As an author of many business and tech books — check out my author page at Amazon.com — I’m always interested in hearing about the creative process with other authors. Here’s how G. David Thayer has managed his writing projects, including his latest historical title about the S.S. Vestris…

Q: Tell me about the latest book you wrote?

The latest book is First to Die: The Tragic Sinking of the SS Vestris.

Q: Why that subject? 

We (Kris Delaplane) and I were working on a family history for a celebrity (whose name I am not at liberty to disclose) when we ran across a person who was a passenger on the Vestris on that fateful journey in November, 1928. We were so intrigued by the story—the more we dug, the more interesting it became—that we decided to do a book about it.

Q: How was the experience of writing a book and would you do it again?

It was hard word—writing books is always hard, albeit rewarding—work. We both learned a great deal about sources and methods of researching non-fiction like this book. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

Q: Technical and historical books can be dry, to put it mildly. How did you try to avoid that pitfall?

We tried to weave the technical details into the story while at the same time presenting first-person accounts of the agony of the entire experience, from the initial flooding of the ship to the horrible wait and struggles in the lifeboats of those who managed to survive.

Q: What about the rest of your background?

After receiving my degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1957, I started work as a mathematician and computer programmer for the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado. After retiring, I formed Rapidsoft, a software development company and gradually moved into desktop publishing, renaming the company Rapidsoft Press.

At this point, I’m the author or co-author of four titles that are available on Amazon.com, as well as author of the chapter on analysis of radar-visual cases in the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, Dr. Edward U. Condon, Scientific Director (New York: Bantam Books, 1969).

Q: What are you going to work on next?

I’m working on a novella in the erotic fiction genre—quite a change of pace (I should add the Kristin is not involved in this project). Working title is Emma.

Thanks for sharing some of your experience as a writer, David! If you’re a book author and you’d like to be interviewed on my site, please reach out through my handy contact form.