It was a book 30 years in the making. Billy Webster ’79, Leading Lives of Consequence campaign council chair, had been toying with an idea for decades, a political thriller born out of several real-life experiences. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, his family had an ultimatum for him: Either stop talking about it or write the thing. The career businessman spent four months working on his first novel, and the 50-year long-distance runner says the feeling when he finished was akin to running a marathon: tired, but accomplished.
“Rockets’ Red Glare” will be published May 20 by Blackstone. The plot follows Wind River Indian Reservation tribal police deputy Sage Mendiluze and special agent Maggie Comstock, who team up to investigate a series of killings in national parks, along with Mendiluze’s dog, Peak.
Webster, an English major at W&L, credits his mentor and longtime friend John Evans — “one of the giants in the English Department” — with helping him hone his writing skills. He still remembers the first paper he wrote for Evans, who gave him a C-minus. “You need to do a lot more writing if you’re ever going to pass my class,” Evans told him. Webster took those words to heart and says it’s a challenge that has stayed with him his entire life; Evans is one of the people to whom the book is dedicated.
After connecting with book agent Mel Berger, who has represented many well-known fiction and non-fiction authors, Webster was told his book was good, but it needed some tweaks to plot structure and less narrative and more dialogue. He partnered with crime novelist Dick Lochte to make edits over the following year. The two co-authored the thriller.
On the eve of his first book’s release, Webster is thrilled with the accomplishment. And spoiler alert: He’s already written the sequel and has ideas for a third novel.
“Most people don’t start writing at 65 years old; this was pretty far outside my comfort zone,” Webster says. “I just enjoyed doing something new and different and not being worried about measuring success. When you run your first marathon, you’re not worried about running it in a certain time — you just want to get to the finish line and feel good about what you did, and that’s the way
I feel about this book.”
This article first appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of W&L: The Washington and Lee Magazine. Contact us at magazine@wlu.edu.