Carter Wilson is the USA Today bestselling author of nine critically acclaimed, standalone psychological thrillers, as well as numerous short stories. He is an ITW Thriller Award finalist, a five-time winner of the Colorado Book Award, and his works have been optioned for television and film. Carter lives in Erie, Colorado in a Victorian house that is spooky but isn’t haunted…yet.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Wilson: I don’t outline, so I rarely know much about a story except for maybe an opening sequence. But in this case I kept thinking about this character, this young woman (Penny Bly) who happened to be a savant. I didn’t know anything about her except that she was very lonely, had exceptional abilities, and was determined to find her father, who’d left the family when the girl was very young. That was all I knew. I didn’t find out what the story was until, well, I started writing it.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
WIlson: One of Penny’s talents is the ability to draw in a photorealistic manner, but she doesn’t actually think while she draws, rather she visualizes a series of thousands of dots that she connects at lightning speed using her pen.
UNDERWRITTEN BY
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit.
This excerpt shows Penny at the mall (the year is 1987) drawing a stranger’s portrait for money. The stranger, Heather, has just had her portrait done by a caricaturist and was dissatisfied with the result, so Penny offered to draw a better portrait.
SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Wilson: Well, entering the mind of a 21-year-old female savant is not something I can use my own life experiences to draw from, so of course I had to lose myself to imagination and empathy to flesh out the character. Of course I did research on the rare condition of acquired savant syndrome to try to understand the nuances of people with that condition, but that particular syndrome is so rare there aren’t many documented cases.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Wilson: This book was an interesting challenge in that I’d originally written it in third-person, past tense (e.g. she went), whereas I usually write in first-person present (e.g. I go). I just thought I wouldn’t be able to get close enough in my head to this very unique character in order to write with the intimacy that first-person present demands.
But then I finished the book and there was a flatness to it, and I realized I’d lost my voice by writing it third-person past. So I spent four months re-writing it as a first-person present, and my voice re-emerged. That was a difficult but highly valuable lesson.
SunLit: What’s it like for a writer in that stage you’re currently in – between finishing the book and seeing it in print?
Wilson: It’s challenging. I prefer to be solely focused on one project at a time. But it’s always the case that when a book is coming out, I’m waist-deep in a new novel, so there’s quite a bit of back-and-forth in my brain between two different stories. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t occasionally mix them up when doing interviews. That being said, it’s always exciting to finally launch a book and see what kind of life it takes on out in the wild.
SunLit: Do thrillers like yours generally have an overarching theme – and specifically, anything that readers should take from this particular book?
Wilson: I never sit down with a thematic intention for a book. Instead, I usually just start writing and try to be as true to my characters as I can, examining their flaws, their moral compasses, and ultimately their choices.
It’s often the case that, about two-thirds into my first draft, a theme emerges on its own. In the case of “The Father She Went to Find,” I realized the story was really about fear of abandonment, and what a person will do to face and overcome that fear.
SunLit: You’ve written several psychological thrillers – often from the first person. Is there a method for capturing the psychological quirks of a character? If so, does it require its own specific research?
Wilson: I’m not sure there’s a specific method, but writing a good first-person narrative does require the author to have deep wells of empathy. Yes, it’s important to research your character’s occupation and idiosyncrasies, but really it’s about being able to fully embody your character’s mind and be able to constantly answer the question, “What would I do?”
SunLit: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring writers?
Wilson: Write every day. Seven days a week. Even if it’s only for 10 minutes. You have to build the muscle, and that will never happen if you sit around and wait for the muse. Writing takes both talent and work. But mostly work.
“The Father She Went to Find”
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SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Wilson: My next book, “Tell Me What You Did,” will release in January 2025. It’s about a highly successful true-crime podcaster who must confront a man claiming to be responsible for the murder of the podcaster’s mother 17 years earlier.
A few more quick questions
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Wilson: I can’t choose. There’s so much joy and struggle in the writing, as well as freedom. But as hard as it is to edit, that’s really where the story comes alive.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Wilson: It’s very difficult for me to be proud of my work, and I never go back and reread anything of my published works. It’s part of the imposter syndrome nearly every writer suffers from. But I remember being proud when my third book, “The Comfort of Black,” hit the USA Today bestseller list.
SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing?
Wilson: Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and Neil Gaiman.
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Wilson: “Kill your darlings.” I actually have that tattooed on my arm.
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Wilson: That I have an affinity for nonfiction.
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Wilson: Soundtrack, but always ambient sounds. I particularly enjoy writing to the sounds of thunderstorms.
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Wilson: Alternative 80s rock.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Wilson: I started writing completely out of the blue one day when I was 33. It was a rather strange thing, but I haven’t stopped since.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Wilson: No publisher will want to buy my book.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Wilson: Selling that book!