Writing Based on
Greg Ahlgren
by G. W. Ambrose
When did you start writing?
I stumbled into writing. I’ve always been a true crime/
mystery fan, and in that capacity on a personal whim back
in the early 1990s I started looking into the 1932 so-called
Lindbergh kidnapping case. After a while the case became a
bit of an obsession; I found myself studying the facts of the
case with the benefit of contemporary investigative analysis
gleaned from my years as a criminal defense lawyer.
I consulted with an accomplished police investigator, Stephen
Monier, and when we found ourselves both troubled by the
same fact patterns, we decided to write a book together.
Crime of The Century:
The Lindbergh Kidnapping
Hoax, was published in
1993. I started thinking,
“hey, maybe,” and so I
was encouraged enough
to take a shot at fiction.
I’ve published four fiction
novels since, including two
American Civil War novels.
All of them, including
my original true crime
book, are based on actual
historical events.
Who was your favorite author and how did
he/she influence you?
In the fiction genre I would say the late Daphne du Maurier.
She may not be read that much anymore, but I loved how
she could plot a contemporary story whose characters and
storyline were so deeply influenced by events of the historical
past. The past never really dies or gets buried, at any time it
can reach up a finger and tap us.
How do you find the time to write?
Being a self-employed sole practitioner lawyer helped. If I
have time between appointments or a cancelled trial, I may
take a stab at writing, and sometimes I’ll dictate a whole
chapter and give it to my secretary to type. If I worked for
someone else, or for the government, I couldn’t do that—it
would be cheating my employer.
I decided at the outset that I would not let my writing
take away from the time I spend with my family—preparing
for a jury trial already does enough of that. So, I’ve never
barricaded myself in a room at night or on weekends to
either write or edit. Everyone must decide that for himself.
Me, I’m proud that I never missed a scholastic game or
kid’s school event. And that includes when my daughter
was learning to play the violin. Believe me, those were
excruciating times!
Have you made sacrifices to be a writer?
None. I wouldn’t do it. To me writing should be fun, both
the drafting and the editing. (Not so much the marketing)
If it’s not fun why do it?
I guess I feel the same way about being a criminal lawyer.
I remember early in my law career I did a trial where a gang
of obviously all pregnant women were robbing banks. During
the trial I found myself in the judge’s chambers during a
break where the prosecutor and I were sniping at each other.
The judge leaned across her desk and said, “Boys, boys, cut it
out. If you can’t have fun trying this case, why did you go to
law school?”
She was right. And the same goes for writing.
Did you enjoy co-authoring and are there benefits?
I do enjoy it because of the constant feedback. A writing
advisory group is good, but not the same. You give your
advisors chapters and then sometimes wait a couple
of weeks until they’ve had a chance to read them and
synthesize a response. A co-author’s input is pretty much
instantaneous.
One benefit you do not have with a co-author is that
the work is not cut in half. Maybe half of the first draft is
delegated, but both co-authors must do all the research, all
the editing of the whole manuscript, and all the over-writes,
Southern Writers 7