[Interview] P. T. Harris

P. T. Harris is an MBA and Citizen’s Police Academy graduate.

Her books include the Detective Priscilla Taylor novels, ASSISTdead and REGRETdead. Currently, she is working on a third detective novel, DICTATEdead.

In this email interview, P. T. Harris talks about her concerns as a writer.

When did you start writing?

Like many, I wrote poems and short stories as a kid and I've always read voraciously, dreaming -- with each "The End" -- of someday penning my own stories.

Three years ago, after corporate America and I got sideways one too many times, I decided that my talent for "too long emails" might be better utilized. So, instead of crafting another resume, I began my Priscilla Taylor detective series.

How did you decide you wanted to be a published author?

The idea always burned in me, but the monthly nut called louder. When the epiphany hit that job security is an oxymoron and trying to fit into someone else's suit had worn me out, I did the most irresponsible of all things. I chose writing as a career. This, mind you, is not a sane decision, so perhaps I had progressed beyond "worn out..."

As an MBA with thirty years of corporate experience, I tackled the project as I would any new product launch.

I designed a product, my character, Priscilla Taylor. I decided on her "features and benefits." The spreadsheet began. Peripheral characters joined her on the sheet -- a partner, the M.E., the department shrink, a best friend. Never would I forget who had blue eyes or how tall I might have made them. She needed a "hook" so I developed one. Every title would end with "dead" in place of the "ed." With forty-plus Priscilla Taylor titles and corresponding mental issues on my spreadsheet, I began writing.

How would you describe your writing?

My genre is crime/detective, but I'm focused on the psychological aspects of crime; what I call "scintillating psychological suspense". I address the scientific aspects minimally -- you won't find a CSI type education in my work. Instead, I prefer to engage the audience in the why versus the how or who.

Do I want to make people think? I suppose to some degree I do. Not too much, though. My work is definitely entertainment, with maybe just a tad bit of thought-provoking thrown in.

Who is your target audience?

Anyone who loves to think, solve mysteries, root for a flawed character, revel in humanity's imperfections.

I couldn't write anything else. I love mysteries, law and order, crime, psychological thriller pieces. They've kept me company on countless flights and entertained me through many sun tanning summers.

What separates us from the rest of the species is our minds. Nothing could be more fascinating to me than stories which delve into our motivations, reactions, and their resultant outcomes.

Who influenced you most?

I'm a Kellerman fan, Jonathan and Faye. I love Patricia Cornwell, John Sandford, Richard North Patterson, David Baldacci, Robert K. Tannenbaum. Did I mention, I'm a law and order mystery buff?

I love the mind; how it works, the challenges it overcomes, the disastrous situations it (often) leads us into. It's the why, always the why that fascinates me.

If life had do-overs, I'd probably have chosen a career in psychiatry or law. Now, I fulfill both of those fantasies in my writing. I can play arm-chair psychologist or put away the bad guys with my keyboard.

As a writer, what are your main concerns?

Evoking emotion. Keeping the reader engaged. Not crossing the line between making them think and making them uncomfortable.

I write, with my voice, and accept the reality every author faces. Fiction is like food and everyone has different tastes. My work won't please every palate.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

Eating. Paying the mortgage. I thought I understood the business end of writing; that I'd done my research like grad school taught me. I hadn't.

I didn't realize agents/publishers see 1.3 million submission annually for a publishing schedule of maybe 200,000 books. I didn't realize the average author makes about $4,000 a year, or that almost 80% of books sell less than a hundred copies.

I didn't realize that writing the book was the easy part. The true challenge is selling it.

Would that have changed my direction? No.

I've loved every minute of writing; every critique class that's made me go home and cry; every rejection letter I've received. Why? Because I love my work. I love when I get it right, love when I'm eating out and a couple walks in that I can't wait to write into a scene, love when I'm researching. I love the process. You can't write for wealth and fame. You have to write for your soul.

How many books have you written so far?

I've completed two novels, ASSISTdead and REGRETdead, both self-published in 2007 as ebooks.

ASSISTdead introduces Detective Priscilla Taylor, who takes every murder personally. As she struggles to find the killer, more than a few of her most private failures make front page headlines. Can she unravel the case before she unravels, or will she succumb to this most public psychic persecution?

In the sequel, REGRETdead, Detective Priscilla Taylor faces a case that won't go away, a case too vile for words, and a personal onslaught that just might destroy her as she addresses the toughest of questions: Everyone has regrets. What if yours killed?

Do you write everyday?

Lately, I haven't been writing, except in my head. I'm not suffering writer's block; in fact my notes list is growing daily. Other things have simply kept me from organizing all those notes.

One of the things I love about writing is I'm always working, whether it's while I'm pulling weeds or cleaning the bathroom. Some people use storyboards to capture their plot. I don't. I free-write sequentially. The notes I make help me throw in a unique character, some line I found funny or compelling, or toss in some fact I stumbled across.

I always carry a 3x5 notepad with me and jot down ideas as they come, then transfer them to a word document.

When I sit down to write, I review my notes list first, then reread the last couple of chapters to refresh myself on where I am in the storyline. The storyline itself has a begining and an end. The part in between? I rely on my characters to lead me there.

How did you chose a publisher for the books you've written so far?

I completed my first two books in about a year and a half. It was important to me, before I sought publication, that I proved I had more than one book in me.

Secondly, I thought demonstrating my ability to deliver more than one manuscript would make be more marketable. Once "The End" hit the page for REGRETdead, (after numerous editing and rewriting) I began the query letter process.

Six months later, I had 67 rejection letters, one agent who agreed to represent me, an "I really thought about it, but no," agent response, and a contract from a new publisher. The agent had a poor reputation and the new publisher wouldn't be able to deliver my book for two years.

The question had to be asked. Would that publisher survive two years? I researched self-publishing, and in the end, I chose ebooks. My capital outlay for the software was low and, no matter who published me, it would still be up to me to sell my work.

What advantages or disadvantages has this presented?

The challenges are many. Ebooks are in their infancy as far as acceptance, with a few major sites dominating ebook sales. A stand alone website in the Internet universe is tough to generate a presence for. Without a tangible product, readings don't result in sales.

The advantages? I set the sales price. This is the key reason I didn't go with another ebook site. I couldn't get my head around the idea that I, no-brand-name P. T. Harris, could sell tons of books at the same price or higher than say, Kellerman or Sandford.

Since most authors make little on the first couple of books, I sought to use the ebook format as a venue to build my own brand by delivering great fiction at just $3.99 per book. Then, two or three books later, my major publisher (she dreams) can reissue ASSISTdead and REGRETdead.

Time will tell whether the strategy pays off.

Like writing itself, success as an author seldom arrives in one moment. It's a series of moments that work toward the end result.

Which aspect of the work you put into REGRETdead did you find most difficult?

Editing! I hate the process, but it's necessary, and I use the following quote to remind me why: " "You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke" -- Arthur Polotnik.

Editing is boring, redundant, takes time away from creating new words, and never ending. I can't stop tweaking. Thank God! I'd probably edited REGRETdead five or six times before I realized a major plot gap. This is where free-writing can kill you.

Now, to make it easier, I edit as I go along. When I reread a chapter, I'm also editing. Second, I build the chapter by chapter synopsis as I go along. Some agents require them and it helps me keep the plot in line.

What did you enjoy most?

I love dialogue. In fact, writing description is work. (Maybe I should try screenplays?) I love humor, which can be dangerous, and I love inner thoughts.

I write first person and Priscilla is always in her head. Well, sometimes those thoughts that should remain unspoken pop out, but most of her sarcasm and distaste for others rambles in her brain while she smiles sweetly.

Again, it's the psychological aspects of human beings that I find fascinating -- their self-doubts, their humor, their concerns, their convictions. Dialogue and inner thoughts let me express those ideas.

What sets REGRETdead apart from other things you've written?

In the corporate world I wrote proposals and programs. In my youth I wrote about teenage angst. (Didn't most of us?)

Now, I've written two almost four hundred page novels.

The accomplishment of weaving together plotlines and characters and ideas, twice, is what sets these works apart.

In what way is it all similar?

Grammar counts. Punctuation counts (and, oh, do I struggle with commas -- like using them way too often.) Spelling counts. You need a beginning, middle and end.

You are trying to compel people to read on; you have to use "the word." You need continuity of thought, a logical progression, understandable and believable situations.

Anytime you put words to paper you are asking someone to accept your voice, whether it's a sales proposal, a love letter, or a fiction novel.

Honor your reader by presenting your absolute best.

What will your next book be about?

The third novel in my series, DICTATEdead, finds Detective Taylor facing the police chief's retribution for some of her questionable actions during REGRETdead.

Now, as punishment, the highly successful homicide detective isn't working a heinous murder; she's investigating a series of dummy dissections left in city parks. Under the guise of having an opportunity to stop a potential murderer, and with the Chief's nephew as her new partner, she again finds herself under the media's microscope. Can she figure out what rage drives her perpetrator before she faces an actual corpse, or will this case be the embarrassing end to her career?

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I have a one minute monologue due for publication in an actor's handbook this fall, and a piece in an anthology that is still seeking a publisher, but my greatest achievement is that I have completed two novels.

Many start out with the same goal I did.

I actually achieved it.

This article was first published by OhmyNews International.

[Interview] Dennis N. Griffin

Crime writer Dennis N. Griffin has written and published six novels and three non-fiction books about Las Vegas police and organized crime history.

Four of his six novels, The Morgue (1996); Red Gold (2000); Killer In Pair-A-Dice (2001) and Blood Money (2002) were published by AuthorHouse while the remaining two, One-Armed Bandit (2002) and Pension (2004) where released through Publish America.

His three non-fiction books, Policing Las Vegas (April 2005); The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. the Mob (2006) and Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness (2007) were all published by Huntington Press.

In a recent interview, Dennis Griffin spoke about the work he is doing.

When did you start writing?

I began writing my first manuscript in 1994, following my retirement from a 20-year career in law enforcement and investigations in New York State . My motivation at that time wasn’t money or fame. It was solely to tell the story of a medical examiner’s office run amok. It was based on the last investigation I did prior to retiring and was a story I felt needed to be told.

I plunged ahead with my project without doing any research on the writing business. I didn’t know traditional publishing from self-publishing. I had no idea what a [print on demand] POD book was. I only knew I had a story to tell and wanted to get it out there.

The Morgue was completed in early 1996 and that’s when all the things I had failed to do came home to roost.

There I was with a 110,000-word document and clueless about what to do next.

Belatedly springing into action, I researched publishing options and commenced sending our queries, followed by sample chapters, followed by the entire manuscript in some cases. Each attempt ended with a rejection. As the copying and postage expenses mounted, along with the frustration, I was about ready to pack it in. Suddenly, out of the blue I was thrown a life line. A company called 1stBooks (now AuthorHouse) contacted me to announce they were expanding their services to include printed and bound books as well as e-books. Was I interested in being one of the first authors to have their manuscript published in POD format for only a $75 setup fee? I still didn’t understand what POD was all about, but without any attractive alternatives I couldn’t sign fast enough.

I had the book in my hands in a fairly short time — a couple of months as I remember. After the euphoria wore off, I was confronted with yet more realities. I was responsible for marketing and promoting my book. The publisher didn’t do it — they didn’t even offer a promo package at the time. And book stores, especially the chains, weren’t anxious to schedule events for self-published and/or POD authors, or stock their books.

It was crunch time for me. I had to decide if I wanted to write any more. And if I did, in order to have any chance for personal or financial success, I’d have to develop a readership beyond family and friends. So, did I want to establish myself as an author and was I prepared to put forth the effort to develop my writing and marketing skills?

I decided to go for it.

How would you describe your writing?

I am currently writing non-fiction Las Vegas police and organized crime history, specifically Chicago Outfit enforcer, Tony Spilotro’s reign. This is the era dramatized in the hit 1995 movie Casino, in which actor Joe Pesci plays a character based on Spilotro.

My target audience is the millions of people who are fascinated by the workings of organized crime, have organized or true crime books at the top of their reading list, watched The Godfather series, Casino and Goodfellas multiple times and felt a great sense of loss when the last episode of The Sopranos aired.

Author and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi has been a great influence in my non-fiction efforts. I admired his work in the book and movie Casino, and the book Wiseguy, which was the basis for the movie Goodfellas.

I decided to turn to non-fiction in 2001, when my career seemed to be stalled. I felt I either had to try something new or get out of the writing business. By coincidence, it was at that time I attended a writers’ conference in Florida , where I met a lady who had written the story of the Indiana State Police. I purchased a copy of her book and read it cover-to-cover. I was still searching for a subject for my first non-fiction effort and doing a police history book appealed to me. I had been living in Las Vegas since 1994 and thought doing a book about my new home town’s police force would be fun to write and might sell fairly well in Sin City.

My first step was to secure the cooperation of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro). I prepared a proposal and submitted it to the department’s Undersheriff. In less than an hour my plan was accepted.

I next sought a publisher. I had already determined that because my book was going to be about Vegas, my best bet to land a publisher would be to look locally. With Metro having signed on to the project, I prepared a proposal and presented it to Las Vegas publisher Huntington Press (HP). Huntington is a small press owned by well-known gaming expert Anthony Curtis. They publish a handful of books per year and don’t handle fiction. Their titles all have Las Vegas or Nevada connections. After a few weeks, HP informed me they’d publish my book if the manuscript lived up to my proffer. Policing Las Vegas was released in April 2005.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

In writing non-fiction, my biggest concern is accuracy.

In order get the best information possible, I make every effort to find credible sources whose stories can be corroborated through other witnesses and/or documentary evidence.I believe my background in law enforcement and investigations makes writing organized crime appealing to me. I actually enjoy doing the research and look forward to conducting interviews with the people who lived the events I’m writing about.

My biggest challenge, particularly when I first began writing non-fiction, has been gaining the confidence of potential sources. Approaching someone I’ve never met before and asking him or her to share intimate details of their professional or personal lives with me, has to be handled with great tact.

If I’ve been referred to them by an acquaintance, I mention the name. I never ask for information during the initial contact. I explain what I’m working on and why I’m requesting an interview and answer any questions they may have. After that I back off to allow the potential source a chance to check me out.

I don’t lie to my sources. If they tell me something that is off the record, it remains off the record. And I always review the text with them prior to adding it to the manuscript. I believe that gives both of us a chance to detect any misunderstandings or points that require additional clarification.

Do you write everyday?

I try to do at least three hours of writing-related functions every day. They can include writing, editing, research, or marketing and promo. Each day I prioritize what needs to be done and then work on those items. I quit when I’ve met my goals or if I reach a point where I’m tired or frustrated and my efforts are becoming unproductive.

How did Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness come about?

Cullotta is the biography of Frank Cullotta, a former master thief, arsonist, mob tough guy and killer. The book explains in graphic detail his life as a criminal on the streets of Chicago, his days running a crew of thieves and murderers in Las Vegas and life in the federal Witness Protection Program.

I was fortunate in that I had already done a tremendous amount of research regarding the so-called Spilotro days when writing The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. the Mob. Even with that advantage, it took about eight months to complete the manuscript and gather related documents.

My first two non-fictions were with Huntington Press. Through those books I had established a good working relationship with them, both as a writer and marketer. Per my contract with them they had the right of first refusal. But I’d have gone to them first even without the contract provision.

Shortly after my first meeting with Frank Cullotta, I approached Huntington with a proposal outlining what Frank’s story would contain and the amount of detail he would provide. As an illustration, the proposal included Frank’s description of the facts behind the so-called M&M murders. They were the basis for one of the most memorable scenes in Casino, the one in which Pesci’s character places a man’s head in a vise and squeezes until the guy’s eyeball pops out. Huntington saw the book’s potential and agreed to publish it.

After my initial experiences with self and/or POD publishing where I had to do almost everything myself, working with Huntington was a refreshing experience. A professional editor worked closely with me as I prepared my manuscripts. Help was always only a phone call or e-mail away. HP’s attorneys rendered opinions on any legal issues that needed to be addressed. A marketing person gathered the information necessary to pitch local book stores and other venues. And when my books were released, the publicity director arranged radio and TV interviews for me.

Which aspects of the project did you find most difficult?

The start of the project was the most difficult for a number of reasons:

Frank and I didn’t know each other and had to go through a feeling out process. After spending 20 years in investigations and law enforcement, I had to overcome my inhibitions about entering into a business relationship with a man who — at least for many years — represented everything I had been against.

Our lack of familiarity with each other caused me to have to grope my way along during our conversations to avoid getting Frank upset and possibly alienating him. Would I ask a wrong question? Would I react to an answer in a way that would offend him? Would he sense through my body language, tone or expression that I found some of his previous conduct repulsive? I guess I could say that at the start I sometimes felt like I was sitting on a powder keg and hoping not to accidentally ignite it.

Communications were a problem. For security purposes I wasn’t allowed to know Frank’s new identity, location or business. All contact had to go through a middle man, retired FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy. This was cumbersome to say the least and proved to be unworkable.

In addition to dealing with Frank, my wife was not at all happy with me for getting involved with writing his story. While I was working on Battle a couple of things happened — annoying/threatening phone calls, suspicious persons loitering near our home — that had made her nervous about my writing true crime. Battle wasn’t even back from the printer and here I was tangled up with a hit man.

Fortunately, these early problems evaporated rather quickly. As Frank and I developed mutual respect and trust things went much smoother. I was given a way to contact him directly — along with a stern warning by Dennis Arnoldy that I was responsible for maintaining the security of that information. I learned that Frank has a code of ethics and there is only one way to deal with him: directly and honestly. If you treat him that way you’ll gain his respect and he’ll respond in kind. He also has a great sense of humor. As time went on

Frank went from being a business associate to being a friend.

Even my wife has experienced a transformation. The first time Frank came to our place for a meeting, as he came in one door she and our dog went out the other. But now they’re buddies. She looks forward to his calls and visits.

What sets the book apart from the other things you’ve written?

While Battle and Cullotta are similar in regard to reporting on things that happened in Las Vegas, having Frank’s input adds a whole new perspective. And Cullotta also addresses events that took place in Chicago, Frank’s prison and Witness Protection Program experiences as well as his involvement with the movie Casino.

I think Cullotta is the highlight of my writing career to date. Everything fell into place for me to write this book. It started with my decision to try non-fiction. The contacts and information I developed while writing Policing Las Vegas resulted in The Battle for Las Vegas, which in turn led me to Cullotta.

The road has had a few bumps in it. But all-in-all it’s been a great ride.

What will your next book be about?

I’m currently finishing Vegas Vixen, the third book in my Vegas trilogy. This time my detectives have to delve into the Las Vegas of the 1960s and ‘70s to solve a 2002 murder.

Killer In Pair-A-Dice, an AuthorHouse publication that was released in 2001, is the first of in the trilogy. Featuring homicide detectives Steve Garneau and Theresa “Terry” Bolton, it is the tale of a serial rapist and murderer stalking the streets and neighborhoods of Sin City.

One-Armed Bandit is the second and was published by Publish America in 2002. This time, Garneau and Bolton have to solve the murders of four people in what initially appears to be a convenience store robbery.

[Interview] Marilyn Meredith

Marilyn Meredith is the author of the Tempe Crabtree series of mystery novels and the Rocky Bluff P.D. series of police procedurals.

Her books have won awards that include the 2006 American Author Association’s Best Thriller Award as well as the 2006 USA Book News Best Book Award, which went to her psychological thriller, Wishing Makes It So (Hard Shell Word Factory, 2006).

In addition to working as a writer, Marilyn Meredith is a member of Sisters in Crime; Mystery Writers of America; EPIC -- Electronically Published Internet Connection and the Public Safety Writers Association. She has also served as an instructor at the Maui Writers Retreat and other writer’s conferences and was, for ten years, an instructor with the Writer’s Digest School.

In a recent interview, she spoke about her writing.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I don't know that there was a particular moment… I started writing from the time I could pick up a pencil and put words on paper… Actually I started before that because, before I could write, I drew pictures to tell stories.

My first published books [Trail to Glory (Leisure Books, 1986) and Two Ways West (Northwest Publishing, 1994)] were historical family sagas based on my own family genealogy. The books were fiction because I tried to fill in all the blanks… What happened to this person? Why did they move here or there?

It was like solving mysteries because I had to do a lot of research into the time period and places where my family members lived. When I'd written about both sides and trying to decide what to write next, I realized I was reading a lot of mysteries and supernatural stories. So the next book I wrote was The Astral Gift, a mystery with a bit of the supernatural. From there I moved on to the mysteries I'm writing now.

Who would you say is your target audience?

Anyone who loves mysteries… though my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series has a touch of Native American supernatural elements. I’m also writing the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, which is also mystery but in the police procedural category.

Judgment Fire and the other Deputy Crabtree mysteries can be read by young teens on up. The Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Fringe Benefits is the latest, is darker and geared more [for] adults.

Who would you say influenced you the most?

All of the great mystery writers -- Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe and the new greats like Sue Grafton and Mary Higgins Clark.

How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Our first home was in a housing development where you could buy a house for $100. (This was a long, long time ago. Everyone who lived there had low-paying jobs: sailors (my husband was a Seabee), firemen and policemen. We were friends with and partied with them all. I knew the wives and the kids [and] was privy to the problems they faced.

Later, one of my sons-in-law became a police officer. My daughter didn't like to hear about his work so he'd come to my house after his shift for coffee and say, "Well, mom, do you want to hear what I did last night?" And I listened. Once he took me on a ride-along -- that was an experience.

A few years later, I went on other ride-alongs, once with a female officer who was the only woman on the department and a single mom. From about 2:30 a.m. until 6, she didn't have a single call and she poured out her heart to me.

During this time period, I was writing personality pieces for the local paper and I interviewed our resident deputy -- also a woman in a mostly male department. She told about the problems she had because of this. I wrote the article but feared she might lose her job because of what she told me. I had her read it and she said, "It's all true, print it." She did lose her job. Fortunately, she got a better one right away.

I met and became friends with a young Native American woman who grew up on the reservation near where I live.

I grew up in Los Angeles, but after I was married, lived mostly in small town. The mystic of a small town intrigues me, so most of my books are set in small towns… fictional ones -- I draw upon all I know about the small towns I've lived in. Bear Creek, the setting in my Deputy Crabtree mysteries is remarkably similar to where I'm living now.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Letting people know about my books is always in the forefront of my mind. Being published by small, independent publishers, I have to work harder at bringing my titles in front of readers.

What would you say are the biggest challenges that you face?

Having enough time to do all the things I want to do. For instance, today one of my granddaughters who is planning a family reunion wanted me to make the invitation -- one with family portraits on the front and the back. While I was working on that, another granddaughter faxed me a letter written by one of the chairmen of the board for the country club she works for and asked me to edit it. Of course, I did.

And I had to stop and do the mundane every day things like wash clothes and cook dinner.

I also finished reading a manuscript for a good friends who wanted some feedback.

Because I do some other writing jobs that pay, I had a couple of phone calls about them.

What I wanted to be doing was getting started on my next book.

How do you deal with these challenges?

One at a time. That sounds simplistic, but that's really how I handle it. I try to prioritize -- but sometimes that's difficult when you've got the people who want something waiting right in your office. Oh yes, and there is my dear husband who would like some attention every now and then.

Do you write everyday?

I do write everyday, but it's not always on fiction. Mornings are my best times for creating and I do other things in the afternoons, like rewriting or promotion chores.

What is your latest book about?

Judgment Fire is about the murder of an abused wife. While investigating, Tempe comes to terms with her unhappy high school days and the reason why she ignored her Native American heritage for so long.

It takes me about six months to write a book and two to three to edit and rewrite.

Which aspects of the work that you put into Judgment Fire did you find most difficult?

I always try to find some Native American spiritualism to weave into the plot.

Because I don't want to offend anyone, I try to fictionalize everything that I use while keeping it as real as possible. I also want Tempe to grow in each book, to learn more about her heritage and herself.

I read every book to the critique group that I've attended for over twenty years and get feedback from them.

Which did you enjoy most?

I always enjoy finding out what Tempe is going to do next. Of course I always think I know, but when I get to the writing, Tempe always surprises me.

What sets Judgment Fire apart from the other things you have written?

Because this is an ongoing series, I think what's new in this one, is the unpleasant memories that come back to Tempe, which explains some of what has gone on in other books.

In what way is it similar?

Tempe and her husband Hutch have a really strong love relationship -- but this is strained in nearly every book when she goes against his wishes and dabbles in Indian spiritualism. Hutch always fears that Tempe may lose her soul.

What will your next book be about?

The next book is done and with the publisher. Tempe helps investigate the murder of an artist and, to do this, must take a trip to Crescent City where she learns about the Tolowa, and to Santa Barbara where she's nearly murdered.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

I've had many high points along the way. My books have won several awards. But the most significant is when a reader tells me how much they enjoyed one of my novels. Feedback from readers is always great.

How did you get there?

I'm not sure how to answer this except to tell you how I've gotten where I am today and that is through a lot of hard work, making myself write even when I didn't want to, and never giving up.

This article was first published by OhmyNews International.

[Interview] Rod Duncan

In 2003, Rod Duncan’s crime thriller, Backlash was shortlisted for the John Creasey Award for the best debut crime novel of the year. Backlash was followed by Breakbeat (2004) and Burnout (2005).

The novels trace three very different stories which happen on the same day in Leicester, the most ethnically diverse city in the United Kingdom.

Duncan has a degree in Mining Geology and has worked as a scientific researcher in Aberystwyth and Leicester. He has been writing full-time since 1993.

In a recent interview, Rod Duncan spoke about his writing and his concerns as a writer.

Your most recent novel, Burnout is the third in a trilogy, that includes Backlash and Breakbeat. What unifies the three novels?

The three novels take place at the same place and at the same time -- in and around a fictional riot in Leicester. They are interlinked stories, following the paths of different people through a traumatic event.

I was interested in exploring the nature of narrative and the way events can seem different from different points of view. For example, a 'goodie' in one story can be a 'baddie' in another -- the same person, in the same event but viewed from a different point of view. Of course, there is no such thing as a 'goodie' or a 'baddie' and this was a way of exploring that from within the confines of traditional narrative.

After the first two novels, was Burnout easier or more difficult to write?

The most difficult thing in writing Burnout was that I was already tied down from the previous novels.

I knew what the weather was like on every day of the two weeks of fictional time that make up the core of the stories. I knew what all the major events were. I knew where all the key characters were, sometimes on an hour-by-hour basis. There could be no murders discovered, for example, during that two weeks, or they would have been mentioned in the previous books.

In short, I was hemmed in by my own previous writing.

How did you deal with this challenge?

Just as a blank page with infinite possibilities can sometimes block a writer up, limitations often produce great creativity. (I believe this is the reason that many creative writing exercises put a series of artificial limitations on what a person is allowed to write).

Burnout was a challenge, but ultimately I was extremely pleased with the result.

How did I overcome these difficulties? Lateral and logical processes.

The subconscious provided the lateral part. The conscious mind used lots of huge sheets of paper with complex charts scrawled all over them, establishing where all the characters were day by day through the two weeks, and all the key events.

How have the novels been received?

I'll talk about how the first novel, Backlash was received.

It was a story that jumped out onto the page for me. I could feel the pressure of the story wanting to be written. At the same time, I was very nervous about it because it is a first person narrative from the point of view of a mixed race woman, who works as a community relations police officer. It touches on issues of racism and differing attitudes to multiculturalism.

I worried, all the way through the writing process, that this material could be misinterpreted. Only when I finished did the anxiety go away. When I wrote the last sentence I knew it was complete and I stopped worrying what other people would think.

What caused this anxiety?

As we have seen recently, different people mean different things when they speak of multiculturalism. Almost any simple statement made on the issue can be misinterpreted. But in a novel, there is enough room speak about it.

So how was it received? I am glad to say that it was received very warmly by people from many different races and backgrounds.

I was particularly pleased with a glowing review in India Weekly. The reviewer got to the heart of the book. He really understood it.

Only one person complained about the way the book talked about racism. She stopped me in the street and asked why I'd written all those things bad things about Leicester. This shook me up, because I love this city in all its beautiful diversity.

But then I asked her exactly what it was in Backlash that she didn't like. It turned out the only part she'd read was the cover. I decided I could live with that.

Why do you think Backlash has been this successful?

I think Backlash was received well because, at heart, it is a good yarn. The multi-cultural city is it's background. But the story is about a woman, confronted with a crime which threatens her life and an event that will change it forever - one way or another. I think that's why it was shortlisted for the John Creasey award for the best debut crime novel of 2003.

What would you say are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concerns as a writer ... Narrative touches everybody. It is fundamental to the human condition.

Children learn to cope with their fears through stories of wolves and pigs and evil and good and death and love. We tell stories about things that have happened to us, to codify the changes of our lives. We try to find out the stories of our ancestors to help us understand where we came from. It is through stories that we understand religion and history. Writers and storytellers aren't simply making a living or entertaining people. They are engaged in something elemental. There is magic here. The alchemy of storytelling.

I don't believe a novelist could write a book and be unchanged by the process.

How has your own writing changed you?

Each of the books I have written has taken me on a journey. Particularly Breakbeat. That is the story of a dyslexic man, coping with a crime and coming to terms with who he is.

I found myself writing the words of another character talking to him, telling him why he acted as he did, explaining his psychology. But really the character was telling ME why I do the things I do, why I am as I am. I hadn't known it before.

What concerns me about writing? Is it to have a chance to entertain the reader? Yes, certainly. Is it to explore complex issues? Yes. But underlying all that is something more profound, something that exists mostly in the subconscious. It is to immerse myself in narrative. In short, it is to be human.

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[Interview] John Baker

Crime writer, John Baker's novels include Poet in the Gutter (1995); Death Minus Zero (1996); King of the Streets (1998); Walking with Ghosts (1999); The Chinese Girl (2000); Shooting in the Dark (2001); The Meanest Flood (2003) and White Skin Man (2004).

In addition to writing crime and mystery novels, Baker is a book reviewer for Shots magazine and the Tangled Web. He is also a member of the Murder Squad, a collective of crime writers who use workshops, panels, readings and lectures to promote the genre.

In a recent interview, John Baker spoke about his writing and his concerns as a writer.

What drives the action in your novel, White Skin Man?

White Skin Man is a political novel about racism, those who suffer it, those who perpetrate it, and those who stand and watch. The novel pits ex-con, Stone Lewis and his friends against an intelligent and ruthless white supremacist and a gang of dangerous skinhead no-hopers.

The research for White Skin Man was different to the usual research I put in before I begin to write a novel. The theme was to do with displacement and was especially concerned with asylum seekers. So I contacted the Asylum Seekers’ Support Group in Hull. As a result of this I was introduced to several people who were waiting for the government to decide on their cases. I was invited into the hostels in which they lived and many had stories to tell. So many stories that there was no room for all of them in this novel.

The popular view, in the United Kingdom, is that asylum seekers are scroungers who come to the U.K. to take advantage of the welfare benefits system. How accurate is this?

In my experience it is not accurate at all. Of course, there are cheats and scoundrels in all walks of life and I'm sure they exist among asylum seekers as they exist among republicans and church folk and any other group you care to mention. But generally people seek political asylum because their lives are in danger in their countries of origin.

Governments of all political persuasions in the U.K. and elsewhere have used their abuse of asylum seekers to 'prove' that they can be tough on a perceived threat. A mere glance at history is enough to show us that.

When you were writing White Skin Man, what did you find most difficult? What did you enjoy most?

Although White Skin Man remains a crime novel, it has an additional dimension and the writing of it brought me into contact with many people on the run from oppression and poverty. Unfortunately, for many of them, their flight had only brought them into contact with more misunderstanding, more prejudice and poverty, and more violence. I needed to show the reality of this without preaching.

The most enjoyable part of writing any novel, for me, is the creation of characters. This novel was not an exception.

It makes no bones about being a political novel. While earlier novels had political content and always included some kind of social comment, White Skin Man is a novel about racism.

Racism is the greatest question of our time. From the grand-style apartheid in South Africa, Hitler and his Jewish question, and the civil-rights movement in the United States of America, down to the millions of acts of petty prejudice that are enacted every day. Underlining this question is the simple formulation: "Can we not live together?"

There are some reviews on my website.

Of the eight novels that you have published so far, which was the most difficult to write? Which was easiest?

The Chinese Girl was the most difficult to write. It was originally conceived as an epistolary novel, but for various reasons that proved to be an impossible way of organizing the material satisfactorily. This meant re-conceiving a form for the novel when it was already half completed. Difficult but interesting.

The easiest to write was the first one, Poet in the Gutter. This was so because I'd never written a novel before and had only the slightest inkling of the problems I would encounter. Also, because I was finally ready to write a novel after many false starts.

It was easy because I was able to set aside anything that got in the way. I was going to write a novel and nothing was going to stop me. I made myself blind to the parts that were not working. There are, in retrospect, many good things about the novel, but if I was to write it now it would be quite different.

What will your next book be about?

My next book, Winged with Death, will not be a crime novel. It is based mainly in Montevideo and its central theme is time. It is a book about revolution, about tango, and about the unfolding of an individual destiny.

There is an extract from the opening chapter on my blog.

Winged with Death has engaged me in more ways than previous novels. It has made me dig deeper and in an artistic sense, it is much more ambitious than anything else I have published.

How much time would you say you spend on writing?

I write every day. Sometimes I only spend a couple of hours at my desk. But I'm there, every morning and something like writing has to occur before I move on to something else. So I spend between 15 and 30 hours a week writing. An approaching deadline might squeeze more from me, but then again, it may not.

I'm driven to write. It is the way I respond to the world. I am aware of myself storing up experiences, thoughts and feelings. At some point I begin, almost unconsciously, to organize this material inside my head.

Later I begin making notes, creating a schemata, sometimes sentences and phrases, sometimes single words. And out of this jumble of ideas, a theme begins to emerge. Often more than one theme. All of this activity is not writing, it is a kind of pre-writing, a chewing over of everything that I've collected, a way of beginning to translate it into words.

Eventually I will begin writing, usually because there is nothing else I can do with my thoughts, and the process of writing will expand the thematic content of the material. From there I am concerned almost entirely with language.

In what way does language become a concern?

When one is dealing with a novel, or, I suppose, any work of art, one is dealing not with the real world, but with an event in consciousness. This is what I mean by language.

I am dealing with constraints, as any artist must deal with constraints, because these constraints are an essential part of the structure of my novel. Out of these constraints arise the narrative sequence. And, in addition, I am concerned with rhythm. I read what I have written aloud to ensure that the correct rhythms are there and to show up the lies and falsehoods that have crept into the narrative.

On a larger scale the temporal rhythm contained within the novel as a whole is held together by language and the use of language and as a writer this is the realm in which I live.

Which other challenges do you face when you are writing?

Talent is only a small part of the writing process, especially in the realm of the novel. Writing a novel is a huge commitment in time, it means that you have to be capable of concentrating on your given theme for many months, perhaps years, to the exclusion of almost everything else. This means keeping fit, physically, and keeping strong, mentally. There is an awful lot of space for self-doubt in the time it takes to conceive, write, edit, and complete a novel. This is why there are so many would-be writers out there who never actually manage to complete a manuscript.

But beyond that there is the question of the quality or originality of the novel that I am working on. I'm always looking for a miracle. I want my present project to succeed where the previous ones failed. I'm not talking about other people's perceptions here, not how the book was received by the critics or the public, but what I think about it. I don't want to rewrite something I've already written. I want it to be something that the world has never seen before. I want it to be so good that it can walk and talk and have babies.

How do you deal with these problems?

By keeping the faith. By enormous and continual efforts of the will. By coming at each obstacle from every possible direction. By listening.

Perseverance.

Writing, like most things, gets better through practice.

In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

I had a great English teacher when I was around ten years old and I believe it was him who lit the flame. He was passionate about the language and particularly about English writers. He encouraged my own writing and the books that I chose to read. He made my judgments feel valid, whereas most of my teachers made me feel as though I were invisible.

My mother was an avid reader and she taught me to read at an early age. We went to the library together every week. I remember reading the novels of Enid Blyton, the Billy Bunter books, the series of Biggles books, Just William and the other William books. I also read weekly comics, The Beano and Dandy, the Hotspur and later the Marvel comics and other horror comics.

I haven't read any of these since that time and have no intention of doing so. I suppose they stimulated my imagination and gave me some notion of how exciting written narrative can be. They also hooked me into the need for story. I read widely, classic, contemporary novels, newspapers, short stories, poetry.

The main influences during my teens would include the Americans, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Faulkner. At around the same time I was reading Zola and Dostoevski and Thomas Hardy. Later there was Knut Hamsun, Carson McCullers, Katherine Mansfield, and more recently, Carol Shields and Sylvia Plath.

If you're hankering after one it would be Hamsun because, he, more than any of the others, spoke directly to me. I responded to him in a more direct way, as if we were friends who had shared a unique view of the world. In retrospect I can see that this was all confined to his first four books. I was not impressed by his later works.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

Absolutely. One can only really write about what one knows.

The direction of one's writing is concerned with identity and identity as far as art is concerned is to do with style. Style is the writer, it is what makes the writer a writer and what makes the writer the kind of writer that he, or she, is.

I don't think it is possible to distinguish between personal experience and literary experience. What happened in my 'real' life and what happened in my imagination are entirely indistinguishable by now. I often smile when people tell me that they don't read novels because they only want to read about facts. There is nothing you could write in a novel that hasn't already happened in the so-called real world.


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