Tag: Q&A Page 11 of 18

I wasn’t able to finish my post about John McMahon’s A Good Kill in time for this morning, but I wanted to get something up about the book today. Thankfully, McMahon had taken part in the Q&A with me over the weekend. I really enjoyed his answers to this, and hope you do, too. Even more, I hope this Q&A makes you curious about the book, which is absolutely worth your time. Before we get to the his As and my Qs, here’s a little about the book:

In the years since the unsolved deaths of his wife and son, Detective P.T. Marsh of Mason Falls, Georgia, has faced demons professional and personal. But when he is called to the scene of an unfolding crime and secures a clean look at an active shooter, the professional and personal become intertwined…and the consequences are shattering.

As Marsh and his partner Remy investigate the shooting, they confront confounding questions—and their search for answers leads them to a conspiracy at the highest levels of local government. The stakes in the case become increasingly high, culminating in a showdown that has Marsh questioning everything he knows…and wondering if some secrets are better left undiscovered.

At some point in time you decide that the instigating event for this book is going to be a school shooting—easily one of the most divisive things in the country. What led you to that pick? How do you go about researching that to make it authentic? How often did you regret that choice?
You’re 100% right to say that it’s a touchy subject, and for good reason. There’s been so many devastating active shooter events, at schools and other locations in the last two decades. But I think as you read the book, you see that the subject is not entered into divisively or politically.

In terms of the research, there was a playbook for how police handled this situation for years. Now that’s changed multiple times, most notably after Columbine. So unfortunately we’re living in an age where police manuals are available, as well as a lot of minute-by-minute reporting on the subject. Both those helped with authenticity.

There are elements of this novel that have their roots in (I assume, as this is my first encounter with your work) in the first novel. Had you been planning to keep this story going this long initially? How do you juggle the need to plant seeds to develop this slowly while keeping the readers of Books 1 and 2 engaged and keeping newcomers from feeling lost?
The three books are definitely a trilogy in my head, and certain storylines are one and two books long—while others last three books. But you’re right—it’s a juggling act.

I think it’s incumbent on the author to re-introduce key elements and characters in each book, so someone can join the hunt wherever they find a book. But you don’t want to bog it down for existing readers. Also, as you said, I’m planting seeds and laying long leads for future stories, past this book. I think part of the key is to leave some details unknown even to the author. Trust the subconscious.

I think of the three novels—#1 and #3 are the easiest to pick up and simply read as a stand-alone. So the optimal read starts with THE GOOD DETECTIVE—goes to THE EVIL MEN DO – and continues now with A GOOD KILL. That said, I’ve realized that readers will find book #2 first, then read #1. In my acknowledgments, I’ve invited readers to reach out, and a lot have emailed me they had no issues reading backwards, from two to one.

I loved Purvis—both in choosing to give Marsh a dog, and the choice of/characterization of this particular dog. Is there a real-life model for him? What are the downsides of having a character like him?
When I was writing book one, THE GOOD DETECTIVE… at some point, Purvis was in the back of P.T. Marsh’s F-150. I was writing the first 50 pages and Purvis just suddenly blurted out something. Like aloud.

I think in the first draft the bulldog said “So this is how we’re dealing with this shit, huh? For real?” As a writer I thought—am I crazy? Does P.T. have a talking dog? This is moody stuff I’m writing. Not a Disney movie. But surprisingly it worked. Purvis is sort of P.T.’s conscience in a lot of ways. Plus, he was technically not originally P.T.’s dog. He belonged to Jonas, P.T.’s son (who passed before the time of the first book). So Purvis is also a window into that old life and time period.

But in Book #3, A GOOD KILL, another dog is introduced, called Beau. This one has a real-life model: my own five-year-old Huskie retriever mix, Tessie. You might say they’re identical.

It’s Release Week for A Good Kill. How nervous are you? How’s it compare to the previous novels?
Where I get nervous is—will people discover the book? I had about 10 test readers on this one, through the final edits and into the final manuscript. Many were writers. Some were big time authors I’ve met in the last two years. And everyone was loving the book. But… that doesn’t mean readers will find it.

Book #2 came out last March, and there were a lot more pressing things going on in the world in March 2020. I was literally on tour on a Tuesday with fans in Houston, and the following day the world shut down. That was hard and hurt discovery of the book. So about three times as many people read #1 than #2. It’s understandable given the pandemic, but book discovery is a challenge for new authors. Avid readers are following 6 or 7 series, and they’re not physically browsing stores like they used to. So getting your work out there is a challenge. I’ve been featured in The NY Times “Top 10 Crime Novels of the Year” the last two years, and that’s helped tremendously.

For this book, I’m really excited to have people read it. The story in A GOOD KILL poured out of me faster than anything I’d written. Also, because of the pandemic, I had extra time to do a full re-write. I think it’s my strongest book, so I am excited to hear what readers think.

There’s a game we play around here, called “Online Bookstore Algorithm”. What are 3-5 books whose readers may like A Good Kill?
That’s a fun game. I think people who like these books would love A GOOD KILL:

Michael Connelly, THE DROP.
James Lee Burke, HEAVEN’S PRISONERS.
Brian Panowich, BULL MOUNTAIN.

I think the Panowich book would hit the algorithm for characters, the Connelly book for plot and police procedural, and James Lee Burke, for setting, although my settings/descriptions are not as thick as Burke’s. I should add that the above 3 are some of my favorite writers, so this could be a dream algorithm too.

What’s next for John McMahon, author?
I’ve been working for ten months on a new stand-alone. It’s not set in Mason Falls, Georgia, and P.T. Marsh is not in the story. It’s a high-concept FBI ensemble book, and I cannot wait for people to read it. Because it’s a new world and I want to get it right, I’ve decided to add 6-8 months to my writing timetable. My agent has read a partial, thinks the book feels big and reads like a T.V. show. So fingers crossed.

(Post note: The main character’s nickname in the stand-alone is “H.C.” Can’t say more than that now  but funny coincidence)

Clearly, this main character is a person of wisdom and taste—can’t wait to meet them.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for A Good Kill. I’m really enjoying it, and hope you have plenty of success with it.

I also want to thank Wiley Saichek and Saichek Publicity for arranging this Q&A and bringing the novel to my attention.

A Few Quick Questions with…Jonathan Nevair

By HCNewton

On May 18, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Science Fiction

Earlier this morning, I posted my take on the novel Goodbye to the Sun–out today, I should add. Now, I get to present this Q&A the author was gracious enough to participate in with me. There are some great answers here (at least I think there are), hope you enjoy.

Describe your path to publication with this.
Goodbye to the Sun was the second novel I wrote. The first will never see the light of day and I now understand that it was more a personal exercise in getting my “literary legs” than a book to be shared with readers. I’d written academic essays, etc. for years but fiction was an entirely new language. One important piece of feedback I got from an agent on the first book was that while they enjoyed it, especially the world-building and prose, they wanted more investment in the main character – more emotional connection.

I took that to heart and Goodbye to the Sun was the result. I did a good deal of research on how to write characters that are emotionally charged and how to increase empathy and investment in a reader’s relationship to a protagonist. When it came time to construct the plot for Goodbye to the Sun, I decided to model the story off of one of the most heavy-hitting examples I could find – the tragedy. It had everything I needed to ground the story in a rollercoaster of emotional transformations, struggle, and hardship.

After an early structural edit and feedback from a sensitivity reader, Goodbye to the Sun was sent out into the literary agent ether, and then, someone I follow on twitter posted a call for submissions to a small indie press specializing in SFF and horror, Shadow Spark Publishing. They were closing to submissions the next day – talk about luck… I whisked off a query letter (an improvised one, not the official one I’d been using for agents) and got a response back and a request for a partial manuscript. From there a full request followed, and after some back and forth, I signed a three-book deal.

I knew I was in the right place for the series when I read the mission statement that Jessica Moon and Mandy Russell had on the publishing house website. It made clear that they were seeking authors whose works tested boundaries and experimented with approaches – they wanted fiction that pushed in new directions. The POV structure of Goodbye to the Sun is a bit unorthodox and I was thrilled when they read the manuscript and responded positively to the story and my writing. From there, it’s been the usual publication process – editing rounds, proofs, cover designs, etc.

All authors have more ideas running around in their head than they can possibly develop—what was it about this idea that made you commit to it?
This is a great question because I don’t usually stop and reflect on the process of literary invention. As an art historian and educator, much of my recent focus has been on ethics. At the time I was writing Goodbye to the Sun, I was teaching and writing academically about ethics in art and that spirit translated into the Wind Tide universe. One thing I am starting to understand is that while I may not consciously know it, I have something to say in my fiction writing – whether it’s human themes, issues relating to ecology, or just wanting to share an appreciation of the wonders of the imagination (often visual) with others through the written and spoken word (that’s one of the reasons I love my job as an educator – putting visual experience into words and sharing my perspective with others, and engaging in a back-and-forth with others about their impressions, is one of the best parts of being an art historian).

What really made me stick with this story is the characters. Razor and Keen became intimate and close companions and something about them forced me to commit to their journeys and see them through to a narrative resolution. I didn’t grasp it until I’d written Goodbye to the Sun, but I’m a character-driven writer. I adore world-building, both settings and cultures, but when it comes down to it, I build them to put characters into the settings – to live with them in those worlds and experience what they experience, struggle alongside them, and revel in their growth and evolutions.

Clearly, you put a lot of time and effort into the world/culture-building for the novel—were there historical analogues for some/all of these groups? What kind of research did you do for this?
This is one of the reasons why I am enjoying writing science fiction – it presents a whole new, expanded set of research experiences necessary to build convincing and interesting secondary worlds. I spent time reading about tidal cycles, wind, and tropical weather to construct the two main planetary settings for Goodbye to the Sun. Some other random world-building research tangents arose like the nature of cave systems, bioluminescence, and a very intimate reading on trees (Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees) to help develop not only the famed cantinool trees on Heroon but also a broader ecological philosophy emphasizing a hidden biological communication network tied to a cause-and-effect system of human interaction with terraforming, etc.

It was also the time when the most recent cycle of Star Wars movies hit theaters and as a big fan from my childhood, the films drove me to fantasize about living in a similar secondary fictional world. Rogue One was especially inspirational to me. The rebellion, as well as the very complicated set of players mixed up between opposing sides (and the emphasis on family vs. state that related to other important sources like Antigone), played an important role as a precedent. The Motes are indebted to that source as well as giving a nod to the Fremen in Frank Herbert’s Dune.

As a middle-aged person, I’m drawn to stories of people who’ve been pushed back into circumstances of their youthful years, and I’d read Legend by David Gemmell not too long before writing Goodbye to the Sun – Keen Draden probably has some Druss “qualities” sprinkled on him. I’ve also had a lifelong interest in martial philosophy and many texts written over the centuries provided source material for Keen’s warrior philosophy and the fighting scenes. Razor’s voice and tone were strongly influenced by some other writing research I did on character voicing. Although not written in the same POV, I was strongly affected as a writer by Essun in N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season.

What was the biggest surprise about the writing of Goodbye to the Sun itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”
Oh, this one is easy! And I’ll take the, “I’d have skipped this and watched more TV for 200$, please.” Even though I set up plot points and had an outline, as well as a close sense of how this narrative would adapt a tragedy model, I got bogged down at ACT III – halted in my writing tracks. It took a month of talking to myself (out loud on walks with my dog, in my head, and many scribbles that were scrunched up and tossed in the trash) to find my way out. I learned two things from this: first, I needed to be open to change and surprises in writing, but have a general plan and an “arc” for the entire plot, and second, sometimes you need to just sit down and write to get out of a rut. These are, of course, personal reflections and not advice to anyone else writing fiction. I heeded my own words for the second book in the Wind Tide series, Jati’s Wager, and that one went much better with no torturous plot crises.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Goodbye to the Sun?
Gareth Powell, Embers of War
Essa Hansen, Nophek Gloss
James S.A. Corey, The Expanse
Becky Chambers, A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
Frank Herbert, Dune

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Goodbye to the Sun, and I hope you have plenty of success with it.

A Few Quick Questions with…Robert Germaux

By HCNewton

On April 2, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Before I get to the questions, I have to say that I’m surprised that we haven’t done one of these before–I did post a Q&As with Germaux as part of tours for Hard Court and One by One, but those questions came from the tours. I’m glad I finally got the chance to ask these few questions.

We’re talking about Small Talk and the Daniel Hayes series today, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug the Jeremy Barnes books, too. Where did Jeremy come from, and what would readers want to know about him before they dive in?
Jeremy is my alter ego. As I often tell people, other than the fact that he’s younger, smarter, taller, stronger and has way more hair, you can hardly tell us apart. As for what readers should know before they dive into a Jeremy Barnes mystery, well, JB (a high school English teacher in a previous life) can quote Shakespeare as quickly and easily as he can land a mean left jab, has an irreverent sense of humor and a definite soft spot in his heart for life’s underdogs.

But before you gave us Jeremy, you published Small Talk and introduced us to Daniel Hayes and his team. What was the inspiration for that series and Hays in particular?
Actually, I wrote three books about Jeremy Barnes before I wrote Small Talk. I held off putting those three books on Amazon because my agent at the time had hopes of finding a traditional publisher for them. While he was doing his best in that ultimately unsuccessful endeavor, I came up with the idea of a serial killer novel. Since I couldn’t see a private detective hunting a serial killer as effectively as a police detective who had all the tools of a large urban police department at his disposal, I created my Daniel Hayes character.

Daniel’s not a lone-wolf detective like Bosch or Rebus, he comes with (and works within) a team. While being more realistic isn’t the typical choice for Detective Fiction—why did you make that choice? Talk about the team a bit.
I wanted Daniel to work with a small group of people with diverse backgrounds and talents, a team that could bounce ideas off each other as they searched for the killer. Writing their interactions allowed me to show my readers how the investigation progressed from one level to the next as they closed in on that killer. Each member of the team brings something different to the table. Ted has a long history in local law enforcement, Samantha’s a respected city cop with an FBI contact who helps them in their hunt for the killer, and Henry’s a young suburban cop with great instincts. Together, Daniel (a former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates) and his team are a classic example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Take a moment and compare the two series—what are the limitations and advantages to writing a lone PI and a Police Detective?
Interesting question, H.C. I’ve never really thought about these two series that way. I guess the advantage to writing my Jeremy Barnes books is that I’m able to focus solely on JB’s determination to solve the case, by whatever means necessary, whereas Daniel has to be aware of the legal constraints imposed upon him by the system within which he works. Both he and JB will ultimately get the job done. It’s just that they sometimes take different paths to get there. Again, great question.

Both of your series are based in Pittsburgh, a city that I honestly don’t think I’ve read novels set in before. Is that one of your reasons behind choosing it? What is it about the series that draws you—and why do you think it’s ignored in favor of LA, New York, Boston, Chicago, etc.?
The easiest answer to this question is that old adage: Write what you know. While I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many far-flung locales, from Tahiti to Paris to Rome, I’m a yinzer at heart, born and raised in Pittsburgh. I find the city’s wealth of diverse neighborhoods, from the Oakland area (home to both Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh) to the Hill District (site of many of August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle of award-winning plays) to be a treasure trove of fascinating people and places for my novels. The other cities you mentioned do, indeed, get more attention in terms of settings for books, probably because they all have that big city “panache,” but I think we’re seeing more and more books and, especially, movies being set in and around Pittsburgh.

In addition to your mysteries, you’ve put out some humor collections, and two “General Fiction” (for lack of a better term) novels. Are there genres you wouldn’t want to try? What is it about Mystery novels that brings you back to them?
I wouldn’t try to write anything in the horror or supernatural genres. Although I know they’re enormously popular, and I definitely acknowledge and applaud the writers who are successful in those literary categories, I’ve just never been bitten by that particular bug. As for my love of mysteries, it probably goes back to my childhood, when I couldn’t get enough of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I devoured those books.
Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Small Talk?
Any of the Spenser novels written by Robert B. Parker, along with Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole books and Harlen Coben’s Myron Bolitar mysteries.

What’s next for Robert Germaux, more Jeremy Barnes, Daniel Hayes, or do you have something else up your sleeve?
I just finished Grammar Sex 3, my third book of humorous essays (I like to call them my Grammar Sex Trilogy), so that will be out soon, along with Leaving the LAW and Speak Softly, two of the early Jeremy Barnes novels. And just recently, I finally figured out the plot for a sixth JB book, so I’ll be getting to work on that.

Thanks for your time and these answers, and I hope both the Jeremy Barns and Daniel Hays books have enough success that you can keep going with them!
Hey, H.C., this has been fun. Thanks!

A Few Quick Questions with…Matthew Iden

By HCNewton

On February 18, 2021

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

I posted about the eighth Marty Singer novel, Chasing the Pain earlier this morning, and now I have a Q&A with the author, Matthew Iden to share with you. I had a harder time than I’m used to coming up with spoiler-free questions for this book, but think I pulled it off. I enjoyed this, hope you do, too.

Help us get to know you a bit—could you sketch out your path to publication and where the Marty Singer series came from?

After several frustrating years scaling the walls of traditional publishing only to be pushed off the parapet, I turned to self-publishing when it was still just a gleam in Jeff Bezos’s eye, about 2010 or so. I was lucky enough to have some immediate success with sales, but more importantly I realized what the important stuff was: connecting with readers, getting feedback, telling my story. It was empowering to see people who were not my mother actually appreciate my writing—this is the core piece of advice I give writers on the fence about self-publishing: as corny as it sounds, reaching readers is its own reward.

After three or four years, I’d done well enough to catch the eye of Thomas & Mercer—Amazon Publishing’s mystery and thriller imprint. They picked up all of my Marty Singer books (six at the time) and contracted for two standalone thrillers, which became THE WINTER OVER and BIRTHDAY GIRL.

The blush eventually came off the romance, but we parted amicably. I regained the rights to my Marty Singer series and self-published them, then added two more to the pile (THE BITTER FIELDS and CHASING THE PAIN).

The idea for Marty as a character came from my desire to write about a “real” individual. I love the Jack Reachers of the literary world, but I have a very hard time writing about them. I identify much more with Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander: solid, unvarnished, relatable.

I imagine that bringing back a character from a previous novel (at least one not designed to be a recurring character) is a tricky proposition—what came first, the desire to write more about Karl and this storyline lent itself to that, or the idea to do something with the “rehab industry” and he was a convenient way into that?

I really wanted to return to Karl. I make a few passing comparisons to him in CHASING THE PAIN as a King Pellinore-type figure: an aging, knight-errant who can’t seem to catch up with his own reason for being. Presenting him as someone with a substance abuse problem helped me solidify that framework; showing him dealing with his vices and corresponding fallout gave his story more substance.

I like to ask about supporting characters, and have at least a dozen things I’d enjoy asking about Madame Cormier (starting with: when can we expect a spin-off?), but something tells me that we can’t do that without ruining something for the readers. So, let’s go with Don D’Amelio instead. Where did he come from? He has certain, shall we say, sanguinary impulse that a lot of writers wouldn’t have given him—was that a little fun to write?

Watching Don come to life was a hoot. He started out fictional life as a sad-sack wasting his golden years sipping espresso and reading the sports page. Originally, his only function was to give Marty some more info about the rehab industry—what we call a “spear carrier” in the writing biz. But when I realized I needed a side-kick for my side-kick, I just went all-in and couldn’t stop laughing at how, uh, sanguinary I could make him.

Regarding Madame: you’re like the fourth person who’s wanted more. I think I might take the hint! I had a great time watching him come to life.

You’ve written in a handful of genres—are there any you wouldn’t want to try? What is it about Crime Fiction that brings you back to it?

I don’t have an interest in writing romance. Not because it isn’t a “real” genre, because the romance writers I know are some of the sharpest, hardest-working writers in the business, but just from a simple interest perspective: the stories don’t click with me and I can’t write what I don’t read.

Actually, my first love is fantasy, then science fiction, then crime fiction, but the world-building required of F/SF can be quite intimidating; my first attempts were dismal. Now that I have some writing experience under my belt, I have plans to go back and try my hand at a trilogy or three, but I’ve also come to love what I can do with crime fiction and won’t be abandoning it.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Chasing the Pain?

I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t want CHASING THE PAIN sitting next to Elmore Leonard’s GOLD COAST on someone’s bookshelf. CTP is not as caper-ish as Gold Coast, but I think there’s a similar flavor and not just in the setting.

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser is really the ur-private investigator so many of us try to emulate, not just for the tough guy persona, but the humor. LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE would probably please the same kind of reader.

And, as long as I’m getting too big for my writing britches, I might as well throw in James Lee Burke’s BLACK CHERRY BLUES and James Crumley’s THE LAST GOOD KISS.

What’s next for Matthew Iden?

I’m about two-thirds done with a standalone spy novel (working title: SCIMITAR) set in modern-day Paris that occurred to me during a vacation there. I’ve struggled with it for almost two years now while I’ve written other things, but it’s time to get this one done. I’m pretty excited to see how it wraps up…because then I’ll feel free to write Marty #9 or Madame #1.

Thanks to Matthew Iden for his time and these answers!

A Few Quick Questions with D. B. Borton

By HCNewton

On December 17, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Can you describe your initial path to publication with these books, and why are you reissuing them now?

I had been reading a mystery featuring an older woman detective, and the stereotypical portrayal just made me angrier and angrier. I threw the book against the wall and told myself, “I can do better.”

I wrote the book and signed on with an agent, who told me that she’d found the first chapter so hilarious that she’d read it to her sister over the phone. A year passed and I didn’t hear anything from my agent. Meanwhile, my cherished 18-year-old feline companion died (the book is dedicated to her). The grief opened a hole in my life that swallowed everything, including my writing aspirations, and I asked myself why I’d ever thought anyone would want to read my writing. The day after I hit bottom, I pulled myself together, sniveled my way over to the bookstore, and bought a book called How to Write a Mystery. The next day, my long-lost agent called to say that she was very close to selling the book to Berkley. I think the same first chapter sold the book to my editor at Berkley, who, as it turned out, also edited the series about an older woman detective that had made me so angry to begin with.

The first chapter never appeared in the final book. In it, the 59-year-old protagonist got her period in a department store dressing room, and had an epiphany: if Mother Nature couldn’t provide her with the Change of Life, she would have to make her own change. Some early readers advised Berkley against including it.

As for why I’m reissuing the series now, the economics of independent publishing has a lot to do with it. Series tend to be more profitable than single books. That’s the economic answer. But this series has always inspired a strong loyalty in many readers, who seem to identify with the protagonist. Over the years, I’ve continued to receive the occasional inquiry from a fan (or a fan’s daughter) looking for a complete set.

The community that Cat builds (or finds building around her?) in the apartment that ends up giving assistance and support to her is a frequent feature in female P.I. novels. Is there a particular reason for that, what is it about a female P.I./P.I.-type protagonist that lends itself to that in a way that your typical male P.I. doesn’t? How did you pick your residents of Catatonia Arms?

Interesting question. Women have, of course, traditionally done the cultural work of community building, so I suppose their take on detective fiction reflects that. But when I think of the classic writers, that strong sense of community isn’t there. Miss Marple is strongly identified with St. Mary Mead, and she often finds mystery when she’s off visiting friends, but the recurring characters are few. Girl detectives, on the other hand, have been embedded in communities since the modern girl detective emerged in L. Frank Baum’s Mary Louise series. At first, girls weren’t taken seriously as readers (or purchasers of detective novels), but when they were, publishers wanted to reflect the experiences and interests of their readers. So like Nancy Drew, Bess, and George, girl detectives have always traveled in packs, or at least in pairs.

I’m not really sure how I picked the residents of the Catatonia Arms, except to say that they all bring special knowledge and skills with them. Adding a retired cop at the end of the first book really completed that skill set while giving Cat an older ally against the young people.

There are a number of characters I’d like to ask you about, but I’m going to limit myself to Phyl Stinger, was there a particular historical inspiration for her? If not, just where did she come from?

I guess she’s a composite of several Hollywood screenwriters I’d read about and my imagination — writers like Frances Marion, Anita Loos, and June Mathis. I imagined that they’d have to have been tough as nails to survive in Hollywood.

I loved the way that Cat drew from her reading to guide her through her investigation/expectations of the P.I. job/wardrobe. Unless I’m mistaken, Spenser was the most prominent source of inspiration—is that because of something about the character himself, or given the time period, was he just the easiest to reference? Is there someone you wanted to work in a reference to, but couldn’t quite fit in?

I’d say that Robert B. Parker was a big influence on me. He’s a male writer who created the kind of community you were talking about around his male P.I. Spenser. The Spenser books have a lot of heart, and they’re very funny. Later books in the series reference other fictional detectives, like Kinsey Millhone, V. I. Warshawski, and Kinky Friedman.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like One for the Money?

Oh, I like this game! As someone who’s always looking for comparable authors for advertising purposes, I’d love to hear what other people would say. A recent reviewer said that fans of Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax and Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone would like it, and I’d agree. Also fans of Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody and, of course, Christie’s Miss Marple. Jana Deleon’s Miss Fortune series features some older women detectives who are a lot of fun.

What’s next for D. B. Borton?

I’ve been working on a standalone about a librarian who inherits a fortune, a valuable library, and a dangerous mission to return a handful of library books. I’m also planning to reissue the rest of the Cat Caliban books. And I’ve started thinking about a new Cat Caliban.

Thanks for your time, and this fun read, I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of the series

A Few More Quick Questions with Gray Basnight

By HCNewton

On December 9, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Not only do I really appreciate Basnight’s taking the time to do this, but Lisa Weiss, the publicist who got me this book has been very helpful and encouraging. I wanted to thank her, too. This is one of the best sets of Answers I’ve received to my Questions, I hope you enjoy it, too.

The last time we did a Q&A, you said you were finishing a sequel to Flight of the Fox, I assume it was this, what was it about Sam Teagarden that made you want to write a sequel about him (an idea that Sam himself jokes about)? Is there a third book for the professor?

There are two reasons Sam Teagarden puts in this reappearance in Madness of the Q. The first was reader feedback. In fact, this sequel is dedicated to those readers who wanted another roller coaster ride with my mathematics professor, who’s dubbed by the media as the “American Prometheus.”

The second reason is the Q Document. The inspiration for the story came several years ago while listening to a Great Courses audio lecture about the New Testament. When the professor casually mentioned something called the Quelle Document (German for “Source”) as being a theorized long missing source for parts of Matthew and Luke, I pegged onto it as a potential “what if” fictional scenario. What if The Quelle Document were discovered in our time. And an even bigger “what if’ — what if the document said something from the founding days of Christianity that certain groups didn’t want it to say, and what if it said something that certain opposing groups did want it to say? Well, my guess is that all hell would break loose. So, in Madness of the Q, it does – fictionally, of course!

As for a third book, we shall see. If there’s sufficient demand from readers and/or the publisher, I’ll certainly consider it. I do have a nascent idea. All I will say is, I like Puerto Rico and perhaps there’s a reason for Teagarden to end up there. It’s a wonderful and adventurous island filled with good people, good food, and plenty of potential for a fictional thriller.

What kind of research went into this book? What’s the one thing you learned and, try as you might, you just couldn’t bring into the book?

Once I learned about the Q Document, I began reading up on the theory that it might actually have existed but was lost, and may someday be found. Not all biblical scholars agree, of course. But those who believe that it is an extant missing source for two of the Synoptic Gospels are both faith based and secular based, which intrigued me.

I also re-read a wonderful book first published in 1841 and still in print today. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay is occasionally called the first pop-psych book to explore crowd think. It dovetailed nicely with my “all hell breaks loose” theme, so I wove it into the title and quoted Mackay as the epigraph:

Men, it has been well said, think in herds;
it will be seen that they go mad in herds,
while they recover their senses slowly,
and one by one.

As for what was left on the cutting room floor, I felt a need to have Teagarden’s spouse Cynthia, be more of a partner. They met in Flight of the Fox and she became an important ally in many ways. Unfortunately, she couldn’t join him in the sequel because he’s on a solo run through Israel and Europe and there was no way around that. Thus, I invented imaginary conversations between the two to help him get through the roughest days, and justified the technique as a product of his stress. Thus far, most reader feedback has been positive with this approach.

I think most of us readers can guess some of these, but would you talk about the challenges in featuring someone of Teagarden’s age in a thriller (particularly those you didn’t expect)?

You mean the fact that he’s older than the average thriller protagonist? Yes, indeed. He turned 50 in Flight of the Fox which makes him 56 in Madness of the Q.

The principal challenge is to convince the reader that someone of that age is still sufficiently vigorous to take on dark forces. This is important to me. The older I get, the more convinced I am of an age bias built into American culture and our collective way of thinking (to which I was admittedly guilty of in my younger years).

Sam is however highly qualified for the job in both thrillers. His first gig out of college was a desk job at the CIA as an entry-level code analyst. It was so boring he quit after one year. He then became a mathematics professor who is highly skilled in the art of encryption and decryption.

Aside from his age, Teagarden does not have a black belt and knows very little about firearms. So, both his age and his lack of fighting skills may challenge a reader’s expectation of the formulaic run-for-your-life character.

I intentionally made all these choices to construct a character far less Jason Bourne and more of an Everyman. If readers are unbothered by his age, I’ve succeeded. If readers who are a little bothered by his age but stick with the narrative because the momentum carries them to its conclusion, I’ve still succeeded.

There’s a time jump between the two books, putting this one into our near future. How fun was it speculating about 2025 tech—and how hard was it not to go too crazy with it?

It was great fun. I have no desire to be a sci-fi writer, so there was no difficulty in not getting carried away. But I really enjoy casting into the near-term future and imagining where foreseeable technology is going based on where it has been.

For example, God Glasses. In the story, God Glasses allow a type of Superman x-ray vision. That may not happen anytime soon, but we already have the technology for video cameras to be built into eyeglass frames.

Another is public pop-ups. Web based pop-up ads annoy me, umm, a whole lot. It happens because neither the advertiser nor the website proprietor cares about the irritation factor – and for plenty of people, it’s an exasperating reality but one they mostly just accept. Given that, let’s get ready for the same to happen in public. In the novel, Sam Teagarden and his wife have researched airfare to the Bahamas. Later, when he’s on a public sidewalk, the wi-fi gear attached to a giant billboard reads the credit card in his wallet and suddenly Sam’s image and name appear on the billboard as the advertiser stalks his movements in the effort to sell him a trip to the Bahamas. If this ever happens in reality, pro-privacy forces will naturally object. I’m certain, however, they’ll lose that fight because the vast majority of people will find it really cool to see their mug on a billboard, even if only for a few seconds.

Let’s play “Online Bookstore Algorithm” (a game I’ve recently invented). What are 3-5 books whose readers may like Madness of the Q?

Well, I’m going to share the books mentioned by several of the early reviewers, and the ones that inspired me to try my hand at thrillers:

Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series
Dan Brown’s Langdon series
Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca, by Ken Follett
Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco

And I’d be remiss for not giving a humble plug to the prequel:

Flight of the Fox, by Gray Basnight (that’s me!)

What’s next for Gray Basnight? Any progress on that YA novel you mentioned before?

Thank you so much for asking about my YA! I love it and remain committed to its commercial prospects. Authoritative persons have recently advised me that it likely fits more neatly into Middle Grade, which means substantial rewriting, including the need to adjust the age of Junior Benét, the central character – a schoolgirl with a genius IQ who gets caught up in a dangerous adventure in New York City.

Presently I’m working on a crime novel, though I’m not sure how to classify it with more specificity. It’s drawn from my appreciation of both Quentin Tarantino and Elmore Leonard and my love for the classic Sergio Leone movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. When finished, it will likely have emphatic elements of humor and romance. And, by the way, it too is set about five years into the future.

Thanks for your time — and thanks for some more time with Sam Teagarden, I really enjoyed it, and hope you have plenty of success with it.

Thank you so much for this Q&A. Great questions and lots of fun to spend time with you again.

Even More Quick Questions With…Nick Kolakowski

By HCNewton

On October 6, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nick Kolakowski

Wow, Nick Kolakowski is back for a fourth go ’round with my questions. I’m a major fan, and really enjoy these. I hope you do, too. Be sure to check out my take on his upcoming novel, Rattlesnake Rodeo earlier today.

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How has 2020 treated Nick Kolakowski the writer—have you been able to work? Are you finding writing time vanishing into doom-scrolling or binging something? Is there a pandemic novel in your near future?

When New York City went into lockdown, I threw myself into writing and editing. It became my coping mechanism, to such a degree that I had to step away a bit a few months later. First I poured my energy into “Lockdown,” a charity anthology of horror and crime stories that I co-edited for Polis Books; proceeds went to support BINC, which is helping booksellers through this weird time. With that completed, I finished work on “Absolute Unit,” a horror novella coming out next year from Crystal Lake Publishing; I’d started writing it last year, well before the pandemic, but it has some uncomfortable echoes with what’s happening now—mass infection is a big theme. By that point, I was pretty fritzed out, so I started trying to balance out the schedule; less writing, more actually getting outside.

How was it coming back from the dystopian-SF/Crime of Maxine Unleashes Doomsday to something very contemporary, very non-SF?

It felt good! With contemporary crime fiction, you don’t have quite the same pressure of world-building as you do with sci-fi and dystopian fiction. That being said, I did struggle with the plot of “Rattlesnake” a bit—for the longest time, I had the first two-thirds written, but couldn’t figure out a way to end it that really came together.

As much as I enjoy Frankie, Jake, and Janine—the character that keeps hanging out in the back of my mind is The Monkey Man. (Shockingly, a criminal always wearing a rubber gorilla mask is memorable!) Where did he come from? Too much time spent listening to The Traveling Wilburys? I’d imagine there’d be a big temptation to go wild with the character, but you kept him fairly low-key and reserved over these two books. How’d you resist?

The Wilburys were the inspiration for the name. And there was a lot of temptation to unleash him in a particularly messy/funny/creative way. What held me back was, of all things, Hannibal Lecter.

Specifically, when I was writing “Rattlesnake,” I was also watching both Hannibal Lector movies, and what I noticed was that Hannibal was a more effective character the less he was shown doing. He’s an incredibly powerful character in “Silence of the Lambs,” but aside from talking, he doesn’t do terribly much beyond his brief escape at the end; his power comes from his reputation. In the sequel, by contrast, he’s doing lots of things, and that drains the mystique from the character; he becomes something of a hammy joke. So that curbed my impulses to do something grand with Monkey Man.

Sometimes I think I resisted that impulse a little too much, though. Someone who dresses like that is no doubt capable of some freaky shit.

Jake’s wife, Janine, is never the focus of these books, but I think she has the most interesting arc over the course of these two novels. Somehow, she and Jake have managed for years to keep her pretty isolated from his world. But in the few days these two books cover, all that’s gone away, and she reacts better than Jake (and probably Janine herself) expects. Why tell that story in the midst of all the action and chaos? Was there a version where she gets overwhelmed by everything and can’t adapt to the circumstances?

Nope! In so many thrillers, there’s this cliché of a civilian character (whether the wife, daughter, husband, etc.) who falls apart completely under stress, and I wanted to steer away from that as hard as I could. Janine’s ability to deal with the situation, I felt, also gave some additional nuance to Jake and Frankie—they’re so tough that they can’t grasp that someone like Janine, who doesn’t have any criminal or combat experience, might be totally adaptable to a hard situation; it’s a huge blind spot that reveals something about their egos.

It’s one thing for authors to make specific geographic references in New York City—most non-New Yorkers have enough of a grasp of that area to mostly understand them. To a lesser extent that’s true of LA, Chicago, Boston, etc. But in Rattlesnake Rodeo, you throw around references to the Boise-area like a native, 97% of which are going to mean nothing to anyone not from around here. Is there a risk in that? Yeah, it’s a very authentic feel, but does the authenticity outweigh the potential alienation of someone from another part of the country/world? Or in the age of a search engine, does that not matter?

I’m not sure there’s a risk in it. This summer, I read S.A. Cosby’s “Blacktop Wasteland” and David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s “Winter Counts,” both excellent thrillers/mysteries that take place in areas not well-trod by most crime fiction (rural Virginia and a Native American reservation, respectively). Both of those books have tons of esoteric detail about those locations, and it adds a lot of nice texture to the narrative. I look at “Rattlesnake” (and “Boise Longpig Hunting Club”) the same way—a substantial portion of the audience is never going to go to Nyssa or any of those towns along the Snake River; they’re never going to swing by Fanci Freez, which has some of the nation’s finest milkshakes; but hopefully all the detail gives them a sense of place.

As usual, I’ve got to ask, what’s coming down the pike? Are you far enough into your next book to talk about it?

“Absolute Unit,” a horror novella told from the perspective of a sentient parasite living inside the body of a corrupt health inspector, is the next one (mid-2021)! Then after that, there’s another novella, “Payback is Forever,” that should come out from Shotgun Honey in late 2021. The latter is my attempt at a classic Chandler-style thriller, although there’s a contemporary twist to it that the audience will hopefully never see coming.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for another great ride with Jake and Frankie!

A Few Quick Questions With…Ronald Hera

By HCNewton

On May 3, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, Theology/Christian Living

A little bit ago, I posted about the novel Bethlehem’s Brothers, and now it’s time for a few questions with the author, Ronald Hera, who was gracious enough to give me a little of his time.

Tell us about your road to publication—was your plan/dream always to become a novelist and your education/other jobs were just to get you to this point, or was this a later-in-life desire?

I wrote technical papers occasionally for the SAE and enjoyed it, but the idea of writing for publication came when I was about to retire and wondered what I would do to pass the time. Writing has been good for me.

Most authors have dozens of ideas bouncing around their craniums at once—what was it about this idea that made you say, “Yup—this is the one for me.”? What kind of research did you do to prepare for it?

I have three books started now. One is a bad idea and I’ll probably not write that one. But two are promising ideas and are going smoothly. They are more like mystery/action novels. Bethlehem’s Brothers came to my head for two reasons. I see people moving away from their Christian roots and that bothers me. I wanted to show the struggles that went into deciding to be a Christian during the first century. In Jerusalem’s Brothers, I wanted to show how difficult it was during the early persecution and finally in Brothers Forever, the fall of Jerusalem and who the Essenes were.

My research comes from The Complete Works of Josephus, Studies in the Life of Christ by R.C. Foster, The Bible, and the internet. I enjoy the research because it teaches me a lot about a subject dear to my heart.

While writing the book itself, what was the biggest surprise about the process? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”?

My imagination ran WILD! I found it hard to make the book flow and my sentences were awkward a lot of the time. Editing was lengthy for me. Even naming the characters was a challenge sometimes. I wanted them to be real and meaningful names, so I researched meanings on the internet.

As I’ll discuss in my post about the book, I really appreciated how you merged the Biblical events with your material—it seemed like you exercised great care in that. How did you decide which parts of the life of Christ to have your characters directly interact with?

Thank you for the compliment. I think a fiction writer should make the scenes and surrounding events as real and accurate as possible while making the characters and some events purely fictional. That is a delicate balance. An example is when I had Enoch with Cleopas on the road to Emmaus. The Bible mentions Cleopas and “another”, so I interjected Enoch. One must be careful not to add to the Bible. I thought this might be okay.

As soon as I saw a Cleopas hanging around, I figured this is where you were going to go, and you pulled that part off particularly well.

What’s been the response to this in the years since the original publication?

Critics like it. Bethlehem’s Brothers has recommendations from Pacific Book Review and Kirkus. It was also a finalist in the prestigious Montaigne Medal awarded by the Eric Hoffman Award Committee. Of course, I would like more people to read it. Now with e-books, cost isn’t really an issue. Maybe a different cover would help.

There’ve been two sequels to this (and I imagine there aren’t more coming based on the synopses for them), are there other books to come from you?

Certainly. I have a fourth book to add to the series called The Rock of Michael. Michael is an angel who helps the Christians displaced by the destruction of Jerusalem settle in what is now Tel Aviv-Yafo. The other possible novel is another historical fiction piece set on a college campus during protests of the Vietnam war. It has promise.

So much for my imagination 🙂

Thanks for your time and willingness to let me badger you with these questions—again, I really enjoyed Bethlehem’s Brothers and truly hope that it finds the audience it deserves.?

I am confident it will. Perhaps a TV series or a Movie might get the word out to the audience.

A Few Quick Questions With…Paul Levine

By HCNewton

On April 28, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With...

Remember last week when I posted about Cheater’s Game and I said that I’d hoped to have a Q&A with the author? Here it is. If you’d told me 20 years ago, that I’d get Paul Levine to respond to a handful of questions I asked him for a blog? I wouldn’t have believed you—but I’d think that was a great story. His series of legal thrillers, Solomon vs. Lord, is still one of my all-time favorite series.

According to his website, Levine ” worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist. Obviously, he cannot hold a job. Paul claims that writing fiction comes naturally: he told whoppers for many years in his legal briefs.

His books have been translated into 23 languages, none of which he can read.”

And now, he’s wasting a little bit of time with me. For which I am very grateful.

Most authors have dozens of ideas bouncing around their craniums at once</i>what was it about this idea that made you say, “Yup—this College Admissions scandal is the perfect thing for Lassiter”?

The day the story broke last year, I knew I wanted to put Jake Lassiter into the middle of the scandal. My first thought: “Have those parents lost their minds?” Here were these well-educated, well-to-do parents cheating, bribing, and lying their kids into so-called elite universities. Call me naive, but I was astonished. I thought the moral implications interwoven with a criminal trial would be fascinating.

I’m sure even at this stage of your career, there are challenges and surprises to the writing process itself—what surprised you the most, or was the biggest challenge to getting Cheater’s Game written?

Legal thrillers almost always involve homicide trials. Murder is the crime that strikes the deepest emotional chord. Cheating to get into college, technically mail fraud, isn’t nearly as sexy. My challenge was to create a trial just as exciting with as many twists and turns as the “Witness for the Prosecution” or “Anatomy of a Murder.” Okay, maybe not quite as many, but you get the idea. Lassiter’s brain damage complicates the case. So does his inexperience in federal court and his anguish at having to defend his nephew.

I truly appreciated the way that Lassiter interacted with the federal prosecutor, Margaret Bolden—while adversarial, it’s not the typical depiction of prosecutor/defense attorney. What made you go this route?

I’ve created my share of prosecutors who are arrogant or self-righteous or mean-spirited or just automatons. But I have great respect for career prosecutors who are truly professional and treat opposing counsel with respect. Margaret Bolden is a savvy Assistant U.S. Attorney who’s tough but plays by the rules. She’s a good match for the wily Lassiter, who gets by on street smarts, rather than an encyclopedic knowledge of the law.

You’ve been writing Lassiter for a long time—is there part of you that has a hard time putting the character through this health challenge?

I lost a friend to C.T.E., the brain disease afflicting former football players. Like Lassiter, my pal was a lawyer and former player. It felt right that Lassiter, who made his living on the “suicide squads,” would be stricken. Obviously, for everyone’s sake, I’m hoping there’s a cure down the road.

Is this the end of the line for Lassiter, or does he have another case or two in his future?

Hah! Lassiter told me he retired after “Bum Deal” in 2018. But when his beloved nephew Kip gets indicted for taking other kids’ SAT exams as an imposter, well, what choice did he have but to get back in the courtroom? I suspect Jake has one more case in him.

This last one is purely selfish: I was a huge fan of the Solomon vs. Lord series, and I see they’ve appeared in the Lassiter books, any chance of them getting another novel, or are they just one more reason for me to go through the Lassiter backlist?

I get a ton of mail asking for another “Solomon vs. Lord” novel. Now, of course, they’re in some recent books. Lassiter defends Steve Solomon in a murder trial in “Bum Rap.” And Lassiter squares off against Solomon and Victoria Lord in “Bum Deal.” But a lot of readers are asking for the squabbling law partners (and lovers) to have a story of their own. We’ll see.

Thanks for your time and willingness to let me badger you with these questions—I really enjoyed Cheater’s Game and hope that it finds the audience it deserves.

Thank you!

A Few Quick Questions With…Like the Wolfe Podcast (and a little bit of an intro to it)

By HCNewton

On April 22, 2020

In A Few Quick Questions With..., Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, Rex Stout

Most of what I’ve written about Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin and their author Rex Stout predates this blog, but I’ve not hid the fact that I’m a near-rabid fan, and will take any excuse to mention them. So imagine my excitement when a few weeks ago, someone joined one of the fan groups on Facebook and mentioned he had a podcast working through the Corpus.

Like the Wolfe is working their way, book by book, through series starting with the first, Fer-de-Lance (something I wrote about it, their podcast episode). Typically, there’s a little bit of material that’s safe for someone who hasn’t read the book under discussion, but most of the episode is full of spoilers and assumes a familiarity with the material.

Which honestly, is fine—few Wolfe and Archie fans read (or re-read, re-re-read, re-re-re-re-read, etc.) the books for the whodunit.

In the first few episodes, the audio quality isn’t that great and the hosts are clearly learning how to do a podcast. But those shortcomings actually come across as charming, and their enthusiasm is infectious. By Episode 8-The Silent Speaker, the audio quality has really improved and the hosts have obviously become comfortable with the format.

I binged the first 9 episodes in under a week, and had a blast. Sure, I’d quibble with some of the observations and would demur with some of their evaluations/criticisms—but that’s part of the fun, right?

Anyway, I’ve blathered on long enough—the hosts, Reyna Griffin and Jeff Quest, were gracious enough to answer a few questions for me. Check these out, and then go listen to their podcast. If you’re new to Wolfe, it’s a great introduction (Quest himself is a newbie), if you’re a die-hard fan, you’ll love revisiting the books (if you’re in between—give it time, you’ll become a die-hard). If you have no idea what I’m talking about? Give the books a shot, and use this podcast to help (I also blathered on a bit about the idea here).

Why don’t you both start off by giving me a little bit of background info about you as readers/in general? Introduce yourselves to us—and how did you get to know one another? I’m guessing it wasn’t via a Craigslist advertisement, “Looking for a Co-Host for a Nero Wolfe Podcast.” (do note, out of respect for the character that brings us together, I didn’t abbreviate advertisement—I just can’t bring myself to do it anymore)

Reyna Griffin (RG): Hello! I always wonder what would be great to say about myself, but here it goes! My name LaReyna Griffin and I LOVE Nero Wolfe novels. I am a huge fan of mystery/detective novels – I really like to get away from the real world. For me reading is something I do to just decompress and I do like to read other than detective novels (even tho I will never say no to a Poirot story) these are my favorites. I am in 2 book clubs, they typically are not my usual books so I do get out of my comfort zone a few times a month. Some of my favorite authors are Christie, Beaton, and of course Stout. How I met JQ? Jeff was my boss at my previous job – he actually has been my boss since I was 18, in one way or another, and it was through this that I found that we both were book folks. The idea for the podcast was *maybe* a collab brainchild but probs more Jeff.

Jeff Quest (JQ): Jeff Quest here and I seem to remember this being prompted more by Reyna than myself. I’m the newbie to the series and take care of most of the tech side of the podcast.

I’ve always been a fan of mysteries and was more than happy to try an author I hadn’t read before. I have a far greater knowledge of spies, I write and podcast about them at my site SpyWrite.com and that’s probably what prompted the idea of a podcast looking at Wolfe. Wolfe is a surprising blind spot in my mystery reading so when Reyna suggested reading through the series and talking about each book I was up for it. However I leave the encyclopedic knowledge of the Nero Wolfe series to Reyna.

What brought each of you to the Nero Wolfe series? Was it a recommendation from someone? Just stumbling across one in a bookstore? Did you mean to buy a book about Orchid Growing and get a very poor substitute? For me, it was an aunt who insisted I’d like them—she eventually got tired of me ignoring them and just handed me a couple of them (I believe it was Where There’s a Will and something else), and that was it. Three decades later and I’m still re-reading them.

RG: My mother brought me to Nero but what kept me here was watching the A&E series (brought to life by Timothy [Hutton] and Maury [Chaykin]). I loved the books but the characters became so real for me once that show was aired. I actually rewatch the show on a weekly basis, it is just that timeless and good. It says something about a show that is on par with the books (maybe better??).

JQ: Reyna was the one that has me hooked on the series, although it really only took reading the first book to see why so many have fallen in love with the series. From the first moments Archie’s voice is so vibrant and fun, you can’t help but want to keep reading.

Why a podcast? Whose idea was it and how did it come about?

RG: Hmm I think the podcast because we wanted to share our love for the topic and this was the best format. I wasn’t much for a blog because I am not a writer and also I wanted to maintain some contact/interaction with JQ.

JQ: Yeah, since I had done a few other podcasts on spy related topics for my own site and the Spybrary podcast (Spybrary.com), this seemed like a fun way to keep in touch with Reyna while also having some interesting structured discussions.

What kind of response are you getting to these episodes?

RG: We were on break for a bit, due to life issues, but now we see that folks are interacting with the podcast – from comments to tweets about our choices.

JQ: So far so good. We didn’t really promote it much yet, we wanted to have a few episodes under our belt before doing that, but folks seem to be enjoying it, aside from my apparently foolish references to Wolfe as “Nero.” which gets folks riled up.* I had a chance to talk to Josh Pachter about the book he edited, The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe, which was quite fun. I’m hopeful that I can do some more of that. It would be great to give the fan community a place to hear the voices of others who enjoy his work, especially for those who don’t have a local Wolfe club to gather with.

* I’d note that I’m one of those riled up by that, Archie has noted that only three men refer to him by his first name. That’s a personal bugbear, and I don’t hold it against them (however must I grimace when I hear it).

One more question about the podcast itself—are we going to ever get to hear your “Lost Episodes” (Some Buried Ceasar, Over My Dead Body, Where There’s a Will, Black Orchids, Not Quite Dead Enough, Booby Trap—I assume Black Orchids is around the corner, given that you did Cordially Invited to Meet Death)?

JQ: I’ll take the blame for this. The dreaded “tech issues” reared their head. We lost a couple due to a garbled recording and I have a couple that I need to go back to the original recordings to reedit for release after the first edit was lost in a hard drive crash.

Luckily, I’ve spent the time we were on hiatus learning a bit more on how to put out a better podcast. So the quality for future episodes should be stronger than those early episodes.

Let’s shift to the books themselves: Jeff, you’re the neophyte (by the way, I’d love to be in your shoes and have all these great reads in my future—they’re great re-reads, but for them to be new again?), so what’s your favorite Wolfean moment so far? Reyna, I don’t know if you can limit yourself to just one at this point (especially without ruining anything for Jeff), so maybe give me one from the books you’ve discussed on the podcast.

RG: My favorite moment we have not hit yet! My favorite moment comes in The Doorbell Rang, a very cool scene in Wolfe’s office with the client where he puts her in her place while still being a gentleman.

JQ: Is it the very first book where Archie is lamenting losing the wallet that Wolfe gave him?* Although Archie gives Wolfe a hard time, it shows how much he really cares and what they’ve been through together. I really liked that moment.

* Great moment indeed, but it’s from The League of Frightened Men, the second novel (which Quest has mentioned enough on the podcast that I was surprised he slipped here).

You’ve both talked about enjoying Wolfe’s vocabulary. I know that my vocabulary (in writing and in conversation) improves generally when I’m in the middle of a Wolfe novel have you found that? Reyna, this is more likely for you (but Jeff can weigh-in if he wants): do you have a favorite Wolfean word/phrase? How many of them have entered your day-to-day vocabulary? Personally, off the top-of-my-head, I use “flummery” quite often; I can’t type it any other way than, “Pfui,” (and typically pronounce it like that); and will go out of my way to not use “contact” as a verb (and have been told I scowl when people do so at work). ?

RG: While I find “Flummery” as my go-to word for something outlandish, I prefer to use some of his phrasings – they randomly will pop into my head, usually when at work and dealing with a difficult client. One I used recently in a meeting with my boss was “Cheek meets cheek” – referenced in Eeny Meeny Murder Moe.

JQ: I probably haven’t read enough of the books for his vocabulary to really sink in yet but I can’t resist a good “satisfactory.”

You talked a little about casting Arche in your Introduction to him, and you’ve suggested actors for other prominent characters. But aside from a little tongue-in-cheek (I presume) casting that I couldn’t hear in your The League of Frightened Men episode, I don’t think I’ve heard you suggest anyone for Wolfe. My current picks for him are Vincent D’Onofrio or Steve Schirripa (assuming he can lose the Brooklyn accent), what about you?

RG: I love Vincent D’Onofrio, and his recent twitter soliloquies really reinforce this. He would be great! He has that slightly off-putting method that makes him a great Wolfe. Besides him, I actually can’t think of an actor that would be fitting for the shoes left by Maury Chaykin. I also need to see it, because before I saw Kenneth Branagh as Poirot I would never have thought we could recast from David Suchet.

JQ: I always find dream casting tough. Mainly because film and tv is so different from print. Personally, I’d go with some unknowns that could really make the role their own. The trouble with well-known actors is that it becomes hard to see past the actor and let them become a character that we all know and love.

If you forced me to pick, I’d go crazily out of the box and say someone like Andre Brauer for Wolfe and Daniel Radcliffe for Archie. Brauer has that great broodiness that’s needed and can just look smart. Radcliffe is too short but has a fun energy that he could bring to the role. But I might not mention those on the podcast, the Wolfe Pack (or Reyna) would probably string me up!

Bauer is an inspired choice—Radcliffe’s not bad, either, I can see that working.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for the podcast, I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

RG and JQ: Thanks for having us here and for listening!