Meet Patrick Weill . . . Another author new to me, who offered his first book free to those who, along with me, attended the Public Safety Writers Association conference this summer. For those who have enjoyed Lee Child's main character, Jack Reacher, Pat's Park and Walker team of characters are like a double dose of Jack Reacher. No kidding. This first book in the series, The Mazatlan Showdown, was hard to put down!
Pat grew up in Northern California reading and playing sports, then spent ten years in Southern California for undergraduate studies in psychology and a graduate degree in jazz performance. He no longer plays saxophone or any other instrument, but that passion hasn’t died; quite to the contrary. After moving to Mexico in 2005 and finding work as an English teacher and then as a translator, he started writing thriller novels in 2019, into which occupation he pours himself with even more heart than he did with music.
What prompted your writing career?
Great question! Two main motivations: hunger and thirst. Just kidding. I’d been doing well as a translator (of documents and literature, Spanish into English), but the combination of machine translation and the pandemic put a vicious dent in our family income. Like Lee Child, I found myself without a job and I’d been a reader for all my life, so I decided to give writing a shot. My first foray into publishing came at a young age, however. When I was twelve, my grandmother encouraged me to publish a book review in her local newspaper. I think I still have the clipping.
Current projects?
I’ve just finished an action thriller trilogy; think fast cars and bikes, babes in bikinis, twisty plots, and plenty of gunfights. So I’m working on promoting that. It’s called The Park and Walker Action Thriller Series. And since I’m a translator, it made sense to have the books rendered in other languages, principally German, so we’re a month or so away from publishing the last one in that language and the first one in Spanish.
Next up?
I’ll be pitching a new book to literary agents at Thrillerfest 2025. I haven’t started it yet, but the plan is that it should appeal to a broader market—to men and women alike, not just to action guys like me. Wish me luck!
Pat's already well on his way with two honors just in the last few months!
Winner, 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award
Second Place, 2024 PSWA Writing Competition
Congratulations, Pat! Best of Luck with Thrillerfest and your next project!
You can connect with Pat on the following:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXMM68LX (The Action Thriller Trilogy)
These sound like great fun to read. I'll be checking them out. Thanks, Peg and Patrick for this fun interview. Congrats on the awards!