Warren Grant’s writing centers on ‘pictures in my head’

ALBANY — For Warren Grant, finishing his first novel was all about getting the “pictures in my head” down on paper.

That Grant, at 82, was able to do so with the recent release of the action-packed thriller “It’s a Perfect Match” is a tribute to a man who rarely slows down long enough to even take a gander at the roses, much less smell them.

“I just had to find the time,” the former FBI agent/electrical contractor who served five years on the Dougherty County Tax Assessors Board, said during a conversation. “My process was generally to get the pictures of what was going to happen fixed in my mind — kind of like what kids do now with those virtual reality glasses — and then write down what was happening. It actually flowed pretty good once I got started.”

“Flowed” is perhaps the most apt description of “Perfect Match,” which tells the story of small-time thief Eddie Anderson, who can never quite cross the threshold of legitimacy, and his girlfriend Karen, whose love isn’t quite enough to curtail his lawlessness. Even readers who might go into the story with low expectations will get caught up in the pair’s quick-paced story, whose end comes all too quickly, leaving readers eager for more.

Grant says those readers will have to wait to see what else happens to the couple. He has two more stories in mind before he gets back around to Eddie and Karen.

“I have a spy thriller — ‘Who Is Bobby Stahl?’ — and an adventure story about two young boys who stumble onto recently dug-up graves in a cemetery — it’s called ‘Robbers Hell’ — that I plan to work on when I find the time,” the writer said. “People have asked me about continuing the story in ‘It’s a Perfect Match,’ but I’m really set on writing these other two stories.

“It’s just about getting started. Once I do, the words come to mind pretty easily.”

Despite occupations that don’t necessarily lend themselves to the arts, Grant has always dabbled in writing. He’s penned a number of guest columns about local happenings for this newspaper and has written a nice collection of poetry over the years.

Born and raised on a farm in central Illinois, Grant moved to Washington, D.C., for a position with the FBI after graduating high school in 1960. Shortly after landing in the nation’s capital, Grant’s mother grew ill. A position with the agency opened in Springfield, Ill., and Grant applied for it. He was only a Grade 3 member of the agency, and the new position required Grade 5 level.

“I needed to get home to help take care of my mom,” he said. “They said no, so I quit and went home anyway.”

Grant started his own business and eventually worked with an electrical contracting firm that gave him the opportunity to travel. Among his stops: Cincinnati, the nation’s capital again, New York, Iowa, Colorado, Miami.

And Albany, Ga.

“I came here to do some contract work at the Procter & Gamble plant; I was actually trying to get back to Cincinnati because I loved it there,” he said. “But I met a lady (Patty Coleman) who knocked me off my feet, and that was that. She’s put up with a lot over the years being married to me. She’s just a wonderful woman.”

The Grants lived in Albany for 15 years before moving recently to Fort Gaines.

“That was a mistake,” the author said. “We never should have left.”

Grant said it took him roughly six weeks to finish “It’s a Perfect Match” (he currently has sold out of copies he had printed). Now, he’s got to set his inner vision on the new stories he wants to tell.

“If I could figure out how to get (‘Perfect Match’) to Hollywood, I think there are some Academy Awards in this book,” he said. “I need to get it in the hands of Clint Eastwood or Ron Howard. I think the right screenwriter and director could really do something with it.

“But right now I’m starting to focus on these two other books. I’ve got to get those pictures in my head. Once I get started, it’s hard to quit.”