Meet the Author: Cam Torrens

Hello, readers! I’d like to introduce you to author Cam Torrens. Cam writes fast-paced mysteries with a strong sense of place. Over a 30-year Air Force career, Cam Torrens served as an air mobility pilot, diplomat, and university professor. Father of six, he and his wife live in Buena Vista, Colorado where he is an active member of Chaffee County Search & Rescue.

Stable is his debut novel. The next book in the Tyler Zahn series, False Summit, will be released in October, 2023.

Find out more about Cam at his website and sign up for his monthly newsletter where he shares good news, promotes other authors, and brags about his middle-school wrestlers.

1. What is your favorite part of the writing process, and least favorite part of the

writing process?

My favorite part of writing a book is always whatever comes next. Let me explain: when I’m writing my first draft, I write a thousand words a day no matter what. They are crappy words and I know it, and I can’t wait to get done so that I can fix everything. But then when I enter the “fix everything” phase including critique group, edits, rewrites, etc., I look back fondly on those creative 1K-a-days and can’t wait to start another book. My least favorite part of writing is marketing. I’m new at it and I know it’s important, but it takes away from my writing time.

2. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

No. I always wanted to be a reader, but it doesn’t pay. Kidding….sort of. I always consider myself a reader first. I’ve read thousands of books (yes, I’m that guy who does the day planner, keeps track of everything in his life involving numbers, and knows what book he read where!) and it’s my absolute favorite thing to do. When I retired from the Air Force, I decided I wanted to try and write books that might eventually bring others the same excitement and joy books bring me.

3. What’s the most difficult part of plotting mystery/thrillers?

Timelines. Making sure everything is happening not only in the right number of hours and days, but even ensuring you are consistent with the seasons (ie, don’t describe budding flowers during football season.) My second book, FALSE SUMMIT, releases in October and I alternated chapters between the present and 60 days before. That was challenging—but fun!

4. Where is someplace you feel most at home?

Easiest. Question. Ever. That would be the library. I grew up in libraries. My mother would take me 2-3 times a week, and to this day, when I walk into a library, the smell of books reminds me of my childhood. Libraries have always been places where I felt that anything was possible. If I wanted to make myself a better person, the answer was somewhere in the library. When I walk into a library, I feel like I’m coming home.

5. What kind of books do you gravitate toward in your own reading life?

I love to read mystery/suspense/thriller books the most and that’s why I write them. But I’m also a fan of writer autobiographies, military history, anything by Amor Towles or Andy Weir, and—for some inexplicable reason—funny beach reads? Is that a genre? Like Emily Henry’s Booklovers, or Emma Straub’s All Adults Here? I’ve been reading a ton of books by Black Rose Writing authors and Gail Ward Olmsted’s Miranda series falls into that funny/romance genre with some suspense thrown in. We’ve got some great authors in the BRW stable. That’s where I met you—loved your book, With You! (editor’s note: I promise I did not put Cam up to that! But it’s always nice to hear a good review.)

6. What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever gotten?

Don’t wait for inspiration to start writing. Write every day whether you feel like it or not. You are a writer. It’s what you do. Write.

Thanks, Cam! Be sure to check out Cam’s books if you like mysteries, adventure stories, the Colorado Rockies, or all three.