In December of 2018, Dan Woll was offered a contract with Burning Bulb Publications for the novel Paperclip. The book has gone on to be very well received and was even a finalist for the 2019 Wishing Shelf Book Awards.
Being named a finalist for a major award opened up many doors. Paperclip was reviewed by William Foy of the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, and many interviews and reviews were soon to follow. Since then, Woll has become a regular guest speaker at libraries all across the state of Wisconsin.
The ban on social gatherings slowed down the momentum to some extent, but Woll is hard at work putting the final touches on a sequel.
Paperclip is an interesting novel that covers a lot of human history. Some of it is informed by Woll’s own experiences during his early life and through his first jobs. Running through the novel is a certain fascination with the idea of predestination.
A retired superintendent, Woll’s work is elevated by a wealth of experience. Paperclip belongs to the collection of works that is keenly aware human beings have very little understanding about the true mechanisms that allow the universe to function.
I've been bugged for a long time by strong premonitions ranging from the seemingly ridiculous to the deeply meaningful. For example, several years ago I got an urgent feeling out of the clear blue. My wife and I were driving up to our cabin when I was overcome with a feeling that I had to call an old friend immediately. He and I went through two years of bonding in a trying Teacher Corps experience in an inner city. We lived far apart and seldom saw each other but we remained close. I knew I had to call him. The phone rang many times and then he picked it up out of breath. I asked him, "Are you OK?" He said, "I just came back from the hospital. My wife just died. I need to talk." I have a lot of that in my life. I call in synchronicity which is a massaging of Jung's definition but close enough for the book I had to write. I envisioned a protagonist with a supercharged sense of precognition bedeviled by an antagonist with the same power but no moral compass. Like opposite poles of a magnet they are drawn toward a reckoning with a love interest in the middle.—Dan Woll
Most people can relate to the experience of feeling a sense of concern when the phone rings only to discover the caller does indeed have bad news. Woll’s experiences in the Teacher Corps make an appearance in Paperclip as does the friend he felt a strong pull from the universe to reach out to.
In some ways, writing a sequel to a successful novel is more difficult than writing the original book. It’s important to strike a good balance of capturing the essence of what readers liked about the first book, but building on it in a way that’s surprising and different.
In working on the sequel, Woll has found he’s had to revisit the elements of the first book and try to determine how to re-envision the fundamental elements.
I like historical fiction. In the sequel the characters begin to understand the origins of their visionary power as products of the little known post-war government research using Nazi scientists. Werner Von Braun's work in rocketry is best known but there was a much darker investigation into mind control through psychedelics by others in what came to be known as MKUltra.—Dan Woll
Woll’s found the most success when he’s created a fictional story with real life elements. Both Paperclip and the proposed sequel allow the reader to learn a little bit about history. The books also take some creative liberties. Hopefully readers will be entertained enough that they’ll become inspired to do their own research to discover where the truth ends and the fantasy begins.
Woll has found that his reaction to the pandemic shutdown did not follow that of his fellow authors.
I had the opposite reaction of many writers who found that it forced them to do more. The pandemic put me in a state of writer's paralysis. My best guess is that I write best in coffee shops and that was out of the question. I concentrated on staying active outdoors and healthy. I felt that my writing would come back if I stayed healthy but if I didn't there was the real possibility of losing everything. I did a lot of heavy reading hoping that would keep my writing chops in shape.—Dan Woll
As the shutdowns were lifted, Woll returned to the sequel project in earnest. The manuscript is approximately two thirds of the way complete with most of the plot and story elements worked out.
Library appearances are one of Woll’s chief forms of promotion, so he’s not inclined to rush the sequel. He knows that it will be better to have the book available when the general public once again feels no hesitation to come to a local reading.
He assures his eager fans that the sequel to Paperclip will be ready when the universe believes it is time.
For more information on Dan Woll, check out his web page.