Meet Carter Wilson of Author in Erie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carter Wilson.

Carter, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My journey to becoming a bestselling novelist was an unexpected one. Sixteen years ago I was firmly rooted in the world of real-estate consulting. My career path had been pretty straightforward to that point. I went to school at Cornell and studied real-estate finance and didn’t take a single English course much less creative writing. Got my degree, went out to the real world and, after a couple of years working in hotels, I applied my learning to the world of consulting.

One spring day when I was 33, I was taking a dreadful all-day continuing-education class for an appraisal license I once had. I’d describe the class to you but you’d fall asleep before my first mention of discounted cash-flow methodology. There I was bored to tears two hours left to go. To keep entertained, I decided to give myself a puzzle. I wrote the following sentence in my notebook: Three people are murdered at the exact same time in the exact same fashion in different parts of the world. What’s the connection? My challenge was to find a story line before the end of class that would answer that question. I couldn’t do it. I went home and the question still nagged at me. Over the next few days, I decided to work on the question, writing down potential plot lines that would lead to an answer. The process became more and more complex, so I began dedicating more greater in writing down thoughts, which led to paragraphs, which turned into pages. Ninety days later I had a 400-page manuscript. I had never done anything like this before and even though it seemed to be some kind of wonderful epiphany, I still had no idea what I was doing. No concept of what to do with my manuscript, much less if I was even a good writer. I had to learn an entirely new industry from scratch, and the more I learned, the more it depressed me. I found out that very few writers get agents, even fewer get published, and only the top .01% make any real money at it.

It took a year and about eighty rejections to land my agent (the same agent I still have today). That first book never sold, so I wrote another. That one didn’t sell, so I wrote a third. And so on. It was my fourth book that finally sold, nine years after that day in the continuing education class. Throughout the process, I learned how to excel at my day job and write books on the side. I learned the beauty of rejection, and how it made me a stronger and smarter writer. I learned about patience in storytelling. Most of all, I learned about the business of writing. The wondrous, erratic, frustrating, anxiety-laced, satisfying business of writing.

Since the day I began writing, I’ve published six novels (all psychological suspense). I’ve hit the bestselling lists for USA Today and the Denver Post, my last three books won the Colorado Book Award in the Thriller category, and my fifth book was nominated for an ITW Thriller Award, the most prestigious award in its category. Finally, I’ve received starred reviews from all three major trade magazines (Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist).

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As detailed in my previous answer, the road to publishing is not a smooth one. Many rejections along the way and my first three books were never published. Many people think once you have a book published, that’s your new career, when in fact it’s very difficult to support yourself as a full-time author. I still have my day job (which I love).

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think it’s about how you define what luck is. Was it lucky that I was so bored that day in the continuing-education class that I began writing? Perhaps, but I see it as more of an inevitable destination. I believe that putting out positive energy, visualizing success, and letting go of trapping thoughts all lead to good things happening.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carterwilson.com
• Email: me@carterwilson.com
• Instagram: carterwilsonauthor
• Facebook: carterwilsonauthor

Image Credit:
Elke Hope Photography
@sarahsbooktique
@read.before.i.sleep

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