Tom Pawlik Interview

TP: I’m married to a wonderful wife and have four great kids (4,6,8 and 10). I have a BA in Communication and have been involved in Christian teaching, music and youth work for over 20 years. I currently work in the marketing field for lab products. This has been very helpful to me as a writer because we get to work with companies on the cutting edge of the bio-tech industry. It’s amazing to see the advances being made in clinical diagnostics and the life sciences. Great fodder for sci-fi and suspense novels.

Q: How did your writing journey begin?

TP: In grade school, my teacher would read books to us. I remember being fascinated by The Hobbit and Charlotte’s Web and started making up my own stories of dragons and talking animals. I was a pretty average student, but always got good grades in creative writing. As a teenager I loved to read sci-fi and fantasy and had several ideas for my own novels but never finished. I had always heard about the slim chance of ever getting published, so I never pursued it seriously until about ten years ago.

Q: Which authors have influenced you the most?

TP: There are many, but I would have to say C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien have influenced me the most. I especially loved Lewis’ Space Trilogy.

Q: What do you enjoy reading the most?

TP: Sci-fi thrillers.

Q: How does your faith influence your writing?

TP: It gives me a moral framework for viewing the world and the human condition. My basic goal is the same as any novelist: try to tell a great story. But my beliefs help to shape the direction a story takes and how the characters are changed by those events.

Vanish Q: Where did you get the idea for Vanish?

TP: The basic premise of the story arose from a weird dream I had a few years back. Very vivid. Another big influence was all the traffic I encountered on my morning commute when I worked in the Chicago area. I remember wondering: “Wouldn’t it be great to wake up one morning and be the only one on the road?” The rest of the plot evolved from there.

Q: How long did it take you to complete the novel?

TP: Creating the plot and chapter outline took several months. But I wrote the first draft in a little over a month to make the deadline for the 2006 Christian Writers Guild Contest. That was a hectic month.

Q: You won first place in the Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest.

TP: Yes for the 2006 contest. I had entered the 2004 contest with my first novel (The Way Back), which took second place. Then I wrote Vanish and entered it in the 2006 contest.

Q: Tell us how CWG has helped you.

TP: CWG is a great ministry. First class, professional and affordable. I took their apprentice writing course, and they paired me up with a mentor from the industry who gave very practical, personalized critiques and advice. And of course the Operation 1st Novel Contest was a huge break for me.

Q: Some say the novelist has a love/hate relationship with writing. Any thoughts?

TP: Since I’m a brand new novelist, that’s hard to answer. But I think there’s some truth to it. I love writing, but the initial plotting and research can get frustrating.

Q: What is your favorite part of writing? Your least favorite?

TP: I love writing that loose, free-form first draft. You get in a zone and words start flying. It’s like a creative rush that can produce some great material. But for me, the initial outlining and plot-development process is pretty tough.

Q: Is another novel in the works?

If so, please tell us about it. TP: Yes. I’m currently working on a sequel to Vanish, which continues the story for a couple of the main characters, and I have several other ideas still in development. Tyndale has also expressed interest in my first novel, The Way Back, which took 2nd place in 2004, but they’ve asked me to develop it a little more.

Q: Any advice for aspiring novelists?

TP: If you’re a Christian, definitely check out the Christian Writers Guild to see if it’s for you. They have some great resources that could help develop your skills and move you further down the road toward your first contract. And who knows, you may be the winner of this year’s Operation 1st Novel Contest.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

TP: Just to again express my gratitude to Jerry Jenkins (owner of the CWG) for his vision to create the Operation First Novel Contest. It was truly an answer to prayer. And also kudos to the staff at the CWG. They run a top-notch ministry. I recommend it wholeheartedly.