Jeff Wilson never pictured himself as a novelist.
An avid reader and writer for his entire life, the New Tampa man viewed himself as a short story writer. As someone who has pursued many different career paths in life, Wilson honestly didn’t think he had the attention span to develop an idea into a full-length novel.
He knows now — as he launches into his sixth novel — that, for him, writing a book is actually easier than writing a short story. A novel gives him more time and space to develop the characters he creates, he explained.
Recently, his novel “The Donors” received a Gold Medal in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category in the Military Writers Society of America’s Book Awards. His 246-page book fuses elements of horror, medical suspense and the supernatural.
The award is especially meaningful because it comes from authors who have an appreciation for the sacrifices and dedication that the men and women in the military demonstrate through their service, Wilson said. That’s even more meaningful for him after two tours of duty in Iraq, with the U.S. Marines and with the Joint Special Operations Task Force.
Wilson’s writing draws on his diverse life experiences. He has worked as an actor, a firefighter, a paramedic, a diving instructor and a vascular surgeon.
He was in the Navy from 1998 until 2012 and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the 2nd Marine expeditionary force as part of a forward surgical team supporting combat operations in Western Iraq.
After that, he was recruited to Naval Special Warfare, where he made multiple deployments as part of a Joint Special Operations Task Force. He transitioned to the reserves in 2008 and remained a reserve until leaving the Navy four years later.
Wilson’s other published books are “The Traiteur’s Ring” and “Fade to Black.” The publisher is Journalstone Publishing of San Francisco, an independent book publisher that specializes in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres.
Wilson now hopes a major publishing house will pick up his work.
His agent, Talcott Notch Literary Services president Gina Panettieri, is now shopping his book, “Julian’s Numbers,” to various publishers.
Meanwhile, Wilson continues to write. He recently wrapped up his fifth book, “War Torn.” Unlike Wilson’s other books, “War Torn,” has no supernatural element.
“It’s about a young man and a young woman and the effects that war has on them,” Wilson said. “He’s a member of the National Guard. They’re in their mid-20s. She’s very active in her church. He and his best friend are in this guard unit that’s deployed to Afghanistan.”
The soldier becomes passionate about religion, through the influence of his best friend who becomes his spiritual mentor. When his friend is subsequently killed in front of him, he begins to question everything, Wilson said.
“So he comes home, like most of us, a mess. He doesn’t know if he even believes in God anymore. His marriage is strained,” Wilson said.
The book recounts the soldier’s journey back from war.
“Like all of my books, there’s a lot of me in that book,” Wilson said.
Now, Wilson is working on his sixth book, a collaborative project with another author, Brian Andrews.
Wilson said much of what he has learned about writing has come through trial and error and from being a voracious reader. He doesn’t map out his books in advance.
“When I write, it’s like watching a movie. I can’t wait to write again because I want to find out what’s going to happen.” Wilson said. “As I write, I’ll write a chapter at a time.”
As he finishes one chapter, he includes brief descriptions at the bottom summarizing elements of future chapters. The more the book progresses, the more future chapter summaries Wilson will include.
“I generally don’t know how the book ends until maybe the last 50 pages,” he said.
Wilson doesn’t devote full time to writing. He works part-time in medicine and also does contract work for the U.S. Department of Defense.
He typically writes five days a week, for a couple hours at a stretch. He said he’s found that his writing is more effective when he works in concentrated bursts.
And, even though he has a room in his home that was specifically set aside for his writing, Wilson tends to do most of his work at Starbucks or Barnes & Noble. He does that to discipline himself. If he’s at home and his kids — Jack, Emma and Connor — are there, he would rather spend time with them than work on his writing, Wilson said. He is married to Wendy, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Tampa.
Wilson isn’t the only one who enjoys writing. His son Connor told him one day that he would like to write a story. Wilson said he encouraged him to do so, and much to his surprise, his son wrote a 45-page book, which was picked up by a publisher in Chicago.
Since then, Connor, now 13, has made appearances with his book, “A Giant Pencil,” and has even made joint book signings with his dad.
For more information about Jeffrey Wilson, visit www.jeffreywilsonfiction.com. To learn more about Connor Wilson, visit www.thegiantpencil.com.
