Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I began devouring books in the third grade, when I read every book in the elementary school library on dinosaurs, followed by every book on cavemen, followed by every book featuring horses or dogs. By the time I retired to pursue my own writing career, I must have read over 300 mystery, thriller, and action-adventure books, including every book written by Robert B. Parker and Lee Child. I still read at least two books a month, even while I’m writing.
My Carlos McCrary series combines the Private Investigator and Mystery/Thriller genres—think Spenser meets Jack Reacher. I keep pace rapid, the action exciting, and the plot full of surprises. I write to hit hard, have a good time, and leave as few grammar errors as possible (or is it “grammatical errors”? Hmm.)
In my previous life, I worked as a shoe salesman, grocery store sacker, florist deliverer, auditor, management consultant, association executive, accountant, radio announcer, and a paid assassin for the Florida Board of Cosmetology. (I am lying about one of those jobs.) If you ask me about it, I will deny ever having worked as an auditor.
I have written eight novels and am working on a ninth.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Four Years Gone. I set this book up with a mention of Carlos McCrary’s missing cousin in McCrary’s Justice, my sixth book. Four Years Gone was inspired by my love for the Texas Hill Country and the almost daily new stories about sex trafficking and forced prostitution.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
8 a.m. to 5:55 p.m. with time off for lunch, a nap, and couple of breaks for iced coffee.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. A close third is Robert Crais and his Elvis Cole, but I didn’t learn of Robert Crais until I had written six books.
What are you working on now?
Echoes of War. McCrary revisits his relationships with sever of his brothers in arms from The Triple Seven, his Special Forces unit in the army, when one of them is murdered in Port City, Florida, his home town.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Every good book started out as a lousy first draft. Finish you first draft. Then work to improve it. I often do eight or nine drafts, each one focused on a specific area of the craft of writing.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
see above.
What are you reading now?
Even the Wicked, by Lawrence Block.
What’s next for you as a writer?
finish Echoes of War.
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?
Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard. The Killing Field by Lee Child. Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker
Author Websites and Profiles
Dallas Gorham Website
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