GBF Author Q&A with... Douglas Waller

Name: Douglas Waller
Books: "Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage," "A Question of Loyalty," "Big Red: Three Months on Board a Trident Nuclear Submarine," "Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot," and "The Commandos: The Inside Story of America's Secret Soldiers"

Doug's Website

Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration from reading, as many authors do. For my biographies, one idea often follows the other. I’m intrigued by controversial historical figures, leaders who provoke strong opinions about them—pro and con.

My previous biography was on General Billy Mitchell, the father of the Air Force, who was a military maverick during the “Roaring Twenties,” a guy people loved or hated, and who was eventually court-martialed for being insubordinate in advocating airpower as a new weapon of war. Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan, the World War II director of the Office of Strategic Services, was much in that same mold. Interestingly, Donovan attended Mitchell’s court-martial, which became a media spectacle in Washington. Like Mitchell, no one was neutral about Wild Bill Donovan. His loyalists thought he was a god. His enemies thought he was a rogue spymaster and a devious empire builder. And the new ideas Donovan advocated—such as setting up a national spy service and launching unconventional covert operations—were highly controversial in the 1940’s. In fact, Donovan’s legacy is still intensely debated by historians today.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Again, read authors who are your favorites. Study and learn from their writing styles. Then write, write, write. I have a lot of people who when they find out I’m an author, will say, “Oh yeah, I thought about writing a book.” But they never do. I find writing to be 15% creative inspiration and 85% discipline.

One famous author once told me, writing is like mowing the lawn. You have to do a strip every day, whether you feel like it or not. Writing a book is a job, a difficult job. And you have to approach it as going to work every day, just as in any job.

What are you reading right now?
"All Governments Lie!: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I. F. Stone" by Myra MacPherson

What's your favorite opening line from a book?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” the opening line of "A Tale of Two Cities"

What book has inspired or affected you in some way?
"The Making of the President 1960" by Theodore H. White. When I read it in high school I wanted to run for President of the United States. Later in college when I came down from the clouds, Teddy White’s books, along with one very good journalism instructor, inspired me to become a reporter.

If you could sit down at dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which three authors would you choose?
Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. That should make for an interesting dinner.