Francis Paul Wilson (born May 17, 1946, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, mai ...

and author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and other genres of literary fiction. His books include the Repairman Jack novels—including ''Ground Zero'', ''The Tomb'', and ''Fatal Error''—the Adversary cycle—including ''The Keep''—and a young adult series featuring the teenage Jack. Wilson has won the Prometheus Award, the

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

, the

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

from the San Diego ComiCon, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers of America, among other honors. He lives in Wall, New Jersey.

Career

Wilson made his first sales in 1970 to ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'' while still in medical school (graduating in 1973), and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. His

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

was ''Healer'' (1976). In 1981, he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller '' The Keep'', which was adapted into a film in 1983. In the 1990s, he moved from science fiction and horror to

medical thriller Medical fiction is fiction whose events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. It is highly prevalent on television, especially as medical dramas, as well as in novels. The depiction of medical institutions and th ...

s and interactive scripting for

Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...

and other multimedia companies. He, along with

Matthew J. Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripte ...

, created and scripted ''

FTL Newsfeed ''FTL Newsfeed'', shown on the Sci-Fi Channel, was the channel's first original program. The micro-series format gave viewers 30-second snippets of fictitious news bulletins that were supposed to have come from 150 years in the future. This fut ...

'', which ran daily on the

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...

from 1992 to 1996. Among Wilson's best-known characters is the

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actio ...

Repairman Jack, an urban mercenary introduced in the 1984

New York Times bestseller ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

'' The Tomb''. Unwilling to start a series character at the time, Wilson refused to write a second Repairman Jack novel until ''

Legacies In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

'' in 1998. Since then he has written one per year along with side trips into vampire fiction (the retro ''Midnight Mass''), science fiction ('' Sims''), and even a New Age thriller (''The Fifth Harmonic''). Current books sales are around six million. Throughout his writing – especially in his earlier science fiction works (most notably ''An Enemy of the State'') – Wilson has included explicitly

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

political philosophy which extends to his "Repairman Jack" series. He won the first

Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

in 1979 for his novel '' Wheels Within Wheels'' and another in 2004 for ''Sims''. The

Libertarian Futurist Society The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly ...

has also honored Wilson with their Hall of Fame Award for ''Healer'' (in 1990) and ''An Enemy of the State'' (in 1991). In 2015 he received the third special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement; the previous two recipients were

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

and

Vernor Vinge Vernor Steffen Vinge (; born October 2, 1944) is an American science fiction author and retired professor. He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. He is the first wide-scale popularizer of the technological singu ...

. In 2021, his " Lipidleggin'" won the

Prometheus Hall of Fame Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

. Wilson is a noted fan of H. P. Lovecraft.

''Why? Because HPL is special to me.''
Donald A. Wollheim is to blame. He started me on Lovecraft. It was 1959. I was just a kid, a mere thirteen years old when he slipped me my first fix. I was a good kid up till then, reading
Ace Doubles An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ca ...
and clean, wholesome science fiction stories by the likes of Heinlein, E. E. Smith,
Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
,
Fred Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellit ...
, and the rest. But he brought me down with one anthology. He knew what he was doing. He called it ''The Macabre Reader'' and slapped this lurid neato cool
Ed Emshwiller Edmund Alexander Emshwiller (February 16, 1925 – July 27, 1990) was an American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but sometimes used E ...
cover on it. I couldn't resist. I bought it. I read it. And that was it. The beginning of my end.

In answer to a claim that Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

'' was an influence on ''The Keep'', Wilson responded:

First off, I'm not a fan of LOtR – I struggled through it once as a teen (skimming a lot) and never looked back. ... The influences on ''The Keep'' were Ludlum, R. E. Howard, and Lovecraft.

Like other American science fiction writers directly or indirectly influenced by

Campbell's Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become ...

view of the genre as a literature of ideas, Wilson makes use of his work to explore trends and technologies speculatively as they manifest. A prominent example is his novel ''An Enemy of the State'' (published in 1980), which was written during the 1970s, an era that saw

stagflation In economics, stagflation or recession-inflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high or increasing, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high. It presents a dilemma for economic policy, since actio ...

develop in the U.S. economy. Throughout the book, Wilson runs chapter headings quoting from economic works such as '' Fiat Money Inflation in France'' and '' KYFHO'', a kind of anarchic philosophy that he invented as model for a perfect society. The protagonist La Nague was born on Tolive, where the philosophy led to a government described in detail in "The Healer". '' The Keep'' was later made into a movie and there is much talk of a Repairman Jack film based on one of Wilson's novels.

Hate to say it (being a devout believer in Murphy's law), but The Tomb looks like it's on its way to being filmed this year. Last October, after seven years of development, numerous options, five screenwriters, and eight scripts, Beacon Films (''Air Force One'', '' Thirteen Days'', ''
Spy Game ''Spy Game'' is a 2001 American action thriller film directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The film grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide on a $115 million budget, and received mostly ...
'', etc.) finally bought film rights. Disney/Touchstone/Buena Vista will be partnering and distributing the film here and abroad. The film will be called ''Repairman Jack'' (the idea is to make him a franchise character).

His short stories "Foet", "Traps", and " Lipidleggin'" were filmed as short films and collected on the DVD ''OTHERS: The Tales of F. Paul Wilson''. His short story "Pelts" was adapted into the season 2 episode of ''

Masters of Horror ''Masters of Horror'' is an anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network. Origin In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, ...

'' titled " Pelts". In January 2012, Wilson began writing for the tech web site ''

Byte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable uni ...

'', mostly in the persona of Repairman Jack. Wilson has been a resident of

Wall Township, New Jersey Wall Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. It is located in the New York Metropolitan Area and is a bedroom community of New York. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 26,164, refle ...

. He is a practicing physician as a

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become lice ...

Novels

The Adversary Cycle

* '' The Keep'' (1981), * ''The Tomb'' (1984), (re-released in 2004 under its original title, ''Rakoshi'', by Borderlands Press) * ''The Touch'' (1986), * ''

Reborn Reborn may refer to: Film *''Reborn'', a 2015 video produced by the Augustine Institute * ''Re:Born'' (film), a 2016 Japanese action film * ''Reborn'' (film), a 2018 American horror film Music * Reborn (band), a Moroccan death metal band Albums ...

'' (1990), (revised edition in 2009) * ''Reprisal'' (1991), (revised edition in 2011) * '' Nightworld'' (1992), (revised edition in 2012) * ''Signalz'' (2020) (a prelude to ''Nightworld'')

Repairman Jack

# "Fix" (novella) (with J.A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson) # ''The Tomb'' (1984), (re-released in 2004 under its original title, ''Rakoshi'', by Borderlands Press) # "A Day in the Life" (short story) (1989) (available in ''The Barrens and Others'' and ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # "The Last Rakosh" (1990) (later incorporated into '' All The Rage'', then in 2006 as revised hardcover and paperback editions; also available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # "The Long Way Home" (short story; available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') (1992) # "Home Repairs" (short story) (1996) (later incorporated into ''

Conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

''; also available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # "The Wringer" (short story) (1996) (later incorporated into ''Fatal Error''; also available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # ''

'' (1998), # ''

'' (1999), # '' All The Rage'' (2000), # ''

Hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *Michel Host ...

'' (2001), # '' The Haunted Air'' (2002), # '' Gateways'' (2003), # '' Crisscross'' (2004), # '' Infernal'' (2005), # '' Harbingers'' (2006), # "Interlude at Duane's" (short story) (2006) (available in the James Patterson–edited anthology ''Thriller'', ''Aftershock and Others'', and in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # "Infernal Night" (short story) (with Heather Graham) (available in ''FaceOff'', and also independently published) # ''

Bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

'' (2007), # "Do-Gooder" (short short) (2007) (a 200-copy limited one-sheet "short short"; available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # ''By The Sword'' (2008), # ''Ground Zero'' (2009), # "Recalled" (short story) (2009) (available in

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

tribute book ''He is Legend'' as a crossover with Matheson's "The Distributor"; also available in ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'') # ''Fatal Error'' (2010), # ''The Dark at the End'' (2011), # ''Quick Fixes- Tales of Repairman Jack'' (contains "A Day in the Life", "The Last Rakosh", "Home Repairs", "The Long Way Home", "The Wringer", "Interlude at Duane's", "Do-Gooder", "Recalled", "and "Piney Power") (2011), # The heavily revised (2012) version of ''Nightworld'' is styled as "a Repairman Jack novel" and marks the end of the RJ and Adversary cycles. # "Santa Jack: (short story) (2013) (excerpted from ''

'') # ''The Last Christmas'' (2019, an interlude that takes place between ''Ground Zero'' and ''Fatal Error.''

Young Repairman Jack

# ''Secret Histories'' (young adult novel) (2008) # ''Secret Circles'' (young adult novel) (2010) # ''Secret Vengeance'' (young adult novel) (2011)

Early Repairman Jack

# ''Cold City'' (2012) # ''Dark City'' (2013) # ''Fear City'' (2014)

LaNague Federation

# ''Healer'' (1976), (reprinted in 2005, includes "To Fill the Sea and Air" ) # '' Wheels Within Wheels'' (1978), (revised/reprinted in 2005, includes "Higher Centers" and "The Man with the Anteater" ) # ''An Enemy of the State'' (1980), (reprinted in 2005, includes "Lipidleggin'" and "Ratman" ) # ''Dydeetown World'' (1989), # ''The Tery'' (1990), (revised in 2006, ) *''The LaNague Chronicles'' (1992), (includes ''An Enemy of the State'', ''Wheels Within Wheels'' and ''Healer'') *''The Complete LaNague'' (2013) (includes "Lipidleggin’", ''An Enemy of the State'', ''Dydeetown World'', ''The Tery'', "To Fill the Sea and Air", "The Man with the Anteater", "Higher Centers", "Wheels Within Wheels", "Ratman", and ''Healer'')

Nocturnia Chronicles

# ''Definitely Not Kansas'' (2015) (with Thomas F. Monteleone) # ''Family Secrets'' (2016) (with Thomas F. Monteleone) # ''The Silent Ones'' (2018) (with Thomas F. Monteleone)

The ICE Sequence

# ''Panacea'' (2016) # ''The God Gene'' (2018) # ''The Void Protocol'' (2019)

Other books

* ''Demonsong'' (1970s), (prehistory) free download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/23892 * ''Black Wind'' (1988), * ''Soft and Others'' (1989), (short story collection) * ''Sibs'' (1991), Saka ''Sister Night'' (1993) K* ''Freak Show'' (1992), (contributor and editor) * '' The Select'' (1993), * ''Implant'' (1995) (writing as Colin Andrews), * ''Virgin'' (1996) (writing as Mary Elizabeth Murphy), * ''Mirage'' (1996), (with

) * ''Deep as the Marrow'' (1997) (writing as Colin Andrews), * ''Nightkill'' (1997), (with Steven Spruill) (some editions show "Steve Lyon") * ''Masque'' (1998), (with Matthew J. Costello) (note: ebook release has been retitled ''DNA Wars'', ) * ''The Barrens and Others'' (1998), (short story collection) * ''The Fifth Harmonic'' (2003), * '' Sims'' (2003), * ''Artifact'' (2003), (with

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', '' Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the ''Dune'' pre ...

, Janet Berlinger and Matthew J. Costello) * ''The Christmas Thingy'' (2004), (children's story illustrated by Alan M. Clark) * ''Midnight Mass'' (2004), * ''The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus & Oddity Emporium'' (2007) * ''Aftershock and Others'' (2009), (short story collection) * ''The Proteus Cure'' (2013) (with Tracy L. Carbone) * ''Wayward Pines: The Widow Lindley'' (Novella) * ''A Necessary End'' (2014) (with Sarah Pinborough) * ''Wardenclyffe'' (2018) * ''Secret Stories: Tales from the Secret History'' (2019) (short story collection) * ''Double Threat'' (2021) * ''Rx Murder (2021) (''writing as Nina Abbott) * ''Rx Mayham'' (2022) (as Nina Abbott)

References

External links

Official Repairman Jack site
*
F. Paul Wilson
at

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scienc ...

*
A fan-created Wiki
*

Interviews

Interview with Free Talk Live

Interview on wotmania.com

Interview with Rodger Nichols (2018) The God Gene

Film version of ''The Keep''

– Includes interviews with F. Paul Wilson,

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films '' Thief'' (1981) ...

and

Enki Bilal Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilal; born 7 October 1951) is a French comic book creator, comics artist and film director. Biography Early life Bilal was born in Belgrade, PR Serbia, Yugoslavia, to a Czech mother, Ana, who came to Belgrade as child from ...

, creator of the visual given to "Molasar," the film version of The Keep's villain.
The alternative endings
of the movie.

��Parody page about the movie adaptation of ''The Keep'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, F. Paul 1946 births 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American horror writers American male novelists American male short story writers American primary care physicians American science fiction writers Living people Novelists from New Jersey People from Wall Township, New Jersey Weird fiction writers Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey Xavier High School (New York City) alumni