Among some circles of authors, Wayne Stinnett is a past master of all aspects of the craft. Wayne would be embarrassed if I went too deeply into why he’s a venerated figure, so allow me to cut to my point: when he asked me to co-author a new series with him, I said yes. I said it without reservation, without talking to my wife, and without asking too much about what the work actually entailed.
Wayne earned his reputation. I trusted him, implicitly. After writing a novel with him, I trust him more.
He sent me an advance copy of his 15th Jesse McDermitt novel, Rising Water. My task was to get to know two characters featured in the book (DJ Martin and Jerry Snyder) then to spin up some adventures for the both of them, which he and I would talk about.
I had no trouble. Many authors keep a collection of notes, or a file, or a notepad in their night stand, filled with unexplored plots and half-finished ideas which are nearly indistinguishable from the ravings of a lunatic. I send text messages to myself with ideas that usually come to me in the shower or while driving. If a person were to gain unimpeded access to these rambling, incoherent messages, I would be in a straitjacket.
Many of my ideas germinate from longform magazine articles. GQ, The Baffler, New Republic—I’m a junkie for them. Especially stories about people fighting back against, or suffering under, corporate abuses. The germination of Wayward Sons came from a mish-mash of articles about Big Pharma’s manipulation of researchers, patent laws (if you’re curious, research Allergan and the Saint Regis Mohawk tribe), and drug prices.
That last one—pricing—is a real trip. Big Pharma regularly participates in a practice the industry calls salami slicing. Briefly, salami slicing means placing diseases into smaller and more nebulous categories until the drug used to treat a particular cluster of symptoms is given orphan status. By federal law, once a drug achieves orphan status, the red tape is unwound and a drug which previously sold for twenty bucks now costs multiple thousands of dollars when used for its newly “discovered” treatment.
Salami slicing is profit-seeking of the worst kind, and is becoming increasingly popular among an industry setting new profit records every year—profits made from the desperation of the sick and dying, mind you. The practice is emblematic of an industry that cares little about its moral obligations in the face of leveraging as much gross income from people as possible.
DJ was a no-brainer for a plot that revolves around the strong exploiting the weak. He’s untamed and idealistic. Getting him fired up over a little girl being poisoned by corporate malfeasance was easy. Jerry, with his backstory, was a little more complicated, but his willingness to leave behind a born-rich life to join the USAF, and later become a Newport Beach PD detective, evidenced a strong moral compass.
Given those elements, Wayward Sons sprouted in 2019 and grew over 2020.