Background Check on Velvet on a Tuesday Afternoon (Eddie Collins) by Clive E. Rosengren

Clive E. Rosengren has written a new novel featuring actor/PI Eddie Collins. I'm a sucker for PI's who have a sidejob (like my own Lenny Parker, the roadie / PI). That's why I had to ask him some questions about it...


Tell us what the novel is about.
Carla Rizzoli and actor/PI Eddie Collins were once cast in the same TV show. He has never forgotten her. Now Carla needs Eddie to find her missing brother, who warned her in a note to “watch her back.” Carla, now an exotic dancer with the stage name of Velvet La Rose, has a role in a B-movie, and Eddie is driven by more than a paycheck to protect her, no matter what the risks.


How long did it take you to write the novel?
I’m not exactly sure, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 months.


Did it take a lot of research?
 Not really. I spent 18 years in Hollywood working as an actor, so the inner workings of that town and that business are still fresh in my memory.


 What inspired you to write the story?
 My nephew’s wife, in an offhand bit of conversation, uttered the words of the title. They rattled around in my head until a story gradually started to come together.


What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
The scenes involving Carla Rizzoli. She’s a new character in the series, and the exploration of her “voice” was fun to flesh out.


Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
I would have to say that it’s still Eddie Collins, the PI. He is still revealing parts of himself to me, and remains an intriguing character.

Background Check on Fox Hunter (Charlie Fox) by Zoe Sharp

Zoë Sharp has been earning a living from words for almost 30 years. She left school at the age of 12 and has become an autodidact with a love of obscure words. When not writing or international pet-sitting, she renovates houses, crews yachts, and drives rather faster than she ought to. Find out more about her and Charlie Fox on www.ZoeSharp.com. With a new Charlie Fox novel coming out I wanted to know the details...

Q: Tell us what the novel is about.

A: The jacket copy really sums it up:

Charlie Fox will never forget the men who put a brutal end to her military career, but she vowed a long time ago she would not go looking for them.
Now she doesn’t have a choice.
Her boss and former lover, Sean Meyer, is missing in Iraq where one of those men was working as a private security contractor. When the man’s butchered body is discovered, Charlie fears that Sean may be pursuing a twisted vendetta on her behalf.
Sean’s partner in their exclusive New York close-protection agency needs this dealt with—fast and quiet—before everything they’ve worked for is in ruins. He sends Charlie to the Middle East with very specific instructions:
Find Sean Meyer and stop him. By whatever means necessary.
At one time Charlie thought she knew Sean better than she knew herself, but it seems he’s turned into a violent stranger. As the trail grows more bloody, Charlie realises that unless she can get to Sean first, the hunter may soon become the hunted.

For my own part, it’s a book about revenge, betrayal, and justice.

Q: How long did it take you to write the novel?

A: Far too long! I’ve had a bit of an enforced break from writing, and it was undeniably hard to get back into the mindset again. So, this probably took me well over a year to write, when normally I would complete a book in about 4-5 months.

Q: Did it take a lot of research?

A: Oh yes. Although I did travel to the Middle East a couple of years ago, obviously there were places I was not inclined to go. Nevertheless, I worked hard to get the right atmosphere and feel without over-describing any particular location. I worked very hard, also, on the cultural aspects of the book, and was enormously pleased, when I read out a section at Noir At The Bar in Toronto, just before Bouchercon, to have a guy from Saudi Arabia come up to me afterwards, shake my hand, and tell me I had it nailed. I also had a former CSI from the UK tell me she had seen numerous similar cases during her career. That kind of thing makes it all worthwhile.

Q: What inspired you to write this story?

A: I learned that the smuggling of ancient artifacts from the Middle East was a major source of terrorist funding, and that little or no provision had been made to prevent looting in Iraq—often perpetrated by the Iraqi people themselves—of important archaeological sites after the US-led invasion. I wanted to write about the abuses against women in all countries, and Charlie’s search for answers concerning her past. The book opens with fears that Sean has gone off the rails and may be on a mission of bloody revenge on Charlie’s behalf against one of the men who raped her when she was in the army. I wanted to put her in the position where she might possibly be called upon to protect one of those men. There were a lot of interesting psychological and emotional elements to give depth to what was also a fast-paced thriller.

Q: Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?

A: I always like openings, because the start of the book is never the start of the story—it is where you choose to introduce the reader into the story. And I bear in mind that if the reader has looked at the jacket copy, they will already know something of the backstory to the plot, so why waste time telling them something they already know? For this reason, Charlie is already in Iraq as the book opens, in the morgue, looking at the corpse of one of her former comrades and trying not to be too grateful that he’s dead, because at the same time she’s worried that her former lover and boss, Sean, might be responsible. Setting that scene was one of my favourites.

There are others, too—the ambush of the military contractors’ vehicle in Basra, the second-hand story of the Iraqi woman in the clinic in Kuwait City, the stand-off in the remote farmyard on Saddleworth Moor and the conversation that follows with one of the other men who raped Charlie, her meetings with ageing Balkan gangster Gregor Venko in his Bulgarian stronghold, her clashes with Sean throughout the novel, and the denouement. In fact, there had to be something I enjoyed about every scene, or why include it?

Q: Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?

A: That again is a hard question. There are a few returning characters in this novel, as well as the usual ones like Charlie, her boss Parker Armstrong, and of course Sean. I’ve revisited one guy from the second book, and another couple from book three, as well as Madeleine, who took over Sean’s old close-protection agency in the UK and has popped up from time to time along the series. Perhaps more than previously, Charlie is surrounded by strong women. I really liked the military contractor Charlie meets, Luisa Dawson, who developed very clearly on the page. I liked Najida, the Iraqi woman who only appeared briefly but still sticks in my mind. And Aubrey Hamilton, the CIA agent fighting a losing battle—Aubrey’s name, incidentally, came from a charity auction where she bid to be included in the novel. Finally, I grew really fond of Moe, the kid Charlie and Dawson hire in Kuwait City to be their fixer and guide into Iraq.

Background Check on: Communion of Saints (John Ray) by John Barlow

It's been five years since the last interview I had with John Barlow, writer of th John Ray / LS9 thriller series. With a new book coming out I thought it was about time I interviewed him once again, all about his new novel THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.


Tell us what the novel is about.

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS is the third novel in the John Ray / LS9 crime thriller series. It’s a stand-alone novel, like the others in the series, although once again it features John Ray as the main character. He’s a reluctant amateur investigator, and is dragged into murder cases because of his family background (his father was a crime boss in Northern England), which means he sometimes has the sort of access to the criminal world that a police detective would not have. The novel deals with the issues of historical abuse and blackmail, but in fact it’s more about the twin themes of what it means to belong somewhere (a family, a home, etc.) and what happens when this is taken away. It’s about belonging, essentially, and the destruction of the sense of belonging.

Where did you come up with the plot? What inspired you?

I was playing around with plots involving blackmail. Historical abuse is so prominent in the news at moment, and I can think of no more destructive accusation against someone than that. But I wanted the accusations to be aimed at something rather than someone, and the sense of destruction to be more wide-reaching than simply a person’s reputation. So in the plot we have a religious home for boys and, in parallel, a large business run by someone connected to the Home. Rather than the plot focussing on abuse, it explores the opposite: people who have tried to achieve something good in life (the ‘saints’ of the title) and what happens when this is attacked.

How long did it take you to write THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS?

A year. Books always seem to take me a year! I don’t mind writing slowly. In fact it took two years in total, since I was working on a few other projects at the same time. One thing that happens when you give yourself more time with a story is that broader themes become clearer, in this case ideas about religious devotion, the importance of domestic stability, and, of course, the motivations behind violent crimes. They fall into place in a way which is sometimes very gratifying indeed. I’m happy that I let this one emerge slowly.

Did the writing require a great deal of research?

Not as much as in previous books in the series, which involved researching counterfeiting (money, perfume), the second hand car business, terrorism, off-shore finance… This one was far more a matter of thinking deeply about what certain things actually mean in our lives and the emotions they arouse, especially the notion of a home, a place to which you can always return, a safe haven.

What scenes did you most enjoy writing?

When I began to explore ways of bringing religion into the characters’ lives more clearly, I saw how the plot began to tighten up. It was quite sudden, just a couple of scenes, but from those scenes came not only the title (which is from the Catholic communion mass) but also a lot of backstory and motivation for the characters. It was as if the spiritual themes were there all along, and about two thirds of the way through I discovered them.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the book?

John Ray’s ‘partner’ this time around is Detective Chief Superintendent Shirley Kirk, of the West Yorkshire Police. She was in the previous books, but as a peripheral character. Here she is involved in the investigation, and also develops a personal relationship with John. That’s not much of a spoiler, they’re getting drunk together by chapter two… Her role in the plot turns out to be more complex than I had at first intended, not least because I came to enjoy writing her character; she’s not easy to understand, and she has her own agenda. She’ll be back in future novels!

Is there anything else you would like to say about the book?

Looking at three John Ray / LS9 books, I think with this one the whole the series really settles down and finds itself. There seems to be less authorial intrusion on the page, no stylistic tricks, and the plot is more rounded and satisfying as a mystery. Finally, the artwork, by American artist Carl Grimes, is wonderful! I think Carl really captured the atmosphere of the series perfectly.

Background Check on: Brooklyn Justice (Nick Ventura) by J.L. Abramo

J.L, Abramo, writer of the Jake Diamond series has a brand new book coming out... With a new PI! Reason enough to ask him some questions here...

Tell us what the novel is about.
Brooklyn Justice is a work of fiction which I have come to affectionately refer to as a novel in stories.
It is about a man who know trouble—but not how to keep his nose out of it. A pool of blood spreading across a casino poker table, a Buick plowing through a storefront with a dead detective aboard, a fatal rendezvous in the shadow of a Coney Island landmark, a childhood friend gunned down walking his dog in the wrong place at the wrong time, a film distributor who thinks he can get away with murder through intimidation and violence, a mob boss assassinated leaving a neighborhood restaurant, and the particular brand of retribution necessary to level the playing field in the fourth largest city in America

Where did you come up with the plot? What inspired you? Why a new PI character?
It began with Pocket Queens, inspired by my observation of a high-stakes poker game at an Atlantic City casino and the crime-fiction writer’s mantra: What If? Pocket Queens became too long for a short story, and resisted being stretched into a full-length novel—resulting in something resembling a novella.
The story introduced Nick Ventura—a Brooklyn private investigator unlike Jake Diamond in that Ventura is considerably more hardboiled. Why a new PI character? I suppose the character developed from my subconscious interest in writing a much more dangerous protagonist.
When Pocket Queens was completed, my new ‘hero’ would not let me go. Ventura insinuated himself into five short stories—Buick in a Beauty Shop, The Last Resort, Walking the Dog, Roses For Uncle Sal and The Fist. The six pieces are tied together by common characters—and the action from the beginning of Pocket Queens to the finish of The Fist cover a period of only ten months. So, although they can be taken separately, consecutively they become a six-part work called Brooklyn Justice. The plots of the stories came from imagination and experience and the idea for each was partly dictated by the one previous.

How long did it take you to write BROOKLYN JUSTICE?
The writing went unusually quickly—ten months in the hazardous life of Nick Ventura penned in only a few months real time. In part, the quick result was inspired by the novelty of developing and making acquaintance with new characters—particularly Ventura who is much less inhibited than many of the protagonists in my other work. The was also a thread running through the stories, weaving them together and driving the writing—legal justice and street justice are, in many instances, very different things.

Did the writing require a great deal of research?
In terms of research—I did a bit with regard to the dynamics of a casino poker match, and a lot with regard to the logistics and character of Atlantic City. The Brooklyn characteristics, environment and geography came naturally—since Brooklyn was my little hometown.

What scenes did you most enjoy writing?
There is a secondary character in all of the parts, John Sullivan, who is in fact the narrator of Walking the Dog. I think the relationship between Ventura and Sullivan were the most enjoyable to write because they are often at odds but remain loyal to each other. I also enjoyed writing the opening poker hand—it has a sense of urgency that I believe ambushes the reader.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the book?
I like many of the characters. Ventura and Sullivan stand out. Freddy Fingers because he is such a colossal screw-up. Carmella Fazio, Nick’s landlady and proprietor of the pizzeria below Ventura’s office because she is the mother figure every hard guy needs. Roseanna Napoli, Nick’s very smart lady friend. Uncle Sal. Uncle Sal. Uncle Sal. And several others I will not name here—because, sadly, they do not survive.

Is there anything else you would like to say about the book?
All I can add is I believe Brooklyn Justice will appeal to current fans of my work and perhaps attract those who savor a little more cold-blood. Readers who enjoyed the journey through Gravesend should also relish a return to the Borough of Churches.

Background Check On: I, the Jury (Mike Hammer) by Mickey Spillane, adapted for audio by Mike Dennis

Mike Dennis is not only a pretty good writer, he's also the producer of cool audio books. This week he's got the audio adaption coming out of Mickey Spillane's I, The Jury. I asked him all about it...

Q: Please introduce yourself to the readers
I'm Mike Dennis from Key West. I've been narrating and producing audiobooks out of my home studio down here for a couple of years now. Prior to that I was a professional musician (piano/30 years) and a professional poker player (6 years). I also wrote six novels and two novelettes, all in the crime/noir fiction genre. The two novelettes and one of my novels were in the private eye sub-genre.

Q: Tell us about the road to  get I, the Jury done as an audiobook
Last summer, while trolling Amazon one day, I was shocked to discover Mickey Spillane's I, The Jury was not available as a modern downloadable audiobook. This of course was Spillane's first novel and the introduction of Mike Hammer. They had released an audiocassette (remember those?) back in the 1980s, I think, and they were no longer available except used copies from 3rd party vendors on Amazon. Plus, it was heavily abridged. I looked at the other Hammer novels and they were all available in downloadable audio format, with the great Stacy Keach as the narrator. I looked again to be sure I hadn't made a mistake and sure enough, no audiobook for I, The Jury.

Well, I set out to locate the holder of the audio rights and eventually discovered they were in the hands of Simon & Schuster. After much painstaking work, I finally dug up the name of S&S's audiobook division chief (they don't really want you to know who these people are), and I tried calling him on the phone. After many attempts, I finally got him on the line and told him who I was and that I wanted the opportunity to narrate and produce this great Spillane novel.

Naturally, he could've easily told me to get lost. Key West? Home studio? Very little track record? Are you kidding me? Buzz off!

Instead, I told him I had prepared a brief recorded sample from I, The Jury and could I send it to him. He paused, then said, "Okay." I sent it to him immediately and then waited. And waited. And waited.

Did I say I waited?

A couple of months went by and he emailed me back and said he had sent my sample off to the audiobook production chief and she would be listening to it. So I waited again.

After another month or so, the production chief emailed me and requested a finished recording of the entire first chapter. I put it together with great care and sent it off to her.

A month or two later, she wrote back and said they wanted me to do the whole book. Naturally, I was thrilled beyond words. We agreed on the terms, I signed a contract, and I recorded the entire novel. I uploaded it to them around the middle of April. As a result, I will be the new voice of Mike Hammer.

The moral of the story is: cold querying works!

Q: Who are your favorite private eyes?
My favorite PIs are not surprising. Mike Hammer (of course), Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and James Crumley's CW Sughrue.

Q: What challenges do you encounter getting an audiobook done?
The biggest challenge for me in getting an audiobook done is maintaining a consistent sound quality throughout. It takes me many days to actually record a complete novel in "raw file" form, so I have to make sure the conditions are similar each time I sit down to record. My voice has to sound the same and if it doesn't — for example, I might be very tired or slightly congested — I can't record that day. Then in the editing and mastering phases, which I also do, I have to ensure a consistent, seamless sound through the entire novel.

Another big challenge is narrating a poorly written or poorly edited book. It is really tough going if the book is not well-written. Fortunately, of course, that problem didn't exist with I, The Jury.

Q: What is coming up next for you?
Because of my success with I, The Jury, I've cold-queried a few other big novels which I've noticed do not have modern audiobooks attached to them. I'm hoping to hit at least one of them. I'll keep you posted.

Background Check on Circling the Runway (Jake Diamond) with JL Abramo

JL Abramo is back with a new novel featuring Jake Diamond (Circling The Runway) after quite some years... I was eager to find out about it...

Tell us what the novel is about.
Circling the Runway is about how the personal greed of one man can impact the lives of so many others, about how common cause can make for unlikely partnerships, about how long trust can outweigh suspicion, and about 260 pages.

How long did it take you to write the novel?
Usually when I get started, with an opening scene I find intriguing and hope will capture the reader’s attention, it goes very quickly out of the gate.  But since I never know how it will end when I begin, I eventually reach what I would call a turning point.  When I finally decide where I want the story to ultimately arrive, and realize I can’t get there from here, I usually need to backtrack to find the path I need—and that can be time consuming.  Generally, a Jake Diamond mystery will take at least six months of writing and editing before I feel it is ready to show my publisher.  This book took a bit longer because I was bringing Jake and his gang back after a hiatus of nearly a decade, and I needed to become reacquainted with Diamond, Darlene, Vinnie, Joey and the other North Beach regulars.

Did it take a lot of research?
Jake Diamond turns forty in Catching Water in a Net, which appeared in 2001.  Clutching at Straws and Counting to Infinity soon followed.  I made a decision in writing the new book.  I chose to keep Jake and his sidekicks from aging too quickly.  Therefore, I set the novel in 2004.  This required researching the cultural period—films, music, sports, and politics of the time.  San Francisco and Los Angeles are familiar ground by now, but I had to do a lot of research on Oakland, where much of the action takes place.

Where did you come up with the plot; what inspired you?
The idea from the start was to have a series regular—a well liked and respected police lieutenant—act very suspiciously with regard to a murder which kicks off the story.  And then have her partner, Sergeant Johnson, so concerned he is forced to turn to Jake Diamond for help—and Diamond and Johnson have not shared an amiable history.  Inspiration?  I think it developed from considering classic duos and their varied dynamics—Liston and Ali, Holmes and Watson, Frollo and Quasimodo, Felix and Oscar.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most? 
I always particularly enjoy the interactions between Jake Diamond and his associate Darlene Roman—who keeps Jake honest and keeps the business afloat.  Developing their relationship and their special rapport over the course of the series has been great fun—and, from what I hear, keeps readers guessing about where it may lead.

I can do no better than to provide an example.

Judging by the sound that woke me, I expected to find myself sitting beside Quasimodo atop the cathedral tower; him pulling the rope with one hand and punching me in the side of my head with the other.  Another peel of the deafening bell and another sock in the ear and then another.  When it happened the fifth time, I realized at last it was the telephone.  I struggled to grab the receiver and hit the talk button; it reduced the buzzing in my head by fifty per cent.
“Jake.”
“Darlene?”
“Since when does my name have five syllables?”
“Give me a break, Darlene. I’m not doing very well.”
“I’ll say. I’ve heard myna birds with better diction.”
“Did you call this early to torture me?”
“I called this early because Joey tried calling you and when he couldn’t reach you he called me.”
“I was outside smoking and must have missed the call.”
“Well, I was having a very pleasant dream featuring Hugh Jackman.”
“What’s so special about Hugh Jackman?”
“You’ll never know until you see the X-Men movies.”
“And what is it with grown women dreaming about movie stars?”
“It’s probably a bit like a World War Two G.I. keeping a photo of Betty Grable in his locker; or like the picture of Rachel Weisz you keep in your wallet.  Are you going to ask why Joey called, or do you want to continue trying to beat the subject of idol worship to death?”
“Why did Joey call?” I asked.
“Tony Carlucci called Joey so Joey called you.”
“I’m having some difficulty putting the two actions together.”
“The way you’re slurring your words makes me wonder if you could manage to put your two hands together,” Darlene said, without a hint of sarcasm. “Call Joey.”
“Are you going back to sleep?”
“Too late for that, Hugh’s gone.  I may as well go for my morning run and get ready to go to the office.  Pay some bills, stare at a silent telephone, and calculate the odds that you will show up there before noon.  Call Joey.”
The line went dead.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
Aside from Jake, who is like a stepbrother to me, it would have to be Darlene.  She is the perfect foil for Diamond.  Darlene can match wits, be as smartly humorous, set Jake straight, cover his back, challenge him to show his good side, and prove that with all of his faults Jake Diamond is at the end of the day an admirable character.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
It was both challenging and rewarding to resurrect Jake and the recurring cast after so long.  It was truly like a reunion with old friends.  I hope it will please and satisfy the many fans who have been asking for ten years if and when the gang would return.

Background Check on: Providence Rag (Liam Mulligan) by Bruce DeSilva

Bruce DeSilva, reviewer and writer's new novel, Providence Rag comes out this month and I find out what's it all about right here...

Q: Tell us what to expect from your new book, PROVIDENCE RAG.
A: Providence Rag is the third novel in my Edgar Award-winning hardboiled crime series featuring Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter for a dying newspaper in Providence, R.I. The book was inspired by a true story – one I covered as a journalist many years ago. I’ve long been fascinated by the case of Craig Price, The Warwick Slasher, a teenager who stabbed two young women and two female children to death in his suburban Rhode Island neighborhood before he was old enough to drive. Price was just thirteen when his murder spree began and fifteen when he was caught, making him one of the youngest serial killers in U.S. history. But that’s not the interesting part.
When he was arrested in 1989, Rhode Island’s juvenile justice statutes had not been updated for decades. When they were written, no one had ever envisioned a child like him, so the law required that all minors, regardless of their crimes, be released at age 21 and given a fresh start. Nevertheless, he remains behind bars to this day, convicted of committing a series of jailhouse offenses.
I have long suspected that some of these charges were fabricated, but in the very least, Price has been absurdly over-sentenced. For example, he was given an astounding 30 years for contempt for declining to submit to a court-ordered psychiatric examination. Have the authorities abused their power to prevent his release? I think so. Should he ever be let out to kill again? Absolutely not. The ethical dilemma this poses fascinates me. No matter which side of it you come down on, you are condoning something that is reprehensible.
In the novel, the murders are committed and the killer caught in the first seventy-five pages. The rest of the book follows Mulligan, his fellow reporters, his editors, and the entire community, as they struggle to decide which is worse: condoning the abuse of power that is keeping the killer behind bars or exposing it and allowing him to be released to kill again. With powerful forces on both sides of the question, the suspense mounts as it becomes increasingly likely that the psychopath will be set free.

Q: What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
The narrative is broken by thirteen italicized passages that allow readers peers directly into the mind of the psychotic killer from early childhood to middle age. I loved writing them because the rest of the book is heavy on dialogue, and these scenes gave me the opportunity to write in a more lyrical voice. They are important because when the killer speaks elsewhere in the novel, he mostly lies. They’re pretty creepy, though. I wonder what it says about me that I found it easy to imagine how the monster thinks.

Q: Who is your favorite among the characters in the book?
I have a fondness for Fiona McNerney, a close childhood friend of my protagonist and former a Little Sisters of the Poor nun, who is now serving as the state’s embattled governor.
Because of her take-no-prisoners approach to politics, headline writers have dubbed her Attila the Nun.

Q: How long did it take you to write it?
When I’m working on a novel, my goal is to write at least a thousand good words a day. If I accomplish that in a couple of hours, I can give myself the rest of the day off. But if I don’t have a thousand good words after eight hours, I have to keep my butt in the chair until I reach my goal. By doing that, I should be able to turn out an eighty-thousand-word novel in eighty days. Of course, it never quite works out like that. Some days, when life intrudes, I don’t write at all. There are household chores to be done, ballgames and blues concerts to attend, vacations to take, family obligations to be met. Including such interruptions, Providence Rag, my most complex book to date, was completed in six months.

Q: Did writing the book take a lot of research?
Yes and no. When I covered the real-life story for Rhode Island Monthy magazine years ago, I did a lot of research about the state’s juvenile justice laws and the state prison system. I interviewed the police detectives and forensics experts who worked the case. I read a lot of research about the minds of serial murderers and interviewed experts including Robert K. Ressler, the retired FBI agent credited with coining the term “serial killer.” So all I had to do for the book was brush up on the most recent research on the subject. Thanks to Google, that took less than a day.

Q: Will we see Liam return after PROVIDENCE RAG?
Absolutely. I just finished the fourth Mulligan novel, tentatively titled Providence Vipers, which explores the world of legal and illegal sports gambling. It will be published in hardcover and e-book formats by Forge about a year from now. Once I return from a month-long, coast-to-coast book tour in early April, I’ll dive into three new projects. One will be the fifth Mulligan novel. Another will be a stand-alone, or perhaps the beginning of a new series, featuring a young man who is trying to decide which side of the law to live his life on. And the third will be a collaboration with my wife, the poet Patricia Smith, on a novel set in her native Chicago. I’ve made small starts on all three, but I’m not sure which one I’ll finish first.

Q. Is there anything else you'd like to say about the book?
Although the characters and plots of my first two crime novels, Rogue Island and Cliff Walk, sprang entirely from my imagination, this has not prevented some readers that suspecting each was a Roman à clef. No, I tell them, the mayor in my books is not a thinly-veiled depiction of former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci. No, the attorney general is not my take on former Rhode Island Attorney General Arlene Violet. Despite my protests, readers continue to speculate. In fact, two of my old journalism colleagues are convinced that my protagonist is based on them. He’s not. Because of this, I initially resisted the urge to fictionalize the Price case.
In the novel, I invent an early childhood for the killer. I give him a love of reading, allow him to display a clever but chilling sense of humor, and provide him with a prison jargon-laced style of speaking. But I have never met Craig Price. I know nothing of his childhood. I don't know how he talks. I don’t know what drove him to murder. So the character in my novel is most emphatically not Craig Price. None of the other characters in the book represent real people either. Of course, every novelist draws material from life and fashions it into something new.
Still, I can’t help but worry that some readers will view the book as disguised contemporary history. That made Providence Rag a difficult, nerve-wracking book to write.

You can learn more about me on my website: http://brucedesilva.com/

And on my blog: http://brucedesilva.wordpress.com/

Background Check on The Contractors (Jon Cantrell) by Harry Hunsicker

Harry Hunsicker was one of the first authors I reviewed on this blog. Now, he has a new book coming out so of course I wanted to know all about that...

Tell us what your newest book is about.
The story is about private military contractors operating inside the border of the United States.  Specifically, a disgraced ex-cop who works as a law enforcement contractor for the DEA.  When he and his partner take down the wrong shipment of drugs, they come into the possession of a star witness in a cartel trial, a woman everybody wants dead.  In order to save her life, and their own, they must transport her across Texas to the courthouse in Marfa, near El Paso.

How long did it take you to write the novel?
Seems like forever, at least to me.  Probably four years and I don't know how many drafts and partial drafts.

Did it take a lot of research?
I did a fair amount of research about PMCs or private military contractors.  I also learned that US Government does employ private law enforcement contractors, i. e. people who have a gun, a badge, and the right to use deadly force, but whose paycheck comes from a private company.

Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
The plot sprang from a totally unrelated idea, the notion of a son trying to reconcile with his father and both of them keeping secrets from the other.  There's still a big element of that in the book, however.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
I really enjoyed writing the action chapters.  There's a scene where one the bad guys gets blown apart by a .50 caliber sniper rifle.  That was a blast.  (No pun intended!)

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
Piper, the main character's partner and on-again/off-again lover.  She's a mess.  But so much fun.  Her motto:  When in doubt, shoot something.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
I'm very humbled and grateful to have gotten a starred review in Publishers Weekly for THE CONTRACTORS.  Hope everybody likes the novel.

Background Check on The Kill Fever (Wolf) by Dean Breckenridge

Under another name he told some tales I enjoyed. Now he is back as Dean Breckenridge with a new hardboiled series. I got a Background Check on his  book, The Kill  Fever is about. It will be sure to appeal to fans of my Mike Dalmas shorts.

Tell us what The Kill Fever is about.
I wanted to do something short and punchy and make it like the men's adventure books of the '70s and the hard-boiled of the '30s....so I created a sort of "Have Gun, Will Travel" for the inner city, featuring a character named Wolf. Nobody knows where he came from or why he chose the city, but he has connections with the cops and the crooks and always helps the underdog.

How long did it take you to write the novel?
More like a novella....it's only 20,000 words....and it took me two weeks to write. I spent another six months making it presentable.

Did it take a lot of research?
No. I made up the city,
 the political structure, the gang structure, etc.

Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
The plot is pretty simple, somebody is killing gangsters to start a mob war and Wolf wants it to stop, and the inspiration was thinking of the first paragraph as a way to hook the reader and get things going. Bodies in the streets, cops all around, what happened and who did it happen to....

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
The hardest scene for me came in the middle of the book, where Wolf and another character are trapped, and I had to come up with a way to get them untrapped. I think my solution was ridiculous, but it worked and was fun to write.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
Wolf, the hero, of course; I also like his cop contact, John Callaway, who isn't sure Wolf is a good guy but knows he isn't a bad guy, either.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
It's the first in a series and #2  (free today) is out now as well; I'm about to begin typing #3.

Background Check on Bad Religion (Nick Kepler) by James Winter

James Winter was one of the first guys to tell me he liked my Noah Milano stories. It's great to see a new novel by him coming out, so I asked him to come over and tell us more about it.

Tell us what to expect from Bad Religion.
Bad Religion has Nick undergoing a lot of changes in his business and his life. It starts out as a simple case of a minister skimming the collection plate. When that turns out to be a dead end, someone gets upset and starts gunning for witnesses. In the meantime, Nick and Elaine's relationship is evolving. Her marriage is crumbling, and they both wonder if their one-night stand wasn't just a fluke.

How long did it take you to write?
The original draft took about four months to write. It's hard to gauge the revisions because my publisher went out of business. So I looked at it sporadically over the next five years before digging it out last year.

Tell us about how you were inspired to write it?
There's a big televangelism angle in the story, and I remembered seeing quite a bit of that freakshow when I grew up. I wanted Nick to start investigating a minister accused of being such a fraud and finding out he's actually the victim of someone else's scheme. At the same time, I had fun creating the character of Calvin Leach.

Will we see Kepler return after Bad Religion?
There's a new short in the can waiting for revisions. Beyond that, I haven't decided. Part of the problem is that I fixed Nick to the calendar, and in 2013, it's a bit hard to write a story set in 2005.

Did writing the book take a lot of research?
Some of it was calls back to Cleveland to see what changed from when I lived up there. I also have an angle that ties into a cult killing that actually took place in the area. I had to walk a balance between exploiting it and making it part of the background.

What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?I loved writing the scene where Nick and Elaine visit the taping of Leach's show. Nick is absolutely miserable there, and he's stuck next to one of those middle-aged true believers I had to deal with when I was a kid. You know the type: Badly dyed hair teased to fright-wig perfection and a gushing enthusiasm for the star of the show. I let Nick voice a little revenge for me, with Elaine pretending to be his wife and keeping him in check.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the book?I like Elaine a lot in this one. She really grows as a character. I also like Teasdale, who's kind of a throwback to Jim Rockford.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the books?The print version will soon be available if it's not already.

Background Check on: The Compleat Kepler (Nick Kepler) by Jim Winter

Jim is one of those great guys that contacted me telling me he liked my Noah Milano stories, way back... It's an honor to have him over to tell about his newest book, the Nick Kepler collection called the Compleat Kepler.

Tell us what to expect from your new book THE COMPLEAT KEPLER.
The Compleat Kepler tells the backstory of Nick Kepler up to, and in one case, shortly after the events of Northcoast Shakedown. Some of the stories were written just so I could get a handle on the character. Others were written to get the character out there in the lead-up to Northcoast Shakedown.

Where did the stories appear before?
The first appeared in Plots With Guns. The last appeared in Thrilling Detective. In fact, "Love Don't Mean a Thing" was in their final fiction issue. Judas/The 3rd Degree got the lion's share of the stories.
Tell us about how you were inspired to write them.
It depends. "A Walk in the Rain," the first story, was written after a friend from high school and I reconnected after about 15 years. She told me the story of her ex, an abusive man she met in the military. I was so enraged that I wanted to stuff him in a car crusher, which is exactly what happens to Joe in that one. "Full Moon Boogie" came about during a vacation to Ohio's Hocking Hills. It's such an unusual place for that state, and I had to write a story set there.

Will we see Nick Kepler return?
The novel BAD RELIGION was put aside about halfway through the revision process, so when that's complete, I'll release it. There is also a longish story called "Gypsy's Kiss," about the character Gypsy from "Roofies," that I want to send to a certain anthology. (Hint! Hint!)

Did writing the stories take a lot of research?
It depended on the story. "Flight of the Rat" required me to have a 9/11 timeline up while I wrote so I could refer to what happened when, as well as what sort of confusion was happening around the country. On the other hand, "Love Don't Mean a Thing" required nothing more than a vivid imagination.

What stories / scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
"Full Moon Boogie" was the most fun to write. I had to let that one simmer a few days. Then one day, I was in the West Virginia mountains taking a train ride on an old steamer. I scribbled the first draft out on a notepad during the entire trip.  "A Walk in the Rain" just wrote itself. It's probably the closest to its original draft of anything I've written.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the stories?
I've grown fond of Gypsy, the stripper/call girl who has a goal of getting out of the sex trade under her own power. She found her spine by taking a bullet for Nick, who, in return, got her off heroin, and now she's unstoppable. I love a good redemption story.

Background Check on DIrty Work & Onion Street with Reed Farrel Coleman

The popular multiple Shamus Award winner Reed Farrel Coleman has two books coming out soon. Of course I had to ask him all about these...

Tell us what to expect from your two new books, DIRTY WORK and ONION STREET.
DIRTY WORK  is a very interesting project. It’s the first of two novellas featuring a little person (dwarf) PI named Gulliver Dowd. Gulliver is a bitter man whose cop sister has been murdered. Her murder has never been solved and Gulliver becomes a PI in order to find her killer. This hunt for his sister’s killer is the subtext to the story. The main case features a woman from Gulliver’s past who reveals a secret that can turn Gulliver’s world upside down. ONION STREET is the next to last Moe Prager Mystery and is a prequel set in 1967. It tells the story of how Moe became a policeman in the first place. It begins with his girlfriend being viciously beaten and left to die in the snow on a Brooklyn Street. Moe needs to find out why and who did it. And Moe learns for the first time that very little in life is as it seems.

 How long did it take you to write them?
As DIRTY WORK is a novella, it took me about four or five weeks. ONION STREET took me about four months to write. But in all fairness, when you get to the eighth book in a series, even if it is a prequel, the canvas is already partially painted.  

Tell us about how you were inspired to write them.
DIRTY WORK was sort of a creation between my agent, Bob Tyrrell at Raven Books—Rapid Reads, and myself. They’re a Canadian publisher whose market is the emerging or late to literacy reader. Those readers like hard-boiled and noir to. So they approached my agent who approached me about doing some books for them and I agreed. They loved Gulliver as a character and so do I. I think readers will love him too.
ONION STREET filled in a big gap in Moe Prager’s history that the fans have been curious about. It essentially tells the story of how the Moe readers know became Moe. I think readers, myself included, love to see the roots of how a character they identify with developed into that character. I have dropped hints throughout the course of the series, but I thought the time for hinting was over and to explore the origins of Moe more deeply.  

Will we see Gulliver Dowd return after DIRTY WORK?
For at least one more adventure. I’ve written a second Gulliver Dowd entitled VALENTINO PIER. I hope readers respond as I hope they will to Gulliver because I really do enjoy writing him.
ONION STREET is the penultimate Prager novel. Will you be coming out with a new PI series to follow that up or would that be Gulliver?
Gulliver is a fun character, but I’m not sure I consider him a successor to Moe. I think I’d like to do some other type of writing for a while. I am halfway through with a Sci Fi YA novel and have an idea to write a more standard literary novel. But I love the PI form and I will probably always have a toe in the private detective genre.

Did writing the books take a lot of research?

In all honesty, I have always hated research. Google has made life much easier for someone like me. I try not to weight myself down with research. For me the thrill of fiction writing is making stuff up.

What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?

Let me answer that in reverse. The scenes I hate most, the ones I know most of my friends hate most, are bridge or transition scenes. Getting the reader from here to there can be awfully burdensome. I love writing scenes where the physical setting is a reflection or a foreshadowing of the action that will take place later in the novel. For instance, read any of my scenes that take place in Coney Island and you will know I loved writing those. I also can do dialogue in my sleep.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the books?

If I had to choose one character, I would choose Israel Roth. He’s the moral compass by which Moe steers his life. But Mr. Roth is terribly flawed and scarred. I just love him.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the books?

Buy them! I’ve got a son in college and a daughter in graduate school.

Background Check on Car Wash Blues (Mick Murphy) by Michael Haskins

Michael Haskins, proud Hardboiled Collective member has a new book coming out, Car WashBlues, and was kind enough to tell us about it...

 Tell us what to expect from Car Wash Blues

In Car Wash Blues Mick Murphy begins to see friends he's always depended all turn to advisories as two different Tijuana, Mexico drug cartels come after him. He has been set up and turns for help/advice to a American lawyer working for the cartels and an ex-drug smuggler.

How long did it take you to write it?

A little less than a year.

Did it take a lot of research?

Yes and no. Yes because I followed the Los Angeles Times' wonderful on-going series Crisis in Mexico for years, so I had the research at my finger tips. No, because I spent 28 summers living off-and-on in Tijuana before moving to Key West. This experience helped me in my drive to set examples of what the people of Mexico live with daily.

Where did you come up with the plots; what inspired you?

I wanted to visit friends in Tijuana in 2008 on my book tour. They told me no, they'd come to LA. I loved the city and people for a long time and wanted to show the public a small taste of how bad life is because of the cartels. I wish the LA Times articles were published elsewhere so other readers could know what's going on. Also wanted to bring to the front of all the trouble that it is the American consumption that drives the cartels. The profits are mostly in dollars.

What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?

Paying the ransom for Tita.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the book?

Of course Mick Murphy, but I have a soft spot for Padre Thomas and a need for Norm's experience. Both the characters I based my writing on died recently and they never knew each other.

 Is there anything else you'd like to say about Car Wash Blues?

Unfortunately, the book will not be available as an eBook for a year. I think this is my last traditionally published books, so collectors should grab it up. From now on it will be trade paperbacks and Kindle copies.

Background Check on: Hired Gun by James R. Tuck

Anyone who's read James R. Tuck's Deacon Chalk urban fantasy series (and you should) know he's an expert in writing tough guys. It should be no surprise that he can't just write fantasy but is also a great crime writer. He was kind enough to give us the lowdown about his short story collection, Hired Gun.

Tell us what to expect from Hired Gun.
Hired Gun is a collection of six short crime stories. They are quick and deadly little tales set in Culvert City, a place where bad people do bad things to each other.

How long did it take you to write it?
Off and on stretched over a few months. Each story would come in a burst, get written in a short amount of time, then set aside while I worked on something else. After a bit of time away I would pick them up and revise them with fresh eyes.

Did it take a lot of research?
Not specific research. I have been a long time crime fiction fan and a gun fan so it all swirls in my head and comes out as stories.

Where did you come up with the plots; what inspired you?

Most of them came to me from that soup of ideas in my head. I don't remember any specific sparks that set off any stories. They are scenes that came into my brain when I was looking the other way.

But the concept that started it all, the one that the nameless hitman is built around came from a song by the band Bride called "Hired Gun". It's a song about a hitman who uses the line "I hope you and Jesus have it all worked out." I loved that song as a teen and it really stuck with me. When watching Tim Burton's Batman and seeing the Joker ask "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" I always thought back to that song and felt that it was so much cooler.

Which stories did you enjoy writing the most?
I really like the first story BIG TONY LIKES A SHOW. It really sets the tone for the collection. It's a nasty little tale with a sharp twist at the end and I am really proud of the snappy dialog I accomplished.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the collection?
I really like the nameless hitman that is the main character in this collection. He's the reason I put it together. He is featured in the majority of the stories, each on giving a different aspect of him and seeing him at different parts of his life. CANCERSTICK is him when he's kind of young and he still has some pep, the same character in TREATMENT is much darker, far more bitter and jaded.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about Hired Gun?
Thanks to everyone who buys it, I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Background Check on The Storm With

I've been a fan  Tony Black for a long time and he's been following my work just as long. It's always a pleasure to interview him. This time he gave me the lowdown on his new novella, The Storm Without.

Tell us what the novella is about.

Doug Michie has been booted out the force after a particularly harrowing case and goes home to Ayr - on Scotland's west-coast - to lick his wounds. He's grown up there but been away for nearly 20 years; when he returns, he hooks up with ex-school-days flame Lyn whose son has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend. Doug senses all is not as it appears to be and digs into the case, with some unexpected consequences for himself.

How long did it take you to write the novella?
34 weeks. How's that for an exact answer? ... It was originally serialised in a newspaper over here and it ran to 34 weekly installments so that's how I know.

Did it take a lot of research?
There was a fair amount of research into the history of Ayr and the up-to-date topography. I used to live there - like Doug - but only just moved back. My protagonist is a bit of a fan of the poet Robert Burns, who came from Ayr too, so I had to do a little bit of research into the Burns elements in the story.

Where did you come up with the plot; what inspired you?
The original idea was to write a homecoming novel and a small-town noir, once I knew it was going to feature a PI the plot kind of grew from there.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
The opening scene is a big sweeping description of the road into the town, with some of Doug's foreboding about going back - that seems to stick for some reason.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novella?
My protagonist Doug is an interesting bloke - he's clearly seen to much in the force in Northern Ireland and he wants to forget. He aligns himself with the philosophy of Burns too and that's interesting to me because I'm a fan of the poet myself.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novella?
It's my first title available through Blasted Heath as an eBook and ridiculously cheap on Amazon!

Background Check on: Cliff Walk (Liam Mulligan) by Bruce DeSilva

We asked Hardboiled Collective member Bruce DeSilva all about his newest novel, Cliff Walk.

Tell us what the novel is about.

Cliff Walk is the second novel in my hardboiled series featuring Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter at a dying Providence, R.I. newspaper. The tale begins two years ago when prostitution was legal in the state (true story.) Politicians are making a lot of speeches about the shame of it, but they aren't doing anything about it. Mulligan suspects that's because they are being paid off. As he investigates, a child's severed arm is discovered in a pile of garbage at a local pig farm. Then the body of an internet pornographer turns up at the bottom of

the famous Cliff Walk in nearby Newport. At first the killings seem random, but as Mulligan keeps digging, strange connections begin to emerge. Promised free sex with hookers if he minds his own business--and a savage beating if he doesn't--Mulligan enlists the help of Thanks-Dad, the newspaper publisher's son, and Attila the Nun, the state's colorful attorney general, in his quest for the truth. What he learns will lead him to question his long-held beliefs about sexual morality, shake his tenuous religious faith, and leave him wondering who his real friends are. Cliff Walk is at once a hardboiled mystery and a serious exploration of sex and religion in the age of pornography.

How long did it take you to write the novel?

I began writing the book shortly after my first Mulligan novel, Rogue Island, winner of both the Edgar and the Macavity Awards, was published; and I finished it in six months. The third Mulligan novel, Providence Rag, is also finished and will be published sometime next year.

Did it take a lot of research?

Yes and no. In a sense, the Mulligan novels took forty years to research because they draw on everything I learned about Rhode Island's cops, street thugs, journalists, corrupt politics, and organized crime figures during my 40-year journalism career, about a third of it spent at The Providence Journal, the state's largest paper. I was well prepared to write these books. But when I started Cliff Walk, I did not know much about the inner workings of the state's sex trade. So I spent many dreary evenings hanging out at Cheaters, the Cadillac Lounge and several of the state's other strip clubs where prostitution was openly practiced, discretely questioning bartenders, bouncers, and naked hookers who kept climbing into my lap. Since I'm a married man, that could have had serious consequences. Lucky for me, my wife found my research hilarious.

Where did you come up with the plot; what inspired you?

Unlike Rogue Island, which is entirely made up, Cliff Walk was inspired by real events in our smallest state, a quirky place with a legacy of corruption that goes all the way back to one of the first colonial governors dining with Captain Kidd. In 1978, COYTE, a national organization representing sex workers, sued the state in federal court, alleging that its antiquated prostitution law was so vague that it could be interpreted as prohibiting sex between married couples. The suit was dismissed in 1980 after the state legislature rewrote the law, redefining the crime and reducing it from a felony to a misdemeanor. As it turned out, however, a key section of the new law was left out, supposedly by accident, when the legislature voted on it. Amazingly, however, more than a decade passed before anyone seemed to notice. Finally, in 1993, a lawyer representing several women arrested for prostitution at a local "spa" did something remarkable. He actually read the statute. The only word used to define the crime, he discovered, was "streetwalking." Therefore, he argued, sex for pay was legal in Rhode Island as long as the transaction occurred indoors. When the courts agreed, the state's strip clubs turned into brothels, and a whole bunch of new strip clubs and "massage parlors" opened up. Soon, tour buses full of eager customers began arriving from all over New England. At the height of the state's legal sex trade, 30 brothels were operating openly. Rhode Island didn't get around to fixing the law until a couple of years ago.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?

When I sat down to write the novel, the first thing I typed was this: "Attila the nun thunked her can of Bud on the cracked Formica tabletop, stuck a Marlboro in her mouth, sucked in a lungful, and said 'Fuck this shit.'" That sentence, which ended up as the opening to chapter five, had the hardboiled feel I wanted and gave me the confidence to keep writing. But the short final chapter, which portrays a weary Mulligan's inner turmoil about the soul-wrenching things he witnessed during his investigation, is my favorite part of the book.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?

I'm tempted to say Mulligan because he's a lot like me--except that he's 25 years younger and eight inches taller. He's an investigative reporter; I used to be. He's got a smart mouth; I get a lot of complaints about the same thing. Like me, he's got a shifting sense of justice that allows him to work with bad people to bring worse people down. But I have a special fondness for Attila the Nun, a former Little Sisters of the Poor nun who forsakes her religious calling for the rough-and-tumble arena of Rhode Island politics.

I noticed places in the novel where your own life or interests end up in some scenes, like the appearance of your wife Patricia, and a dog with the same name as yours. You also included an appearance by Andrew Vachss and often mention crime writers you personally like. Could you tell us a bit about why you enjoy including these little nuggets?



I want my characters to be real people, and that means giving them interests beyond the job of investigating crimes. Since Mulligan is so much like me, it makes sense to give him similar tastes. So he's a fan of the blues (The Tommy Castro Band, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, Buddy Guy.) He reads crime novels (Vachss, Michal Connelly, Ace Atkins.) He drinks beer (Killians.) He smokes cigars. He loves dogs, although his landlord won't allow him to have one. Unlike me, he's no fan of poetry, but his girlfriend is. So when she tries to read poetry to him or takes him to a poetry reading, I toss in a few lines. I suppose I could have tried to write a bit of poetry myself, but I'm no poet. I could have chosen a passage from another poet and then spent weeks trying to get permission to use it, but why go through all that trouble when I've got my own live-in poet? So I included a bit of writing from my wife, Patricia Smith, who is one of America's finest poets.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?

The early notices have been gratifying, with both Publishers Weekly and Booklist giving Cliff Walk starred reviews. Publishers Weekly said, "Look for this one to garner more award nominations." Booklist called the plot "exquisite" and added that the novel is "terrific on every level." I just hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Background Check On: Triage (Shell) by Phillip T. Duck

We talked to Phillip T. Duck about his Shell novel called Triage...

Tell us what the novel is about.
TRIAGE is the story of Shell, a former hit man, who describes himself as "a man of honor with no honor." He's a complex character, in the mold of Richard Starks' Parker. A reader recently questioned whether she should love or hate him, and my response is both. To me, that's what makes Shell intriguing. In the novel, his former flame has gone missing under suspicious circumstances, and in his quest to find out what happened to her Shell finds himself in the middle of a mob beef, and going up against several men of questionable motives, each man more dangerous than the last. It's good, hardboiled fun.

How long did it take you to write the novel?
I worked on the novel off and on over the course of about eighteen months. Off and on because during that same period of time I also worked on several other independently-published projects and a novel published by a traditional publisher.

Did it take a lot of research?
Before I write a novel I attempt to map out some of the key situations that will take place. My research tends to focus on anything I believe is important to know in order to effectively write those key situations. I spend about a month in this research phase, but that typically isn't the end of research. I've yet to write a novel that went according to plan, and so throughout the course of writing a book I'm forever looking up details and discovering new ideas to include.

Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
First and foremost, I'm a reader. I've been inspired by too many crime novelists to count. With TRIAGE I considered my favorite series characters--Jack Reacher, Leonid McGill, Dave Robicheaux, Doc Ford, Parker, and others--and I wrote my version of a tough guy navigating through a difficult and dark world.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
I particularly enjoyed a scene with Shell in some serious peril down by the Passaic River. I picked an actual place in Newark, NJ. At night it's dark and almost completely deserted. I say almost deserted because if you happened upon someone down in this area that would be an unexpected development and you'd be advised to leave their presence as quickly as possible.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
Shell, of course. Again, I was inspired by some of crime fiction's most notable tough guys. Shell is my homage to the best of them. That said, one of the compliments I've always received throughout my writing career has been various levels of praise for my "rich characterization". I love all of my characters, lead and supporting, and they all show up on the page for a reason. I do my best to make sure their time between the margins is memorable and necessary.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
The e-book revolution, as some are calling it, has been a boon for readers. I'm grateful for all of the traditional publishing opportunities I've had so far, but excited about the "new" publishing model that is quickly taking shape. I now have an opportunity to present my work to those that are already familiar with me. I also can be discovered by those that have never read a word I've written. And I get to present that work at a very reasonable price point. For less than a pack of cigarettes you can enjoy (hopefully) this tale of a "man of honor with no honor". I don't claim to be as good as some of the authors that have inspired me, but my price point is much more attractive than theirs, and I can definitely say they aren't four times better than me ($2.99 for TRIAGE versus $12.99 for many traditionally-published novels). TRIAGE is worth a look.

Background Check: The Cleveland Creep (Milan Jacovich) by Les Roberts

Les Roberts gives us the lowdown on his novel The Cleveland Creep...

Tell us what the novel is about.Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich is hired to track down the disappeared son of his client, Savannah Dacey. The son, Earl, is a jobless 30-year-old loser, and when Milan discovers he's also a bit of a pervert, he's drawn into the ugly business of pornography in Cleveland. (Yes, Virginia, there IS a Cleveland porno industry.) He's helped by his very first employee, a young private-eye wannabe, Kevin O'Bannion---and not surprisingly, he finds his life in danger. He also butts heads with an arrogant and demanding FBI Special Agent, and his longtime involvement with his "frenemy," mob boss Victor Gaimari, begins to look shaky.

How long did it take you to write the novel?Generally a Milan book takes from 7-9 months to write, providing I'm left alone!!!!

Did it take a lot of research?
Not much research at all, actually. Long talks with some local police officers, including vice cops, and a certain amount of my running around taking notes because Milan visits FOUR different NE Ohio counties in this one, and I wanted to get the perfect, unique FEEL for each of them.

Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
There are stories about sex crimes almost daily on TV and in the newspapers. I was inspired, if you believe in THAT word, by three things: the arrest of a young man who cruises crowded shopping malls in the summer and attempts to videotape up the skirts of women, ESPECIALLY of young girls from Catholic schools who always wear skirts as part of their school uniform. The fact that teen-age girls who are sexually active have decided that having sex with older men would be a great way to earn lots of money. AND---a story about animal abuse that has haunted me for several years now until I simply HAD to write about it, even as a subplot.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
Probably the scenes between Savannah and Milan. She's torn between wanting to find her son and her total crush, albeit unrequited, on Milan.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
I fall in love with ALL the characters I write---male, female, good, bad, etc. I particularly liked writing about Helene Diamond, a woman hanging on the fringe trying to make a relatively innocent buck by producing pornographic movies in her downtown Cleveland studio. I grew so enchanted with the character, and I was sorry I couldn't include her in more scenes, but the story wouldn't permit it.

I was wary of the new character K.O. Bannion at first but love him now. What's in the near future for him?
Kevin O'Bannion showed up because Milan is getting older and has slowed down a bit. (Me too, by the way.) A Middle East veteran and a teenaged juvenile detention inmate, he's generally mad about everything. Quick with his fists---K.O. is not just his initials, but shorthand in the boxing industry for "Knock Out"----he and Milan butt heads as they try to figure out how to get along together. K.O. takes ONE LOOK at a very pretty young witness named Carli Wysocki, and he suddenly realizes he's alwahys wanted someone special in his young but difficult life. He will appear in the next one, "Whiskey Island," as will Carli---and assuming I'm around for another twenty years or so, I think he'll be a regular continuing character.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
Most of my novels are based on something that really touches me---and usually infuriates me. "The Cleveland Creep" came from: Young teen guys abusing their teenage girlfriends is far too common in today's society. Horrific animal abuse happens every day for no apparent reason other than deep-down cruelty. Prostitution, especially among the upper and middle-class teens from comfortable suburbs. And of course the difficulty of people of two different generations trying to figure out how they can get along together.

Les Roberts came to mystery writing after 24 years as a Hollywood writer/producer. His next novel, "Whiskey Island," will be published later this year, and he's now writing what he hopes will be his TWENTY-EIGHTH book. He's also a movie critic, book critic, teacher, singer, jazz pianist, lecturer and public speaker. However, he DOESN'T do windows!

Background Check on Bone Polisher with TImothy Hallinan

Timothy Hallinan, member of the Hardboiled Collective has a new ebook on sale, featuring one of my favorite PI's Simeon Grist. Get it here, and read all about it in my interview with Tim.
Tell us what the novel is about.
THE BONE POLISHER is a private-eye mystery set in West Hollywood, back in 1995, when the cops tended to be less than enthusiastic about investigating crimes against gay people. My protagonist, Simeon Grist, is hired to investigate the murder of an older man, a former television actor, who is known in the community for his generosity and kindness. Things grow complicated fairly quickly as it becomes obvious that the killer has struck before and is undoubtedly planning to strike again. And it's about a detective—Simeon—who is on the verge of losing his nerve, and has to deal with what that might mean, to both his career and his self-image.

How long did it take you to write the novel?
The books in this series tended to take about six months, but this one took longer because I was trying not to commit any howlers about the gay community of the day, which I knew relatively little about. So I was asking a lot of questions and relying heavily on readings of the manuscript by two gay men who very generously gave me their time, and who had an enormous positive impact on the story as a whole. Bless them both.

Did it take a lot of research?
No. I did some checking on the demographic and political history of West Hollywood, which was (and still is) a unique enclave, but the rest of the writing was mainly letting the characters loose and following where they went, with occasional corrective readings by my two experts.

Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
I was arrested for drunk driving in 1994 and sentenced to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. This curdled my blood. When I thought of Alcoholics Anonymous, I imagined dingy rooms with curling linoleum floors in which a bunch of unshaven, toothless men in raincoats chain-smoked and gummed uninteresting confessions at each other. Sort of like bad film noir, but a lifetime long and without a plot.
But that was not to be. I lived in West Hollywood, which even then had a demographically anomalous number of gay people. When I walked into my first AA meeting, I was expecting a budget production of “The Lower Depths,” but what I got was more like the moment in “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy opens the door to reveal that Oz is in color. The room was full of the best-looking group of men I'd ever seen, although some of them were painfully thin. It soon became apparent that quite a few of them were there because they were determined to die sober—AIDS was in full rage then—and others had come to support them. I saw more grace and courage in that first hour than I'd ever seen in such a concentrated period in my entire life. And I learned I was definitely an alcoholic, and that I was in good company.
A lot of the guys in those meetings are gone now. When I started The Bone Polisher, I was thinking of them.

Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
The book's climax is a three-chapter-long party, a combination West Hollywood Halloween celebration and a wake. It's got dozens of characters, all in costume, one of whom is a serial killer, one of whom is a vicious and violent cop, and all of whom are getting drunker by the moment. Oh, yeah, there's a fountain of holy water, too. Several main story strands play out in this section, which I think is both funny and exciting. This is the kind of big show I used to undertake but don't do so much any more, mostly because of the amount of sheer energy involved.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
My favorites are usually the equivocal ones, and in this book I particularly like Ferris Hanks, an evil little swine who for years was one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood, with a stable of (mostly gay) guys whose names he made up on the spot. His time has passed, though, and what's left is about 140 pounds of high-density spite. He has a memorable rant about how times were better when gay men were in the closet: “We were united then. We shared our problems, our jokes. The straight world was there for us to plunder, like King Solomon’s mines or the Hall of the Mountain King. We were the Knights of Malta, a secret society, smarter and prettier and funnier than they were, and we had what they wanted, and they didn’t know what it was or even why they wanted it. They had one little life each, and we had as many as we wanted. You can develop a lot of useful skills if you’re leading a secret life, or three or four. God, it was a glorious time. And look at it now. The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name has become The Love That Cannot Shut Its Trap. Gays have become the one thing they never were: boring. Look at them, a bunch of bank tellers and dental assistants, holding hands on the sidewalks and mooning at each other. Joining neighborhood watch organizations. The fucking Kiwanis.” Lot of venom there, and pretty funny, too, I think.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
When I read it for re-publication, I hadn't looked at it in years. I'd completely forgotten huge chunks of it, including the twist ending – when Simeon, after the party, goes into someone's house, I thought, What in the world is he doing? I hadn't remembered the book with much fondness, but reading it again, I could see why the critic for BOOKLIST had liked it so much. He wrote, “Read [it] as a straightforward detective novel, or read it as a slightly off-kilter philosophical tome, but do yourself a favor and read it!”

Background Check: A Welcome Grave (LIncoln Perry) by Michael Koryta

We interview Michael Koryta about his novel A Welcome Grave...

1) How long did it take you to write the novel?
I was at this one for about 15 months, I believe. First draft tookprobably half of that, but I rewrite extensively, often removing majorcharacters or adding them, changing plot substantially, things likethat. It ran a few months beyond what I'd hoped, but that's often beenthe case once I get to rewriting.

2) Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
I worked a case a few years ago tracking down missing heirs to anestate, and there was one person on my list who reacted with what I found to be a strange attitude when I finally made contact. Very defensive, very wary, didn't seem to believe the reason for my call. There was the sense, at least to me, that some of this came from a placeI didn't understand at all. He believed a private investigator waslooking for him, but he didn't believe the reason. All of this was mostlikely an ordinary reaction from a cautious individual, but it crawled into my writer's brain and began to make noise. That blended with a notion I'd had after writing Sorrow's Anthem, an idea that perhaps you could show more of your character's nature by taking him through the loss of an enemy than the loss of a loved one. When those two thoughts collided, the early portion of the plot came to life.

3) Joe Pritchard is getting older, thinking about settling down. Will hestill be back as Perry's partner?
He hasn't told me yet. Lincoln and I are immensely curious. I just finished a new Lincoln and still can't answer that question.

4) Did you do much research for the novel?
Some, but I tend to research later in the process. I like to get firstdraft down first, then go back and research.

5) I was surprised that Lincoln hooked up with Amy in this novel soquickly. Why did you decide that to happen?
You and I were both surprised. I think Lincoln was delighted. I had nogrand plan for their relationship, other than that at some point itwould advance beyond friendship, which was of course quite obvious tothe reader. When and how it would happen, I hadn't really considered. I try to write as organically as possible and that book and that time feltright.

6) This novel seemed a bit more violent or action-driven than the first two novels. Was that a conscious decision?
I think that's an accurate observation, but it wasn't a conscious decision so much as a function of the story. I wanted Lincoln to havehis back to the wall as much and as early as possible in this one, throwsome challenges at him, then toss more on top of the heap before he hada chance to breathe. That dictated a more violent, action-driven story,I believe. The new Lincoln, which is just complete in first draft, is astep away from that. Again, not a pre-book plan, but a function of the story.

7) Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
My favorite scene in A Welcome Grave, by far, is Lincoln's second visit to the apple orchard, when he meets Matt Jefferson for the first time. I wanted that one to just brood with tension and confusion and menace, andit was great fun to write. I spent a lot of weeks -- months, really --looking forward to Andy Doran's final ride with Lincoln, as well. Traditionally, some of my favorite writing comes toward the final chapter. Not because the story is done, but because I enjoy the tone of an ending very much. There's always some sadness and some hope in my favorite sort of ending, and it is a pleasure to try to blend those elements.

8) Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
Andy Doran. I felt true sorrow at writing his character down the stretch. I think that suggests good things.

9) What are the best things people have said about the novel and which the worst?
Ha, well, some like it and some hate it. What more can I say than that? I'm grateful to those who like it, sorry to those who do not. I try not to let reviews and responses creep into my head too much, regardless of praise or condemnation. My focus is always on moving forward, on the next book. I have a lot of stories I'd like to tell.

10) Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel? Just that I'm so appreciative of everyone who has read it, and I hope itdidn't disappoint.