Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m the author of political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY and the EMILIA CRUZ mysteries set in Acapulco. Occasional nomad, cultural observer, reluctantly recovering Furla handbag addict. I’m also overly fond of coffee, my husband, our nearly-grown kids, and our haughty German Shepherd.
As a fiction author I love to weave unique cultural gems into the plot. Most of the time I draw on my own world travels and experiences living in Mexico and Central America.
So far I have published four books, three of which form the beginning of the Emilia Cruz mystery series. I plan to publish two more Emilia Cruz books in 2014, as well as a memoir of student days in Paris.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is MADE IN ACAPULCO: The Emilia Cruz Stories. It is a collection of short stories featuring Emilia Cruz, the first and only female detective on the Acapulco police force. With hot nights on the beach and suspense straight out of the news, the series goes inside Mexico’s drug war with a fearless style and a woman who will be hard to forget.
The stories in MADE IN ACAPULCO take place before the action in the full-length Emilia Cruz mystery novels, including CLIFF DIVER and HAT DANCE.
The first story in the collection is entitled “The Beast” and was first published on The Huffington Post’s Fiction 50 showcase. The collection also includes the story “The Cliff,” which was the original Emilia Cruz debut and was used as the basis for the novel CLIFF DIVER.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
A typical day for me starts out with coffee (no surprise) and the news at around 0545. I generally work out after that and am ready to start the writing work day about 0900. I check social media first—another news source–and then focus on book writing, blog posts, or generally answering the mail until about 1500. If I haven’t gotten a lot of real writing done, I’ll often write longhand in the evening, coming up with new angles or sketching out dialogue. The best part of writing is editing but I can’t do that late at night, for some reason I tend to have better concentration in the morning. There’s more about how I approach my work on my website’s FAQ.
I have a writing buddy that I meet with once a week. We bounce ideas off each other and generally recharge our creative batteries with too much cappuccino. He’s a walking thesaurus and very helpful.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
This is a fairly diverse list:
Ken Follett: His earlier works including Night Over Water, Triple, The Key to Rebecca and The Eye of the Needle all have a tension-filled storyline, interesting characters with complex relationships, and multiple voices that are all integral to moving the plot forward. Not to mention the hot sex scenes.
P.G. Wodehouse: I discovered this British humorist in high school and have read dozens of his books and short stories. His world is that of 1920’s England. All of his books have an invariably tangled plot, crazy characters, and perfect phrasing (“he writhed like an electric fan”) that never grow old. My favorite is The Code of the Woosters.
Robert B. Parker: The creator of the Spenser mystery series is a study in perfect-pitch dialogue. Some of his books are a series of conversations that are so well crafted that virtually the entire plot/mystery is revealed in this way. His action scenes are never gratuitous which means they pack a big punch. My favorites are Potshot and Hugger Mugger.
Peter Mayle: His novels like Hotel Pastis and Anything Considered are the best examples of integrating a foreign language into an English language book. His topics are light, focus on elements of French culture (truffles, wine, etc) and always make me smile.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working DIABLO NIGHTS, the 3rd Emilia Cruz mystery set in Acapulco. Detective Emilia Cruz has to contend with an inexperienced partner while investigating a murder aboard a cruise ship and trying to track down the origins of a strange religious relic. As with the other books, Emilia’s caseload is complicated by Mexico’s drug war and she’ll face stiff resistance for being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated work environment.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As I found when The Huffington Post published my short story, “The Beast,” in September 2013, if readers see a sample they will want more. Readers can find the first chapters of all my books on my website and I frequently post other excerpts as blog posts.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
1. Don’t fall in love with your first draft. Fall in love with your characters, in the setting, and in the plot twists. Keep editing and rewriting until your manuscript is as good as it can be. Learn to be a ruthless editor of your own work.
2. Don’t change points of view within a single section. Just when a reader has identified with a certain character–whoops–suddenly they are inside another character’s head. This is my personal pet peeve. Read novels by Leon Uris and Ken Follett for great examples of keeping points of view separate and how to use different points of view to advance the plot.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Know the audience for the book.” It really helps an author stay focused if you know for whom you are writing.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading TATIANA by Martin Cruz Smith, the new Arkady Renko mystery. In the bookstore of my imagination my books are shelved right next to his.
What’s next for you as a writer?
In 2014 I will bring out two more Emilia Cruz novels, DIABLO NIGHTS and another with the working title of SUN GOD. Also in 2014 I’ll be releasing a fun memoir called GIRL MEETS PARIS, based on the letters I wrote home while a student in Paris.
I keep getting asked if I’ll ever write fiction set somewhere besides Mexico and the answer is, yes. No title as of yet, but I have written a paranormal thriller set in Virginia that will be published in 2015.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I guess I’d want both entertainment and reflection opportunities so I’d take along The Collected Works of P.G. Wodehouse, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Bible, and the complete works of Plato.
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Carmen Amato Website
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