Paul Attaway

Author of the Amazon Best Seller "Blood in the Low Country"

Paul was born and raised in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Paul and his wife, Lyn, met in college at Georgetown University and were married after Paul graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1988 where Paul embarked on a thirty-year business career before retiring so he could write fiction. Paul and Lyn raised three children together in Phoenix and now live in Charleston, South Carolina.

Blood in the Low Country is Paul Attaway’s debut novel. Writing this book, along with the move to Charleston, is a coming home of sorts, a return to the South. The history and culture of America’s South is rich, complicated, at times comical, sad, tragic, uplifting, and inspiring. Paul hopes that his novels capture even a small bit of this tapestry.

Your background as an attorney clearly informs the novel. How did your legal experience shape the way you wrote Walker’s battles with power, risk, and the limits of justice in Blood Rivalry?

My legal background came into play in a couple of ways. First, I had a basic understanding of the S&L crisis that took place in the 1980s. I began my legal career in the bankruptcy department of a firm in Phoenix, AZ in 1988. We had our fair share of cowboys running those lending institutions and I saw firsthand what happens when questionable loans become standard operating procedure. Secondly, I also witnessed the fight for the balance of power. Prosecutors must follow procedures and while they have extraordinary powers that can certainly be abused, and have been abused, criminals have the benefit of not caring whether they lie, cheat or steal. In Blood Rivalry, we have a corrupt family dynasty that will stop at nothing to win, and we have a prosecutor who recognizes the imbalance and jumps at the chance to right-the-scales.

At the heart of the book is a crime that defines lives for decades. What drew you to the idea that public narratives—hero, savior, victim—can lock people into roles they never chose?

One of my favorite musical artists is Jason Isbell. In his song The Life You Chose, he writes: “Are you living the life you chose? Are you living the life that chose you?” I’ve always loved those lyrics. In this life, life happens and very rarely does it unfold as we imagine it would in our youth. Add to that the reality that many of us grow up living our lives doing what we believe we’re supposed to be doing or living our lives to please others or to meet others’ expectations only to find that we’re not content. I took this basic idea and decided to fashion an event, a crime in this case, that would cast characters into roles they neither chose nor wanted, that of hero, savior and victim.

Walker and Eli’s bond is both loving and deeply strained. How did you approach writing a sibling relationship shaped by shared trauma but unequal public perception? 

The people whom we know for the longest time in our lives are our siblings. Our parents typically die before we do and we typically die before our children do. No one knows you as well or as long as your siblings do. In every family with multiple children, you’ll find rivalries; they are unavoidable. You fight for your parents’ attention and for supremacy over your siblings in much of what you do. But rarely do these rivalries play out on the public stage. I decided to address the possibility by contrasting two sets of brothers who were all dealing with the public airing of their roles in their family by showing how each set of brothers would handle the situation.

The Dunsmore family represents a carefully manufactured legacy. What fascinates you about political dynasties that curate virtue while concealing corruption beneath the surface?

I want to know how they can do it? How can they maintain the split mind? Or is the mind split at all? There are men and women on both sides of the aisle who have been elected to public office who see themselves as public servants. God bless them and I wish there were more of them. There are others who go to Washington, DC intent on doing their best but get corrupted along the way. As they say, power corrupts. Then there are those who seemingly have no conscience and seek political office because that’s where the power is. I’m fascinated by the mind of someone who knowingly presents themselves as righteous while also consciously lying, cheating and stealing and then concealing it. Are these people born this way or do they become this way? Does one small crime precede a larger crime? And then an even larger crime? 

Walker’s pursuit of the truth feels as dangerous as it is necessary. When did you realize this story was less about winning justice and more about the cost of chasing it?

When it became more than just personal for Walker. Walker took risks with his reputation because he wanted to play the hero. But when others fell into the crosshairs of the bad guys, for Walker, at that point, the costs of chasing justice grew larger than himself. He had to then fight for others and more than just his reputation was on the line.  

Charleston and the Low Country are vividly present on the page. How does place function as a character in the novel—especially in reinforcing loyalty, silence, and power?

Charleston is a beautiful, charming city and it is a fascinating city. The city was founded in 1670 by British citizens who came here to make their fortunes. There are people living here today that can trace their ancestry back to the earliest settlers. As human beings were all flawed and when flaws become public in a town with families that have roots hundreds of years old, the threat to one’s reputation can drive people to unspeakable acts. Now the city of Charleston today has experienced an influx of people from around the country so the world I describe in Blood Rivalry no longer exists, but it did at one time.

Eli’s life as a chef contrasts sharply with Walker’s legal world. How do their professions reflect different ways of seeking control, healing, and redemption?

Eli was the bigger-than-life character growing up. He was more than a natural athlete – he was a prodigy. His skill at whatever sport he played drew attention to him. And then he was thrown into the role of being the savior – a role he never wanted. As a chef, he can still pursue excellence but do so alone, in a kitchen. He can hide by tolling away in a kitchen behind closed doors.

Now Walker, he craves attention but of a different sort. He was cast as the helpless one needing a savior. He wants desperately to change the way people see him. As a lawyer, he can keep himself in the spotlight around town through high profile cases and very public, charity work.

The Dunsmores believe power justifies any action. Do you see them as villains—or as people who genuinely believe they’re protecting something larger than themselves? 

Colin Dunsmore, the patriarch of the family, is a villain. No way around it. As for his two boys – Johnny and Randal – the reader can decide. There’s a basis for seeing them as both a villain and a victim. 

Across the trilogy, the Atkins brothers evolve under the weight of unresolved trauma. What did you want their arc in this final book to say about redemption?

That redemption is hard. That it can take a while and that at times, the route we must take may not make much sense. Nevertheless, it is worth it. It is worth it for our own wellbeing and for the strength and depth of the relationships we have with those closest and most important to us.

As the concluding novel in the Atkins Family Low Country Saga, what lasting feeling did you hope readers would carry away—closure, unease, or a deeper understanding of how power shapes identity?

Closure and a deeper understanding of how our life experiences can shape our identity both positively and negatively.
Who says the series is over? Blood Rivalry certainly wraps up the story that started in Blood in the Low Country, but we might be hearing more from Walker and Eli as they live out their lives in Charleston, South Carolina. Stay tuned.

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Purchase the book here: 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GKF6176B