Background Check on One Man Dies (Jackson Donne) by Dave White

This time we get a background check on One Man Dies, Dave White's debut novel from the man himself...

1) How much time did it take you to write the novel?
--I never get this exactly right, but I think the first draft took about a year and then it took another year to rewrite it.

2) Where did you come up with the plot, what inspired you?
I used Gerry in one of Donne's short stories and wondered what would happen if I killed him. That was the beginning. The rest kind of came about organically or through fluky luck, such as working a night with Vermont State Troopers only to have them decide to tell me how to make crystal meth. Yeah, I do get lucky sometimes.

3) Was it hard to find a publisher?
Another sign of luck and/or good timing. It only took me two weeks in the middle of the summer.

4) Did you encounter a lot of problems moving from short stories to writing a full novel?
Actually, no not really. I knew the story I had in mind would only fit a novel, and it wasn't difficult extending the length. What has been difficult has been trying to go back to writing short stories. Whenever I try to write a short now it feels a little hollow to me, and I'm not sure why. But I love the short story form an can't wait to find another one that works for me.

5) Why did you decide to use another view point (Bill Martin's) next to Jackson's?
This idea came from Sarah Weinman actually. After the first draft of the novel, when Sarah and my agent Al Guthrie read it, they both felt the story was too small. Bill was in the story, but his role was minor. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I could weave him into the narrative, and raise the stakes of the novel at the same time. I just had to figure out what he was doing while Donne was out investigating.

6) Did you do a lot of research for the novel?
Most of it was incidental. Like I mentioned the Vermont State Troopers talking about how to make drugs. Or my friends in local law enforcement talking about their guns. I like to listen to people and that's where I got a lot of my facts. The second book, The Evil That Men Do, caused me to do a fair amount of research, mostly through the internet.

7) Which scenes did you enjoy writing the most?
I really enjoyed writing the last third of the novel when things start to tie together. I was able to throw a lot of twists in there that even I didn't see coming. That was fun.

8) Who is your favorite among the characters in the novel?
I will always love Jackson Donne, but man Bill Martin was a fun character to write.

9) What are the best things people have said about the novel and which the worst?
One of the women I work with came up to me one day and said "I'm almost done with your book. But I'm not going to finish it yet. I'm enjoying it so much I'm going to slow down so it doesn't end. That's only happened to me one other time, reading Stephen King's The Stand."
As for worst? I don't know, no one's been overtly mean, though when people don't like it it's disappointing.

10) Is there anything else you'd like to say about the novel?
It was a blast to write, but I'm hoping the second is even better, because in a way that was even more fun and a much more personal novel to me

Lover's Crossing (Roscoe Brinker) by James C. Mitchell

In this straightforward tale we meet Roscoe Brinker, ex-INS agent turned PI, who quit that job after he was shot. Brinker is hired find out who killed the wife of Moe Crain, a celebrity car salesman. She seems like such a likable character it is hard to believe anyone would want to kill her. During his investigations Brinker finds links between the corrupt INS agent who might have been involved in getting him shot and the Crain case. Aiding him is a Mexican criminal who is instrumental in solving the case in the end.
In a subplot we follow his troubles with his girlfriend Dolores, a TV reporter, who gets offered a job in New York. Something Brinker doesn’t like very much since that’s a long way from his Tucson home.
Brinker is a likable, very human character and by no means a superhero. In fact, he gets beaten up by bad guys and doesn’t take down any without help. That made some parts, especially the ending a bit unsatisfying for me. Also, at times the investigation seemed a bit slow. There just weren’t that many exciting revelations or feelings of danger along the way. A nice story, but no thriller. The location of the story is interesting however and Brinker seems like a good guy to share a beer with, so I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing Choke Point to see if James’ plotting gets a bit more exciting and see how Brinker’s life moves on.

Prodigal Sons: Terry Orr (by Jim Fusilli)

Jim Fusilli wrote four well-received novels featuring novice PI Terry Orr but since Hard, Hard City in 2004 we haven't read about him. Sons of Spade asked Jim to give us the low-down...

1) We haven't seen Terry Orr since 2004... Will he return?
I'm not sure. I enjoyed doing the four Terry Orr novels, but I'm not certain that the P.I. field is the best place for my writing.


2) Why haven't you written about Terry for some time now?
After writing "Hard, Hard City," I decided I wanted to explore new ways to tell my stories. I decided to withdraw, experiment and re-learn the craft. I wrote and published a dozen or so short stories in different voices, eras, first person, third person, dark, humorous -- just to find my own, distinctive voice. I did a non-fiction book on Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' album "Pet Sounds" and taught creative writing to undergraduate and graduate students at the State University of New York at Binghamton. (I'm also a journalist: I'm the rock and pop music critic of The Wall Street Journal.)

Two of those short stories are related to the Terry Orr series, by the way. One, which is posted on Amazon Shorts, is a kind of locked-room tale. The other, which appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, is set in the early 1980s and features two characters from the series, Luther Addison and Sharon Knight.


3) What's up next for you?
In June, Dutton will publish my first mystery for young adults. It's entitled "Marley Z and the Bloodstained Violin." I think fans of the Terry Orr stories will recognize characters reminiscent of Bella and Daniel Wu. I've just completed the first draft of a mainstream novel set in the late 1940s in a town not unlike Hoboken, N.J., where I was born. It has elements of a crime novel, but it also incorporates my passion for music and Italian-American culture. It's very promising, I think. My "Pet Sounds" book is coming out next month in Japan, translated by Haruki Murakami, so I'm excited about that. I edited (and contributed a chapter to) the audio serial-thriller "The Chopin Manuscript," which featured Jeff Deaver, Lee Child, David Hewson, Lisa Scottoline and others. There's been discussion of a sequel that I'll edit as well.


For more info about this author visit: www.jimfusilli.com

Q & A with Ray Banks

Q: What makes Cal Innes different from other fictional private eyes?
Well, technically, he's not a private eye. He's not licensed, and he doesn't really have much of a business. It's a label he puts on himself because it's a lot more glamorous than "drunk", "ex-con" or "hatchet man". I hope he's a little less heroic and a little more realistic. But that probably says more about me than him.

Q: What are your thoughts on the psycho sidekick in PI novels?
It's cheap, unless the guy's name is Mouse.

Q: Do you do a lot of research?
Enough to get the point across, but not too much that some pedant can pull me up on something niggly. I have a tendency to write about situations that I have some interest in and knowledge about anyway.

Q: Has your writing changed a lot over time?
I hope it's changed considerably for the better. I know I'm a lot more comfortable with certain nuts and bolts aspects of it now. I think I can plot better than I used to, in that I tend to have plots now. And I'm less inclined to witter on about nothing just because I like the way it reads. So it's definitely changed. It has to. As long as you keep learning, you keep changing.

Q: How do you promote your books?
Dropping fliers from a hot air balloon, sky-writing, spray-tagging public buildings, tattooing homeless people. Y'know, the usual.

Q: What's next for you and Cal?
The fourth book, Beast Of Burden. That needs some work right now. After that, we'll see what happens. I don't really talk beyond the next book if I can help it.

Q: Do you have any favorite Sons of Spade yourself?
C W Sughrue and Milo Milodragovitch. Jack Taylor. Easy Rawlins. Lew Griffin. Derek Strange and Terry Quinn. David Brandstetter. Favourite Daughter of Spade: Tess Monaghan. I've probably missed a couple. They know who they are.

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 and in what way?
I think Ken Bruen is already a massive influence on newer writers, and not just stylistically. He's bringing emotion back to what is still primarily a chilly, investigative sub-genre. Laura Lippman, Walter Mosley and George Pelecanos bring in the sociological elements, without becoming either too preachy or too political. James Sallis deconstructs the mythology and the very idea of a fictional private investigator. And James Crumley happens to write some of the finest, meatiest prose I've ever read.

Really, the PI will never die. He or she will just evolve into something more meaningful for their time.

Q: David Fulmer came up with the following question:
Why did you want to write in this genre?

Because I don't have the time, patience or inclination to learn about the filth. PI novels also have a tradition of first-person narratives, which is my natural comfort zone, and I thought there was a lot of interesting stuff in the mythology of the PI, especially when it was applied to a British setting.

Q: What questions should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer? My question: When are you going to write a real book?
My answer: When I enjoy reading "real books".

For more info about this author visit: www.thesaturdayboy.com

Q & A with David Fulmer

Today we interview David Fulmer, author of the Storyville series and the just released novel The Blue Door, featuring Eddie Cero.

Q: What makes Eddie Cero and Valentin St. Cyr different from other fictional private eyes?
Their histories, for one thing. They are both orphans of a sort with tragedies in their backgrounds that affect the way they operate. They are both very quiet, both loners, unlike wise-cracking gumshoes. Both are capable of violence and yet they both hate using it. They are, of course, different from each other in many ways, too. I work very hard to give my characters lots of dimension, including full biographies, before I begin writing. I find it makes a huge difference in the story.

Q: What are your thoughts on the psycho sidekick in PI novels?
There are two kinds of leading characters. Those who come to the page as heroes or anti-heroes. They proceed to do whatever heroee or anti-heroes do. This includes psychos of all stripes. They're colorful and active, but I find in most cases they're limited by their status. They have a few set responses to a situation and that's it. My characters are rather ordinary people who find themselves thrown into extra-ordinary situations and have to work through it, making it up as they go along. Eddie Cero in The Blue Door is a perfect example of this.

Q: Do you do a lot of research?
I do research for every book. First of all, I read all the books on a time and place. I also do something different. I go to the libraries and read old newspapers. I'm not looking for anything in particular, just soaking up the news from the street. I find this helps me with the content and pace of speech from the day. So I can use that in dialogue. The books are for the big historical picture, the newspapers bring me down to the ground where average people are living.

Q: Has your writing changed a lot since the first novel?
I hope it's better! I have worked to refine the atmospherics: the characters, dialogue, and settings. I want to make these elements vivid and evocative. I changed styles for my fourth book because it had a new setting. The same for this most recent book. That goes back to the question above. The newspapers helped me set the scenes for the characters to work in. I learn new things every day, and am humbled by how much more I have to learn.

Q: How do you promote your books?
My publisher Harcourt has a publicist on staff who works with me. I do much of my own publicity, too. Since my books have much to do with music, I go after the music press: print, radio, and web. This is a way to reach people who are interested in the music subtext. Likewise, I came up with a list of the boxing publications and websites for this last book. I was a newspaper and magazine writer for many years, so I know what editors want in a story. Again, all this involves extensive research.

Q: What's next for you and Eddie Cero and Valentin St. Cyr?
Next I'll go back to Storyville with "Lost River." I have several other books on the shelf waiting to be published. I would like to do another South Philly book, too.

Q: Do you have any favorite Sons of Spade yourself?
James Lee Burke, Donald Westlake, James Sallis, to name a few. I love one-off books like The Name of the Rose.

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 and in what way?
That's a very difficult question. Because the media has changed more in the last ten years than it did in the prior fifty. I think that graphic novels might have an influence. Also programs like The Sopranos and The Wire. Also, there are just too many authors out there for any one to have major influence. It's a big field with a lot of fast horses.

Q: James Mitchell came up with the following question: are you making any money?
I'm doing all right. I supplement my book income with teaching and side media projects. As a single parent, I need to be careful about keeping the cash flow

Q: What questions should we ask every PI writer we interview and what is your answer?
Why did you want to write in this genre?
My answer is I didn't pick the mystery genre, it picked me. When I approached my first book, (Chasing the Devil's Tail) I decided that the setting called for a mystery. Nothing else would work as well. So that's what I wrote. Without any intention of writing another one. Then Harcourt made me a deal I couldn't refuse and I became a mystery author. What I've found since is that genre fiction can be as transcendant as any other kind of writing.

For more info about this author visit: www.davidfulmer.com