A few years back I read an article about corporations that were too big to fail. This got me thinking about a premise for a new book in the Reece Culver thriller series. I envisioned a large multi-national corporation named Draecon International that was headquartered in London.
With this initial idea in mind I came up with a handful of powerful executives each on a path to satisfy their own motivations. As I wrote Sabotage I thought about what a high level executive might resort too to ensure that this giant of a company didn’t fail, and what pursuits they might take on to ensure their career went the direction that they’d envisioned.
As with any book I’ve ever written the initial notes, outline, and plot serve only as a beginning framework. As I write tens of thousands of words weaving together subplots and scenes the characters take on a life of their own and guide the story in new directions I’d not thought of earlier. For me this is where the real magic of writing takes place.
With each new revision of the novel the story grows in depth. I’ve come up with an analogy for this – think of a thriller writer writing a novel and let the image of a painter standing at an aisle come into your mind. With each new revision of the novel the depth of the story increases much the same way as the layers of paint cover the canvas as an artist paints her painting in oils. At points along the way the craftsman takes a step back and looks at the whole of their work. A dab of paint here becomes a new tree on the horizon or a lighter shade of blue becomes a cloud reflecting off of the surface of a pond. For me writing works the same way. I step back and build a timeline of the scenes within the novel. I outline them making notes about possible new paths a character might take. As I write I leave these notes up on the right side of my computer screen.
As I wrote and rewrote Sabotage the motivations of the main characters became more obvious. Much like the interworking of a large family, the interworking of a group of executives within a large corporation is filled with conflict, tension, and rivalry. As the company grows workers are passed over for promotions, positions are filled with newly hired employees, and the overall dynamics of the corporation changes. In times when markets are tight assets or divisions are sold, and employees are terminated to make way for new corporate visions. In the end the people at the top will do whatever it takes to save Draecon International.
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Bryan Koepke lives in the United States with his wife, and dog. He grew up in the midwest, settled in Arizona, and then twenty years ago made his way north to Colorado. He’s a private pilot, Electrical Engineering Technician, and since 2009 has been employed as a Financial Analyst. Bryan has always had an interest in writing. He wrote his first stories at the age of 7. He started writing thrillers in 2010, and published his first book in 2014.
He holds an FAA Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic’s license, Pilot’s license, and has a BS in Finance. He’s also taken multiple graduate level engineering classes. His many hobbies include hiking, fishing, skiing, and travel. He’s an avid reader and enjoys watching television shows like 24, Homeland, Breaking Bad, The Blacklist, and Ray Donovan.
His latest book is the thriller, Sabotage.
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