Tom Julian
TOM JULIAN works days at a pharmaceutical company, helping to support research into new cancer drugs, and nights and weekends as an author. He enjoys traveling, long-distance cycling, and waking up early to brew the perfect cup of coffee. He’s an unabashed beer snob and native of Trenton, New Jersey.
Tom’s first novel, TIMBERWOLF, is a military science fiction story (with strong espionage elements) originally envisioned as a film. The author worked hard to transfer its cinematic qualities to the page and hopes that Twolf is the best science-fiction movie you'll ever read! Tom is the father of Astur and Liam (two STEM all-stars!) and husband to the lovely Brenda-Lea. He writes while warming his feet under a Cavadoodle named Vancouver.
Facebook: @Timberwolf
Twitter/X: @TimberwolfNovel
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
This is a great question because I write with a visual and experiential sense in mind. I write what my characters are experiencing in real time like in a movie or film. It’s so much more engaging and immediate to experience an adventure through someone else’s eyes and not as an omnipotent observer.
My book Timberwolf is highly inspired by the old Alien movies. Not the new ones, but Alien and Aliens. The hardware, space marines, and that gritty/dirty sense of being in space. One of the things that frustrates me about the newer Alien movies was the fact that they just keep running the same play over and over. It's a big drama about stopping “the company” from getting “the alien.” A key part of my book is about what happens when a weapons manufacturer actually gets ahold of a vicious creature and is able to weaponize it. It turns out that the human struggles and the power that something like that engenders is much more interesting than watching some horrific life cycle and a violent disaster.
My work is also heavily influenced by Apocalypse Now. The main character in my book needs to track down his old mentor who has really lost his mind. The story takes you through an analog of a descent into hell. Ultimately, it's not only about stopping someone from starting a war but also coming to grips with a person in your life who has betrayed you and who once was like a father figure but is no longer.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
Absolutely, but the music I listen to when I write can't be too distracting. I can't love it too much and it can't be too distinct. Music while writing has to set a mood while not taking you away from focusing on your work. Music like Radiohead is useful for that, at least for me. I also hilariously like to listen to you Viking war chants. I'm not kidding there. There's a band called Skald that makes some very cool atmospheric stuff. The only time that I will listen to music for its content is if I am trying to get into an old time Bible mood. One of my characters is a religious fanatic and I'll put on the O Brother Where Art Thou? Soundtrack. There are a number of musical easter eggs in the book here and there. I hope that people read my books carefully enough to find them some day!
What period of history do you wish you knew more about?
I think that the period right before the American Civil War is an extremely rich and dramatic part of history that not many people know all that much about it. It's almost like the Civil War just started and the things that led up to it simply happened “off screen.” It would make incredible drama to show the lead up to the Civil War in a limited TV series. Think “The Crown” meets “Lincoln.”
Favorite non-reading activity?
I love to suit up like Tron and go out on 50–60-mile bike rides. That is where I can absolutely clear my head and be completely separated from all of the distractions of the world. I hate being tied to my phone but modern life almost makes it so you have to be. I love being in a position where I simply can't be available. I also do it to support a children's charity called Anchor House. I do a seven-day 500-mile bike ride through several U.S. states back to Princeton NJ.
Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
I usually know very quickly whether or not I like a book. Usually, it has nothing to do with the story but with the author’s command of description and dialogue. A few things that really drive me nuts are overindulgent writers - people that spend four or five pages describing a tree for example. Also, I am cursed with a strong ability to write dialogue. That means that poorly written dialogue sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Of course, badly written, or egregious sex is always gross. If you're not good at that, and I mean really good at that, don't even try.
