I don’t usually do the “blog chains”, mostly because by the time they get to me everyone who’s willing to do one has done it already and/or they want the blogger to find like seven or eight other bloggers (impossible for me; I’m too impatient), but when friend and fellow author, Robin Nolet, asked me, I liked the flavor, if you will, of this Next Big Thing blog campaign. The campaign began in Australia, I’m told, and went international, showcasing new authors and/or new books. Always a good thing. Each author answers the same set of questions about a recently published book and/or those that are slated to be released. Then that author “tags” (in my case) two other authors who do the same thing. This also times out well for me because not only did I release a new book last Friday but it completed the trilogy so I also put together a digital “boxed set” for those who haven’t read any of the books and want to so they can save a buck a book on some already low-priced predecessors:
What is the working title of your next book?
Well my next book is Honor Land, the third in the James Pruett Mystery Series, but I literally just published Reckoning, the third in the Detective Bobby Mac Thriller trilogy with Black Beast being the first and LOST being the second book in that set.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I’ve always known I wanted to write series because, like great television programs or well-made sequels to popular movies, I love to get involved with characters, know their loves, dislikes, weaknesses, strengths, and then follow them from story to story. This particular series is set in Denver, as am I, so it made sense for me. I put a little of the city’s history in the series, too.
What genre does your book fall under?
The genre I write in is Mystery/Thriller/Police/Detective but in the Bobby Mac detective series there is an underlying ages-old Good versus Evil that is really hard to categorize. I hate using the “preset” genres like Paranormal or Occult or Horror because that conjures images of Vampires, Zombies, Ghosts, etc. and this twist is really about something most of the world believes in one form or another. I choose to use more of the God and Devil angle to describe it, but it’s not the bulk of the book, only something that a man finds out about his lineage that, frankly, he has a hard time accepting. He’s a cop, and a good one, and suddenly he finds himself thrust into a strange, unacceptable (to him) reality that his family has been “cops” for a thousand years.
It’s core is really about the questions most of us have and what would we do if presented with evidence of what I call preternatural? My main character is still having his doubts in the third books, as would most of us, I think. But he’s called upon to do what he’s sworn to do, and that is serve and protect—his constituency has simply grown to the nth degree.
What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
It’s funny, for a blog story over a year ago, we actually needed to give an artist some picture of a person who exemplified who we saw in our minds for our main character. After searching the web for a photo of a “man”, I realized I already saw him as actor Alex O’Loughlin, an Australian (ironically enough) actor (currently Steve McGarrett, in the new version of Hawaii Five-0). I also did a Photoshop rendering of him in an action shot, so for better or worse, in my mind it will forever be Alex that I see as Detective Bobby Mac. (Apologies to Mr. O’Loughlin, but the women readers really do seem to love Bobby Mac—just saying.)
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When a down-to-earth detective who has spent the past ten years of his distinguished career dealing with the unbelievable is forced to face a reckoning that could mean the beginning or end of all he knows and loves, will he finally believe?
Who is publishing your book?
Reckoning and the entire series is self-published but I am currently waiting to hear about a possible offer to join a publisher for my paperbacks.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I always thought writing a book would be the hardest part. I’m luck in that regard because my first draft usually ends up being 90% unchanged after my editor takes his talented eyes to it. The time consumption is in doing the other 5-6 positions of a business (Marketer, Publicist, Scheduler, Proofreader, Editor, etc.).
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
If you enjoy James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, with a little Stephen King and Dan Brown once in a while, you’ll love this series. I can’t compare it to a specific book although a few reviewers did mention The Da Vinci Code.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Well, the honest answer to this one is “the series”. I’ve had the trilogy planned in my mind, and Reckoning is the best of the three books for me. It was always intended to be the book that brought home questions unanswered, characters twists and returns that boggle, and an overall closure with just a drop of “maybe he’ll be back”.
What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
I try to write with brevity, which is to say that the series has been called, many times, a page-turner (which I take as one of the highest compliments a writer can receive. I believe in books being about the meat and potatoes, not eighty pages on tilling the ground for the carrot planting (if that makes any sense at all). My books tend to move and this series was always intended to be my “beach/vacation read”. I love it for that, as do most readers who have commented.
You can find Reckoning, the first two books in the Detective Bobby Mac Thriller series, as well as my other books here on Amazon and here on Smashwords.
And if perchance you haven’t read any of the Bobby Mac series, click on this banner and you can have all three Kindle copies for a buck off a book!
(It’s also available on Smashwords!)
Next up on The Next Big Thing, I’ve tagged these two fabulous authors:
On May 16th, go to http://www.ChickletsLit.com to read writer Gail Gentry’s fantastic blog about her Next Big Thing and on May 23rd go to http://authorryanschneider.blogspot.com/ to read about The Next Big Thing author Ryan Schneider has cooking!
Ryan Schneider’s new book!
