We conclude our series with Stan Williams as he reflects on his published works and shares exciting glimpses of future projects.
Tell us about your first published book? What was the journey like?
“The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success” is the layman’s story structure guide for working producers and writers, as well as armchair story mavens. the first half derives from my doctoral dissertation on the same topic. So, researching and writing a 750 page dissertation prepared me well for writing The Moral Premise. I was excited about what my research had revealed about successful story structure. it was everywhere, throughout genres and both literary and motion picture history. Yet, no other modern writer had written more than a few pages about it, except Lajos Egri, in “The Art of Dramatic Writing.” But Egri never tells you “how” to do it, and his examples are all take from obscure Greek plays. Writing The Moral Premise was a easy and passionate effort, because I realized it had to be written and no one else could. It was picked up literally within 48 hours of submitting my manuscript to Michael Weise books.
Which of your books were the most enjoyable to write?
None. They were all hard, persevering work.
What was your favorite part, and your least favorite part, of the publishing journey?
Favorite: Plotting or carding the beats into a compelling structure.
Least: Marketing: I have no control over the outcome.
Can you share with us something about Wizard Clip Haunting that isn’t in the blurb?
I idea for a movie about WCH came from an expat Filipino in Australia, who dialed me up in Michigan one day who pitched the historical events in West Virginia that I had never heard of. I wrote a screenplay that got some interest in Hollywood, but no money to make the movie. On a research trip I interviewed an elderly historian who told me about the disposition of one of the main characters that was not recorded in any of the documented history accounts of the real life incident. Her lead turned out to be true, forcing me to ditch the screenplay and write the extended historical novel.
What is the key theme and/or message in Wizard Clip Haunting?
Rejecting the authority and hierarchy of natural order leads to dysfunction, chaos, and death; but respecting the authority and hierarchy of natural order leads to function, progress, and life. (The book’s Moral Premise)
What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
Including the hundreds of factual historical information and a cogent narrative that at the same time was historical accurate, dramatically entertaining, and religiously inspiring.
Where can readers purchase your books?
Amazon.com, NinevehsCrossing.com
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
Sabriya: Martial Arts Thriller: The statuesque and skilled Thai wife of the British Ambassador to China risks revealing her past in the sex trafficking industry and scandalizing Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, when she creates not a little mayhem around Bangkok trying to rescue her secret son from ruthless traffickers.
How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written? Can you tell us about one?
I have a story vault of over 80 ideas, most have value to develop into a film or novel. Here’s a sampling:
The Sex Therapist’s Son. Coming of age romance. A mischievous teen battles his philandering sex-addicted therapist father for permission to court the girl of his dreams—a virgin.
Red Herring. Spy-military Thriller: A disabled intelligence agent battles his past to find a terrorist sleeper cell before it sends an atomic bomb under the Detroit River in a abandoned train tunnel.
What are you reading now?
Ralph McInerny’s The Priest, novel about being a young priest in 1968 just after Vatican II and introduction of the New Mass order.
