Scott Lothian Interview Published on: 03, Jan 2025

Through my medical career as an oncology pharmacist and pain specialist, I have experienced many stories—some happy and some sad. These experiences have helped me dive deep into some themes with true empathy, which hopefully translates into an emotional experience for the reader. I have yet to write a pure medical thriller, but it is coming.

Working with cancer patients can take a toll, so my move to IT helped me to refresh myself while still having an avenue to help patients, even if indirectly. Working in IT has given me a different view of medicine, but I cannot say that it helped with my writing other than giving me more experiences and freeing up my direct emotional involvement so I could concentrate on the many real and imagined stories that float around in my mind.

I have enjoyed the freedom to write differently with each novel, so each has a different story structure and atmosphere. My general writing style is my own, of course, but here are some examples of their influence.

I wrote Perfect Posture with Stephen King in mind, thus it has more descriptive prose and is much longer than the others. Also, being full of Chicago history and having the conflict with and contrast between the killer who poses his victims and the daily life of the cops trying to stop him, Perfect Posture aims to create an uneasiness in the reader similar to that experienced by many who read Erik Larsen’s Devil in the White City.

Deep Waters is a unique book because it is very much a historical novel that transitions into a mystery thriller. Deep Waters incorporates the story and tragedy of the USS Indianapolis into the life of the main protagonist to show how someone who experienced such a tragedy in their life and then continues to have disappointment after disappointment might deal with a life seemingly not under their control. The protagonist’s life is further wrapped in a centuries-long thread of Knights Templar history and a battle of good vs. evil on the Japanese island of Sado—a remote island of exile. The historical aspect of the book ends when both these themes come crashing together to create a mystery thriller ending.

Daddy’s Girl, the final book of the Jonathan Dearfield Trilogy, is more of a straightforward murder mystery. I wanted to show how not knowing all the facts can have consequences as a father is arrested for the kidnapping and possible murder of his teenage daughter. I wanted the reader to be lulled into a reality that was not true and experience how precious complete knowledge is as more of the story unfolds when seen from other views of the same timeline.

The timeline of the trilogy became a necessity because of the original date of Perfect Posture (2008ish) and the need for the protagonist in Deep Waters to be of a certain age, then again for the girls in Daddy’s Girl to be at the right age as well. This worked out quite well and allowed me to bring three generations together in these stories. This is not a traditional series, but it could certainly be considered a trilogy. I researched all the historical aspects of each book and also researched the specific time periods so the people are true to their era. All my books are filled with history, but Deep Waters was a true period story and thus I researched slang, clothes, cars and all other pieces of the story so it stayed authentic. Here is an example found by an editor: “Keep Calm and Carry On” was a motivational poster in England during the war (1939), but was rarely displayed and thus unknown to the public until a copy was found in 2000. Even though I wanted to use this saying in Deep Waters, it would not be as authentic to those in the story as it would be to the modern-day reader.

I initially started Perfect Posture as a serial killer layered on top of the total discord of petty politics in Chicago at the time. Luckily, I had to put the book on hold, as my children were gladly taking up more of my free time. I picked it up again nearly two decades later and transformed it into a Chicago cop vs killer psychological thriller. Since Chicago is my home and a city filled with many layers of history, the city truly helped with this transformation. From beginning to end, the sites and history used create a very Chicago feel that then fights with the atmosphere created by the horrific murders happening in the shadows and then eventually screaming to be noticed. With Deep Waters and Daddy’s Girl, I used my experiences in the Chicago suburbs and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as a home base before spreading out into other locations as the stories unfold.

I am one for character development and if your hero is on a helicopter by page two, it can be very exciting, but the reader may not get enough time or information to get to know/understand the characters. Fast-paced books can be a great read (I include many of these authors in my reading and writing one may be in my future), but my style is more of letting the reader see the fuse burn rather than feel as if they are already in the grand finale. I tend to use misdirection and unseen turns to keep the reader’s interest. A book is a string of simple stories that tell a tale, but these stories should also accomplish character development so the characters are the story and not just people in a story. I added the Model T ride in Deep Waters to help the reader get to know Butch and Candy, but also as a call out to my cousin who experienced the ride personally as he flipped his car when crossing a bridge and then landed in a cornfield. Afterward, he and his girlfriend got back into the car and drove away unscathed.

I do like Jonathan Dearfield (JD) since he is an everyman and not a flawless, unrealistic, strong-jawed, dimple-chinned superhero. He is a relatable guy who welcomes help and is sometimes down but never out. Ultimately, I look for him to never be the lone hero, but always in the mix. Bo would certainly be a love-to-love character and Sheila certainly serves as comic relief in Perfect Posture. As the love-to-hate characters, they are best left to the reader but will immediately be obvious, as with the killer in Perfect Posture, or there may be a slow, frustrating learning curve of love and hate as with Eddie Fungu. Character creation reminds me of an iceberg—the reader sees only what is presented in the text, while there is so much more depth known to the writer. One of my favorite characters and chapters to write was Asa finding the Knights Templar shipwreck in Deep Waters.

As stated above, I wanted to weave the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis into the life of my protagonist and make the rest of his life a steep uphill climb to keep his ultimate fate in question. All historical aspects of a story have to be researched so they are portrayed accurately. I always triple-check details so I can avoid an errant depiction. The protagonist is a completely fictional character, but when actual history is involved, it would be an injustice not to be diligent about the facts. I believe the depiction of the sinking and the time the sailors spent in the water is historically accurate and honors these brave men. I always wished that one of the remaining crew would read Deep Waters, but sadly there are only a handful left.

All of my books have a different story structure and atmosphere. I did not want to write a series that came off as episodes, but wanted to create a unique reading experience with each book. Since the theme of Daddy’s Girl is drawing a conclusion when the whole truth is unknown, I wanted to peel away at the story so the reader would believe different “truths” as the full story unfolded. Sometimes truth is as simple as perspective—two people arguing whether a digit is a “6” or a “9”—or as complicated as someone insisting it is a “9” when there is a “5” on one side and a “7” on the other. Deep Waters was the first book where I used a spreadsheet to keep track of characters and timelines. In Daddy’s Girl, this was essential and worked quite well. By showing a complete timeline from only one perspective, there is only one truth, then when another layer is added, the truth can be turned on its head. Seeing all of this information as it happened would take away all the mystery. I also wanted to hide the true purpose of the “adventure” and the true protagonist well into the book.

The Resistance Gene will be a medical thriller, so it will be much more in tune with my knowledge base. It will be a story of corporate greed, medical ethics and modern genetics. It asks, what if Google could use your genetic code to send you health information? How else could this information be used? It is a dark story that turns darker, but as with all of my books (thus far), it is not a spoiler to know good will ultimately win, even if it gets severely banged up or even killed in the process.

It is my goal to create relatable and memorable characters. Even side characters should have a personality. Many of the names I use are a nod to a real person, though the personalities are often composites of several real or imagined people, so all my characters may ride the stereotypical wave at times, but their imagined background story (even if unknown to the reader) will always dictate their actions and help make them feel more three-dimensional to the reader. A writer aims to get the reader involved with the characters so they feel a personal connection throughout the book and then cannot help but care about them even when they have finished their story.

There can be a lot of unfairness in the world. Reading is an avenue people use to escape their worries and to find a world that makes sense to them. Books can be direct or indirect commentaries on current or past events or totally make-believe. I like to write stories that captivate the reader into a world where good and evil coexist, but where good can be counted on to help karma do its part.

I will always incorporate history into my writing and may tackle another historical story, but mystery thrillers will remain my bread and butter. As I mentioned above, I am currently working on a medical thriller. The Resistance Gene will have an interview or storytelling structure and I will continue to experiment with new ideas in future novels.

I have enjoyed being part of AllAuthor. It is a nice supportive community. The current state of social media does seem to be broken or evolving, so it is difficult to find a wave to ride these days, but AllAuthor does give us a home away from home.