And
so, to continue the tour, I will answer the four questions posed to
participants in the Writing Process Blog Tour:
1.
What are you working on?
I just
published “The Origin Of Murder”, which brings Roger and Suzanne to Ecuador’s
Galapagos Islands. That means I’m
spending a lot of time trying to sell the new novel via social networking sites
and guest blogs like this one.
I’m also currently
part of the way through a work in progress, a new Roger and Suzanne novel set
in Alaska. The
current Alaska-based work in progress will be my sixth novel (and ninth book
overall) in the Roger and Suzanne South American mystery series, about halfway
completed. This entry will take place in
Alaska’s Denali national park wilderness, where a couple of Roger and Suzanne’s
friends have been killed in what appears to be a random attack by a bear. It’s a pretty good bet they were murdered, but
how, and by whom?
2.
How does your work differ from others in its genre?
My
genre is Mystery/suspense/thriller. It has been my favorite genre to read all of
my life, so is a natural choice for me.
It is certainly not the ideal genre for big sales---romance and/or
vampires and other paranormal beasties would probably be a better choice
commercially. But we write what we love,
so here I am. So far, it’s only been
mysteries as a genre, but the full range between hard-boiled and cozy. My comfort zone seems to be as a
“tweener”---tougher, darker, and more violent than a cozy, but minimal graphic
violence, no four-letter words (at least in English), no smoking,
alcohol in moderation, minimal concussions for the P.I.s, and no gratuitous sex.
For example “The Deadly Dog Show” is a
whodunit mystery set in the world of canine conformation contests. Because one of the lead characters is a dog,
Amazon calls it a “cozy”. I’d call it
“hard-boiled” or “noir”, but with clean language and no gratuitous sex. I guess that means it’s somewhere between
those various genres. My target audience is adults who enjoy
suspenseful, fast-paced mystery novels set in unusual locales that are
described authentically.
How do the Roger and Suzanne South American mysteries
differ from other books in the genre? I
think it’s a cumulative thing. 1.
They’re very good in terms of plot and setting.
2. They’re well written. 3. They’re well researched and therefore
educational. 4. They’re quite affordable (maximum price of
$2.99 thus far). 5. They’re different---where else can you learn
all about dog shows, Incan history, South American indigenous creation legends,
and biochemistry and molecular biology in the same series? 6.
Finally, even though each book can be read as a stand-alone entry, some
of the same characters are used throughout the series. It’s a lot easier to take a character I know,
put her or him into a specific situation, and ask myself how would they react
to the situation than it is to start this process from scratch with a new
character in each new story. The
recurring characters grow within the series, so you can keep up with old
friends in the new books. To me, that’s
the best reason to write in a series format.
3.
Why do you write what you do?
I’ve been a big fan of mystery novels all my life. I started reading The Hardy Boys and Nancy
Drew in grade school. Erle Stanley
Gardner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle came next, before I hit my teens. As I moved towards college and nominal
adulthood, my favorites became the masters of the private eye genre, Dashiell
Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald.
For example, “The Matador Murders”, a hard-boiled, noir, whodunit
mystery set mainly in Montevideo, Uruguay, is a reworking and modernization of
Dashiell Hammett’s immortal novel, “Red Harvest”. I like the noir style, the role of the
private detective as the hero, and the fast pace of the action as a complex
plot unfolds. It just seemed, one day,
that I should try constructing the puzzles as well as trying to solve
them. And here I am.
I think most mystery writers, including me, can rule out
monetary gain as our greatest reward for being published authors, especially
independent authors. Of course, there’s
a personal satisfaction in seeing a book with our name on it. It’s a form of creativity that can be very
reinforcing as you do it. And, I’ve met
(live and via Facebook) some very nice people who’ve helped me along the
way. But the biggest reward is the
feedback people have given me, via book reviews, e-mails, and Facebook, that
reading one or another of my books gave them several hours of pleasure, or a
desire to visit South America, or a memory of already having been there. That kind of positive feedback feels awfully
good when it happens.
4.
How does your writing process work?
I work full
time, so my days aren’t available for writing novels. That leaves early mornings, nights, and
weekends for writing fiction. I don’t
follow a routine, other than to do it when I can. Much of the “first draft” is done in my head
before I ever actually write (type on the computer) anything. I never know “whodunit”, and seldom know
what’s going to happen after the first few chapters, when I start writing. The story takes over the process and leads me
to the later scenes and resolution once I actually start writing. The book tells me when enough is enough. The last couple of novels have been
significantly longer than the earlier novels.
I’m not sure what that means.
Either my style is changing or I’m not listening to the books carefully
enough when they tell me to stop.
You should be able to do a
lot of the preliminary planning for the plot of your new mystery in your
head. Or, if it’s easier, draft an
outline. Then sit down at the computer
and write. It’s the same way as you
write a scientific manuscript. Just sit
down and write the first draft. It doesn’t
matter how bad it is. That’s what
editing is for. Just get it down on
paper---editing is easier than creating. And don’t forget to keep a character list as
you go along. That saves a lot of work
later.
So far, there hasn’t been any
“writer’s block” for any substantial amount of time. There are good days and bad days when it
comes easy or it doesn’t, but I try to write something every time I sit down to
write. I reuse characters I like in
later books of the series, and try to let them grow as they progress through
the series. The characters I don’t like
as much make good murder victims in the later books since I already know their
backstory.
The major characters are all
from my imagination, except they may contain bits and pieces taken from
reality. By an odd coincidence, for
example, Suzanne works in the same scientific areas I do, so I have some
expertise in what she does. Roger’s
skills in Brazilian jiu-jitsu are related to my son Matthew’s expertise in the
area. On the other hand, my supporting
characters are definitely related to real people I’ve met, or to composites of
several real people. The character of
Bernardo Colletti, the head of the
Uruguayan Nazi Party from “The Ambivalent Corpse” and a suspect in the murder,
has his roots in reality. Bernardo also does a guest appearance in the
title role in the story “The Body In The Bed”.
If you want all of the details about the real Bernardo, check out the
post entitled “Where Do All of Those Characters in the Books Come From?” in my
blog at http://rogerandsuzannemysteries.blogspot.com. The blog post also discusses the roots in
reality of several other minor characters in my books.
I’ve
already done the research for the settings by choosing locales I know from
first hand experience, either living in the locations or visiting them as a
tourist. That’s why South America and
California are featured so prominently. The Surreal Killer is a mystery/suspense novel, a work of
fiction. For a couple of years now, it
has been in Amazon’s top twenty in the category of
travel>non-fiction>Peru. It’s a
great way to visit Machu Picchu, Lima, and Cuzco in Peru, as well as Northern
Chile’s Atacama Desert.
Fact checking is done on the Internet or using the library
as a resource. The science is based on
my career as a biochemist and toxicologist; I keep my character’s expertise,
especially Suzanne’s, within the boundaries of my own. “The Body in the Parking Structure” was a lot
of fun to write because I could draw on my professional skills for much of the
background material for this book, which involves a pharmaceutical company and
a potential new anti-cancer drug in the plot.
A good writer has to like writing.
Remember, most of us learn by doing.
The hard part is selling the books, and all the work that goes with
trying to get reviews, get sales, get noticed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now, the sales pitch. Why buy these books? Several reasons. They’re well written suspenseful mysteries
with complex whodunit plots. They’re
well researched and therefore educational.
At $2.99 each for the novels, and $0.99 each for the novellas, they’re
quite affordable. Each book is written
as a stand-alone novel---this isn’t a serial with cliffhanger endings or the
same plot eked out in installments. You
can start with any book on the list and it will make sense. If you want some sense of order in terms of
how the characters are introduced and their back stories, you might prefer to
start with either “The Ambivalent Corpse” or the anthology of short stories,
“Five Quickies for Roger and Suzanne”.
In chronological order of publication, the books [All available form
Amazon Kindle] are:
Novels: The Ambivalent Corpse. What do a dismembered corpse and South
American indigenous creation legends have in common? The answer to this question is a crucial clue
as Roger Bowman and Suzanne Foster solve a brutal murder in Montevideo,
Uruguay.
The
Surreal Killer. What motivates a
serial killer? The answer to this
question is the "whydunit" that leads Roger Bowman and Suzanne Foster
to "whodunit", the solution of a series of brutal murders in Peru,
Chile, and Bolivia. This tightly written
mystery story will keep you guessing all the way to the thrilling
conclusion. http://www.amazon.com/The-Surreal-Killer-ebook/dp/B007H21EFO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330988453&sr=1-2
The
Matador Murders brings Roger and Suzanne back to Montevideo, Uruguay. One of
their friends is suspected of murder and needs their skills as detectives to
help clear him of the charges. Life for Roger, and especially for Suzanne, is
more complicated these days as they now have an infant son, Robert. The three
of them, accompanied by Robert’s nanny, Bruce, fly to Uruguay. Before long we have our heroes directly in
the middle of a gang war, off for a quick trip to Chile to learn all about the
local crime scene, and meeting some unlikely allies in their mission. The book
has lots of action, a good whodunit storyline, and occasional opportunities for
sightseeing and eating regional specialty foods. http://www.amazon.com/Matador-Murders-American-Mystery-ebook/dp/B008QD4BJE/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343522003&sr=1-3
The
Deadly Dog Show, a suspenseful
journey into the world of competitive canine conformation contests, provides an
exciting backdrop for murder. Roger
Bowman, private eye, is hired to investigate mysterious occurrences at
California dog shows. Before long, Roger
is working undercover at the dog shows impersonating an owner, dead bodies are
accumulating, and a mysterious stalker is pursuing Roger’s wife Suzanne. http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Roger-Suzanne-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00E25BM3I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374416914&sr=1-1&keywords=b00e25bm3i
In
The Origin of Murder Roger and Suzanne take a vacation cruise through the
Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of Ecuador.
Suzanne finds a dead body floating with a couple of bullet holes in its
back floating in the Pacific Ocean and we're off to solve another deadly
mystery. Among the suspects is a
treacherous travel agent with an eye-opening secret, a cheerful couple of bird
watchers from Germany, a happy honeymooning couple, two sensual sisters from
San Francisco, two recent retirees from Australia working through their bucket
list, and two middle-aged Montevideo residents seeing the wonders of the world
while they can. Lurking in the
background behind the scenes is a mysterious Ecuadorian general. http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Murder-Suzanne-American-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00K4KDL3O/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399322637&sr=1-6&keywords=the+origin+of+murder
Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Origin-Murder-Suzanne-American-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00K4KDL3O/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399265823&sr=1-7&keywords=origin+of+murder
I’m also in the middle of writing the next book to follow in
the series, tentatively entitled Being Dead In Alaska Is Unbearable, which will
take our detective couple to Alaska.
Novellas: The Body in the Parking Structure. Suzanne discovers the body of a
Bolivian scientist in the parking garage next to the Medical School at UCLA.
The police treat the killing as just another drug deal gone bad. P.I. Roger Bowman, Suzanne, and his team
investigate the murder, which seems to be linked to a small biotechnology
company and a new anti-cancer drug they are developing. The reader is off on a
whirlwind tour of Los Angeles and Westwood in search of clues. The clues are
all there: Can you figure out whodunit before Roger does? I got to use some of my scientific knowledge
on this plot, which made it a lot of fun to write. http://www.amazon.com/Body-Parking-Structure-ebook/dp/B008PDV9WC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343432381&sr=1-1&keywords=the+body+in+the+parking+structure
The
Body in the Bed, a suspenseful whodunit, brings Roger and Suzanne back
to Montevideo, Uruguay where another bloody murder needs to be solved. International intrigue, corrupt cops, and a
complex plot based on current world events make this novella one of the more
interesting entries in the series. http://www.amazon.com/South-American-Mystery-Series-ebook/dp/B00A1PZZ86/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352084384&sr=1-6&keywords=the+body+in+the+bed
Anthology (novel length)
of shorter stories: Five Quickies for Roger and
Suzanne features a novella, The Empanada Affair [a completely re-written and
re-edited version of the original first novel in the series, a murder mystery
set in Salta, Argentina which describes how Roger and Suzanne first met]; The
Body in the Parking Structure [also available as a novella, described above];
The Haunted Gymnasium [a mildly paranormal short mystery story set in
Fortaleza, Brazil]; The Dog With No Name [a short story for dog lovers describing Roger’s first
case as a private detective]; and “Someone Did It To The Butler”, my
first attempt to write the classic California mystery short story that
popularized the style in the pulp magazines our grandparents read.
Blog:
“South American Mystery Novels and Stuff” at http://rogerandsuzannemysteries.blogspot.com.
Facebook Link:
https://www.facebook.com/RogerAndSuzanneMysteries
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Jerold-A.-Last/e/B0028EKOIY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1
Your Next Stop on the Blog Tour is a professional colleague of mine, biochemist and toxicologist Henry Forman, author of "Poisonous Science", which can be found at https://www.amazon.com/author/hjforman. Henry's blog may be found at:
http://freeradicalbiologist.blogspot.com/2014/05/poisonous-science.html
http://freeradicalbiologist.blogspot.com/2014/05/poisonous-science.html
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