Tj O’Connor is…On the Writing Block!

Sherry Ickes
Jul 8
6 min read

Moving away from cozies this time with my latest guest, Tj O’Connor, as we will be talking about his thriller, The Whisper Legacy. But before we get into the details, let us learn a little bit more about the author, himself…

Tj O’Connor is the award-winning author of The Whisper Legacy, The Dead Detective Casefiles series, and other thrillers and mysteries. The Whisper Legacy is the first in the new Pappa Legacy thriller series along with Dying With A Secret, Book IV of The Dead Detective Casefiles, from Level Best Books. Tj’s an international anti-terrorism security consultant—experience that drives his novels. As a former government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked around the world in Europe and throughout the Americas—among others. He's a Harley pilot, a man-about-dogs (and now cats), and a lover of adventure and cooking.

What is your ultimate goal as an author?

I began writing in the fifth grade as an escape from a crappy childhood. I know, boohoo we all have baggage. I never set out to do more than escape and create some adventures I could lose myself in. Later, I wrote my first novel right out of high school. But, by then, writing had become a part of me—I realized in the seventh grade I wanted to be a writer and tell stories of mystery and adventure. So, off I went to begin a long career in anti-terrorism. My ultimate goal in writing was very selfish. I wrote with no regard for publishing until much later in life. My goals: have fun, tell stories, lose myself from real life into another life perhaps more exciting. It was a means to experience life as I wanted it; not as it was dealt to me. In the end, my art became an imitation of my real life. I tell stories of murder and adventure, spies and terrorists. My goals morphed to show the real side of true thrillers and mysteries—real characters who are flawed, who fail, and who fight the good fight. And bad guys who are likable at times and who best the good guys right up until they don’t. Sometimes, they win. Still, though, my primary goal is selfish—I write for me. An escape. An adventure I wish I’d had. Often, reliving my own glory days. Yep, selfish.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you write whenever you can squeeze it in?

I write whenever I can. Often, I have to fight real life to make room for writing. I work 50-60 hours a week. So, I write mostly on the weekends and try to squeeze in an hour or so during the day to edit or get some ideas on paper that hit me at 2 am. I rise early, write or edit, and hit the real world to pay the bills. Also, when I get a bunch of ideas or get behind a self-imposed goal, I’ll take some time off and hammer away on my current WIP. A couple months back I took a week to catch up on Book V of The Dead Detective Casefiles. I wrote nearly 30 thousand words in seven days. Then back to the real world. There is no rest for the wicked—or authors.

How much research do you conduct for your storylines?

Ah, research. I use two forms of it. The first is my life experiences. Since I write mysteries and thrillers, I rely heavily on my own true-life adventures. In my career, I’ve run homicides and other investigations. I’ve investigated and chased terrorists—and they chased me. I’ve had the honor and privilege of having worked with the finest people in the world of investigations, national security, and real-world adventure. My life’s work pales in comparison. Yet, those experiences are a key part of my stories—personal experience.

I also do traditional research—internet, interviews, etc. I have the privilege of having friends and colleagues from some pretty serious professions: military special operations; intelligence; law enforcement; and the scientific community. You know, professional slouches. If I have a question or need to know if my story works, they’re always there to give a critique. You can’t beat having these folks on speed dial.

In my pending release of Dying With A Secret, Book IV of The Dead Detective Casefiles, the story begins in the historic Handley Library in Winchester, Virginia where I live. The library opened its doors to me. They gave me personal tours of hidden secrets within. They provided me complete access where patrons aren’t allowed. They even helped me plot out a few hiccups in my story.

In The Whisper Legacy, I did a lot of research in my files of old photographs and memories from my previous life overseas. All that brought about the main character’s development and persona. Nothing better than art based on life.

How much is based on real life versus made up?

Oh, boy, could I get into trouble here. My main characters often has way too much of me in them. People who now me well often say things like, “Curran is you. I know it.” Well, as much as I try not to allow that, it happens. Truth is, the characters, many elements of the plots and subplots, and settings are based on my life’s adventures. Not totally, of course. Doing that could get me in real trouble. You know, the old “I’d tell you but then have to kill you” thing. Except in my case, it would be, “If I told you, I might go to jail” thing. Nope. I would not look good in orange.

In The Whisper Legacy, Lowe Curran is the main character. In past years, his life took a nasty turn—and nearly ended him—on the Voula Beach Road in Greece. My first anti-terrorism operation was on the Voula Beach Road in Greece—some thirty-seven years ago. When Curran’s life turned to crap—lost loves, lost career, broke—he ends up living in an old barn loft apartment trying to make a living as a lowly private investigator. Yep, been there, done that. After a nasty divorce, I had to leave my career as a military federal agent to stay close to my kids. That was my dream job and I loved it. Afterward, I fell flat on my face. I lost everything. I ended up, yep, living in an old barn loft apartment and got a job as a private investigator and consultant. I had to fight and claw my way back up. I did, thankfully. Every step of that fight finds its way into Lowe Curran’s novels.

The truth is my books are very much taken from real life. The characters, settings, even plots come from my world past and present. Oh, sure, I have to change facts and make things more exciting and interesting sometimes, but overall, they are as close to real life as I can get them. So, if I ever disappear, it’s because I got a little too close.

What is The Whisper Legacy about?

Curran’s enemies thought he was dead.

They were wrong.

He thought his past was left on the Voula Beach Road.

He was wrong.

Now, that nightmare is drawing his enemies out.

The halls of power are being targeted—but by who?

Is the secret of the Voula Beach Road behind the chaos?

Curran knows the answer.

It’s all in The Whisper Legacy.

Marlowe “Lowe” Curran was once a freelance intelligence operative swashbuckling around the world—until Greece—until the Voula Beach Road. There, he lost everything and nearly his life. Now, he’s a luckless, aging PI living on guilt and nightmares—barely paying his rent if not for Tommy Astor, a well-connected Washington powerbroker. Curran becomes a suspect in the murder of a philandering husband. He has an alibi—but that could get him arrested. Is committing crimes trying to resolve other crimes still a crime? For Curran it is, especially after he’s a suspect in two murders. Chasing the real killer, Curran is haunted by his demons from the Voula Beach Road, and something called Whisper. On his trail is an angry, vengeful US Deputy Marshal, gun-happy assassins, and a shadowy figure thwarting Curran’s every success. For each step forward, there’s another threat, another roadblock, another piece of evidence stacking up against him. Whisper is at the center of his nightmares—whatever Whisper is. Is Whisper why Charlie Cantrell had to die? Why are bodies dropping across Washington? Why the President’s short list for running mates is getting shorter? Faced with old foes and aided by his last surviving Voula Beach friend, Curran must stay ahead of the assassins, rescue a kidnapped little girl, and find the deadly secrets hidden within The Whisper Legacy.