BookView Review

Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we talked to Patricia Roberts Wright about her writing and recently released debut novel, A Siren Called Truth (The Bone Wars Trilogy Book 1), a tense, fast-paced historical drama that examines the moral complexities of ambition and discovery. (Read the review here).

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

For the Bone Wars Trilogy, I began with months of scholarly research and building a timeline; then, my husband and I took a month-long road trip to many of the places featured in the story.

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

Well, I’ve spent a pretty sum to research, publish, and publicize A Siren Called Truth; however, the best investment I made was with an author and experienced writing coach to teach me how to write fiction. It’s completely different from the corporate writing I used to do. Completely.

Who and what ultimately inspired you to become a writer?

Since I was a girl, almost every teacher of any class that involved writing told me I should consider writing as a career. Yes, when it came to writing, I was that all-A’s kid in the front row of the classroom. My mother also inspired me to write. Before she married my dad, she was a schoolteacher. Mom was also an avid reader. Our home was full of books! I know she would have been a great writer, but with four kids to raise and no computers or Internet in the 1950s and ‘60s, she didn’t enjoy the advantages I have today.

What in particular attracted you to this genre?

Writing and history have been ​lifelong passions. By her example, my mother instilled in me an insatiable love of books and learning. Later in life, in a geology class, the professor mentioned the Bone Wars of Cope and Marsh. I just knew that would have to be the subject of my first book!

If you could only change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I wish I was younger so that I could write more novels, now that I know how!

How many rewrites did you do for your book, A Siren Called Truth?

Fourteen. Refine, refine, refine!

How do you come up with names for your characters?

Naming a character is always fun. For A Siren Called Truth, most of the characters are based on historical figures. But I had to invent some characters; some were given a twist on a relative’s name or, for example, the county where a relative lives. I also search print and online sources for popular first names, by decade. I look for a name that will say something about the character.

What makes this book important right now?

In my opinion, we don’t see enough historical fiction. I think there are two reasons for this. First, the genre requires a lot of research. Second, social mores change through the ages, and I suspect some authors fear a negative reception for their work if its characters act and speak as they really would have in the novel’s period.

So, what makes A Siren Called Truth important right now? It’s based on historical figures: the paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and O.C. Marsh. Their competitive animosity lasted some 30 years; but, during those years, they scoured the Great Plains and the West for the fossils of incredible creatures. Cope’s and Marsh’s expeditions took them to many historic places that have been preserved for today’s road-trippers, such as several of the old forts and cemeteries. Road trips seem to have lost favor with many; however, I challenge your readers to do their research and then dive into a great road trip with their families.

How did you decide on this title? 

While still working, I had to sit in two long Houston rush hours, five days a week. I had started the research for my book, but I had not begun writing or even outlining. Instead, I used that time in stop-and-go traffic to think about the Bone Wars—really getting into the heart of the story. Cope and Marsh were passionate about discovery. They often referred to discoveries as “truth.” So, I arrived at the title of this book because truth obsessed these two scientists—as if they were both answering a siren’s call.

It helped me to land on that working title early in the process. I tried to conjure alternate titles, but I kept going back to A Siren Called Truth and thinking about the sirens of Greek mythology.

I made the right call. As it turned out, I decided the story was too colorful and too big to limit to a single book; so, it’s become the Bone Wars Trilogy. I plan to publish the second book, The Siren’s Price, in 2026. The third book, The Worth of Truth, should come out in 2028.

***