T.O. Paine

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

I love reading as much as I love writing psychological suspense thrillers. Harlan Coben, Taylor Adams, Theresa Driscoll, Riley Sager, C.J. Tudor, and J.D. Barker are just a few of my favorite authors. I fell in love with books at an early age, but I was drawn in by the internet and subsequently achieved bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer information systems. When I’m not reading, writing, or programming, I’m on the road, running or cycling. I am fortunate to live next to the great Colorado Rockies where I have road cycled hundreds of miles and can fly anywhere in the USA in less than four hours. This is important because it decreases the travel needed to achieve my goal of running a marathon in each of the fifty states. As of 2022, I have eighteen more to go. Wish me luck. Also, as of 2022, I have written three novels, all set for publication this year. My wife, two children, and a Boston Terrier Ogre mix named Fiona tolerate my excessive behavior, and I love them for it.

When and why did you start writing books?

My love of writing stemmed from an early love of reading. I sat on my father's lap, pouring over Encyclopedia's in the seventies. Then, I fell in love with the stories from Reader's Digest. I thought, if someone else could send stories in about Life in the United States, why couldn't I? Reader's Digest never published anything I sent, but I was only seven years old at the time.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

Someone smarter than me said, "If you love your job, then you never have to work a day in your life." This seems to be the goal of many people, and it was my goal for a very long time. I've always loved to write, so making it a career would mean I'd no longer need to work. The jury is still out on that one . . .

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

It's not fair to ask someone to choose their favorite child. Someone's feelings will get hurt. A part of me and a part of everyone I've ever known has filtered it's way into my characters, so I'll give a short, simple answer to this question: Which book or character is my favorite? The next one.

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

The first novel-length book I wrote stretched me from zero to oh-lord-what-have-I-done. Every level of writing demands skill and understanding at many levels such as grammar in punctuation, words, sentences, paragraphs, passages, chapters, parts, and then literary concepts such as point-of-view in characters, emotions in settings, twists in plots, life-bewildering themes, and the list goes on ad infinitum. Attempting to learn and apply everything in the first novel was nearly overwhelming, but the effort has made every novel since easier to accomplish.

Who is your favourite author and book?

So many books have impacted my life in so many ways, my favorites change on a daily basis. For awhile now, I keep thinking about The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. The emotional scenes with the patient and the twists in the book are unforgettable.

What book are you reading right now?

I am reading Final Girls by Riley Sager. He is a terrific author, and I'm thoroughly enjoying his debut novel.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

A simple situation, a part of a scene, will pop into my mind, and I'll ask myself, "Does the situation concern me? Does it evoke an emotion? Could the cause of the situation be intriguing? It's resolution? I'll go through this experience hundreds of times before one of the situations will have a "yes" answer to the questions, and before I will fall in love with it. My book, The Resentment, began when a picture of a wife holding onto her husband's wrist, attempting to keep him falling into a river, popped into my head.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I write, run, and read. I also road cycle, and I used to swim, but mostly, I run and read. I love reading suspense thrillers more than I like writing them. When I'm not lying on the couch reading, I'm running and listening to an audio book on my headphones. It's the best of both worlds.

Do you have any new books in the works?

I'm considering beginning my next book based on the tagline, “An American Psycho joins Fight Club”. For those familiar with American Psycho and Fight Club, I'd hope to create an enthralling thriller describing the way the excesses of the eighties transformed into the credit-centric society of the nineties. No one likes being in debt, and some would do anything to return to the world of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, reckless and conscious free.