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Writing Blockbuster Novels Part I: An Interview with T. J. MacGregor

© Deborah Cannon

DC: Getting published, especially today, seems almost impossible for a new writer. It seems that everyone who owns a computer has written a novel. With the increasing competition and the merging of publishing houses, the chances for an unknown author are as good as getting an acting role in a movie. How long did it take you to sell your first book from the time you first started writing?

TJM: When I sold my first novel in 1984, publishing was a much different entity than it is now, with dozens of houses, all of which had imprints. But that didn't seem to make much difference in terms of how long it took for IN SHADOW to be published. It was actually my sixth novel (the first five are still on my closet floor). I started it in 1981 and it sold in September 1984, on the Monday after the premiere of "Miami Vice." It featured a black and white cop, was set in Miami, and the editor who bought it had seen the premiere of Miami, felt that Miami was going to be the next hot area for novels, and said the show certainly influenced his decision to buy the book. He edited my next 14 books, including one called THE MAKING OF MIAMI VICE, that my husband and I wrote together. There was a particular irony in that!

In some ways, I think it's easier now for new writers to get published. All publishers are looking for compelling stories and as a first-time author, you don't have a sales record. You're a new entity in the market. But all that aside, my feeling is that if you're a pessimist going into this business, then you're better off not going into it at all. Optimism, a belief in your abilities and what you've written are essential. When you get discouraged, think of it this way: other writers get published, so why shouldn't one of them be you?

DC: You have written 24 suspense novels in twenty years. Wow. Your first book, IN SHADOW, was published in 1984. Most of us would be lucky if we could write 5 books in 20 years. How do you manage to write a book a year?

TJM: If you write 40 hours a week, for 50 weeks out of the year (let's leave some time to play and vacation!), that's 2000 hours of writing a year, plenty of time to finish a novel! I'm always astonished by the output of someone like Nora Roberts, who has written over a hundred novels since 1981 and has more than 250 million books in print. Now that's mind-boggling!