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His Side Gig is One of Suspense A.J. Ullman ’80 always wanted to be a novelist. At age 43, he started. A.J. Ullman ’80 almost became an English major at
Reflecting on the flawed characters he creates, A.J. Ullman ’80, author of six novels to date, says, “I think many of us find ourselves in morally blurry-line kinds of situations, and how you deal with that is a mark of your character.”
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miamian magazine
Miami — he likes reading and writing that much. Instead, he went to law school and practiced for 20 years until a brain tumor threw his life into disarray. At age 43, he started rethinking his priorities. Suddenly extremely interested in medicine, he returned to school to train as a nurse practitioner, which is now his career. His side gig is writing. “Only in retrospect did I realize that that nasty tumor’s silver lining was that it spurred me on to make life changes, including writing and transitioning into a new career.” He’s produced six novels so far. His latest, Stand Your Ground, about race and guns, came out in August and soon after was nominated for the 2021 Readers Choice Awards by TCK Publishing. Its protagonist, Cady Fox, is one of his favorites. “I like her because she is smart but also vulnerable. She is going through a really tough time and pretty much standing out there all by herself with a life-ordeath decision that she has to make.” As for other awards, he was a finalist in both the 2021 National Indie Excellence Awards competition and the 2020 NIEA Best Book Awards for his fourth, And The River Runs Deep, The Cold Case Murder Mystery of Leah Marcus.
He calls it a novel masquerading as a true crime narrative. Ironically, he’s not a true crime nonfiction buff, but he’s captivated by people who are. All of his novels are dark. “I love psych stuff,” said Ullman, who lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Margie, and their dog, Ruger. “It’s fascinating. Looking at what goes wrong in other people’s lives and thinking, man, but for the grace of God. People like that stuff.” Now over 60, he doesn’t envision working too many more years. Once he retires, he’ll have more time to write. Until then, he ekes out spare moments. “The bottom line is you have to squeeze it in,” he said. “My wife says, ‘You do it to get out of cutting the grass.’ I’m not sure that’s completely accurate, but it’s not a bad incentive either.”