Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wayne Turmel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Wayne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
As a writer, I began my career in entertainment, then spent 20 years focused on business communication, and then began writing fiction. All of this is under my real name. This means what I have done differently from the norm is NOT write under pseudonyms or “stick to my lane.”
Authors today are told it’s all about brand- if you write cozy mysteries, don’t divert to slasher horror or you’ll confuse your audience. Write in series so audiences can find you and stay with you, rather than look for stand-alone books. I have broken all those rules- the results are for someone else to gauge. I’ve written 10 nonfiction books, six novels, and short fiction in all kinds of genres.
Partly this is good old-fashioned ego. But I also believe that at this point what I bring to my work, especially my fiction, is a style and voice that people will enjoy even if the genre isn’t in their normal wheelhouse.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve had a long winding path to where I am now, but the common thread has always been creativity, humor, and original thinking. I started out of high school and college as a standup comedian, touring Canada and the US, trying to break into show business as a writer. After 18 years, I found myself in Los Angeles with a new wife and baby, and a need to pay the bills.
Abandoning show business before it could completely abandon me, I went into the world of corporate training, specializing in Communication Skills and Leadership. I began writing articles and chapters in books, finally writing complete books on the topic of business communication, virtual work and remote leadership. I brought all my writing, improvisational, and analytic skills to the business world and did pretty well. Our series of books starting with The Long-Distance Leader have sold well and been translated into 8 languages.
When I turned 50, I realized that my creative brain-monster wasn’t being appeased just with the nonfiction work. I felt the need to try a novel, or I’d never be a “real writer.”
10 years ago “The Count of the Sahara” came out. My next two novels were historical fiction as well, Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans (The Lucca Le Pou Stories) were set in the crusades but continued with the historical fiction theme. Then I did a complete turn and wrote the Werewolf PI series- three books about a young PI in Chicago who just happens to be a werewolf. I was also writing short fiction in all genres from horror to literary. One of my flash pieces was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022.
This is a long way of saying that whether it’s my work trying to help others in the workplace, or just me being entertaining and silly, there is a common thread of humor, candor and style that I hope people will enjoy and go on the journey with me.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Pivoting is all I have done. Life is a series of crossroads, and you never know what will happen. The biggest pivot was in 1996. After 18 years of working as a standup comedian across Canada and the US, I found myself living in Las Angeles with a new wife, a baby, and my showbusiness career in ashes. It was time to get a big-boy job, but I didn’t have a degree and I had an 18-year hole in my resume. What was I going to do?
I knew I wanted to do something that helped people, but also needed to make some money in a hurry. After a hear and a half of dad-end sales jobs, I got into corporate training and development. I suspected I might make a good teacher, and had a passion for helping people learn how to communicate more effectively.
After a few years, it became clear that the world was changing, and remote work and virtual communication was becoming a trend. I left my safe corporate job to begin consulting and running my own company. Writing was an important part of the job and I began publishing books and articles.
Again, time went by and my business wasn’t growing, what to do? I found an old friend and colleague whose company needed exactly what I was doing, so sold my company and went back to work for someone else. We’ve since published numerous books including The Long-Distance Leader, which is in seven languages and has established us as leaders in the field of remote and hybrid work. But wait…
My dormant creative side was getting restless. Sure, 10 nonfiction books is nothing to sneeze at but I had this horrible feeling I’d never be a “real writer” until I wrote a novel. Now it’s six novels later (three historical fiction, three urban fantasy) with more on the way and my short fiction has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Oh, and I’ve lived in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago, and now Las Vegas. Pivoting is pretty much my thing.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
What we think of as “rewards,” varies from person to person. For me remaining creative and having an outlet for the crazy, wacky ideas in my head offers a safety valve. I am not a serious business person by nature, but by having an outlet I am able to keep the gremlins in my head separate from each other. Business is business, until it’s play time. Occasionally the gremlins talk to each other, and this has allowed me to be more creative and take chances with my grown up work and career, while occasionally applying discipline and rigor to my creative endeavors.
Contact Info:
- Website: Business KevinEikenberry.com Creative/Personal WayneTurmel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turmel.wayne/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083334757362 (Wayne Turmel Author)
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayneturmel/
- Twitter: https://x.com/WTurmel
- Other: Amazon author page https://www.amazon.com/stores/Wayne-Turmel/author/B00J5PGNWU
