QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH AIDAN THORN

Aidan Thorn, author of Rival Sons and more, submits to a few questions.
Rival Sons featured yesterday on here.

Is the writing full time? If not, what’s the day job? Can you give us a quick biography of yourself?

No, it’s definitely not full time for me, I wouldn’t even say it’s part time anymore with the limited amount I’ve written over recent years – although I’m changing that. By day, and occasionally evening and weekend, I manage a Marine Robotics Innovation Centre for the National Oceanography Centre and I absolutely love my day job. I feel very lucky to be able to do a job I love every day – if you have that in life it helps. My day job sees me working with a bunch of companies all either working to develop technologies that use robotics and AI, or end-users of that technology.

As a young man all I really wanted to do was play my bass guitar and be in a band. I would write songs, probably where the writing started really and dream of that a lot – I went to Uni to do a Media Technology course but I hated it and after about 18 months I dropped out. I ended up in an apprenticeship at the Oceanography Centre and never looked back. They put me back into Uni twice where I got a Degree in Business Management and a post-grad in Marketing. When I started there I was working two jobs and doing Uni, but I still found time to try to do a bit of song writing and so that’s always been in me, that creative side.


Your latest work Rival Sons was recently published by Shotgun Honey, can you pitch it to potential readers in a short paragraph?

With all my work I like to pack heart into stories. I like to tell crime stories, but I like those stories to be about the people and their relationships as much as the criminal element. I feel that Rival Sons is probably my most violent and yet most emotional work to date. It’s about a small criminal empire and the massive impact that has on a family and those around it. Paul Brazill recently said of it “Rival Sons is a brutal and brilliant blend of kitchen sink drama and gangster story. Like an urban western, Rival Sons is powerful stuff.” I think Paul has summed it up perfectly there.


How long from conception to completion did Rival Sons take?

Years. And I really do mean that. Not only do I write slow, but I do a lot of my writing without doing any writing at all. Rival Sons the concept started on a trip to Sicily back in July 2015. As we drove across the country I kept seeing all these broken down farm buildings and I started concocting stories in my head of gangsters putting pressure on the land owners for protection money etc… When I returned I wrote a 1,000 word short story called The Old Farmhouse that I think ended up published on the Near to the Knuckle website. But I wasn’t done with the idea and I felt it had more in it, and then I started plotting out what is now Rival Sons in my head. I finished writing it on New Years Eve 2016, I then started editing it and sending it around to publishers. In September 2017 I got the email from Ron Earl Phillips at Shotgun Honey and then just over a year later it was published.

* Old Farmhouse

Was it a smooth process or were there many bumps in the road along the way? 

It’s rarely a smooth process for me. When I was writing When the Music’s Over that took forever because I kept getting side tracked with short story ideas. For Rival Sons I didn’t allow myself to write anything else while I was writing it. I lost discipline a couple of times and knocked a few short stories out, but tried to keep on track because my writing time was so limited I wanted to ensure I was working on this. There were huge chunks of time when I didn’t write a word, I mean months and I found myself getting very down during the writing of this book. But I got there and I’m very proud of it.

Did it end up being the book you anticipated at the start of the process?

It did I think. It certainly didn’t end as I thought it would and I didn’t know every twist and turn. I never plot things out because if I do I get bored of the idea, it feels like I’ve already written it and the creativity is taken out of writing it. But it is what I intended in that it’s a crime tale with emotional pull.

How did you hook up with Shotgun Honey?

I have always admired their work and I’ve had a number of short stories published over on their website. At the time my previous publisher Number 13 Press had finished its project of publishing 13 books in 13 months and so I had to look around for other like-minded publishers. Shotgun Honey was the first choice. But it took a long time to get a response and I thought maybe they hadn’t liked it and so I started putting it around other potential publishers. I was on holiday in Boston when an email came in from Ron at Shotgun Honey say he wanted it. I was over the moon and went back instantly saying as much. Then over the next couple of months I got three more emails from the three other publishers all saying they would like to publish it too. This was a huge compliment and I’m very grateful to all of them but I had to say that I had already agreed to work with Shotgun Honey, it had been an ambition of mine when I first started getting short stories published to be one of their book authors so it was a real honour to be added to their list.

On your writing in general, do you have a typical writing schedule? Do you write every day?

I have just started one this December, my rule is that I must write at least one page a day. The way I see it by the end of the year I should have a full novel written. So far that rule is working out OK and I’m ahead of my target. Prior to that I just wrote as and when I found the time, no schedule just when I could or when I had an idea.

As well as the latest and the novella, When the Music’s Over, you have a few short story collections to your name – Criminal Thoughts, Urban Decay and Tales From the Underbelly, is it a different process writing a short story as opposed to longer works?

It’s very different. A short story usually comes from a tiny spark of an idea. Something I see or hear that triggers me to write. I don’t think I’ve ever sat in front of the laptop and thought, today I’ll write a short story, it’s usually a case of, I need to write about this and I’ll go to the laptop to start typing. With the longer stuff, I plan to write, even though I don’t generally know what I’ll write I have a story unfold in front of me, it[‘s more deliberate. That said, as mentioned some of my shorts do inspire longer work, that was definitely the case for Rival Sons and I have another short called Killing in the name of… that I’ve started to turn into something longer – but I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it, we’ll see

Do you have a preference between the two formats? Is one less daunting than the other?

I like the near instant gratification of short stories, the sense of achievement at having something finished. In the early days they were what kept me writing because I was trying things out, getting them published and seeing what people liked. Now that I’m two novellas in (soon to be three – more on that later) I prefer the longer stuff because there’s more space to unfold a story into. In terms of is one less daunting than the other, I think definitely the short stories, they’re kind of the warm up, the exercise, the friendly match to get a writer in shape for the season. When I started writing I foolishly thought I could jump straight to a novel. Damn it was terrible, you need to practise before you can jump in and short stories are a really great way to do that. That said I treat every one of them as seriously as I do the novellas, I don’t want to put out substandard work.

What’s the attraction to the darker side of the crime fiction genre? Were you never tempted to aim for more readers by penning work closer to the mainstream? 

You have to write what you enjoy or you’ll never finish anything. I like stories that are dark, but that have a heart to them and so that’s what I write. I read that sort of thing and I watch that sort of TV programme. For me writing isn’t about whether I can be mainstream or sell thousands of books (that would be a nice by-product), but it’s about enjoying myself. If a writer gets into fiction with the idea that they’re going to make a load of money they’re probably firstly going to end up disappointed and secondly, probably not going to write something that’s very good because they’ll be aiming for all of those plot devices and clichés that you expect from mainstream fiction. And don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of mainstream fiction, but only the truly brilliant can pull it off well. I would rather tell a dark tale that I enjoy, than a mainstream one that thousands do and I don’t. The thing is, when I write something I spend a long time with it and have to read it a few times through in that process – I have to enjoy it. A reader only spends a few hours/days in a book’s company.

What can we look forward to next? Any hints on the current work in progress?

Well that’s two questions. The next thing from me will see me back at Fahrenheit 13 as part of a Brit Grit Double-bill. My novella Worst Laid Plans is being published in a book alongside a novella by another Fahrenheit author who I truly admire – It’s a massive deal for me. I’m not going to reveal who that author is here just yet, because I think that’s for the publisher to do but all I can say is that this writer is someone I read and enjoyed from my earliest moments of getting into short story writing, someone I looked up to as an example of how to do this thing we do and the novella I’m being published in the same volume with is one of my favourites… I really can’t explain quite how excited I am about this. Worst Laid Plans is a definite departure from my usual work, it’s very dark but it’s a dark comedy and there isn’t the emotional pull that I usually favour. It’s a tale of an accident that spirals out of all control and ends up with first time and unintentional criminals doing deeds they really have no idea how to execute.

I’m also working on a novel that’s more in line with the sort of flavour you get from When the Music’s Over and Rival Sons called Docklands. Again it’s centred around a family and the troubles and challenges that are bought to their relationships by crime.

What’s been the most satisfying moment of your writing career so far?

There have been a few but one stands above all. I was responsible for pulling together an anthology of 16 writers from the UK and US for a charity anthology called Paladins in support of Henri Furchtenicht, the wife of a wonderful writer called Craig Furchtenicht. Sadly not long after the book came out Henri lost her fight with Multiple Myeloma, but she was an inspirational woman who faced everything with a great spirit and made me laugh, smile and cry almost daily through social media. Having that book out and knowing how happy it made her that we’d all worked together to achieve it for her was a special moment.

Any unpublished gems in your bottom drawer?

Not really, I do have a few unfinished pieces, like Docklands and Killing in the name of… but I’ve been pretty lucky so far and those things that I’ve finished have found homes with publishers

Any advice for prospective authors out there?

I’m no one to give advice, I barely follow my own. But I would say, write as much as you can, be that short stories or novels and always write something that you will enjoy first, don’t think about what will sell because you have to be passionate about something to give it your best.

What’s the best thing about writing?

Doing something I’m passionate about and getting great feedback from readers. If only one person bought my books and they enjoyed it, that’ll do for me.

The worst?

Nothing, I don’t have to do this, if I don’t enjoy it I can stop. I still enjoy it, I’d like more time to do it but that’s not a bad thing about writing at all. I just wish there were 30 hours in a day

What are the last five books you’ve read? 

I’m currently only reading Fahrenheit Press books thanks to the wonderful reader led initiative that is #Fahrenbruary. A month long celebration of all things Fahrenheit Press – a press I’m very proud to be a part of. I’m currently reading Todd Morr’s ‘If you’re not one percent’ it’s dark, twisted and a compelling read, before that I read the ever enjoyable Paul Brazill’s Kill Me Quick, also a Fahrenheit release. The two before that were mainstream books, The Doll’s House by M J Alridge, I fell for his books because they’re set in Southampton where I live, but they’re also great little page-turning thrillers. Prior to that I read Michael Connolly’s latest, Dark Sacred Night – I always enjoy a Bosch and I’m enjoy Connolly’s new character Ballard too – this book pairs them up to great effect. Before that I think it was another Fahrenheit book, Graham Wynd’s sexy and wicked Satan’s Sorority.

Who do you read and enjoy? Is there anyone I should be reading who has snuck under my radar?

I love crime fiction, as I’m sure you can imagine. If you haven’t read many Fahrenheit Press books I can recommend them, their logo on the spine is usually a mark of quality and something a little different from the norm. My favourite writer at the moment is Matt Phillips, I’m guessing you’ve read him, but if not Know Me From Smoke is my favourite book at the moment, it’s a perfect piece of noir. I also loved his latest Bad Kind of Lucky and was lucky (sorry) enough to be asked to read it pre-release and do a blurb for it. He’s prolific and brilliant, how he does it I’ve no idea.

Is there any one book you wish you had written?

See above, Know Me from Smoke by Matt Phillips – a perfect book.

Favourite activity when not working or writing? From your social media posts, I’m guessing Southampton FC may figure quite high somewhere.

Yes, I do enjoy going to watch Southampton, although I have fallen out of love with football more generally these days. I also love music, as you may be able to tell from my books so I go to a lot of gigs. I also love the cinema and try to go at least once a week. I try to exercise every day as well, even if just for 15 minutes, I always feel low if I haven’t managed that.

What’s the last film you watched that rocked you?

So, this isn’t going to fit very well with my hard man of crime fiction image but I bloody loved Mary Poppins Returns. Mary Poppins is one of my favourite films of all time and so I was so happy that this turned out so well. I can’t stop listening to the soundtrack and I can’t wait to watch it again. That said, I go to the cinema all the time and I’ve seen a lot of great films over the last year or so… I could genuinely do a whole interview just on this topic, so I better stop now!

TV addict or not? What’s the must watch show in the Thorn household?

I’m more of a film addict. I do watch TV, but not loads. That said one of my favourite writers is a TV writer, I’ll watch anything that Jimmy McGovern has written, I know that will be good – I was hooked from being a young lad in the 90’s watching Cracker. I did really enjoy watching You on Netflix recently too. It’s dark and I disliked all of the characters but they were compelling to watch and it was nicely written.

In a couple of years’ time.....

Hopefully a couple more novels/novellas and people are still enjoying what I do.

----------------------------------------------
Many thanks to Aidan for his time.
You can catch up with him at the following locations

Website -     http://aidanthornwriter.weebly.com
Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/aidan.thorn.7
Twitter -      https://twitter.com/AidanDFThorn
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aidanthorn/

Buy Rival Sons       AM UK    AM US    AM CANADA    AM AUSTRALIA

AIDAN THORN - RIVAL SONS (2018)

Synopsis/blurb....

When Kyle Gordon hears that his mother is terminally ill he makes the journey back to his hometown for the first time in nearly two decades, only…home isn’t what it used to be. Kyle is shocked by the dilapidation that has befallen his town. 

For nineteen years Kyle vowed to protect the people of his country, serving in the armed forces. On returning home he realises that there were those needing protection right on his own doorstep and it was from no foreign enemy but that of his own flesh and blood. For decades his own father, Frank Gordon, ran the small farming town through fear and crime. Now, the throne has been passed to Kyle’s younger brother, Graham, a man with no moral code. 

Kyle had enlisted in the army to distance himself from his father’s chosen profession, and he’d not returned until now to keep his own young family from harm’s way. Through returning to support his ailing mother Kyle’s fears become reality—the lifelong feud between brothers is reignited and a dangerous bond is formed between his teenage daughter and her grandfather, Frank. 

Praise for RIVAL SONS: 

“A really strong story with great characters. Brilliant stuff. Aidan Thorn is at the forefront of the new wave of British noir.” —Chris Black, Senior Editor at Fahrenheit 13 

Short, tough, tender and an ending that deliver a real kick.

Aidan Thorn serves up a family feud ramped up to the nth degree. Ex-army man Kyle reluctantly returns home with his wife Emma and daughter Zoe to help nurse his mother through the last days of her terminal illness. Kyle has been away for 20 years, give or take and his mother has never met his family. His mother was never the problem.

Father Frank and little brother Graham were the forces that drove him away. Frank's better days are behind him. He's now retired from the criminal activities that gave him his reputation and his wage. Graham runs the show, though judging by the state of the town and the evidence of its decline in Kyle's absence, he's not exactly making a great job of it.

Any chance of letting bygones be bygones? Nope. Frank and Kyle agree to tolerate each other and hold the peace for the sake of Kyle's mum.

Kyle and Graham are a different story. An initial meeting by chance in a pub. Boom, bash, wallop. Graham has even more reason to resent Kyle. Embarrassment, bruises and wounded pride, allied with a seething hatred make for a powerful combination. If Graham can't get back at his brother directly then he'll hit him where it hurts most - through his daughter, Zoe.

Interesting dynamics, forceful relationships both positive and destructive on display. Factor in grief and loss to the mix and its a heady brew. There's tension between Kyle, Emma and their daughter. She's resentful of her parents and her enforced stay in this crappy town in the arse end of nowhere. Cultivating a relationship with Frank is sure to wind her dad up. Frank, somewhat too late realises the damage he has caused Kyle and it's going to cost him any chance of an ongoing connection to Emma and Zoe once his wife has passed and the funeral is out of the way. Kyle has made that clear in no uncertain terms. An accommodation has been made and the grown ups know where they stand.

It's the sibling rivalry you need to watch out for. Graham's plan for Zoe, ensnares another innocent, barman Ryan. A forced, manipulated relationship at the outset, blossoms and turns into something more. Zoe's in love - the calm before the storm.It's more than hearts that are going to get broken before we're done.

Pace, action, character, a decent setting - a small Scottish town - close to Glasgow - on it's downers and a riveting tale of a fractured family.

Looking forward to whatever Aidan Thorn does next.


4.5 from 5

Previously enjoyed by this author - Criminal Thoughts and When the Music's Over.

Read in January, 2019
Published - 2018
Page count - 152
Source - purchased copy at Smashwords, though a welcome signed paperback rocked up from the author
Format - paperback


 

2 BY WILLIAM GAY

A couple this week from William Gay, not an author I have had the pleasure of reading yet. I've heard his work classed as literary and Southern Gothic whatever that means.

Little Sister Death has undertones of a ghost story and supernatural elements, which I used to read a lot of when I was younger. Stoneburner seems a bit more like my usual reading - a hard-boiled detective story.
























William Gay passed in 2012 and both these books have since been published posthumously along with last year's The Lost Country.

He had three novels published in his lifetime - The Long Home, Provinces of Night and Twilight.

His New York Times obituary is here.









Little Sister Death (2015)

David Binder is a young, successful writer living in Chicago and suffering from writer's block. He stares at the blank page, and the blank page stares back - until inspiration strikes in the form of a ghost story that captivated him as a child. With his pregnant wife and young daughter in tow, he sets out to explore the myth of Virginia Beale, Faery Queen of the Haunted Dell. But as his investigation takes him deeper and deeper into the legacy of blood and violence that casts its shadow over the old Beale farm, Binder finds himself obsessed with a force that's as wicked as it is seductive.

A stirring literary rendition of Tennessee's famed Curse of the Bell Witch, Little Sister Death skillfully toes the line between Southern Gothic and horror and further cements William Gay's legacy as not only one of the South's finest writers but among the best that American literature has to offer.



Stoneburner (2017)

Stoneburner is a hardboiled detective story written as only William Gay could do it. The story is set in the mid 1970s and includes a jaded private eye named Stoneburner, a redneck Vietnam vet named Thibodeaux, a beautiful young blonde named Cathy Meecham and an ex-Sheriff named Cap Holder loosely based on Buford Pusser. Stoneburner is the private eye who has abandoned his office in Memphis to live on the banks of the Tennessee River where he is building a cabin. The story follows him as he meets a local retired sheriff who made a fortune when Hollywood produced a movie based on his exploits cleaning up the drug dealers in his rural county. However, now the Sheriff, Cap Holder, has run through the money on ill conceived business plans, fancy cars, big boats and expensive young girlfriends. He comes to Stoneburner when his plans to recoup his losses on a coke deal goes wrong and the young girlfriend turns up missing, both at the same time.

Cap wants Stoneburner to find both the money and the girl. The redneck named Thibodeaux just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time and was able to make off with a briefcase full of drug money and the young blonde. Thibodeaux and the girl are on the run, moving across Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas, leaving a trail a mile wide with Stoneburner not far behind. Thibodeaux and the girl buy a Cadillac purportedly owned by Elvis which eventually ends up in the top of a tree in the Ozarks. Stoneburner quickly figures out that he is not the only person that wants to find Thibodeaux. The drug lord, a local Nashville music producer, who was supplying the cocaine is on the trail as well.

The book follows two tracks, starting with Thibodeaux who is living in rural Tennessee and getting by as best he can. He is a town drunk constantly in trouble with the law, leaving behind a string of wrecked cars and trucks. However, his luck changes one night when he figures out someone is using an abandoned airstrip to fly in drugs and cases it out until one night a plane lands and he is able to make off with a briefcase full of cash. Once he has the money he is able to pick up the blonde, who was double-crossing both Cap Holder and the drug dealers, and away they go.

PAUL THOMAS - SEX CRIMES (2003)

Synopsis/blurb....

The things we do for sex - 
                              lie, cheat, scheme, kill.....

Paul Thomas's blackly humourous stories explore the unpredictable and sometimes fatal consequences that can occur when sex rears its not-sougly head. The author if the ground-breaking series of New Zealand comic thriller featuring the Maori Detective Tito Ihaka (Old School Tie, Inside Dope and Guerilla Season) takes us into a world of lust, deceit, betrayal and elaborate revenge, where nothing is as it seems and even the best-laid plans never unfold quite according to plan.

Sex Crimes is seven delicious helpings of irony, intrigue and full-on entertainment from the writer who the celebrated Australian author Marele Day described as "a master of plot, pace and the killer one-liner." 

A decent collection of short stories and one that has sat on my TBR shelf for a dozen or more years. Seven stories in total, varying in length from 10 pages to 116 long.

Marge Bristow, This is Your Life (10)....... Reg, the fifty year old husband, sells his company, lots of money in the bank, mid-life crisis, doesn't want to lose half in a divorce, hires a hit-man, Marge responds.

Star Struck (54)..... female detective, part of a team investigating the murder of a famous actress, we follow the investigation...... manipulation, scheming, comeuppance for some.

The Last Slice (16).... another unhappy marriage, another hit-man, another plan gone awry, another holiday and game of golf, an accidental and unexpected outcome.

Fall From Grace (36)...... a mega-rich family with a public profile dealing with the fall-out of the suicide of a family member, a private investigation into the whys and the wherefores, an investigation that gets shut down then turned back on again...... power, money, secrets, illicit sex, discovery, guilt, death, exposure and another death.

The Sentimental Hit-man (16)..... a retired hit-man with an aversion to eliminating females gets drawn back into his previous profession to make amends for past failures, a second chance, a second failure, a last chance, a completed mission albeit by default.

An Immodest Proposal (30)..... a sexy widow, the subject of a bet between four male friends, three fails and the next man's up, having your cake and eating it, before discovering that it's not actually what you want.

A Dish Best Eaten Cold (116)..... an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a rapist gets raped himself, another sexual predator, becomes prey, all filmed. An escalation, a career plan and money to be made. Prostitutes, drugs, death, suspicion. Three into two doesn't go, and a falling out among friends and lovers. Dirty deeds, death and betrayal, a set-up and the tables turned.

I pretty much enjoyed six out of the seven. The second story - Star Struck was my least favourite of the bunch. There's plenty of darkness in some of these stories, especially the last one. Plenty of black humour as well. All of them delivered a pay-off of some kind, a few with an unexpected twist. All set in Australia.

All in all a great read and one I kind of wish I hadn't shelved for so long before enjoying.

4 from 5

I've more of Paul Thomas's books on the pile. I discovered his Detective Ihaka series some twenty plus years ago and need to get back to them, one of these years.

Read in January, 2019
Published - 2003
Page count - 288
Source - owned
Format - paperback

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH PAUL D. MARKS

Paul D. Marks, author of Broken Windows, White Heat and more was kind enough to answer a few questions on the blog.

Is the writing full time? If not, what’s the day job? Can you give us a quick biography of yourself? From a bit of googling, you’re an LA native, an author, possibly a film-maker, a dog-lover and you’re a man who pulled  gun on the LAPD and lived to tell the tale.

It’s true, I did pull a gun on two LAPD officers…and lived to tell the tale. But it’s not really as bad as it sounds. I was on their side. But they were undercover and looked like a couple of major scuzzballs. The story can be found on my website at: https://pauldmarks.com/he-pulled-a-gun-on-the-lapd-and-lived-to-tell-about-it/ . And it’s definitely not something I’d want to repeat. Who wants to tempt fate twice?

I’m definitely a dog (and cat) lover. We currently have two dogs. Both rescues and both that we think are German Shepherd mixes. One is from the pound – she was, I guess a real-life pound puppy. The other is from a Shepherd Rescue.

I am an LA native, born in Hollywood (literally), as a matter of fact. And I did do a hitch working as a script doctor: No Credit, No Glory. But in Hollywood everyone’s a chef, and those chefs often spoil the stew. Some have good ideas, some not so good. But either way, when you have so many chefs sticking in ingredient on top of ingredient you do often end up spoiling the stew.

According to Steven Bingen, one of the co-authors of MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot, I have the distinction, dubious though it might be, of having been the last person to have filmed on the last-standing MGM backlot. Some distinction, huh?

Your latest work Broken Windows was recently published by Down and Out Books, can you pitch it to potential readers in a short paragraph?

Broken Windows is the much-delayed sequel (and that’s a story in itself) to my Shamus-winning novel White Heat. White Heat is a mystery-thriller that takes place in L.A. during the 1992 Rodney King riots. Broken Windows takes place a couple years later, during a contentious California election season revolving around a controversial anti-illegal immigrant proposition known as Prop 187, sort of a precursor to the divisive debate that continues to this day.  

So, while the storm rages over Prop 187, a young woman climbs to the top of the famous Hollywood sign—and jumps to her death. An undocumented day laborer is murdered. And a disbarred and desperate lawyer in Venice Beach places an ad in a local paper that says: “Will Do Anything For Money.”—Private Investigator Duke Rogers, and his very unPC partner, Jack, must figure out what ties together these seemingly unrelated incidents. Their mission catapults them through a labyrinth of murder, intrigue and corruption of church, state and business that hovers around the immigration debate. Along the way we explore the fiery immigration controversy from all sides and no one escapes unscathed.

How long from conception to completion did Broken Windows take?

It’s hard to say since I often work on more than one thing at a time. I don’t think Broken Windows took too long, maybe several months to a year. The writing wasn’t the problem – the agent was… See more about that down below.

Was it a smooth process or were there many bumps in the road along the way?

The bumps weren’t with the writing so much as with the agenting process. I finished Broken Windows shortly after White Heat came out and got a “very good” agent for it. Unfortunately, I think she had some medical issues and didn’t really do anything with it. Then, because of her illness, it was tied up in legal limbo for several years before I could extricate from that situation and get it out in the marketplace again. Very frustrating.

Did it end up being the book you anticipated at the start of the process?

I think so. My main goal is to entertain. To take the readers for a thrilling ride and I think I’ve done that. While on that ride I hope to explore some of the issues of today as seen through the prism of the recent past, but not being preachy about it. And one of the things that I like doing is having a B story threaded throughout that eventually ties up with the A story and I think that worked pretty well in Broken Windows, even better than it did in White Heat.

BW is your second Duke Rogers book, the first White Heat (which I enjoyed last year) originally dropped in 2012. In between times you published another novel, Vortex in 2015. Can you tell us a bit about these other two works?

Glad you enjoyed White Heat. It’s the first book in the Duke Rogers private detective series and where I introduce the character. Duke is a PI who’s screwed up a case really bad. He helps a client track down an old school mate. Doesn’t bother to get any info or even paperwork on the client, just does a quick and dirty job for cash. But when he later finds out the person he helped find has now been murdered he knows it’s his client who did it. And since he took cash and didn’t do the proper paperwork, he has no idea who that client really is. But he wants to make amends for his inadvertent part in the victim’s death. So he goes on the offensive and tracks down the killer, all while trying to keep his part in it secret. The murder victim was an up and coming actress who grew up in South Central LA, so Duke ends up in that part of town right at the time the Rodney King verdict drops and South Central explodes and he gets caught up in the chaos. Things only get more intense from there, as he jumps on the trail of the client.

Vortex is my homage to the classic noir theme of the vet returning from war. One of my favorite film noirs is Somewhere in the Night, about an amnesiac World War II vet trying to figure out who he is and how he or people he knew might have been involved in a crime before the war. There are several noirs that deal with returning World War II vets, so I wanted to update that theme to Iraq and Afghanistan. Zach Tanner is on the run. He can run from the war, but he can't run from himself. Zach and his girlfriend, Jess, flee the city to get away from bad guys that seem to want something from him. But it’s hard to get away from the bad guys when they turn out to be Zach’s best friends, who think he’s stolen their spoils of war from a plot they hatched with him in Afghanistan. He finds more trouble here at home than he did in the war.

Set in and around LA and Southern California, Vortex showcases SoCal as its own character in the story. Novelist Steve Lauden said of this novel, but I think also of my writing in general, “…[it’s] almost as if the region was one of the main characters.”

Is there one of the three which you are most proud of? Which would you press into the hands of a new reader first?

Well, since Broken Windows is the newest, I think I’d push that into the hands of readers. One doesn’t have to have read White Heat (the first book in the series) to follow what’s going on in Broken Windows as there’s some backstory there. But if they want to start at the beginning then White Heat is the place to go. From there they can hit Broken Windows and in the near future the third installment in the series.

Was it always the intention to give Duke another case? It’s been quite a gap between outings.

As I’ve mentioned, Broken Windows was finished shortly after White Heat, but “due to circumstances beyond my control” it didn’t come out till several years later, so Duke had a new case coming out of the gate. But, it makes you wonder why you want to torture yourself in this biz sometimes… So, yes, I did intend to keep Duke and his very unPC partner, Jack, busy solving cases. And they’re working their way through the third now. It’s coming along nicely, though I’m not sure when it will be out. Hope Duke and Jack don’t fall into a trap they can’t escape from.

You’ve also been quite prolific and successful with your short stories… nominations, awards and volume - is it a different process writing a short story as opposed to longer works?

I attack both in a similar way. I’m a “pantster,” as opposed to an outliner, so I write by the seat of my pants, whether for a story or a novel. I usually have an idea of what I want to write, but that can change a lot through the drafts. But the process is very similar if not the same. I might have a handful of notes written down. I’m definitely not an outliner, though sometimes I wish I was. And I often, though not always, write the first draft or two in screenwriting/script format. The reason is I can do it fast and not worry about description. It’s basically INT. or EXT. whatever the location is, and dialogue, with the barest amount of “screen direction”. That way I can get to know my characters and let them just talk and walk.

I spend most of the time editing and refining. Sometimes the finished product is drastically different from the initial draft. I once set out to write a story that was about Dee Dee Ramone, of the Ramones, but it turned into a satirical murder mystery called Continental Tilt, with barely a mention of Dee Dee. Though part of it is  set in a cemetery in Hollywood where he’s buried and where people gather to watch movies on a mausoleum wall, with wine and brie, while sitting on dead people’s graves – for real.

On your writing in general, do you have a typical writing schedule? Do you write every day?

I used have more of a regular schedule. These days I catch time when I can, usually in the middle of the night. Seems right for writing mysteries and noir, don’t you think? I don’t write every day. And I don’t have a set number of words. Early drafts are easy. I can just blaze along. It’s the editing that takes time. Honing and honing till you get something you’re not embarrassed to send out.

When you have an idea and you sit down to construct a story – do you know what the end result is going to look like? Are you a plotter, or do you make it up as you go along?

I pretty much make it up as a go along, flying by the seat of my pants. I might have a basic idea, maybe a twist or two, a couple of characters. Sometimes the ending. But mostly I let the story take me where it wants to.

Do you have a preference between the two formats – the novel and the short story? Is one less daunting than the other?

Both are daunting. It’s really hard to sit down and face a blank screen and create something from nothing. That’s why the vast majority of people who say they have a great idea, the next best seller, never get around to doing it. It’s daunting!

But I don’t think I really have a preference. It’s like in the old days when you’d have a 45 single record – remember those? – and an album. They each served a purpose. And both have their own pluses and minuses. Their own pulse. In some ways, short stories are more challenging because you have to do so much in such a short space and it has to have punch. A novel can go off on different tangents, explore more characters, more threads. And while you want it to be fast-paced, it can also be more leisurely, if that makes sense. But both have to have a beginning, middle and end, unless you’re writing some avant garde piece.

From the two books of yours I’ve read, I feel the LA setting has a significance for you. I feel as if you’re documenting some of the city’s recent troubled racial history within the confines of your narrative. With White Heat – Rodney King and the 1992 LA riots; with Broken Windows – the 1994 California Proposition 187 (not something I’d previously heard of in the UK), a measure designed to deal with the effects of illegal immigration on public services and to try and save the racial identity of the state. I feel you’re trying to do more than just entertain readers with your work, without ever preaching.

I’m very glad to hear you say I’m not preaching. That’s the last thing I want to do and something that turns me off completely when I read something, whether or not I agree with the point of view. But I do sometimes like setting my stories in the context of the real world and real world events, like those that you mentioned. That said, my first goal is to entertain. There’s a classic old Preston Sturges movie from 1941 called Sullivan’s Travels, where a movie director, who makes silly movies like Ants in your Plants of 1939, wants to make a “meaningful” movie about the downtrodden, so he has the studio costume department outfit him as a hobo and he sets out to discover the real world. In the end, he gets more reality than he bargained for, finding himself on a chain gang. The prisoners get to watch a movie once in a while and what Sullivan finds out is that what they really want is to laugh and be entertained, to have an escape from the harsh reality of their lives, not some ponderous message movie. My books don’t exactly escape reality, but they are first and foremost roller coaster rides of mystery-thrillers, with a little dose of reality thrown in.

What’s the state of play regarding race relations in LA today? I’m guessing the current incumbent of the White House ain’t exactly helping matters?

It seems to me that on a one-to-one or micro level people of all races seem to get along really well. But in the macro picture race relations seem worse, probably because of agitation from all sides. And it seems really odd to me because you’d think it would be going in the other direction but I think all sides have something to gain by keeping the pot stirred but ultimately everyone loses. This is something I deal with in Broken Windows vis a vis the immigration issue. We see that people from all sides, left, right, Democrats, Republicans, Church and business, have something to gain by both bringing in undocumented workers/people and also keeping the pot stirring. There’s really no one who’s innocent. So, I guess you could say I’m cynical about the whole state of affairs.

Do you have a love-hate relationship with your home city? I get a sense of frustration and discontent with the shallowness and vapidity of all things Hollywood, aligned with a love and a sense of pride in its history and landmarks. (I loved some of the tidbits woven into your narratives -  Sharon Tate’s last meal, Reginald Denny’s intersection – they gave a real sense of place to the narrative.)

You nailed it: Love-Hate! I love a lot of things about LA, even some of the not so pretty things from the past. I love its history and its fables, but I also hate the way LA throws away that history, is always ready tear down the old and put something new and trendy in its place. I’m also fascinated because LA is the end of the road, it’s as far west as people can go to get away from their lives, their pasts. They come here with stars in their eyes and big dreams, Hollywood Dreams. And most of them don’t make it. And that creates drama. And that creates good fiction.

Yeah, Sharon Tate’s last meal was at El Coyote, a Mexican restaurant I’ve been going to since I was about three or four and that my mother had been going to since she was a kid. Sooner or later I take everyone I know there and they either love it or hate it. In fact, my wife had to pass three “tests” before we could get married – and one of them was liking El Coyote. She passed. I could make up locations and sometimes I do, but I prefer to anchor things in real places and El Coyote, as well as a lot of other places, shows up in several of my works.

When I was a kid, LA was like a big, spread out small town. People used to complain about how polite people were, especially drivers. That just doesn’t happen anymore. And it’s now more like a big city than a small town, even a spread out one. And that comes with all the good and bad of being a big city.

If the readers want to get taste of “my L.A.,” they can check out this post I did called Adventures in La Land: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2015/02/adventures-in-la-la-land.html

What can we look forward to next? Any hints on the current work in progress?

I’m working on two things. Duke Rogers #3, which also gets down and dirty in L.A. Hopefully there won’t be as long a gap between Broken Windows and that. I’m also working on another story in my Ghosts of Bunker Hill series that’s been appearing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. That’s really a fun series to write because through the stories I can explore all the cool LA locations, including around Bunker Hill, Hollywood, etc. If you’re into film noir, a lot of noirs were filmed in the old Bunker Hill, that was filled with amazing Victorian mansions and Angels Flight, a really cool funicular railway. That’s still around, though it’s been moved and just isn’t the same. I feel lucky to have explored this area before they tore all that down and put up gleaming but sterile high-rises. Some of the noirs filmed there were Criss Cross, Kiss Me, Deadly, The Brasher Doubloon, Cry Danger and others, as well as non-noir movies. A new story in my Bunker Hill series – Fade Out on Bunker Hill – is coming out in the March/April, 2019 EQMM. If you like the classic movie Sunset Boulevard I think you’ll enjoy that one.

What’s been the most satisfying moment of your writing career so far?

I’ve been very lucky in some ways, my work has received some major recognition and that’s very gratifying. But I think the most truly satisfying thing isn’t a moment, but is just realizing how supportive the writing community has been. We work in solitude much of the time and it’s nice when you feel like you’re not alone and there’s a group of people who share your boat and support you. The other really cool thing is having someone I don’t know contact me out the blue and say how much they enjoyed something I wrote or that they’ve used it as an example of good writing or that I’ve inspired them to work on their own projects.

Any advice for prospective authors out there?

Keep your day job. If you want to get rich go to school, learn software programming or something. Writing is something you do for passion, because you have to. It would be great if you could get rich doing it, but ultimately you have to do it whether or not that happens and those who do get rich are the few. The other thing is, don’t give up. Everybody gets rejections. Just learn from your mistakes and be open to criticism. And sit yourself in a chair and do it. That’s the hardest part.

What’s the best thing about writing?

Creating something from nothing. You struggle, you beat your head on the wall. You wonder why you’re doing this. Nothing in the story works. Then, out of the blue comes an idea, the lynch pin that makes it all come together. And you feel like the heavens have opened up and all is right with the world. And it’s worth the blood, sweat and tears – and aloneness (not loneliness) – that you put in.

The worst?

Though I’ve had agents in the past, I can’t get one these days if my life depended on it. It’s frustrating. And when I tell people that they’re in disbelief. They assume because I’ve won so many awards and such that agents would be crawling out of the woodwork, knocking down my door. So if any agents are reading this…

What are the last five books you’ve read?

I just finished re-reading Ross Macdonald’s “Zebra Striped Hearse”. He’s one of my favorite crime writers and that’s a good one.

“The Drifter” by Nick Petrie 

“Pulp According to David Goodis” by Jay A. Gertzman – Goodis, “the poet of the losers,” is one of my favorite writers and a mysterious character…

“The Annotated Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler, of course, and Owen Hill

“The Bug Jar” by Ava Black

Who do you read and enjoy? Is there anyone I should be reading who has snuck under my radar?

I’m always hesitant to name people for something like this ’cause I know a lot of them to one degree or another and I don’t want to hurt anyone by leaving someone out. So I’ll mention some Big-Name writers and some classic writers and then hopefully no one will throw bricks at me:

James Ellroy, Michael Connelly, Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley, David Goodis, Jim Thompson. And Carol O’Connell – I love her hard-as-nails (literally…) Mallory character, though some people don’t seem to. And in non-crime fiction: My favorite books are The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham and The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas. I mean that’s the ultimate revenge tale and, as we all know, revenge is a dish best served cold, which Edmond Dantes does par excellence. I also like The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati (which is very far from a crime thriller), and Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer, who wrote Shane. It’s about a guy who’s outlived his time or time has passed him by, and that’s a theme I both write about and resonate to.

Is there any one book you wish you had written?

Tapping the Source by Kem Nunn. This book blows me away. It’s the ultimate surf-noir story and definitely not the Beach Boys’ version of sun, sand, surf and surfer girls, but a much darker vision of life on SoCal’s beaches. It’s set in Huntington Beach, down the coast from L.A. I guess it has a cult following – hell it was a finalist for the National Book Award. But most people I talk to haven’t heard of it, though it seems more have lately.

Favourite activity when not working or writing?

You mean when I’m not killing people…on the page, of course? Or pulling guns on real-life cops? Well, reading, of course. And I like to read a lot of different things, not just mystery-thriller-noir fiction. I like walking my dogs by the creek near our house. Exploring LA. Film noir – can’t get enough of that. Photography. Movies – old movies in particular. If I’m channel surfing and see something in black and white I’ll at least stop to check it out. And in the good old days, SCUBA.

What’s the last film you watched that rocked you?

Old Yeller. When I was a kid that movie truly rocked me.

I’m afraid to say I don’t get rocked much these days. Maybe I’m cynical like Rick in Casablanca, or just plain jaded. I’m not into the comic book movies that a lot of people seem to like and horror movies seem to be little more than scare fests. Lots of noise, little real scare. Though I have to admit I liked Saw. Some thrillers I like a lot are: Fracture, with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins, though it came out 2007, is a movie that I think is mind-blowingly good and mind-blowingly clever. And since we’re talking Ryan Gosling, Drive is another great one.

Sideways ’cause I can relate to the struggle of the Miles/writer character. And Ghost World because, even though I’m not a high school girl, I totally relate to Enid’s alienation from the world.

I also like Michael Clayton, Up in the Air and Gran Torino, because, like Monte Walsh above, they’re about people who’ve outlived their time and usefulness, a theme I resonate to and like to write about.

I’m sure there are more recent movies, but off the top of my head I can’t think of anything. And nothing on the scale of Godfather, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, LA Confidential, comes to mind. That’s not to say that I haven’t liked a lot of recent movies, but when you say “rocked” that’s another level altogether.

TV addict or not? What’s the must watch show in the Marks household?

Not. The TV is on a lot, mostly as background noise. There aren’t any shows that I’m really addicted to. I like things that end and that I don’t have to go back to time after time or binge watch for three weeks of my life to follow the story. What I am addicted to – and I don’t know if you have it or something similar in the UK – is the Discovery ID Channel. Which I call the Murder Channel. “Real-life” murder shows/cases 24/7. Who could ask for more, especially if you’re a crime writer…

In a couple of years’ time.....

Well, of course, I’d like to cure cancer and bring about world peace – hey, if it works for Miss America it’s good enough for me. But seriously, he said, I have a completed novel, The Blues Don’t Care – a mystery set on the LA homefront during World II, with a very unique character… And I’d love to see that see the light of day.

I’d sure like to see that get reviewed in the New York Times and other major publications and shoot up the NY Times Best Seller list. But right now I can’t even get an agent for it. So, agents…

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Many thanks to Paul for his time.

You can catch up with him at the following haunts

Website is: www.PaulDMarks.com . — There they can see the whole story about me pulling the gun on the cops. My encounters with Cary Grant and Gene Kelly and more.

Newsletter sign-up: http://eepurl.com/bkhUbD 

Facebook: facebook.com/paul.d.marks/ . – People who like film noir should follow me ’cause I often put up “film noir” alerts when I know one is coming on TV.

Twitter: @PaulDMarks.

Blog at two different blogs: 7 Criminal Minds (https://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/) every other Friday, and SleuthSayers (www.SleuthSayers.org) on Tuesdays, once or twice a month, depending on their schedule.

Thank you for having me, Col. It’s been a blast!

STEPH BROADRIBB - THE LAST RESORT (2017)

Synopsis/blurb....

Done with a life of exploitation and violence, Lori Anderson is training to be a bounty hunter. Holed up in the Georgia Mountains with her reclusive mentor, JT, Lori is determined to put her new skills into practice. Behind JT's back, she breaks his rules and grabs the chance she's looking for. Will her gamble pay off, or will she have to learn the hard way?

The Last Resort is the first in the Rookie Bounty Hunter series of short stories, marking the nail-biting start to a high-octane series of thrillers featuring one of the most unforgettable and fearless female protagonists in crime fiction.

Includes a FREE extract of Steph Broadribb's critically acclaimed thriller, Deep Down Dead, book one in the Lori Anderson Series.

Another short read - 55 pages long - offering a preview of Steph Broadribb's work with both a prequel short story and an extract from the beginning of her debut novel. Broadribb is an author who I have heard goods things about and on the back of that praise her first two books sit on the TBR pile anyway.

I probably could have done without the 42 hat-tips to her work from other authors and reviewers taking up about 13% of the book. Three or four and I would have got the message.

The short story takes us through some of Lori Anderson's training as a bounty hunter and is enough to give a few insights into her character - determined, tough, impulsive and more than a little reckless. With her mentor away on a job, Anderson decides to cut her teeth for real, by bringing in an absconder on her own.

An okay short story, but I think I enjoyed the opening to Deep Down Dead a bit more. Almost but not quite totally hooked, though I'll have to bump the book up the TBR pile a bit.

I like reading about tough, resilient females and I think I'll enjoy this author and these books.

4 from 5

Broadribb has three in her Lori Anderson series so far - Deep Down Dead, Deep Blue Trouble, Deep Dirty Truth.

Read in January, 2019
Published - 2017
Page count - 55
Source - purchased copy
Format - kindle