Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
After twenty-five years as a software engineer, I threw off the bonds of steady employment and sailed my 56-foot boat to Mexico where I lived for two years. I’m the self-proclaimed best Mexican chef in the world (or at least in Point Loma) and a private pilot.
I’ve written ten books. The first, Blue Water & Me, is the story of my father’s life as a commercial fisherman. The second, Christmas Inc., was Amazon’s #1 best seller in December 2013 when Stephen Colbert’s I Am America, and So Can You, came in #2.
My best selling Ted Higuera series is about a young Latino computer security analyst. He is hired by large corporations to test the security of their systems. What he finds in those systems sometimes leads him into thrilling adventures.
The Catrina Flaherty Mysteries is based on a real-life kick-ass female PI that I did some consulting work for. Like with the Ted Higuera Series, all of the Cat stories are based on real-life cases.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Chinatown Murders, A Catrina Flaherty Mystery. It’s book #3 in the series.
A serial rapist is loose in Seattle’s Chinatown. He accidently escalates to murder and enjoys it so much he begins a killing spree. The victims and their families can’t go to the police because they are undocumented immigrants. They fear deportation.
Who you gonna call?
Cat Flaherty.
Catrina pursues the killer with her usual grit and determination, but the ending will truly shock you.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
They’re normal for me. I don’t know if anyone else goes to the same lengths I do.
As a former software engineer, I am very process oriented. I’ve developed a process for writing that allows me to move forward at a fast pace, yet still produce a quality product.
First of all, I start with the idea. I am bombarded with news stories that I could write about all the time. For instance, I was at the check stand in the grocery store when I saw a People magazine with a cover story about a man who allegedly murdered his two wives. This was a Catrina story just waiting to be written. The results: Murder Strikes Twice.
Once I have the story, I write a beat sheet. The beet sheet is a 30,000 foot view of the story. It lays out the plot, the characters and some of the highlights.
When this is done, I know who the characters are. Then I write detailed character sketches for each of them. When I introduced Catrina, her character sketch was five pages long.
Now I know the story, the plot and the characters. I write a detailed outline. This may encompass 15 or 20 pages. It has an entry for every scene in the book.
When the outline is complete, I start writing. I know the story so well, that my fingers just move across the keyboard with out conscious thought on my part. I’m just typing out the movie that is playing in my mind. I get the same excitement and joy that a reader gets as they read the story as it unfolds on my screen.
I am not married to the outline. I’m flexible enough to make changes, add scenes, delete scenes and introduce new characters as the story unfolds. The ending of The Cartel Strikes back was not even a glimmer in my eye when I began the story, but as I got into it, this dynamite ending came to me and I had to go back and rewrite scenes to build up to it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My earliest influencers were Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I try to copy Burroughs’ style in all of my books with multiple plot lines coming together in the end.
More recently, I greatly admire Elizabeth George. She writes the Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Her stories are character driven. I am so into the developments in Lynley and Sargent Haver’s lives, that I don’t care who dunnit.
Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum are my heroes as far as thrilers go. They really knew their stuff.
My idol is Michael Connelly. Harry Bosch is my all-time favorite hard-bitten cop.
There are so many other great authors I could mention. I read a lot and shamelessly steal great ideas wherever I can find them.
What are you working on now?
I’m really liking this. My new book, tentatively titled Cyberwarfare, is a Ted Higuera thriller. Terrorists launch an all-out cyber-attack on the United States and frame Ted for it. Ted it picked up by the FBI and must find the real hackers to prove is innocence.
I’m having so much fun with this one that I should pay the readers to read it.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Bookbub is the 800 pound gorilla on the block. If you can get a Bookbub promotion, your set for the next three months. However, they have become so picky in the books they select, I haven’t been able to run a promotion with them for over a year.
The best method I’ve found to promote my books is free giveaways. The first book in the Ted Higuera Series, The Inside Passage, is perma-free. I give away lots of this book and readers go on to read the rest of the series.
I usually run a give away promotion once a month. This brings new readers.
I also have an extensive mailing list. I use it to inform my readers of new books and special offers. Sometimes I do a give away just for the readers on my list to reward them for their loyalty.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Join a writers critique group. I mean a good one.
When I was getting started, I joined two or three groups before I found the right one. In these groups everyone was too polite to give you any real criticism. They said things like, “Oh, I love your characters,” or “The plot really moves along.” I told them, “Tell me what’s wrong with my book,” and they didn’t give me a response.
I was lucky enough to be invited to a group of published authors who were all better writers than me. I learned so much from them I can never repay it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
There are no such things as great writers. Only great re-writers.
As Hemmingway said “First drafts are shit.”
My first book took 14 drafts. Now I write at least 3 drafts of every book.
What are you reading now?
The Survivors, Life After War by Angels White.
This is the first of her Survivors series and a wonderful story. I admire her imagination in building a believable post-apocalyptic world. However she makes a lot of amateur mistakes in her writing. I’d like to see her get a good developmental editor.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The Ted Higuera Series and Catrina Flaherty Mysteries roll on. I have the stories down for the next book in each series and I can’t wait to get started writing them.
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?
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
The Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brien
anything my Michael Connelly.
Author Websites and Profiles
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