Author R&R with Robbie Bach

Robbie Bach is a former tech executive who helped spearhead the creation of the iconic Xbox and Xbox 360. After retiring from Microsoft, he shifted his focus to philanthropy, civic advocacy, and guest lecturing at a variety of colleges and universities, and corporate, civic, and trade association audiences across the country. His first novel, The Wilkes Insurrection, introduced readers to Senator Tamika Smith in a high-stakes battle against a domestic terror conspiracy.

In his latest novel, The Blockchain Syndicate, Tamika Smith’s new year begins in shambles. First she receives an email threatening to expose her past—a threat from someone she knows is dead. Then her boyfriend, Johnny Humboldt, is kidnapped in broad daylight after his daughter is wounded in a California school shooting. Standing in the eye of the storm, Tamika must navigate a political landscape riddled with betrayal, misinformation, and moral decay to rescue Johnny and uncover the group behind the web of conspiracy. 

Robbie Bach stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about the book:
 

Writing by the Seat of Your Pants

As I began my writing journey, I talked to several authors about their “process.”  What do they do first?  How do they come up with new ideas?  Do they hire a research assistant?  Did they go to a writer’s retreat?  And what I discovered was a bit surprising.  It turns out none of them had the same process—in fact, they were all quite different.  From this, I concluded that I should find an approach that felt natural to me and go with it.  Now, two novels later, I have a writing technique that fits my schedule, my temperament, and my skill set.  There is a bit of a discussion happening on LinkedIn right now about whether you are a “Plotter” or a “Pantser?”  I am most definitely a Pantser—I like to make it up as I go.

When I started my first novel, The Wilkes Insurrection, I didn’t even know what genre I was pursuing.  I began by writing about 100 pages about a specific day in the lives of five characters that have been running around in my head for quite some time.  I wrote each one separately, starting with their morning and carrying it through the rest of the day.  As I dove into each of their lives, I realized that their paths should cross on this one, specific day.  Clearly, my next task was to create the connective tissue that brought them together.  Perhaps because I have a fear of flying, I decided that the story would revolve around a plane crash.

Somewhere around page 150 of the manuscript, I realized I was writing a thriller—a style I love to read and watch.  Unfortunately, the story I’d written to that point was a bit too prosaic for that genre.  I knew I had to capture the reader immediately, which meant creating tension and excitement right from the first paragraph.  My solution was to add a prologue scene that would eventually take place about 70% of the way through the story.  It was a dramatic chapter, filled with mystery, colored with villainous evil, and punctuated by an unexpected explosion.  Now, my task was to drive everything in the plot and character threads to reach that scene.

The first draft of The Wilkes Insurrection was 560 pages – clearly written by someone who loved the effort but had no real idea what he was doing.  With the help of two editors, I cut 75,000 words, tightened the backstories, increased the narrative pace, and added an entire character who rounded out the cast.  I love the final result.  Gratefully, it was well reviewed, setting me up to create a series around my main protagonist, Tamika Smith.  As this Pantser will admit, when I started my writing, Tamika was not going to be the main character.  And that is the joy I find in writing.

When it came time to craft a sequel novel, The Blockchain Syndicate, I had my Pantser process fine-tuned.  I began with a tense, shadowy prologue in which an individual sneaks into a state capitol building to place the coffin of a U.S. senator in the rotunda.  Knowing that I had to get to that scene, I turned to Chapter 1 and began to write.  I’d learned from my first experience and wrote a tight manuscript with concise backstories for the new antagonists.  I also crafted the narrative to provide enough information from the first novel to new readers without being repetitive for my returning fans.  The result was actually shorter than the first book—and I worked with my editor to add valuable character and descriptive depth that strengthened the story.  It is much easier to “build up” than it is to “delete.”

Like its predecessor, The Blockchain Syndicate was a joy to write.  I had fun crafting character names from people I know, including my dogs Charlie and Roscoe.  I’ve incorporated locations and ideas that are important to me.  I enjoy the research process, which is a combination of interviewing experts, visiting locations to take pictures and absorb ambiance, and using web tools to verify facts and capture information that is difficult to collect in person.  Even in this modern day, I didn’t use AI to write any of the story, although it has been immensely helpful in developing marketing materials.  I took the story through three self-edited drafts before I sent it to my publisher and a professional editor for the crucial fine-tuning phase.

Being a Pantser can be stressful.  Writing thousands of words without any roadmap takes a combination of faith and conviction that “it will all come together in the end.”  But it has the important advantage of forcing me to engage deeply with my characters, their emotions, and the challenges they face.  It also gives me the ability to craft plot twists and unexpected outcomes without telegraphing where I’m going.  The serendipity of solving a plot conundrum or character arc while walking the dog brings me great joy.  While I deal with serious, contemporary issues, I hope that joy comes through at all of the right moments. 

You can learn more about Robbie Bach via his website and The Block Chain Syndicate here. You can also follow him on Facebook and LinkedIn. The Block Chain Syndicate is now available via all major booksellers.