Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Wygal.
Hi Caleb, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My writing career started in the mid-2000s out of boredom while working for my uncle at his hearing aid business. One day, he told me I couldn’t read books while working at the front desk. He pointed at my computer and said, “Look busy.”
That computer had three programs and no internet. His scheduling software, Microsoft Paint, and Microsoft Word. I started writing short stories based around friends I grew up with. I eventually turned those stories into my first novel, MOMENT OF IMPACT. Mostly friends and family bought that book, but I caught the writing bug.
Over the next 15 years, I wrote as a hobby and never expected to make a career out of it. I enjoyed telling stories and giving people an escape.
Then, we moved to Myrtle Beach in January 2019. At the time, my main job was as a stay-at-home dad to our son. I wrote and did some social media marketing on the side during the wee hours of the morning. He was at an age where he stopped wanting to take afternoon naps in his crib. He needed his naps. I needed his naps. So, I would put in him in his car seat and drive up and down Ocean Boulevard so he could sleep and I could get an hour or so of peace.
During one of these trips, the inspiration for the Myrtle Beach Mystery Series came to me. I did some research and planning and presented it to my publisher. They told me to stop writing the book I was then working on and focus on the Myrtle Beach books instead. A year-and-a-half after the release of Book 1: DEATH ON THE BOARDWALK, the series has sold over 10,000 copies.
Now, my son is in kindergarten and my new full-time job is as an author..
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The path to get here took almost two decades. I treated writing mostly as a hobby before Covid. If a book became a success, I would have dropped everything I was doing to pursue it. But, my first four books, while receiving great reviews, struggled to sell. Most of the marketing was left to me (and still is). Since 2014, I’ve done social media marketing for small businesses. I was familiar with various advertising platforms, but book marketing is a different animal. I had to learn how to market my books, and part of that was having something marketable that appeals to a large audience, especially as my budget was small. I knew the concept of the Myrtle Beach Mystery books would be marketable, but I had to write the book first. My biggest struggle while writing Death on the Boardwalk, was finding the time to write. As a stay-at-home dad to a toddler, my days were spent taking care of him. I had to wake up at the crack of dawn if I wanted any writing time.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I write the Myrtle Beach Mysteries of fast, fun, clean, and easy beach reads. There’s a mixture of Agatha Christie and James Patterson’s writing styles. Female writers and protagonists dominate the cozy mystery genre. My protagonist, Clark Thomas, isn’t the type of hero you normally find in a cozy mystery series. He’s in his early 40s and stuck in a rut when you first meet him. His wife has been dead for two years and he’s spinning his wheels while trying to move on until he learns that her death may not have been from natural causes, like he believed… While the mysteries are clean, there’s an edge lurking under the surface that will be explored throughout the series. Many series are a sequence of standalone novels strung together. My series has an ongoing storyline of Clark trying to figure out what happened to his wife, while trying to solve other mysteries along the way. By the end, he’ll learn who was behind his wife’s death, and that the reason for it is part of a much bigger story.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I learned to stay in better touch with my friends and family. Since I was in a car accident shortly after high school where my best friend died and I had a long road to recovery, I’ve known to never take life for granted. Covid came about twenty years after that incident, and as people succumbed to the sickness, it served as a stark reminder to cherish life and appreciate what you have.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://calebwygal.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/calebwygal/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calebwygalauthor
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/calebwygal/
