Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew up in Oklahoma. My dad was a jazz saxophone player and my mom a librarian, so naturally I became a jazz sax player and writer. I attended the University of Central Oklahoma and got my Bachelors Degree in Music Education. After college I moved to New York City to play jazz, which I’m still doing, to an extent, although I now live in upstate New York. I wrote jazz criticism for magazines like Jazz Times and Jazziz, as well as web sites like AllMusic, before I decided to pivot to fiction. I’ve always been a fan of crime novels, as well as film noir, so it was natural I write mysteries. So far I’ve written three books and am working on a fourth,
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Ain’t Nothin’ Personal is my latest—the third volume in a series featuring a fictional small-town Oklahoma police chief named Emmett Hardy. The series is set in the ’60s and (starting with the book I’m working on now) the ’70s. I draw heavily on my memories of growing up in small towns during that era. Part of my motivation for writing is to address social issues in a relatively subtle, almost subversive way. Of course, there was now shortage of social turmoil in the ’60s and ’70s and my books reflect that. My protagonist, Emmett Hardy, is an idealized version of what I’d a cop to be—compassionate and slow to anger, someone who enforces the law with a light touch.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Only if you consider writing in bed unusual. When the weather’s warm I like to write outside on my porch, where I have a beautiful view. During the cold months, however, I write in bed. Only when it’s made, though! If I wrote from under the covers I might never get up.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many. Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross MacDonald. Tony Hillerman’s books were a huge influence. Also Craig Johnson’s Longmire books. Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo’s Martin Beck mysteries showed me how social issues can be folded into a mystery novel. Outside the realm of crime fiction, I’d have to say Mark Twain has been my biggest influence. Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio also affected me a great deal. I shouldn’t forget Stephen King, either.
What are you working on now?
As I mentioned, I’m currently working on the fourth—so far untitled—volume in the Emmett Hardy series. This one begins on the day Nixon resigns in 1974. Ain’t Nothin’ Personal was the third book in a trilogy: Where the Hurt Is being the first, Butcherville being the second. A lot was seemingly resolved at the time Ain’t Nothin’ Personal ends in 1967. Things have changed in the subsequent seven years. Emmett’s forced to fight some of the demons he thought he’d conquered.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
BookBub picked up my first book—Where the Hurt Is—and got me tons of reader reviews and increased sales. So far that’s the best. I also did some targeted advertising on Facebook that might have made a difference. Hopefully, Awesome Gang will become my new go-to promotional site.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Whenever you’re tempted to spew a few hundred words slapping down some idiot on Facebook, open your word processor instead and use that passion to write something lasting and meaningful.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Omit needless words.
What are you reading now?
Faux Friends, by A.J. McCarthy, a terrific mystery set in Quebec City.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More writing.
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?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Lonesome Dove (because I love Larry McMurtry but still haven’t read what many consider his masterpiece; also, it’s long).
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