Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I began my writing career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Being fed up with the Hollywood system, I turned to novels, converting my best spec script (“DarkHorse”) into what would become my first historical novel, The Lies That Bind. In fact, the story was so rich in socially relevant themes, myriad dimensions to stimulate the heart and mind, and contained so many idiosyncratic characters, I soon realized one book could not fully tell the tale — and it quickly grew into my DarkHorse Trilogy.
To date, I have authored the Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy (The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts, and my latest, Something in Madness), and the sci-fi suspense/thriller, The Antiquities Dealer. I live in St. Louis and hold an M.A. in English/creative writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Something in Madness (DarkHorse Trilogy, Book 3). Something in Madness is set in 1865 Mississippi during early Reconstruction, when unregenerate Confederates still ran the South as newly freed Blacks were trying to begin their lives anew, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. With racial unrest continuing to roil the country, the relevance of this novel is all too clear.
Story summary: Abolitionist Durksen Hurst and two black friends return home to a devastated Mississippi, the sole survivors of a Union colored cavalry regiment. But instead of peace, they find unregenerate Confederates who reject emancipation still in charge. Undeterred, Durk opens a law practice to help disenfranchised freedmen — only to be threatened by powerful planters and nightriders. A black school is burned; a petition march to Jackson is terrorized. And when one of his friends goes missing, Durk is horrified to discover Black Codes being used to force freedmen into brutal servitude. Clever Durk schemes to liberate them, but must contend with armed ruffians — and a rigged court system. Will fire and bullets prevail?
My primary objective in writing the trilogy originally was to debunk the way Southern literature historically portrayed or ignored the “invisible” people, mainly Blacks and women. These traditional stereotypes set the cultural stage for what would become Jim Crow and segregation, as well as policies toward women, elements of which persist to this day. Such diminished views of any segment of society distorts our perception of all people and cheapens our view of humanity itself. This is where historical fiction is most powerful.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
None I can think of. I so know that when I’m “in the zone” I lose all track of time.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’d always admired the fiction of William Faulkner, especially Absalom, Absalom!, considered one of the great novels of the 20th Century. His novel is set in antebellum Mississippi and finishes just after the Civil War — roughly the time period of my trilogy. As Michael Gorra writes in his new book, The Saddest Words: William Faulkner’s Civil War [The New York Times, Aug. 25, 2020]: “Few historians and fewer novelists of [Faulkner’s] day saw the hobbling vainglorious past so clearly, and few of them made slavery so central to their accounts of the war.”
What are you working on now?
With Something in Madness now released, I’m moving on to something very different, a sci-fi thriller, tentatively titled Remembering Planet Earth.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ve found no single site – just reaching out as far as I can.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you’re passionate enough and have talent enough, keep at it. It took years to hone my skills, and I’ve found that the more you write, the better you write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
From my English professor/mentor: read, read, read, if you want to write.
What are you reading now?
I’m re-reading Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As I said, Remembering Planet Earth. Possibly another David Greenberg Mystery to follow The Antiquities Dealer, if I can come up with a clever-enough plot and twist.
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?
Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, and The Annotated Shakespeare
Author Websites and Profiles
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I saw your interview in Awesome Gang. Like you, I am a former screenwriter. I got one screenplay produced and released direct to DVD, and it available today on Amazon Prime. But, like you, I find writing much more fulfilling. I have expanded 3 of my screenplays into published novels, and have also turned 4 of my screenplays into published novellas. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Mike. I’ve never really gotten rid of the urge to get back in the screenwriting saddle. Too much fun. But the reality keeps me focused on writing novels. I’ve been working on adapting one of my scifi scripts into a novel, seeing which parts to keep and which to scrap. Movie trends come and go. Feels (somewhat) different with books. I did try to sell the rights to The Antiquities Dealer (scifi thriller). May keep at it.
– Ed