Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a native of Kansas City, Missouri. I graduated from Central Missouri State College and served in the US Army. After spending over 40 years in the construction and nuclear power industries I retired to the Pacific Northwest. I have lived and worked in Germany, Scotland, England, Australia, Sweden, France, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Chicago and Boston. A Bullet For Your Thoughts is my first novel in the Nate Harver, Private Investigator, series. There are two additional books in the series, A Bullet For The Republic and A Bullet For The Cartel. My wife Kate and I currently live in (and love) Portland, Oregon.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest book in the Nate Harver, Private Investigator series is A Bullet For The Cartel. Inspiration for the story came from real life events around the drug trade. I thought – you can’t make this stuff up. No one will believe you, so why not give it a try? Also I was toying with the idea for the nastiest villain ever. I wanted a bad guy who was unforgivable, but with a backstory that at least showed the reader how he got that way.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes an idea pops up and it absolutely has to be put on paper. For me, this can happen morning, noon or night. Once I start, it can turn into a short story, a novel, or a rambling stream of thoughts. If it becomes a novel, I have to apply some discipline. Then I usually go to the gym or walk in the mornings, come home and write until my wife tells me to come down for dinner, and maybe do some revisions later in the day. If the wine at dinner is good – then no more writing until the next day. Music helps when I write. The CD The Very Best Of The Gipsy Kings got me through the first book, A Bullet For Your Thoughts. The first Santana album got me through the second book, A Bullet For The Republic. The Grateful Dead, Ginger Baker, and Rodrigo and Gabriela pulled me through book three, A Bullet For The Cartel.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The two authors providing the most influence were John D. MacDonald and Robert B. Parker. MacDonald got me through two years in the US Army. I really needed some diversion at that point in my life. His character Travis McGee has remained with me for over fifty years. Parker’s Spencer is a hero with ethics who needed an alter ego, Hawk, to do the dirty work. I loved them. Patricia Highsmith with her dark, dark thoughts was an inspiration. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Norman Mailer, Robert Caro, Robert Crais, Julian Barnes, T. C. Boyle, Ken Bruen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Elmore Leonard, Andre Dubus III, Ian Fleming – the list goes on and on.
What are you working on now?
Short stories in every genre imaginable have consumed me for the past year. Currently, I’m trying to finish up the fourth book in the Nate Harver series, Cloudy With A Chance Of Gunfire. I needed to get away for the “A Bullet For…” concept. This tale has Nate pitted against a local TV weatherman who is a serial killer when he’s not telling us about the rain forecast for the next two weeks. Nate teams up with a gang of Russian mobsters to find out who is killing their “Adult Entertainers.”
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
My local publisher at Celtic House Press here in Portland, Oregon does my promotion through sites like this. I have a website: lawrenceerickson.com
Do you have any advice for new authors?
DO NOT BE AFRAID to put your thoughts on paper, or at least type them on your laptop. Everybody needs an editor.
Get as much negative criticism as you can muster up. It makes you better.
Don’t listen to the folks who tell you how great a writer you are.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Followed in close proximity by “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Keep these two things in mind and you can go a long way.
What are you reading now?
David Halberstam’s The Powers That Be and The Monkey’s Raincoat (for the third time) by Robert Crais.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More short stories, I hope. Then I need to find a place to put them. The fifth book in the Nate Harver series (A Bullet For Mr. Lucky) is three-quarters written and has been setting idle for way to long. I have around 20,000 words down on an idea for a YA SF mystery, which intrigues me.
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?
Harlot’s Ghost by Norman Mailer.
A Catskill Eagle by Robert B. Parker.
A Paris Notebook by C. W. Gusewelle.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
And, I’d need to sneak in a copy of The Great Gatsby.
Author Websites and Profiles
Lawrence Erickson Website