know how the story will progress within each book and the arc for all three novels.

I also use the “I Am” technique so that I have defined main characters who do not blend together with others. (“I am Walter Musgrave. My friends call me “Walt.” I am a go-getter. I’m not the brightest guy – I was only in the top half of my graduating class – but I work hard, learn as much as I can, and I am relentless…”)

I also keep a description list of every single character in the story, and I have my prep documents opened when I write.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

My outline consists of every scene and the necessary actions in order to move the plot in the right direction, but loose enough to allow myself room for those creative epiphanies which take place when writing. I don’t want to “over” outline and inadvertently squash creativity.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I edit as I go and I think that’s a mistake (for me, anyway). I find myself debating quietly about inserting a comma or not, and I have to remind myself to not lose the creative flow. If you told me Hemingway drank heavily because he constantly argued with himself while writing, I’d believe you. I need to quit editing and just write… but I’m not good at letting it go. Somehow, I’ve remained a teetotaler.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Definitely. I did not for my first novel (Children of the Sun), and it turned out well, but it could have been grammatically tighter had I hired an editor.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

Classical music.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Yes, and it was like spitting into a deep, dark well.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

For my first book, I “met” a micro-press publisher on Twitter; a few months later, I was published. For my second (Dead Dreams), an author friend hooked me up with a small publisher. For the third (Wager of Death), I decided to self-publish, for which I was wholly unprepared, but fortunately, my cover artist knew what she was doing and worked like mad to make it work through Amazon/KDP.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Professional. My cover artist is my wife’s cousin and she is a professional painter and graphic artist. She’s been awesome for me.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I’m kinda winging my plan. I have a plan, but it’s a really, really loose plan. I’m trying to occasionally put the novels on-sale online, push for more reviews, and pursue interviews. My “plan” is loose and not worth emulating, but before publishing a novel, “market” was synonymous with “grocery store,” so I’m still learning.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

First, be prepared to market. If you’re “only” a writer, then the starting gate isn’t even going to open for you. Lots of marketing to do (and Twitter and Facebook don’t count as good marketing because they’re not). Second, your cover is unbelievably important—in fact, more important than it probably should be. But when I’m at comicons, I see people react to my pitches and the covers. A professional-looking cover says a lot about you, even though you may not have designed it. Third, never consider the odds. The odds are, you won’t do well as an author. Forget the odds; work your butt off, anyway. Fourth, mailing list. Fifth, subscribe to various writing/author sites so you can get their emails, which often have articles of advice more detailed than what I’m giving you.

About You

Where did you grow up?

The Kansas City, Missouri, area.

Where do you live now?

Just outside the same metro area, but now on the Kansas side of the border.

What would you like readers to know about you?

​I was trained in both screenwriting and literary writing. Proper training is vital for learning what you need to do (and not do) to develop an effective, engaging, and entertaining story and believable, deep characters. I don’t just come up with good ideas—I know how to execute a great story, escorting it from brain to book.

What are you working on now?

I am writing a “creative nonfiction” novel—or what I know as simply a “nonfiction novel”—about my grandfather and his brothers coming of age during the Depression and World War II. It is part family history, part historical drama. There were a lot of interesting things that happened that makes the story compelling. Then, after that novel, I will start on a sci-fi trilogy.

End of Interview:

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Get your copy of Wager of Death from Amazon US or Amazon UK.