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Willem Geri on Postwar, La La: The Escape, History, Law, and Finding a Second Career as a Novelist
Published 1 week, 2 days ago
Description
In this episode of The Neil Haley Show, Neil “The Media Giant” Haley welcomes attorney and author Willem Geri to discuss his novels Postwar and La La: The Escape, the historical events that inspired them, and how a lifetime spent researching cases and persuading juries unexpectedly prepared him to become a novelist.
Geri says his interest in history began close to home.
His father served in Europe during World War II and later shared stories about the experiences and circumstances he encountered there. Those memories remained with Geri for years and eventually helped inspire Postwar.
The book itself began almost accidentally.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Geri’s legal practice in 2020, he suddenly had time on his hands. He sat at his desk and began writing without any expectation of producing a novel. Twenty-five or thirty pages became 100 pages, and before long he realized he was actually writing a book.
Rather than outlining everything beforehand, Geri allowed the story to develop as he wrote.
He compares the experience to watching a movie unfold inside his mind. Characters appeared, the plot evolved, and sometimes he changed direction completely when something no longer worked.
Postwar centers on a soldier who survives four years of combat and later becomes an attorney while still carrying the psychological consequences of war. The story is set largely in Berlin in 1948, during an extraordinary period of political and social change, and follows the character as his professional life and a significant romantic relationship begin to intersect.
His second novel, La La: The Escape, moves in a different direction.
The story follows a young woman attempting to escape a dangerous Russian oligarch. Her journey takes her through the Mediterranean, across Europe, into Canada, and eventually toward the United States while the man she is fleeing remains close behind.
Geri describes the story as a classic conflict between good and evil, with suspense built around a simple question: can she stay ahead of the person pursuing her?
He says there has already been interest in adapting The Escape for film, something he believes makes sense because of its visual locations, international setting, chase structure, and connections to contemporary tensions involving Russia and Ukraine.
Research is essential to both books.
Geri spent approximately five decades practicing law, primarily as a trial attorney and litigator. Throughout his career, he handled both criminal and civil matters and learned how to take enormous amounts of information, identify what mattered, and construct a convincing narrative.
That skill transferred naturally into fiction.
His writing setup often included three screens: one for the manuscript, another for the developing plot, and another for research. Modern technology allowed him to virtually explore streets and locations in places such as Turkey even though he had never personally visited them.
For Geri, credibility matters.
Even when the story is fictional, the surroundings, history, politics, legal concepts, and human behavior need to feel plausible.
His legal career also taught him something important about rewriting.
Geri says he may rewrite a sentence five or six times before he is satisfied. If something does not work, he is willing to eliminate it and start again. He does not see that process as frustrating; he sees it as part of the challenge.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-neil-haley-show--6503396/support.
Geri says his interest in history began close to home.
His father served in Europe during World War II and later shared stories about the experiences and circumstances he encountered there. Those memories remained with Geri for years and eventually helped inspire Postwar.
The book itself began almost accidentally.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Geri’s legal practice in 2020, he suddenly had time on his hands. He sat at his desk and began writing without any expectation of producing a novel. Twenty-five or thirty pages became 100 pages, and before long he realized he was actually writing a book.
Rather than outlining everything beforehand, Geri allowed the story to develop as he wrote.
He compares the experience to watching a movie unfold inside his mind. Characters appeared, the plot evolved, and sometimes he changed direction completely when something no longer worked.
Postwar centers on a soldier who survives four years of combat and later becomes an attorney while still carrying the psychological consequences of war. The story is set largely in Berlin in 1948, during an extraordinary period of political and social change, and follows the character as his professional life and a significant romantic relationship begin to intersect.
His second novel, La La: The Escape, moves in a different direction.
The story follows a young woman attempting to escape a dangerous Russian oligarch. Her journey takes her through the Mediterranean, across Europe, into Canada, and eventually toward the United States while the man she is fleeing remains close behind.
Geri describes the story as a classic conflict between good and evil, with suspense built around a simple question: can she stay ahead of the person pursuing her?
He says there has already been interest in adapting The Escape for film, something he believes makes sense because of its visual locations, international setting, chase structure, and connections to contemporary tensions involving Russia and Ukraine.
Research is essential to both books.
Geri spent approximately five decades practicing law, primarily as a trial attorney and litigator. Throughout his career, he handled both criminal and civil matters and learned how to take enormous amounts of information, identify what mattered, and construct a convincing narrative.
That skill transferred naturally into fiction.
His writing setup often included three screens: one for the manuscript, another for the developing plot, and another for research. Modern technology allowed him to virtually explore streets and locations in places such as Turkey even though he had never personally visited them.
For Geri, credibility matters.
Even when the story is fictional, the surroundings, history, politics, legal concepts, and human behavior need to feel plausible.
His legal career also taught him something important about rewriting.
Geri says he may rewrite a sentence five or six times before he is satisfied. If something does not work, he is willing to eliminate it and start again. He does not see that process as frustrating; he sees it as part of the challenge.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-neil-haley-show--6503396/support.