Author, Assassin’s Manuscript
This week, Ira spoke with William J. Carl, author of Assassin’s Manuscript. In this killing episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” William talks about how Alex Haley convinced him to write a novel; the concept of two genres coming together; why it took 30 years to finish the novel; how this is not a typical good guys or bad guys novel; his copious research, including trips to seven countries; his meeting with assassins and how surprisingly normal they appear; how his biggest challenge writing the book…was writing; literary depth; why it was important to learn how to write for the screen; how rewriting is key; why one of the assassins he met is just like his main character; and why there are short chapters with a hook at the end of each chapter.
Once a pastor, seminary president, professor, and US Senate Guest Chaplain, William J. Carl, Ph.D., is a Greek Scholar, award-winning screenwriter, playwright, poet, and lyricist. With the recent publication of Assassin’s Manuscript, he is now the author of a thriller.
He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in Rhetoric and Communication. In 2013 he was given Pitt’s Golden Medallion Award as a Distinguished Alumnus and was named one of 200 most influential leaders out of 300,000 living alums globally.
Dr. Carl has spoken at dozens of leading schools, including Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Boston University. He has spoken in 40 states across the United States and in Russia, South Africa, India, Rwanda, Taiwan, Canada, South Korea, and China. He has lectured on the brain at medical conferences and medical schools since 2000.
For 22 years, he appeared every third week on the ABC television affiliate in Dallas. He was also interviewed on the PBS affiliate in Dallas, discussing the tensions between Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Middle East where his main theme was finding common ground.
The author of eight non-fiction books (two translated into Korean) and 75 articles and reviews for religious publications, his screenplay, Maggie’s Perfect Match, was the winner of the Telluride Indiefest Screenwriting Contest.
Dr. Carl earned his Bachelor’s Degree from University of Tulsa, where in 1970 was named “Man of the Year”. He received his Masters of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary where he was the Patterson Fellow in Greek and named a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007. He received honorary doctorates from Presbyterian College, Sterling College, and Waynesburg College.
He is presently the Founder and CEO of LeConte Publishing, LLC, and Partner and Founding Board Member of Briggs Development Group (briggsintl.com). He is also the former President of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
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