Meet The Author
Like generations of his family before him, William Rawlings, Jr. was born in Sandersville, Georgia where he still lives on the family farm with his wife and two children. “I really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he explains. “This is ‘home’ in the finest sense of the word. Both my father’s and | For a current listing of scheduled events and appearences, please see the box on the lower left side of the Home Page |
Rawlings was educated at Emory University in Oxford and Atlanta, and at Tulane University in New Orleans where he earned a Master’s Degree and his Doctorate in Medicine. He did his postgraduate medical training in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, after which he returned to Sandersville to practice medicine. Although he has numerous academic publications to his credit, fiction writing is a relatively recent interest. “I think one the most fascinating jobs in all the world is to practice medicine in a small, relatively rural Southern town. Perhaps I have an undue advantage; I grew up here so I know—or know of—most people, many of whom I claim as relatives. It doesn’t take long to realize that a place rich in history and populated by memorable characters is an inspiration and a rich resource for anyone who aspires to be a writer.”
Rawlings’s interests vary widely. He has a number of business interests other than the practice of medicine. He is an inveterate collector of things odd, ranging from oriental porcelains to Persian carpets to an eclectic assemblage of American and European art. “Travel is probably my biggest addiction. I usually make several trips out of the country each year. I think I inherited that from my grandfather. He practiced medicine here in Sandersville until he was well into his nineties, but for decades starting the 1930’s traveled extensively on a regular basis in Central and South America.”
When asked why he writes and how he chooses his plots, Rawlings replies, “I think the most successful writers are those who really understand what they are writing about. It was not a conscious effort in the beginning, but I have discovered that I love writing about the real South that still exists outside of urban areas, about interesting characters based on people that I have known, and about situations that—if they didn’t really happen just as I said they did—could have.”
Rawlings’s first novel The Lazard Legacy was published by Harbor House in 2003 and was a commercial success. His second novel The Rutherford Cipher, also by Harbor House, debuted in September 2004, and was optioned for a movie. “It’s got a great plot,” he explains. “For my readers I finally answer that old mystery about what really happened to the Confederate gold….”
His third novel, The Tate Revenge, was released in September 2005. It has a complicated plot that starts in Paris, ends up in Atlanta and involves Vidalia Onion farmers, the travel industry, art stolen by the Nazis in WWII, the Eiffel Tower, Serbian war criminals, southern racists, Iranian terrorists, the Port of Savannah, the antiques business, and Underground Atlanta.
His fourth novel, Crossword, was released in September 2006. It brings back the characters from The Rutherford Cipher in a new thriller that begins with a severed head found in a flowerbed that leads to a desperate hunt for a stolen fortune which must be found to save the heroes’ lives.
The current work-in-progress is tentatively titled “The Mile High Club.” It’s the third Matt Rutherford novel, and begins in late spring following the conclusion of Crossword. Laura McIntosh, a graduate student that Matt had dated briefly a year earlier, is found naked and dead in the middle of an isolated pine plantation. No one can understand how she got there until the wreckage of a small plane is discovered some thirty miles to the north. In the 
wreckage are her clothes and identification, as well as the body of co-worker from the research lab where she was employed. Matt reluctantly agrees to look into the bizarre circumstances of her apparently accidental death and soon uncovers a complex conspiracy that nearly costs him his own life. With plot elements that include the timber industry, biofuels, lust, greed and deception, this story may be the best one yet.
As an author, Rawlings welcomes and encourages feedback (both positive and negative) from his readers. “I appreciate other opinions and always try to answer letters and email promptly.” He enjoys giving talks and presentations to civic and book clubs, historical societies and other groups. Feel free to contact him by email, by phone at 478-552-1125, or by mail at Post Office Box 704, Sandersville, Georgia 31082.
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