MysteryPeople Q&A with Tom Abrahams

Tom Abrahams has applied his experience covering politics as a TV reporter to some involving thrillers. His latest, Allegiance, draws a politico into a conspiracy involving Texas politics. Tom will be joining Bruce DeSilva on Friday, March 28 at 7PM for a discussion here at BookPeople. We shot Tom a few questions in advance.

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MYSTERYPEOPLE: You do a wonderful job of taking what seems like a far fetched premise and making it believable. How did you approach the antagonist’s plan?

TOM ABRAHAMS: Thank you. I’m glad the plot rang true. I approached the plan through research. My idea was to mix a political thriller with plausible science fiction. It blends my love of George Orwell and my enjoyment of all books Michael Crichton. To me, there’s no bigger influence of Texas and, by extension, Texas politics, than energy. I knew the science fiction element needed to be built around oil and gas and alternative fuels. So I did some online research, reached out to some leading nano-scientists, and crafted a plot that would seem realistic enough to both the reader who knows nothing about nanotechnology and someone who works in the field. Those scientists help me craft the right scenario and the best way to convey it. The trick was giving just enough detail without overwhelming the reader with too much scientific jargon.

MP:  Texas and its politics play an important role in Allegiance. What did you want to say about the state?

TA: I don’t know that I have a message about Texas, so much as I wanted Texas to be a central character in the book. Texas politics and politicians are so often larger than life. From LBJ and Anne Richards to Barbara Jordan, George W. Bush, and Rick Perry; Texas consistently produces people who engage the public in unique ways. They sometimes become caricatures of themselves. I hope that, in some small way, the novel indicates a love for Texas and what it contributes to the national debate.

MP:  How does being a reporter inform you as a writer?

TA: As a reporter, I write every day. I ask questions. And I tell stories with little waste. In those respects, my job as a journalist benefits my job as an author. It also helps that I work in television. As a TV reporter, I think visually. So when I sit at my computer writing a novel, I craft the scenes in my head. I can see what’s happening as I write it. I also think the healthy cynicism I’ve developed over the years translates into a novel with an underlying grit, a darkness that doesn’t jump off the page but is always lurking underneath.

MP: Do you pull from any influences when you write?

TA: My two favorite authors are George Orwell and Michael Crichton. When I write, I try to pull a little from their voices. Though I’ve yet to use deus ex machine in the way Crichton typically does at the end of his novels, I’d like to think the complexity of the plots approaches his storytelling.

MP: What makes thrillers the genre for you to write in?

TA: It’s what I read. I think to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. Subconsciously, I’m pulling from all of the great (and not so great) thrillers and suspense novels I’ve read since I plucked my first Hardy Boys book from the school library shelves. There’s a saying in television that the camera doesn’t lie. Neither do books. A reader can tell if I’m informed, and more importantly invested, in the story I’m telling. I wouldn’t be a good romance or cozy mystery writer, because it’s not what I read. I tried writing a police procedural years ago. It lacked. I don’t read enough of that genre to be good at it. That’s why I chose this genre. I like politics. I like thrillers. I love science fiction. I wrote a book I’d like to read.

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Allegiance is on our shelves now and available via bookpeople.com. Tom Abrahams will be at BookPeople in conversation with Bruce DeSilva on Friday, Mar 28 at 7PM speaking & signing copies of Allegiance. Click here for more information.