Q & A with Lynn Chandler Willis

I was very happy with the first Gypsy Moran novel, Gypsy was my favorite new PI of 2014 even. A good reason to talk to his creator, Lynn Chandler Willis...


Q: What's next for you and Gypsy?
I'm working now on the second book in Gypsy's story and am super excited about the story direction. He revisits the situation with his father and the missing girls.

Q: What do you do when you're not writing?
Chase toddlers, change diapers, and supervise art and playdough time. I'm the granny nanny to eight of my nine grandkids which gives me a tremendous amount of blog material. Did you know the easiest way to get a fruit snack out of a nasal cavity is to tell them to blow?

Q: How do you promote your work? 
Social media, social media, and social media. I hear so many writers complain about the time vacuum social media can be, but I think it's great. We as writers have never before been giving such an opportunity to share our work with potential readers. I'm also doing the more traditional things like media interviews and book signings.

Q: What other genres besides crime do you like? 
I like general fiction and am a sucker for very well written literary fiction. The beauty of way words work together in some pieces can take my breath away.

Q: What's your idea about the psychotic sidekick in PI novels like Hawk and Joe Pike? 
I adore Joe Pike! Love him. I think the role of the sidekick should be to compliment the main character and offer a good balance. The psychotic sidekick, like Pike and Hawk, offer ways for the main character to get things done that he/she may not be able to otherwise.

Q: In the last century we've seen new waves of PI writers, first influenced by Hammett, then Chandler, Macdonald, Parker, later Lehane. Who do you think will influence the coming generation?
Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, Lee Child...and I think, like with each of these great authors, their characters are in an "investigative" field but not necessarily the "private investigator" of days gone by.

Q: Why do you write in this genre? 
I've always enjoyed digging a little deeper to see what else can be unearthed—thus, uncovering the mystery page by page. The "why" a crime is committed is more fascinating to me than how, when, where, etc...I think many people share an interest in what makes people do the things they do. It's like driving by a car wreck and not being able to look away. It doesn't make us morbid, just curious.