A Visit From Author William Sirls

Today we speak with William Sirls, a writer who truly has a story to tell. But don't take my word on it -- read on!

1) Have you always wanted to be an author? If not, what made you decide to write, and how long have you been at it?

I never had any intention of being an author but was inspired to write the original version of The Reason way back in 2004, which was the roughest year of my life, including each of the three years I spent in federal prison. At the time, I had just gone through a divorce and was in the middle of some illegal activities that were hurting a lot of good people. I specifically remember walking down a hallway at a hospital up in Detroit to visit my oldest daughter who had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and I guess you could say I was pretty much drowning in my own pity party when I came across a young couple that was pulling their son in a little red wagon.  The little boy was around three years old, he had lost his hair, was very thin and frail, and he had that gray and ashen look that clearly suggested the end was near.  For me, it was one of those rare moments in life where you realize that your problems aren’t as bad as you think, and while I was trying to fathom the amount of stress that family was going through, the little boy looked up and smiled at his parents and they smiled back.  To me it was one of the most beautiful exchanges I had ever seen, and something inside of me wanted to find a way to make those smiles last, because in so many cases, particularly in cases like that, they don’t. After a bit of soul searching, the only way I could think of to keep those smiles going was to write about it.

2) Have you ever had a funny experience connected with being an author? For instance, has someone ever overheard you discussing the merits of one murder weapon over another or caught you shooting at a can of gasoline to see if you could make it explode?

I was at an airport earlier in the year and sat down next to a woman that was reading The Reason. I told her what a huge fan of the author I was and she was looking at me as if I was the strangest person on earth until I had her look at my pic in the back of the book.  It was a lot of fun and we ended up having a great conversation.

3) What do you love about being a writer, and what do you like the least?

What I love most about being an author is sharing personal lessons I’ve learned in terms of patience, forgiveness, and grace by sprinkling them amongst characters in my stories. I also love reading emails and letters from people about how my stories have helped strengthen their faith and left them feeling closer to God. What I like least is my inability to write more than one story at once, but I’m always thankful for the one I’m currently working on.

4) Are you a plotter, a pantser, or a combination?

I would say I’m a combination of the two. Patience is a problem for me when I write, so when I’m putting a story together, I usually write the ending first, that way I have a target to hit. But sometimes I get so anxious to get to certain scenes, I find myself in too much of a hurry to get there. So instead of forcing the story, I’m learning to really slow down … and when I do that, the characters end up telling me what to do instead of the other way around.

5) Do you write full time, or do you work it in alongside a full-time job?

I’m currently fortunate to be in a position to write full time and I couldn’t be more thankful.

6) What do your kids think about your being a writer?

They think it’s pretty cool, particularly when they know someone or run into somebody that’s reading one of my books.

7) How do you get your best ideas?

From things that have happened to me. I enjoy putting together fictional versions of real life events.

8) What do you do to get past writer’s block?

A friend of mine told me that if I ever get writer’s block, I should open a new document and write about my writer’s block.  After about two sentence of that torture, I’m usually motivated to go back to my project and work on a different scene.

9) What’s your favorite method for keeping a story’s middle from sagging?

I write the ending first and the beginning second. If any scene in between those two points doesn’t introduce three new concepts and keep the story moving forward, it gets cut.

10) Do you write every day? What does your typical writing day look like?

Even if it is straight gibberish, and I can’t get in the groove, there has to be 2,000 words a day, because 2,000 poorly written words that keep the story moving are better than no words at all.

11) Do you like to listen to music when you write?

No, because I’m too easily distracted. In order for me to get into a story, I have to turn my phone off and close the door to my office to create the quietest environment possible.

12) Do you have any rituals you like to go through before you start writing, such as make yourself a cup of coffee or tea? Do calisthenics to get the blood flowing? Lock yourself in a room and warn your family not to disturb you upon pain of death? Read something inspiring? Pray?

I have coffee at 6 o’clock every morning with friends before returning home to write. Then I normally like to read something from one of my favorite authors for about forty-five minutes to grease the writing wheels before I begin.

13) Writing is a sedentary occupation. What do you do for exercise?

Walk a few miles with my ear buds in or play basketball.

14) Do you have any pets? Do you own them, or they you?

I’m a lifelong dog owner but my last one passed away while I was in federal prison. I’m currently feeling the need for a new four-legged friend and will probably be puppy hunting in the very near future.

15) What fun fact would you like your readers to know about you?

I’m a former senior vice president at a large investment firm-turned money launderer-turned federal prisoner-turned author of Christian Fiction. You could definitely say that I’m an unfortunate example of what can happen when you use the gifts God has given you for your own good instead of for His glory, but thankfully, I’m also living and breathing proof of His grace and forgiveness.

Thank you, William, for visiting us at The Borrowed Book!

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Over the course of his life, William Sirls has experienced both great highs and tremendous lows—some born of chance, some born of choice. Once a senior vice president at a major

investment firm, he was incarcerated in 2007 for wire fraud and money laundering, where he learned a great deal more than he ever bargained for. Life lessons involving faith, grace, and forgiveness are evident in his writing. His first novel, The Reason, was published in 2012. The Sinners’ Garden (available December 2013) is his second novel. He is the father of two and makes his home in southern Michigan.

Learn more about William Sirls and The Sinners’ Garden at www.williamsirls.com, Facebook, or Twitter.  


Don't forget to come back tomorrow when you can enter to win a free copy of William's latest release, The Sinner's Garden!

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Know Where You Are Going Before You Get There by Author William Sirls

I love being an author and writing The Sinners’ Garden was a lot of fun. It also presented quite a few challenges for me from the first couple drafts to what became the final version of the story, not because of the normal bumps in the road we authors frequently hit, but by my accidental deletion of the story’s original

ending along with around 19,000 other words, which was roughly the last twenty percent of the book. As miffed as I was when it happened, it was a relatively easy fix for me because the ending is what I worked on first. Though I made a few tweaks, it was a simple rewrite because when we begin with the end in mind, our target is set and we have an uninterrupted view of our final destination, that last stop that tells us who and where are characters really are without the full benefit of knowing how they got there.

Let’s say you’ve got a week off work, your vacation has just begun, and there’s a knock on your door. You open it and there’s a man outside that hands you the keys to a brand new car and tells you to get in and start driving. Though you hadn’t planned on it, it sounds like a great time, so you jump in and put the pedal to the metal. You are enjoying that new car smell, the ride is smooth, you’ve got the radio going, and it’s a lot of fun because you’re seeing plenty of new things.  

But then something begins to happen …

You start slowing down and then you begin to wonder where you are going. Before long, you pull over to the side of the road and stop to mull things over. Just for the fun of it, let’s call this “driver’s block.”

Writing a good book shouldn’t be all that different than planning for a good vacation, because at the end of the day, both are journeys and each should begin with a clear destination in sight. 

So why not start your next book by writing the ending first? 

Think about it. It’s a lot easier to hit a target you can see.

When we write the ending first, our target outcome is right in front of us and we have a better view of how to get there. Naturally, all of us author types go into our stories with an amazing roster of characters and a handful of scenes we know will make unforgettable movie moments, but do we really know what we are trying to accomplish when we begin or have we perhaps plugged into Google maps without knowing where we are going? 

By beginning with the end in mind, we get a sneak peek at where our characters have gone, what they have or have not conquered, and most importantly, we get a glimpse at how different they are compared to where we introduce them to our readers. This is a huge advantage for us because we know if our characters aren’t significantly different at the beginning than they are at the end … we know in advance that we can’t invite them along for the ride and must put them to sleep now before our editors do.

Once we have established the difference in our characters at both ends of the story, we are then better prepared for those saggy middle scenes that drag and don’t keep the story moving forward. Each scene must introduce three new concepts or ideas that take us toward that golden ending, and when we experience that phenomenon known as “writer’s block,” it will be short-lived, because our characters will jump up off the pages and tell us what to do instead of vice-versa.  Why? Because they (like us) already know the ending and understand that they have to make changes to get there. So when you hit a bump in the road, that’s our cue as writers to put our characters in situations where they have a decision to make. And that decision … that choice … if done correctly … will be both the catalyst for change and a key turning point in the book, which are both crucial for any good story.

Happy writing.

Over the course of his life, William Sirls has experienced both great highs and tremendous

lows—some born of chance, some born of choice. Once a senior vice president at a major investment firm, he was incarcerated in 2007 for wire fraud and money laundering, where he learned a great deal more than he ever bargained for. Life lessons involving faith, grace, and forgiveness are evident in his writing. His first novel, The Reason, was published in 2012. The Sinners’ Garden (available December 2013) is his second novel. He is the father of two and makes his home in southern Michigan. 

Learn more about William Sirls and The Sinners’ Garden at www.williamsirls.com, Facebook, or Twitter.  

The Sinners' Garden by William Sirls, Reviewed by S. Black

The Sinners’ Garden, written by William Sirls, is a unique story depicting God’s love and mercy to the sinners’ hearts.  An angry unhappy teenager, Andy Kemp, whose face was disfigured at an early age, hides behind his books and long hair. His mother, Judi Kemp, lives her life guilt ridden for not protecting her son from an abusive father.  Andy’s Uncle, Gerald Rip Ripley, recently released from prison, who found Jesus as his savior while he was in jail, comes home to help his sister, Judi, and nephew, Andy.  Heather Gerisch, a police officer who followed in her father’s footsteps on the police force, haunted by her father’s mysterious murder years before, investigates the mysterious break-ins of the elusive “Summer Santa”. The “Summer Santa”, dressed all in black, enters homes and delivers to several of the towns’ people various expensive items (food gift cards, bags of money, etc.). Oddly these items match the items mentioned on the prayer request cards at church.  

Strange happenings begin in Benning after Rip gives his nephew an iPod. Although the IPod becomes broken, Andy hears music from the iPod and in a trance-like state speaks to specific individuals revealing hidden messages from God. In addition, while Rip and Andy are on a motorcycle ride, they find a beautifully landscaped wildflower garden, divided into four sections. This garden mysteriously grew up overnight in a remote area behind the abandoned steel mill. What is the meaning behind the garden and the revealing messages? Are they related? Who is this black clad individual known as the “Summer Santa,” and how does he continue to elude police capture?  

“The Sinners’ Garden” was a good read even though the story starts with an event that causes much sadness and heartache, the story ends with a happy conclusion.  I would recommend this book to my friends. 

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