Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a clinical pharmacist and have practiced for over 40 years concentrating in solid organ transplant, oncology and pain management with the last 10 years being spent on the clinical IT side of healthcare. I have two published novels to date: Perfect Posture and Deep Waters. I write character-centric stories incorporating history while using both to drive plot twists and turns. Readers will always find characters who they will love to love or love to hate as well as a mix of levity and interesting history as the book spins to its exciting conclusion.
Deep Waters (historical fiction with an odyssey-like life arc storyline intertwined with a good vs evil thread that leads to a mystery-thriller ending): What is a man’s life? What does a man have control over as his life unfolds before and behind him? Life starts us out with endless possible paths, then narrows our choices from paths that are desired to those that are often forced upon us. Follow Jack as his life evolves from a high school football quarterback in Janesville, a small town in Wisconsin, to a crew member of the USS Indianapolis—the ship that delivered the nuclear bomb that helped end World War II and then suffered the worst open ocean disaster in U.S. naval history. Watch how his life is entangled in questions of a possible second bomb on the Indianapolis and whether it leads to the nuclear destruction of a beloved American city or helps to bring to light a 700-year secret known only to the descendants of a lone Knight Templar on a remote Japanese island. Follow the decisions Jack makes to survive and the paths he then has available to him as they narrow and lead him toward becoming a man he does not know. Find out if he will choose the right paths to survive a life not under his control. https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Waters-SCOTT-LOTHIAN/dp/B09BLRV5JR
Perfect Posture (a detective vs. serial killer crime thriller meant to create a palpable good versus evil tension in the reader much like that effected by Erik Larson’s classic Devil in the White City): A dead girl, clutching a stuffed toy elephant covered in political buttons, is found posed on a luggage carousel at O’Hare Airport. Chicago, oblivious to the evil that has gripped the city for the past two months, believes they have discovered the first victim of the errantly named “Patriotic Killer.” Only Lieutenant Jonathan Dearfield knows the truth: He must solve this case before the unimaginable happens. Perfect Posture takes readers inside the mind of a killer, while chronicling the lives of those committed to stopping the escalating carnage. This book is rich with Chicago area history, and filled with personalities and relationships—both dark and occasionally comical—that readers will grow to love or hate as they follow the non-stop action to a twisting catastrophic end. https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Posture-Scott-Lothian/dp/151861227X
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My second novel is Deep Waters, which was published on August 2nd—the 76th anniversary of the heroic rescue of the surviving crew members of the USS Indianapolis. This is a story of a man’s life—from farm town quarterback to a crew member of the Indianapolis and on— and how he deals with a life not totally under his control. Deep Waters is very much a historical slice-of-life mystery—a combination of historical fiction with a good karma versus evil karma storyline that threads throughout and leads to the mystery-thriller possibly “atomic” ending.
I was inspired to write this book by the story of the Indianapolis, amazed that this heroic story went mostly untold for decades. I thought about a “what if” scenario: what would the life of one of these men be like having survived this terrible tragedy and what if there was more to the story.
I pictured the life of a man who went through the tragedy of the sinking of the Indianapolis—four days in the water attacked by sharks and worn down by hunger, thirst and the elements. What was his life like? What if his life was filled with tragedy, hardship and disappointment? How would he handle these setbacks and how would it shape him as a man? What if there were evolving good and evil strands twisting around his life story that he had no control over, but could prove to be his ultimate undoing? I then built people around him to support his life paths and decisions.
In Deep Waters, you get to know Jack (or Butch), a high school sophomore who is the varsity football quarterback and dating the head cheerleader, Candy. Life is good if he can avoid pissing off his father or getting beat up by his older brother. Then something happens that changes his life and he is forced to make his first big decision. I am very much a writer who holds to the contract of promise resolution, so any of Jack’s life decisions that may be second-guessed by the reader could have a different reality in the end.
The book takes place from 1945 through 2007 for reasons the reader will understand as they follow the story. The prologue starts in 2007 with the torture of a shipmate and friend of Jack’s, Chester, in an effort to find the rumored second atomic bomb on the Indianapolis and ends as two Knights Templar ships sail in opposite directions in the early morning hours of October 13, 1307. These two threads are the karma stories that unknowingly are twisting around Jack’s odyssey and come together to create the dynamic ending.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Like most authors, I research prior to starting a book, but I only plan out the arc points—start, stops and finish—not the entire script. I feel writing is like planning a vacation, you can plan the destinations and the stops, but you never know who you will meet along the way, so I let the story flow from me to the page and lead me to research those new experiences. If I need to get over a hump, I leave it and let my mind (OCD-ish) work its magic to get the story over and on to the next chapter (this can happen in the shower, while watching TV and, unfortunately, even while in a meeting).
Also, I like to have fun with the names I use in my writing and you will find this true throughout this book. The Gardener, Marino Danielson, is named after my favorite quarterback (Dan Marino – sorry Peyton and Drew, but you are tied for #2). Chester “Gerbil” Best is named after a fraternity brother’s nickname (Gerbil) and my oldest son’s hamster (Chester). And there are many other names where the reader might catch some hidden meaning. Most every name in the book has a story, though it certainly may not be the same as the character experiences in the book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite author is Ken Follett and he did influence my second book, Deep Waters, which is in many ways a hybrid novel with a historical fiction odyssey-like life arc with a mystery-thriller ending. My first novel, Perfect Posture, aims to create a palpable good versus evil tension in the reader much like that effected by Erik Larson’s classic Devil in the White City and was also influenced by Stephen King.
What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on a children’s book with a well-known midwestern etching artist and another novel-Daddy’s Girl.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I wish I knew. Indie artists are at the whim of bloggers and reviewers. Unless you can find a niche or get lucky with a review, you are basically on your own. Spending money on promotion sites is not always a win for authors. I respect those who write for life—I write as a hobby and for enjoyment, so I try not to get too tied up in the whole game. I know my readers have enjoyed my books and try to ignore those that blame the pants when they don’t fit—though I have been lucky with this thus far.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Follow your heart. Start with a story you would like to read and go from there. Enjoy the journey and be willing to take unexpected turns—if you are surprised, then so will your readers.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Dan Brown – always resolve main issues like a contract with your reader. Some aspects of the story are meant to mislead, but you cannot have a reader saying, “But what about the bloody wrench?” at the end of your book.
What are you reading now?
Column of Fire by Ken Follett (Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots era historical fiction)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Continue to grow to find styles and stories that are not just another version of the book before—the next monster of the week. My books may always have a connecting thread, but I would never list them as a series since they may be different genres and reading experiences.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
The Source (James Michener)
Eye of the Needle (Ken Follett)
Perfect Posture (Scott Lothian)
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