Indie Author Spotlight #18

Meet Author Tom Albright and Author T.N. Finn!

May 09, 2025

Welcome back and happy Friday. Here’s to another edition of my Author Spotlight Series.

First up, meet Thriller / Psychological Thriller Author Tom Albright.

I am Tom Albright, author of The Adventures of Clark Westfield thriller series, of which there are five books. The Adventures of Clark Westfield series is high stakes intrigue-psychological thriller fiction through the eyes of a middle aged newspaper reporter. If “journalism thriller” is a category then that would be more accurate, but I don’t know if it is. I am a mid-life father living in New Jersey, and I draw inspiration from the Garden State and other world episodes from my life.

How long have you been writing for fun and "professionally"?:

I have been a professional writer for 30 years - but in journalism and PR, not fiction novels. In that capacity I had to cover various topics, ghost write for clients in all kinds of outlets and I was a cover writer for a celebrity style magazine which afforded me extraordinary access and interviews to household names. I began writing the Clark Westfield series in 2019.

Where did you get the inspiration for your "The Adventures of Clark Westfield" Series?:

The name is easy - Clark Westfield is exit 135 on the Garden State Parkway.

My other main Character, Elizabeth Cranford, is exit 137! LOL.

I would drive under these exits since I was a teenager and always think “Clark Westfield and Elizabeth Cranford would make excellent characters in a book.” Over the years, it was clear there was an urgency to write those books and I had run out of excuses so I started the series. There are many names of characters and places that people will recognize if they have driven through our state. I try to vary the locations and settings in the individual stories so its not so Jersey - centric.

As for the the main theme/conceit - Journalism may be the pursuit of the truth and finding of facts, but that doesn’t mean the public always needs to know all of it. As Clark peels back the layers of complexity in our society, he continually learns that nothing is ever black and white and as a reporter he continually has to make judgement calls on what is best for the greater good.

What book of yours was the most fun to write?:

They all have their unique satisfactory properties to them, and all are fun, but there is something about the first book - specifically not knowing whether you can finish or when that will be and then finally finishing. That only happens once in your writing life.

So in homage to that “debut novel rush” I would say I wrote and finished Do No Harm first even though I published it second in the series. Do No Harm dives deep into the opioid crisis and hopefully provokes the reader with an emotional moral dilemma that Clark faces. Each book after that has been equally enjoyable, they just didn’t have that “first” feeling.

Which of your books are you most proud of?:

I am most proud of the latest book I published - and I hope its the same for any author who strives to get better as they complete additional books. At present that is The Smart Ones, which is about the dangers of genetic engineering, specifically CRISPR technology as well as the dangers of consumer genetics companies who buy your genome and own it forever by promising to tell you whether you will go bald some day. I wanted to create som eterror of what could POTENTIALLY happen if these technologies were misused, and after it was published a few of the scenarios in the book actually happened in real life. I have a post that collects those news stories.

I am in final edits for The Seed Bank and when its published I hope I am most proud of that one. I am proud of everything I published but I won’t release a book until I feel its better than the previous one. When I can no l longer top the most recent Clark adventure, I will write something else.

Do your reading interests match the genres you write or differ?:

The short answer is yes. I am in no way comparing myself to these writers but Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Michael Critchon, Harlan Coben all inspired me. I loved how they took arcane or scientific concepts and built adventures around them. I set out to mirror their command of voice on high brow concepts and create a world that starts in a written novel and is easily adaptable to other formats like movies and TV shows. All of those authors have written work that fits comfortably in all of those formats, and that is one of the overarching parameters guiding my writing.

I read other things as intellectual guilty pleasures with no intention of ever trying to write in that genre - philosophy - Joseph Campbell and Robert Green are important for adults to read I think. I love books on historical moments that interest me, especially if it happened in my lifetime like the end of The Cold War, the advent of a new technology like the internet, analysis of leadership figures and what made them tick, etc. I am a HUGE music fan so I have an insatiable appetite for biographies of bands and songwriters or music styles.

Do you have any upcoming releases or projects that you're excited about?:

Absolutely! I have two books coming out this year. The Seed Bank, the fourth in the Adventures of Clark Westfield series will be out before summer, and its Clark diving deep into the complexities of climate change and weather modification. Clark returns to Alaska and must study and navigate the vault where samples of seeds are stored for replanting after an apocalypse. The ending sets up the critical transition for the fifth book, Blood Among Brethren, which will be out by the end of the year. Its a busy year for Clark and Elizabeth, but they are always on the job working on some opaque issue that affects us all.

What do you enjoy to do in your free time outside of writing?:

I enjoy snakes, guitars and fishing. LOL. I have pet reptiles which I love and have had since I’m 5 years old. I am a musician so any time not writing is spent practicing and fixing/modifying guitars or rehearsing with a band. I am an avid fisherman and someday I will write a novel with fishing as the central theme.

I also am a film buff and a complete savant when it comes to cinema - I have studied movies by the genre, decade, director, actors, etc. I feel incomplete when I learn of an old western or noir detective movie from the 40’s I haven’t heard about and I have to stop everything and watch it. The only problem with being a cinefile is that watching so many movies cuts into time for practicing guitar, looking for snakes or fishing. My daily activities are usually determined by the weather…LOL.

I actually thoroughly enjoy spending time with my kids and wife, very few things in life compare to that fulfillment. That requires a full time commitment of time and patience, but it pays off better than any emotional investment you will ever make and they will become your best companions. Notice I didn’t use the word easy…:-)

But just as important as what I love doing is what I HATE doing, because I invest time in finding ways to avoid certain things. They are: driving, shopping (any kind, anywhere, unless its a reptile trade show or guitar center). Most importantly, I hate getting up early and am not really functional before 10AM, though when I have to I can get up. The thing I hate the absolute most in the universe is dancing. Dancing really sucks…I don’t dance. Don’t ask me to dance. I don’t dance at weddings. I don’t like watching other people dance. Its one of those things that no matter how clear and emphatic you are about hating it, people still try to persuade you to dance. I never understood that.

Where can readers support you best and find your books?

I’ve been using tik tok because the booktok community is very robust and full of independent authors. I also love the video editing potential and the limitless things you can do to create spectacular video posts. I started working in television when news stories were shot on giant beta tapes and took days to edit, so the new normal in videos is utterly mind blowing. I am frankly not very good and not very interested in any of the other platforms. I just don't have the time and they seem redundant.

All my books are on Amazon, Ingramspark, Draft2Digital, which puts them on Barnes and Noble and all the book selling sites. They are easy to find. Three are available now. If someone reads this interview and is even slightly intrigued, I am more than happy to send an eBook as a sample to hook you into Clark’s adventures.

My website is www.adventuresofclarkwestfield.com

My email is westfieldclark2112@gmail.com

Of course, the best support of all would be to post reviews on Amazon and word of mouth. For those experiencing Beatlemania symptoms as Clark Westfield fans, a good outlet for all that energy would be a tik tok post describing your reaction.

Next up, meet Fantasy Author T.N. Finn

T.N. Finn has been writing since childhood, always captivated by the power of words to transport readers to far-off worlds. With a deep passion for crafting masterpieces, T.N. Finn strives to create stories that offer a reprieve from the pressures and anxieties of everyday life, inviting readers to lose themselves in another realm. Her poetry has been featured annually in the Eber and Wein poetry contest, a platform through which they share their reflections and emotions. With her having the honor to be invited back to publish multiple times within the last 10 years.

Having always been drawn to the art of world-building, T.N. Finn has now turned her focus to Fantasy, a genre that blends the enchanting elements of fantasy with the depth of real-world challenges. Through her stories, She weaves together the magic of fantastical realms and the struggles that unite us all, creating immersive narratives that encourage readers to confront their own struggles and feel understood. For T.N. Finn, storytelling is not just an escape—it’s a bridge between imagination and the shared human experience.

I write Fantasy.

Where did you get the inspiration for "Between Shadows and Flames"?:

I wanted to write a shifter book with elemental magic elements in it. Then when K was developing characters Darian the shadow daddy's creation was inspired by Xaden Riorson, Channing Tatum and the last mafia romance book I was reading at the time. Which actually was Defiant Vows and my first mafia romance I had every read.