Paul Brazill has a new series coming up, Drunk On The Moon. He writes the first novella in the series, other writers will follow up with stories featuring the same character, werewolf / PI Roman Dalton. I ask him some questions...
Q: What makes Roman Dalton different from other (unofficial) PIs?
Apart from being a werewolf, I don't think he is different.
Q: How did you come up with the character?I was inspired by the Tom Waits song, Drunk On The Moon.
Q: What's next for you and Dalton?
Well, we've had a few submissions coming in, so there'll be a new story next month from a different writer.
Q: How do you promote your work?
Oh, I'm all over the internet.
Q: How did the idea of making Drunk On The Moon a series come about and how did you come up with the idea of multiple writers?
I liked what Lee Goldberg did with The Dead Man series.
Q: What are your thoughts on ebooks as a reader AND a writer?
It's the way to go for most mid to lower range writers now. It's great for writers giving a new life to their back catalogue. I don't read ebooks as quickly as paper books but that's probably just an age thing.
Q: What's your idea about the psychotic sidekick in PI novels like Hawk and Joe Pike?
The psycho sidekick does the dirty work and allows the 'hero' to keep clean
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?
No idea, but there are quite a few influenced by Ken Bruen.
Q: Terry Faherty came up with the following question: Is there a future for the PI subgenre in the face of the current competition from cozy mysteries and police procedurals/crime scene investigation procedurals?
Well, the PI is certainly edgier than those sub-genres but it's still a part of the mainstream.
Q: What question should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer?
How to you avoid writing cliches? Maybe you don't. Maybe you should embrace them!
