Read It and Reap: Retired Marlborough CFO moves from finance to crime novelist
Bob Ainsworth of Marlborough went with the “write about what you know” concept in writing a series of books set in Nantucket, all dealing with financial fraud.
Ainsworth is a retired chief financial officer who began to write on a notebook enroute to work around Boston.
The series — planned to include five books — revolves around a criminal investigator, Harry Bartlett. Ainsworth first wrote “Conned,” about the scammers and fraud artists who prey on tourists. He followed it with “Duped,” about the art theft at the Isabella Stewart museum in Boston. An upcoming book, in December, is titled “Scammed.”
He has learned much since his days taking notes on the train.
“About eight or ten years ago, I tried to write a mystery,” he said. “I had my CPA, was a controller and a CFO all my life. I wrote 75 pages and came to a dead end. I had no idea what to do. I put it away and never touched it again. But I always liked mysteries.
“I started thinking about what I could do during retirement. At the time, I was working in Stamford, Connecticut, and teaching financial subjects. My students always liked the fraud stories. But I only had a few. I started thinking I could write something using a fraud detective."
For his characters, he decided early on to use characters based on people he liked for the “good guys” and people he disliked as the “bad guys.” That decision, he said, made it easier to go forward with character shaping.
He began to write with no knowledge of the craft, but sought out criticism from friends and others. One friend, he said, “smacked me around; made me see I needed to do better. I appreciate that they did it. I’m an accountant trying to write.”
He knew what he liked to read, however, and studied those authors, including Harlan Coben, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard and, of course, Earl Stanley Gardner.
Now his retirement schedule includes a 6 to 10 a.m. period writing, with occasional early-morning sessions when he can’t sleep. Each book involves multiple critiques and rewrites before he considers it ready.
He’s modeled his hero, Harry, on a former employer. “Harry is the smartest and best leader and entrepreneur I ever worked for,” he said. “I threw in some bad traits to create him.” The real “Harry,” he calls a genius.
The fictional Harry helps out those he meets who’ve been victimized by fraud criminals. He’s kind and smart, likes limericks — and shooting off a small cannon at sunset on Nantucket.
Ainsworth says he writes because he loves it, with no plan to make money. His books are self-published on Amazon, where they can be purchased.
So far, he’s sold 60 books, since a free book offer attracted 100 initial readers.
He is also a member of the governing board for Seven Bridge Writers Collaborative, having become involved after he took writing courses there.
He hasn’t stopped having readers check his work. “Scammed,” due out before Christmas, underwent 30 rewrites, he notes.
“I do this because I enjoy it. Other people seem to enjoy it, too, so I just keep going.”
Area poet publishes
Brian Fournier of Orange has authored a compilation of poems and drawings that have been published by Haley’s Publishing in Athol. Fournier writes about a child’s emergence through pain, innocence, creativity and sensitivity in “About my Cat.”
In a forward by Candace Anderson of Petersham, the book is described this way: “The gentle tone rewards the reader with the sweetness of innocent intention, followed by a gut punch of acute pain from an abrupt act that annihilates the sweetness.”
An Air Force veteran, the author has a bachelor’s degree in English from Fitchburg State University. His book is available at Haley’s, the Petersham Country Store and New Salem General Store, and online through brianfournierbooks.com.
Book club meetings
•Heywood Library’s Book Group will meet Sept. 28 at 4:30 in the library to discuss “The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir” by Samantha Powers.
•Worcester Public Library’s True Crime Book Club will discuss Melanie Thernstrom’s “The Dead Girl” at 7 p.m. Oct. 12. Meetings are on Zoom.
•At Simon Fairfield Public Library in Douglas, the Intrepid Readers group will discuss David McCullough’s “The Great Bridge” at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 13.
•Book Wizards at Simon Fairfield will meet at 4 p.m. Sept. 15 to discuss “Girl in the Blue Coat” by Monica Hesse; it’s a World War II novel set in Amsterdam.
Book clubs meeting to set up their selections for the season are welcome to share them in the column. Send to ann.frantz@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Retired Marlborough CFO moves from finance to crime novelist
