Tom Savage's interview!

Today I'm hosting Tom Savage who's book Mrs John Doe came out on the 6th of October ! I'll just say that I've read his book and it's really great! There's spying, humour, a great female character, a sense of family and lots of adventure!

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Hi Vanessa. Thanks for having me on your blog.

Tom
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The culprit

Tom Savage is the author of six suspense novels: Precipice, Valentine, The Inheritance, Scavenger, A Penny for the Hangman, and Mrs. John Doe. He wrote two detective novels under the name T. J. Phillips, Dance of the Mongoose and Woman in the Dark. His short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and anthologies edited by Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, and Michael Connelly. His short story, “The Method In Her Madness,” was nominated for the Barry Award. His bestselling novel, Valentine, was made into a Warner Bros. film. In his younger days he was a professional actor, and he also wrote a Broadway show, Musical Chairs.

Tom was born in New York and raised in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. He attended Point Park College and Hofstra University, majoring in drama and minoring in English. After acting and writing plays, he worked for many years at Murder Ink®, the world’s first mystery bookstore. He’s a member of Actors Equity Association, ASCAP, the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and International Thriller Writers. He has served as a director on the national board of MWA, and he’s served several times on the Best Novel committees for MWA (Edgar® Awards) and IACW (Hammett Prize). He is a founding member of MWA’s Mentor Program, assessing and encouraging new mystery writers. He lives in New York City.

He spills the beans…

Will you tell us a little bit about your book Mrs. John Doe?
An American actress in Europe stumbles on a deadly plot, and now she's running for her life. This is my eighth published novel, but it's my first spy novel. I love stories about espionage and international chases. I grew up reading Helen MacInnes, John le Carré, and Robert Ludlum, among others, and Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite filmmaker--particularly The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and my all-time favorite movie, North By Northwest. I decided to try my hand at writing a story like that. I made my protagonist, Nora Baron, and actor because I was a professional actor before I began writing. I used my own theatrical knowledge to give Nora an edge, a defense against her enemies. She's up against some very dangerous people who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and she's an American on the run in two foreign countries--England and France--so she can use all the help she can get. I loved writing about Nora Baron because she's so resourceful, and I modeled my plot on my favorite classic spy thrillers. I hope readers have as much fun reading Mrs. John Doe as I had writing it!

Do you still need to work? If yes, how do you manage to combine work and writing (and mentoring and blogging...)
I still need to work, but unfortunately, I can’t. I was an actor and theatrical composer, and for twenty years I was a bookseller at Murder Ink®. I have no other marketable skills! I’m too old to get back in the theater, and there aren’t many bookstores left. I wouldn’t be able to find a job anywhere at this point, so I’m hoping people buy my books. They’re my only source of income now. Mentoring and blogging are my hobbies, so I make time for them. I love talking about mystery books, and now that I’m no longer in a bookstore every day, blogging is the next best thing. And the Mystery Writers of America’s Mentor Program is a wonderful way to meet and encourage the new generation of mystery writers.

As a man, you write clever and powerful female characters (I’m thinking about Nora Baron in Mrs. John Doe or Karen Tyler in A Penny for the Hangman). Is it thanks to your aunt, Lesley, who seems to have been such a strong and exceptional woman? 

I never called her Aunt Lesley--she was just Mom. Mom was an actor, director, and producer in the theater, and later she owned a shopping center and a real estate company in the Virgin Islands. She was a protofeminist, demanding equality for women long before the movement officially started. Nora Baron is partially based on her. All the female characters in my stories are strong because all the women I know are strong. I’m not interested in reading about weak people, male or female, so I don’t write about them.

Which events will you attend in the next months?
I have no plans to attend anything for a while. I’m writing two new stories, so no events.

What are you reading now?
THE ASSASSINS by Gayle Lynds. It’s a terrific international thriller.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?
I look for good writing, of course. That’s first and foremost on my list of ingredients. I look to be transported, to not think about the mechanics of the piece while enjoying the ride. It’s often difficult for writers to read other writers, especially mystery and suspense writers, because we all know the same tricks. My favorite mystery writers are the ones who can consistently make me forget I’m a writer while I’m reading. What makes me put a book down, unfinished? Predictability, preaching, pornography--let’s call them the Three Ps, shall we? Anything that demeans or diminishes the human spirit--I will never understand this whole SHADES OF GREY thing. What woman in her right mind would tune in to the disgusting idea that women secretly want to be dominated by any man, let alone a dull rich one? And dystopian stories: We’ve been inundated with dreary end-of-the-world scenarios lately, and they’re all the same scenario. It’s enough to send sensible readers back to BRAVE NEW WORLD and ON THE BEACH (which wouldn’t be a bad thing). I hope those trends are soon over.

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be?
That’s a dead tie, the two books I read back-to-back when I was fifteen that made me want to become a writer: GREAT EXPECTATIONS and REBECCA.

What's next for you?
Those two stories I mentioned. One is about American con artists in Europe, and the other involves a deadly impersonation. And I already have ideas for several more novels, so I should be busy for quite a while.

Why so serious questions
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
An actor. My other talent, and my other great love.

Worst writer’s habit?
Procrastination. Well, unless the writer in question is a drunk or drug addict, something like that--then I’d say controlled substances. For me it’s procrastination.

If you were a fictional hero?
Oh gosh, I’d love to be Frodo Baggins. Or James Bond. One or the other, depending on my mood. Frodo is brave and capable and loyal, the best friend you could ever have. James Bond is all that, plus everybody wants to have sex with him.

Favourite swear word while writing?
Darn. (I’m not a big swearer.)

Any question you want to ask your hero?
If you mean Nora Baron, I’d ask how those designer boots are working out for her. I had to dress her for a lot of running and action in various types of weather, and she wouldn’t have many opportunities to change clothes. At the same time, she’s a fiftyish university teacher who’s ostensibly in mourning, so I figured sweatsuits and Nikes were out. What do women wear when they want to look good and move freely at the same time? I’m a guy, so I had no idea, right? I consulted some physically active professional women I know, and they recommended pantsuits, an all-purpose trench coat, and boots. I’m sure they were right, but I worried about her in those boots.

Most ridiculous way to die in a book?
I read a mystery once where the vic was knocked unconscious while seated at a dinner table, and his face fell into a cup of coffee. Or maybe it was a bowl of soup. I forget. But imagine drowning like that! And the poor perp--he only meant to knock the guy out, and now he’s a murderer! That’s what I call bad karma.

Your main character’s favourite meal?
Considering her plight, I’d say anything she can grab quickly and wolf down while running in designer boots (see above). Sandwiches would be a good idea.

About the Book
Title: Mrs. John Doe
Author: Tom Savage
Genre: Thriller

In the adrenaline-laced new novel of suspense from Tom Savage—hailed by Michael Connelly as “a master of the high-speed thriller”—an American actress in Europe races to find the truth behind her husband’s mysterious accident. What she uncovers makes her the target of a shocking conspiracy.

Nora Baron’s life is perfect. She lives on Long Island Sound, teaches acting at a local university, and has a loving family. Then one phone call changes everything. She’s informed that her husband, Jeff, has died in a car crash while on a business trip in England. Nora flies to London to identify the body, which the police have listed as a “John Doe.” When she leaves the morgue, a man tries to steal her purse containing Jeff’s personal effects. Clearly, all is not as it seems.

At her hotel, Nora receives a cryptic message that leaves her with more questions than answers. She follows the message’s instructions to France, where a fatal encounter transforms her into a fugitive. Wanted for murder, on the run in a shadowy landscape of lies, secrets, and sudden violence, Mrs. “John Doe” must play the role of a lifetime to stay one step ahead of a ruthless enemy with deadly plans for her—and for the world.

You can follow Tom here: His Website or On Facebook

You'll find his book on Goodreads too!

And you can (should) buy the Book here:
Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-a-Million

Google Play

iBooks

Penguin Random House

Interview! Nathan M. Farrugia

Nathan M. Farrugia and I share in common the fact that we loved action books. That's why he asked me if I could review his book The Chimera Vector, which was quite cool as I had it in my Want to Read list on Goodreads!

And now, after loving his book (that could be referred as: action-action-action-and-geek-stuff)(really cool stuff in fact) I wanted to ask him a few question as undoubtedly he knows a lot about combat and stunt (the scene were so well described, it could only came firsthand!) He kindly answered my question which I present you right now!

The culprit
Nathan Farrugia is published by Momentum Books (Pan Macmillan).

He served in the Australian Army in infantry and reconnaissance, and studied film, television and professional writing. He worked as a post-production video editor, colorist and copywriter, where he earned the nickname Fagoogoo because no one could pronounce Farrugia.

Nathan lives in Melbourne, Australia. In his spare time he practices lock picking and discovers hidden places around the world with urban explorers. He studies Systema, a little-known martial art and former secret of Russian Special Forces. Nathan has trained under USMC, SEAL team, Spetsnaz and Defence Intelligence instructors, and the wilderness and tracking skills of the Chiricahua Apache scouts and Australian Aboriginals. He also drinks tea.

He spills the beans…
Will you tell us a little bit about your series?
Sure, The Fifth Column series (3 novels, 1 short) is about a young girl, Sophia, who is genetically modified and trained by a clandestine government agency, the Fifth Column. She’s abducted by renegade scientists and soon finds herself the spearhead of a resistance movement. Throughout the series, it’s pretty much just her and a small group of friends standing between the Fifth Column and their tightening stranglehold over the world. Sophia’s group are high trained but they’re a ragtag bunch, sort of the opposite of James Bond.

So, Nathan, what’s with all the training you’ve done and what’s next?
Haha, I get a little carried away! No but seriously, I go too far.

I have a background in the army, but your general soldierly knowledge only takes you so far. I found myself being drawn to strange and unconventional training such as urban escape and evasion, lockpicking, wilderness survival and surveillance. I’m still deciding on what’s next, maybe some more navigation by night. Doing more than just one Parkour class would be good too. 

 
Do you still need to work? If yes, how do you manage to combine work and writing (and training and blogging and tweeting...)
I do some video editing part-time, also from home. It’s easy to combine because I basically never blog and I tend to use social media more to make fun of myself than sell books. I think a campaign manager would have a heart attack if they saw how I do things. But I spend most of my time writing or doing writing-related things or pretending to write.

Where do you find all that techno stuff in your books?
Well, I traveled here from the future. Oh and we’ll all be destroyed by artificial intelligence.

I also get some inspiration from DARPA, the Pentagon’s evil science division, and from a wide array of conspiracy theories. And my brain, which is pretty crazy too. Anything that could conceivably happen now or next year is something I’ll look at.

Which events will you attend in the next months?
I’ll be on a panel at Supanova in Melbourne, Australia (April 2015) talking about thrill seeking. There are a bunch of other events on this year and hopefully I can announce them soon! But it should be a pretty fun year.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading some crazy short stories by Patrick Lenton, called A Man Made Entirely of Bats. It’s hilarious and bizarre and I read a story before bed every night. It’s in print and ebook, so I recommend checking it out. Next on my list is The Foundation by Steve P Vincent, which looks to be a very exciting thriller.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?
The thing that sucks about being a writer is as you improve and refine your own skills, you start to enjoy fewer books. I find it difficult to discover good books in the thriller genre more so than the science fiction genre. I think this is because many thrillers will be mired with clichés, formulaic plots and a whole conga line of tropes that are typical of the genre, such as the James Bond clone, the Middle Eastern terrorist or the sinister Russian KGB agent.

What I look for in a good book is a clever storyteller who will either try something new or work with these tropes and make them interesting, or invert them completely. On the first page, I look for sharp, crisp writing that can tell a story in fewer words without needing to clutter it with adverbs and adjectives, or spend a whole sentence describing a doorknob. Their economy of words allows you to enjoy and connect with the story. These are the excellent writers, and they are excellent because they are precise and fearless.

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be?
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.

What's next for you?
I’m working on a new episodic series at the moment, featuring both new and existing characters. You don’t need to have read my previous books to read these. But existing readers still get to continue their journey with Sophia, Damien, Jay and others.

The great thing about this episodic series, like a television series, is there’s more room for plots to develop, for characters to get to know each other and for us to get to know them, to love them and to hate them. But don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t dare use the extra room to get lazy and long-winded! The same level of efficient, precise storytelling applies in this form and there won’t be a scene in there that doesn’t need to be.

Why so serious questions 

What would be your desert island read? Probably not Jurassic Park. Given that is also set on an island. Maybe a good cyberpunk novel like Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon.

Your favorite villain? Gary Oldman’s character, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, from The Fifth Element. 

Whose hero do you wish you had created? None, really. There are plenty of hero characters out there who I adore, but I don’t wish for a second they were mine. I’d really prefer to create my own. 

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I was almost a stuntperson once, which is good because you at least get paid for endangering your life. Otherwise, I’d become a permanent traveller. It’s simultaneously as lonely and exciting as being a writer and that works for me. 

Any question you want to ask your hero?
I would ask, in the nicest way possible, how have you not given up on the human race yet?
One day, that will be handy to know.
For when the AI comes and kills us all.


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You can follow Nathan on his blog here or Twitter or Facebook

Once for this time...

I won't review a book but show off with my interview!

Marina Sofia, whom you can find on Twitter or on her delicious blog, findingtimetowrite, is featuring interviews with avid readers of crime fiction. And I had the great pleasure to answer her questions this month. 

Marina Sofia is a writer, a poet, who also review crime fiction on the Crime Fiction Lover website. She's a book lover and a crime fiction fan. We almost meet each other at Quais du Polar in France. Well, she saw me as I was a volunteer and didn't allow her to go into a room already too full of people (it was YOU! she told me) (I'm happy to see she's not mad at me!) Now I wish I could remember our first encounter (I guess I just have to go back there and meet her again!)

On the first of december, I was her guest. So if (or more "as" mwahaha) you want to know a little bit more about me or you don't but you'd like to read her posts which go from poetry to pictures, interviews, reviews, etc (everyone of you should find some kind of delight!), you just have to go there.

Interview: Lee Battersby, author of The Corpse Rat King

Lee Battersby is a really funny guy. I had read and review his book The Corpse Rat King and found it really funny, so I was quite optimist about him. Then, I went to his blog and couldn't stop laughing. He's witty and has a really scary and weird omen for our world. So please, welcome Lee Battersby!

Will you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

I’m a fat Australian guy in his mid-40s. Former stand-up comic, cartoonist, tennis coach, public servant and widower. Currently an arts administrator married to a fellow author, with 2 insane children and three equally insane bonus children. I’m in love with the Goon Show, Lego, Daleks, Nottingham Forest football club, and British comedy panel shows. Favourite music includes Madness, They Might be Giants, the White Stripes, Butthole Surfers, David Bowie, Alice Cooper and just about anything ska (I knew he's a great guy!). I’ve had just shy of 80 short stories published, won a handful of awards, have a children’s novel coming out in early 2015 and would kill all of your grandmothers for a chance to write full-time for a living. 

- I found The Corpse Rat King to be a book about initiatory trips (for both Marius and Gerd), was I right? Did you want to convey a message? 

“The Corpse-Rat King” arose from a conversation I had with a fellow author about our mutual distaste for those vaguely Arthurian soft-focus medieval fantasies where everything is nice and clean, and everyone looks like they discovered shampoo five hundred years early and nobody ever really seems to get dysentery or scabies or rickets, and heroes are always square jawed and noble and blah blah puke. Starting out, I really just wanted to poke fun at those novels by making everything rather scrofulous and having a hero who was a weaselly, greedy coward, which is what I imagine most people are, when it comes to a choice between self-preservation and making some cash or sacrificing it all for some nebulous, unknowable “greater good”. 

Once you get started writing, of course, narrative rules take over: you can’t have a novel solely about running away and not engaging with the plot, so sooner or later Marius would have to face up to the requirements of the story. And much as I wanted Gerd to be a focus of well-earned derision and contempt, I ended up rather liking him, so couldn’t bring myself to really grind his face in the dirt for 250 pages. That is, of course, after killing him right at the start… 

As far as overt messages go, no. I didn’t set out to teach my readers any grand moral lesson, so much as I lined up a series of occurrences and my natural inclinations as a storyteller led me through them. If there is any message in the books it’s a result of my personal inclinations coming out in the writing rather than any attempt to set out a grand theme. 

- You've written a sequel "Marching Dead" already. Can you tell us a bit about it? 

“The Marching Dead’ was released by Angry Robot Books in October 2013. It takes place a couple of years after the events of “The Corpse-Rat King”. Marius has made good his promise to settle down with Keth and leave behind his life of petty crime, and they’re living together in a little cottage in a country village. Then the dead abduct Keth, Gerd and Granny show up on a quest of their own, and Marius is drawn into a journey to recover Keth, save the world, and solve the mystery of why the dead have stopped dying. It’s profane, scatological, angry and, hopefully, downright funny as hell. 

- Do you plan other books with Marius and Gerd? 

My contract with Angry Robot was for two books. They’ve been delivered and there’s no talk of a third, so yes, I’d say that’s all for Marius and Gerd for now. The second book reaches a good ending for all concerned, so I’m okay with it. 

- Which subjects are more difficult to write about? 

Any subject which has great emotional resonance to the writer can be immensely difficult to portray effectively, because it can be difficult to maintain the necessary objective distance from the narrative. If you get caught up in the right and wrong of it, or try to hard to push the emotional consequences onto your reader, you run the risk of taking the narrative away from the story, and every time you do that you invite the reader out of the story as well. As soon as the reader stops believing in the story you’re telling, you’ve lost them. 

- Which events will you attend in the next months? 

I’m rather secluded, living not so much in the most isolated capital city in the world but 80 kilometres away from the most isolated capital city in the world, so I don’t see many events. I am attending CrimeScene WA, a Western Australian crime writing convention, in October, and I try to get to a day or two of the Perth Writers Festival each year, but that’s about it. Finances do not permit wider travelling: Worldcons and Eastern States events are simply off the agenda, and travelling overseas is not an option on my income. I’ve had a few forays over the years, but right now we’re on a single income, so it’s not likely for some time. 

- What are you reading now? 

I’m currently reading a ridiculously large pile of graphic novels from the new library that’s opened up recently in our region. (Reaches over to top of the pile) Next up: Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Face & The Brute. Generally I enjoy historical true crime books, hidden histories and biographies of obscure weirdoes, and when it comes to fiction I lean towards cross-genre authors like Jonathan Lethem and China Meiville. I’ve been enjoying a lot of crime fiction recently as well. 

- What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished? 

I like a plot. I like characters in action. Endless reverie or deep meditations on the fragile nature of interior expression are not really my thing. I like the feeling that all the characters, antagonists included, are working towards a goal they believe in: nobody is evil just for the sake of being evil, or good just because their armour is shiny. Joe Abercrombie is a master at this: every character is a combination of self-belief and self-interest, and as a consequence, they’re believable as hell. 

If the story-telling snaps my credulity; if the characters begin to act stupidly simply because the plot demands it; if the laws of physics and consequence are dispensed with; if the people within the pages are cardboard, or cut-out superheroes, or transparent mouthpieces for the author’s personal beliefs; if the book is just plain damned boring, then yeah, you’ll lose me. 

- If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be? 

“Lord of the Rings”, I think. I first read it when I was ten, and was so blown away by it that I read it annually until I was in my twenties. I’d never encountered anything on such a scale, with characters that lived so vibrantly on the page and a story of such consequence and import. I’ve read very little since that matches it for scope and sheer majesty. 

- What's next for you? 

I have a children’s novel called “Magit and Bugrat” coming out from Walker Books in early 2015. It’s about a young girl who lives in a cemetery with no exits or entries, and how she copes when the stork drops a baby into her life. It’s easily the saddest and, I hope, most beautiful thing I’ve written. And I’m just completing the first draft of a supernatural story about a personality aspect of the Devil that was sloughed off during the Fall and has achieved a level of humanity that enables him to live amongst humans, and what happens when the Devil starts to reabsorb his missing aspects in an attempt to ascend to Heaven. An interesting topic for a lifelong atheist to tackle because, for me, I’m using somebody else’s fictional characters to tell my story but I feel no pressure to respect that original author’s creation, so I’m rewriting some very key religious icons in my own image. 

Why so serious questions 

- What would be your desert island read? 

Apart from a book on how to build boats? If I could be indulged with one non-fiction book and one fiction book it’d have to be “Necropolis: London and its Dead” by Catharine Arnold, a look at the funerary and mortuary history of the world’ greatest city that is simply overflowing with facts and narrative possibilities that set my imagination ticking, and “The Scar” by China Meiville, my first Meiville read and still a favourite book: so rich in imagery and imagination and sheer *voice* that it’s a constant benchmark I’m trying to attain. 

- Your favorite villain? 

I don’t really have one. I think people are their own villains, and any antagonist that doesn’t have the reader eliciting at least a moment of sympathy at some point is just a two-dimensional punching bag. Take a character like Black Dow, from Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series and “The Heroes”. He *should* be a vile, hateful creature, but he’s placed against alternatives so much worse that, as reprehensible as he is, you can see why he’s playing the game he does, and what it means for his culture if he falls. That’s the essence of a great character, one who transcends simple good/bad dichotomies. 

- Whose hero do you wish you had created? 

Oh, God. I’m still trying to create my own. I don’t know that I’d ever wish to have created someone else’s creation, but there are a few I’d like to work *with* along the way. There are a bunch of comic book characters I’d love to write for: Hellboy, Daredevil, Wonder Woman, Hellcat, Strontium Dog…. a great big long list that would look ludicrous if I put them all down at once. I’ve written Doctor Who, which was mostly fun. 

- Seeing on your blog that you have a BattBio, a BattBiblio... do you have a Battmobile too? 

No, but I do have a Battersblog and a Batthaim! It’s just one of those quirky little things that make being lumbered with a surname like Battersby worthwhile: that first syllable can be attached to any number of concepts and be claimed for my own. It’s a silly little thing to do with my web presence, to help tie my pages together. 

- Do you have more info about the upcoming invasion of the world by dinosaurs in Lego Dalek armour? 

I, for one, welcome our new plastic Dalekosaurus overlords. 

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If you want to have some fun, go read some poste from his blog or follow him on Twitter or Facebook!

Interview: Emma Newman, author of the Split World!

I am delighted to welcome to my blog Emma Newman. I'vre read the first book in the series, Between Two Thorns, (the second is my Pal!). Emma has plenty of projects, a blog, a podcast ... and stories to give! (and you'll notice how the blue writing for her answers is too, too perfect a match with her jacket! mwahaha! Nice picture by the way, Emma!)

Hi Emma,

I've read and reviewed your book "Between Two Thorns" and find it great. I'm happy to have you on my blog!

Thank you!

Will you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Ahhh, the hardest question for a writer, almost as hard as "describe your book in one sentence"! Well, you already know I write (novels and short stories) but I'm also an audiobook narrator, a gamer and a dressmaker.

I've seen you launched a podcast, can you tell us a bit about it?

Yes, Tea and Jeopardy is just over a year old now and is a rather silly combination of interview and audio theatre. Each episode is set in a different tea lair and each guest comes and has tea and cake and then inevitably faces some mild peril in order to leave the tea lair. There's a butler too. And singing chickens! We were thrilled to be nominated for a Hugo award for it this year too.

On your blog, people can (should) sign up to receive free stories, one per week! Can you give us a teaser for your stories?

When people sign up they get a story per week for a year and a day, all set in the Split Worlds. Some of them contain characters from the books, some explore other families and parts of the Split Worlds and some seed future plot lines.

Which subjects are more difficult to write about?

That's a big question! There are several topics in the Split Worlds which are difficult to write about because I want to get them right. Take Cathy, for example. I wanted her to not only feel like a real person but I also wanted her to serve as an exploration of feminism, something that is very important to me. Funnily enough, writing about completely imaginary things like the awful things that the Fae think and do in the Split Worlds is much easier than writing characters who show the horrors of patriarchy from both and male and female perspective – horrors that are real and experienced by people every day.

Which events will you attend in the next months?

I will be at Fantasycon in York in early September and then I will be Guest of Honour at Bristolcon in October. Bristolcon is a gorgeous one-day convention in Bristol that I've been to several years in a row now. Highly recommended! I've just been to Nine Worlds (which is amazing!) and also the latest Worldcon held in London which was a fantastic event for me.

What are you reading now?

I'm actually reading a book that hasn't been published yet! It's one written by my husband who signed with Harper Voyager at the beginning of this year. I'm one of his beta readers, so I'm reading the second novel in his series before he sends it on to his agent.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?

Reading is part of my job as a writer and so it's really, really hard for me to switch of a constant analysis of what I'm reading. Because of that I look for books that make that part of my brain silent, that carry me away with great characters and immersive worlds. If a book is poorly written I won't persevere, there are just too many fantastic novels out there. And by poorly written I mean lots of errors, clunky dialogue, too many adjectives etc, you know, craft level. Also, if a book has a main character that I simply cannot stand, I find it hard to carry on.

If you could experience one book/short story again for the first time, which one would it be?

Short story: A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. That's my all time favourite short story. As for a book, oh, that's a tough one! Perhaps 'The Sparrow' by Mary Doria Russell, or the Predator Cities series by Philip Reeve (I can have four books if it's a series, right?). Seriously, that series is one of the best things I've ever read. Both that and The Sparrow made me sob for the last ten pages. Amazing stuff. Oh! There's Shogun too. I'm rubbish at this sort of question!

What's next for you?

I have a science fiction novel out on submission at the moment that I hope will find a home soon and I'm developing a new science fiction series too. But the thing I am really gearing up for next is the launch of a Kickstarter for the fourth Split Worlds novel which I'm desperately excited about. That's going to launch in mid-September. Nerve wracking and exciting in equal measure!

Why so serious questions

What would be your desert island read?

The Predator Cities series as mentioned before or Shogun by James Clavell.

Your favorite villain?

I can't decide whether it's Loki or Francis Urquhart from the original adaptation of House of Cards. I love both of them (but I only fancy Loki)!

Whose hero do you wish you had created?

Ellen Ripley from the Alien films. She is simply wonderful.

What it is with your mistrust of fried mushrooms?

I hate the smell and texture of mushrooms in all forms but fried mushrooms really turn my stomach! They remind me of slugs far, far too much for something that's supposed to be edible. (shudders)

To know more about Emma, you can go on her blog (that's where you'll have free stories!), you can follow her on Twitter or Facebook !

Interview: Carrie Pattel, author of The Buried Life

Please welcome Carrie Pattel, a young author whose first book will be out on July 29 in North America and on August the 7th in print in UK. 

Carrie writes game by day and book by night. She's the kind of person who stand for what she thinks on her funny blog and who can prove that Maverick is a dick and that Iceman is the good guy! (So now you know)

Cheers for that great new author!

Will you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Sure! I’m originally from Katy, Texas, and I grew up in a family of readers. My dad always has something with a library barcode on his nightstand, and my mom’s a mystery reader and recent audiobook addict. I caught the bug early (as did my sisters), so it wasn’t really a surprise when I started writing.

What about "The Buried Life" how did you came upon that idea?

I started with the underground city setting and an atmosphere of mystery, conspiracy, and disarming gentility. From there, I thought about the kinds of characters that would test the boundaries of that world and what kinds of trouble they would get into together. In retrospect, it feels like building the novel backwards, but it gave me a clear idea from the start of the kind of book I wanted to write and the kind of experience I wanted the reader to have.

Did you use your travels or stays in your book to build your setting and why?

Indirectly, yes. The name and the original inspiration for Recoletta, the fictional underground city of The Buried Life, is the Recoleta Cemetary of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I visited it on a brief study abroad trip and got a really compelling sense of place from it. It’s solemn and majestic, and it’s full of stories—so many important people from Argentina’s history are buried there. The inspiration I took was pretty impressionistic, but it was the genesis for the book.

How do you manage to combine work and writing (knowing that your job is also writing)?

It’s a pretty fantastic marriage, actually. I work as a narrative designer for Obsidian Entertainment, a game development studio, and it’s every bit as fun as it sounds. I write characters, dialogue, and other story elements for our upcoming RPG, Pillars of Eternity.

It meshes well with my novel-writing because it keeps me working on characters, plot, and prose throughout the day, but in new stories and settings. There’s a collaborative aspect to writing for games, which is a nice change of pace from the solitary nature of novel-writing. The main challenge in balancing the two is carving out time for novel-writing, especially when things pick up at the office, which is why I try to schedule regular writing time every morning.

Which subjects are more difficult to write about?

Anything technical or procedural can be a challenge, because you want to get the details right without sacrificing your freedom with the characters and plot. This was one challenge when I realized I was writing something that was, in part, a detective novel. I needed Malone to be believable as both a professional detective and as a professional detective that goes rogue.  

Which events will you attend in the next months?

I’ve just gotten back from Apollocon in Houston, and I’m headed to CONvergence for the Fourth of July weekend. Detcon (or NASFIC, since Worldcon is in London this year) will be the last convention on my schedule. I’m excited about all three of these, and I’m actually relatively new to the convention circuit—Apollocon and Worldcon in San Antonio last year were my first two conventions.

What are you reading now?

I’m double-fisting N. K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for some fantasy and George Wright Padgett’s Spindown for some hard science fiction.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?

Even though I’ve got a special relationship with speculative fiction, I like a pretty wide range of books, so it’s hard to talk about really specific things that I look for—I enjoy pensive character studies, fast-paced pots, fantastical world-building. So it’s probably easier to talk about what I don’t like!

The process of revising and editing my own work has made me more attentive to prose overall and more impatient when it’s weak. Writing doesn’t have to be astounding to tell a good story, but when it’s bad, it’s distracting. It makes me doubt the writer, which makes it almost impossible for me to enjoy the story, no matter how interesting it might otherwise be.

Similarly, I get bored with meandering characters. Unless they’re meandering somewhere really, really interesting, I lose interest if it doesn’t feel like there’s some sense of direction or motivation.

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be?

Dune. There are so many books I’ve enjoyed, but the world of Arrakis was so rich, and the conflicts so layered, that it would be rewarding to experience it fresh. 

What's next for you?

I’m working on Cities and Thrones, the sequel to The Buried Life. I’m having a lot of fun extending the conflict from The Buried Life and observing how the characters cope with their new situations.

Why so serious questions

What would be your desert island read?

War and Peace. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read it yet, and as long as it is, it would keep me busy for a long time.

Your favorite villain?

The best villains are the ones you root for (on some level) despite their roles and vices. Hannibal Lecter is a great villain because he’s so charming and intriguing that it’s easy to forget how depraved he is. You look for explanations for his brutality because it’s tempting to believe that there’s something benign (or at least predictable) in him.

Whose hero do you wish you had created?

Like everyone else, I read a fair share of Dickens in school, and while I didn’t have a particularly strong appreciation for most of it, I loved Sydney Carton. Most of the girls in my ninth-grade English class (myself included!) bawled through the end of A Tale of Two Cities. He was noble and tragic in the end, and yet he didn’t seem to care whether people thought of him that way. While I suspect I’d respond differently to his self-pity and his obsession with Lucie if I read it today, I’d love to write a character that affects others the way he affected me at the time.

Which one of you characters is more like you?

I never actually write myself into my fiction, but I suppose it’s impossible not to recognize bits of myself in some of my characters, especially when I’m telling the story from over their shoulders. With that in mind, I feel like I can see more of myself in Jane Lin, one of the perspective characters. She’s inquisitive and determined, and she’s an incurable eavesdropper, which anyone in my family could tell you is one of my worst habits!

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To follow Carrie on her blog or Twitter

Interview: Luke Preston, author of Out of Exile

On Luke's blog you'll find this: "Luke spent most of his twenties as a freelance writer, a private investigator and listening to rock ‘n roll. He drinks heavily on occasion, is a half decent musician and his idea of a good time involves a jukebox designed to bleed ears." 

It was enough for me to want to ask him a lot few questions after the release of his book Out of Exile (1st October 2013) which he kindly answered. Please give a warm welcome to Luke!

For those that don’t know you yet, can you tell us a bit about yourself? 

I’m a guy who likes to tell stories, play music loud. My work has been recognised by MTV, the ATOM Awards, the Fellowship of Australian Writers and the Inside Film Awards, winning Best Unproduced Screenplay for The Adventures of Abigail Storm. I don’t believe in writer’s block or in the magic bullet theory. 

Your hero is a good guy but he’s doing a lot of bad things to achieve his goals. Why do you think people root for him? 

As children, we’re told what is right, and what is wrong but the world is far more fucked up than that. As individuals, communities, countries and nations we try to do what is best and what we think is right, but right and wrong is subjective and it is within that small, grey gap that drama exists. A story should be a brutal fight between two ideologies. Some people believe in their heart that Tom Bishop breaks the legal and moral laws and should be punished; others believe he is a good character doing bad things for good reasons. And they’re both right, because the argument in Dark City Blue and Out of Exile is how far into violence and force should a person venture in the name of good? 

Do you plan other books with Tom Bishop? Will it be a series? 

Tom Bishop will be back. I’m already working on the third instalment where Tom Bishop heads to the big city to work at Vogue for an overpowering boss and along the way learns that it’s okay to be himself… I’m just kidding. The third novel will be bigger than Out of Exile and sees Bishop in unfamiliar territory. 

Do you write books like you write screenplays or screenplays like you write books? 

They’re both complementary. Writing screenplays has helped my novels move along economically and writing novels has helped the prose in my screenplays standout. Writers from both disciplines can learn a lot from their long form counterparts. 

Which subjects are most difficult to write about? 

Truth. People can kid themselves in their day to day life and get away with it and live happily ever after. But you can’t get away with it on the page. A writer must first be honest with themselves before they can be honest with the reader and it takes a lot of guts to lay their heart and soul out there for strangers. In many ways being a published author is a great invasion of privacy. But in many other ways it’s about taking standing behind your values and beliefs and picking a fight. 

As writer, do you want to convey a moral in your books or do you only want to tell a story? 

Not necessarily a moral, but for me, every story I write must to say something new about the world in which we live. It may be a fresh point of view on an old issue, or something I’ve discovered that I believe the world should know about or at least pay attention to. In many ways Tom Bishop is a rebellion to political correctness. Western society publically condones men of violent action but when the shit hits the fan, they are the first to be called on. 

If you could experience one book once again, which one will it be? 

Women, by Charles Bukowski. He laid it on the line, his heart and balls and didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. 

You’ve won the What if Award for a The Adventures of Abigail Storm (congrats!), is there any progress on that front ? 

None. It is going to take a special producer to take on a story about an ex-porn star who saves the world from Martians. I don’t know, maybe the world is not ready for it yet. Or maybe I should just turn it into a porno. 

What would be the best Award you could win for your book? 

Awards are lovely and flattery is always welcomed. Although, I’ve won awards before when I didn’t deserve to and also lost awards when I deserved to win. Satisfaction in writing should always come from the act itself, not the result of the act. 

Why so serious question: 

Who’s your favourite villain? 

John Lithgow in Footloose is my favourite villain of all time. Now before you laugh your ass off, hear me out. John Lithgow in Footloose isn’t bad for the sake of being bad; he isn’t driven by greed, by power or by any personal gain. He is driven by the desire to protect the teenagers of Footloose-ville. He believes that rock ‘n roll leads to danger, whereas Kevin Bacon believes rock ‘n roll is about expression and freedom. When the antagonist has a goal just as valid as the protagonist’s, there’s great drama. 

Which book would to take on a desert island? 

Webster’s Dictionary. I would use it to write the books. 

What are you reading now? 

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright & The Comedy Writer by Peter Farrelly. 

Your most effective hair of the dog drink? 

A Red Eye 

1 oz (30 mL) vodka 

6 oz (180 mL) refrigerated tomato juice 

12 oz (350 mL) beer 

1 egg

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About Out of Exile

After three years of rotting in a cell, Bishop is busted out of prison in the dead of night and thrown into the middle of a police war where the stakes are high and personal. He must associate himself with dangerous guys to try and save the girl... and the day! 

Out of Exile is not a book you read, it's a effing action-packed film, a kind of Die Hard with a more virile McLane! It's explosive, relentless and incredibly funny. An action-packed book where the hero is not afraid to get his hands dirty

If you want to follow Luke Preston on his blog, on Twitter or Facebook.

And if you should want to buy his book it's here!

Interview: Dan Newman, author of The Clearing

I'm pleased to welcome Dan Newman on my blog, as his first book The Clearing is now available. He was kind enough to answer my question. 

Will you tell us a little about yourself and your background? Have you always wanted to be writer?

Hi Vanessa! Thank you so much for this – it’s wonderful to be part of Vanessa’s Bookshelves...

I think that I came to writing because of the way I grew up, which was wandering around the globe with my parents – my father worked in international development, so we travelled a lot. I moved from school to school frequently, and I remember doing a lot of writing as it was something that could move with me. I spent time in some interesting places like St. Lucia, the Kingdom of Lesotho and Swaziland, and I think those places really helped form my perspective on things. When I came back to Canada to do my undergraduate degree, I really noticed the gulf between the worlds. That’s always stuck with me.

I only really decided to take on novel writing about sixteen years ago – my first book, The Cull, is still a favourite of mine even though it has all the problems you might expect with an early effort. One day I hope to go back and see if I can salvage it. So I’m not sure I always wanted to be a writer, but I’m pretty sure I want to now. I’m working hard at that one.

What about The Clearing? Would you give us a teaser? 

The Clearing is really a story about how our past stays with us, and left unattended for long periods of time, it will make itself known. In the book, Nate Mason finds himself beset by tragedy, and feels that the only way to move forward is to go back. And the past, his past, is waiting for him – almost as a character itself.

I've seen on your site that you have "other projects in the pipe" that sound promising. Why The Clearing instead of another one for your first book?

Well, as much as I’d love to be in a position to dictate what I’d like to have published, I’m simply not. The publisher gets to make that call, and after reviewing The Clearing, they bought the rights. My deal with Exhibit A is for two books, so I do get to decide what to submit next, but it still has to be something they find interesting and marketable. At the moment I’m just finishing up a sequel to The Clearing, so that may be the next book I submit to them, but I also have another project that is very near and dear to my heart that I would like them to look at. So I have some decisions to make there... 

The book is set on St Lucia where you lived, there are two journalists of which one wanted to be a writer, do you take inspiration from your life to create your characters and story?

For me, the old saw write-what-you-know is a guiding principle. I absolutely look to my own life when I write, and perhaps one of the few advantages I have is that my father’s career provided me with so many experiences in so many unique places and cultures. I really do see my childhood as having been a fantastic adventure. For example, much of The Clearing is based on my own experiences at an old plantation house in St. Lucia. The Bolom, an important supernatural character in the book, is something that as a young kid of eleven or twelve, I absolutely believed in – given what happened up there. And to find out what that was, you’ll have to follow Nate up to Ti Fenwe... J 

There's a deep connection with children in The Clearing and The Journalist (one of the project in the pipe) is also about children, is it an important connection for you? A subject that touch you? 

I think so. I think that because of the intensity of my own childhood – and I mean that in a positive, wide-eyed view of life, way – I see childhood as perhaps the most important phase of our growth. The foundations for everything we are, for everything we will become – it all gets poured during those few short years of childhood. It might also be due to the fact that I’m the father of a young boy, too. And fatherhood changes you. Watching a kid grow amazes and terrifies me all at once. I’m helping with that particular foundation... so yes, I’d say childhood is something I’m very connected to.

Are you still working? If yes, how do you manage to combine work and writing? 

Yes, I still have a day job. And while the fantasy is to write all day and make a good living at it, I still get great satisfaction from the balance I have right now. I try to write every night – usually between 9:00 and about midnight. Then I’ll also do some early mornings on the weekends before my family wakes up – the 6:00 to 9:00 slot is a very productive one for me.

Why have you chosen to write thrillers? 

I’m not sure that was a choice. I started writing and that’s what came out. When I first started, I found myself writing along the lines of Wilbur Smith... perhaps because I had spent so much time in Africa, or because it was Wilbur Smith that first got me into reading. 

Who's your favorite author or the one who inspires you the most? 

I am a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy. I think his novel The Road is the best piece of writing I've ever come across, and I think there are only a small handful of writers that can create that kind of work. Genius is not too strong a word. It’s something to aspire to, even if you know you’ll never achieve that kind of excellence. That’s certainly the case for me.

What are you reading currently? 

Two books just now: I’m on the middle of Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, and I've just started Richard Parker’s Scare Me. My taste is all over the map. Always has been.

What's next for you ? 

On the writing front, I’m getting ready to send in my second book for Exhibit A – so there are a few long conversations coming with my agent - the most excellent Carrie Pestritto – to determine just which project that will be.

On the personal front, we’re about to get a dog for my son. We’re getting a chocolate lab, and I can’t wait. I grew up with dogs, and left so many behind with friends when we left to go to the next post. It was heartbreaking. I’m looking forward to bringing this little puppy home and giving him a family for life.

Why so serious questions: 

Surfing or writing?

Aaargh! Can’t I do both? Please!? Well, if I absolutely had to choose, I guess it’d be writing. Fewer sharks.

Your Desert Island read would be...

Easy – The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.

Given the choice where would you live? 

Another easy one! Tropical Queensland, east coast of Australia. A small beachside town called Noosa just north of Brisbane. I get back there every chance I get.

Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners ou Royals by Lorde? 

Gotta go with what has stood the test of time (sorry Lorde)... Come On Eileen.. Oh, I swear what he means. At this moment you mean, eeeeeeverything...

Thanks Vanessa!

Dan.

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About The Clearing:
When Nate was a boy, he lived in an island, St Lucia. The night of the "event", four boys walked in the forest but only three came back alive. They said it was a monster and no one believed them. Now an adult, Nate comes back to the island to set things right. As soon as he arrived, he realized that he's followed and that his life is in danger as well as his sanity. Against all advice, he decides to unveil the truth.

You can follow Dan on Twitter, his books blog or his personal blog.

Interview: Chris F. Holm, author of The Collector series

I'm so thrilled to received today Chris F. Holm! 

I've met him at the QuebeCrime festival last year. I was too shy to go meet the authors that were there so I was hanging with another volunteer. We had so much fun that Chris came to talk to us, telling us we had too much fun not to share it with others! He merely talked about the others, telling us how incredibles they were, what a great story they had, how great writers they were and wondering why he was invited. 

I must say that I didn't know him at the time so I asked about his book. Well, he got me when he explained it was a crime fiction mixed to fantasy! I told him I'll read his book because it seemed to be my kind of reading. I'm not sure I convinced him at the time but it really was the book I wanted to read... and the first I've read after the festival. And oh boy! what a book! Dead Harvest is the first one in the Collector trilogy and one of the best books I've read last year! His two other books The Wrong Goodbye and The Big Reap were as good and no wonder they're still in the top 5 of the most seen books on my blog!

Chris is one of the most humble and kind author I know and also one hell of author and he's accepted to answer my questions that I'll let you read now! 

Will you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Uh, sure. I’m tall, but not too. Skinny, but not as skinny as I used to be. I’m fond of small talk and small kindnesses. Of pie and punk rock and tattoos. I’m a damn good parallel parker, and a horrible – if enthusiastic – singer. Try though I might, I can’t pull off hats. But every now and again, I can write a half-decent sentence. 

So Chris, knowing that Sam was born from a doze-off... any other "dime-a-dozen" lastly? 

It’s strange – I don’t often take inspiration from dreams. Mine are usually so nonsensical, or filled with such lame horror-movie clichés – they’re of limited narrative utility. The opening scene of DEAD HARVEST was, until recently, my sole exception. But a month or two ago, I had this vivid nightmare that caused me to leap out of bed and jot down everything I could remember, and I’ve been noodling at the idea ever since. It looks like it may turn into a sprawling post-apocalyptic horror novel in the vein of THE PASSAGE or THE STAND. But I’ve got another novel or two I need to write first. 

How do you manage to combine work and writing (and tweeting and blogging and running...) 

My friend Julia Spencer-Fleming likes to joke that writing, for her, is a hobby that’s gotten out of hand. I feel much the same way. When I started out, I wrote a couple hours here and there on weekends. Now I work a few hours every day at least – and way more than that on weekends. That means I’ve had to scale back on lots of other things – cooking, cleaning, movies, television, guitar, socializing, reading – to make room. I don’t mind; I love my writing life – and since my wife is a book reviewer, we’re often working side-by-side, which is nice. Truth be told, the only thing I really miss is having more time to read. 

Which subjects are more difficult to write about? 

My books contain their share of violence, but that violence is particularly difficult when it touches the lives of innocents. In fact, one death in DEAD HARVEST – those who’ve read it will know which – affected me so deeply, I wasn’t sure I could keep it in the book. I was worried I’d crossed a line. My wife insisted I hadn’t. For what it’s worth, I must not have, since I didn’t get a single letter about it. And more recently, one of the storylines in THE BIG REAP required me to put myself into the head – albeit briefly – of one of the most despicable figures in human history. I thought I knew what I was in for, writing that bit – it’s not as if I painted this person favorably, after all – but it was far more disturbing than I imagined it would be. Oh, and sex. Any writer who tells you sex scenes are easy is either lying or delusional. 

Which events will you attend in the next months? 

As I write this, I’ve just returned from a weekend at Murder and Mayhem in Muskego, which was my last book event of the year. Now comes the long, quiet stretch of winter. But in March, I’m headed to Left Coast Crime in Monterey, California. I suspect it’ll be a nice break from the snow. 

What are you reading now? 

As I mentioned, my wife, Katrina, is a mystery reviewer. As such we wind up with lots of ARCs in our house. Rarely to I ever sneak a peek at one before release – even when she’s got a copy of something I’m dying to read – because it feels like cheating. I’m a big believer in paying for books to support the authors I love. But recently, Kat came into possession of the new Hilary Davidson novel, BLOOD ALWAYS TELLS, and I couldn’t resist. So far, it’s fantastic. When it comes out, I’ll buy a few copies to make up for my transgression. 

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished (or to throw it with great force as advocated by Mark Billingham lately)? 

What I look for most is voice. If I fall in love with a novel, it’s almost always on account of voice. I want it to grab me. To transport me. To knock me out of my critical, writerly mode of reading and make me believe. If it does, I’ll keep reading, regardless of the subject matter. If it doesn’t, I’ll likely put it down. My threshold for doing so is pretty low, actually – life’s too short to read a book I’m not enjoying. 

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be? 

What a wonderful – and difficult – question! It’s tough to narrow it down to one, but if I had to choose, I’d say THE THIN MAN by Dashiell Hammett. It’s a wonderful novel full of sparkling characters rendered in clean, crisp prose, but it also packs a wallop of a twist that still holds up some eighty years later. I’d love a second chance to be duped by a true master. 

What's next for you? 

I’ve recently put the finishing touches on a creepy little tale about the murder of a poor high school student in small-town Maine. It’s equal parts crime novel and ghost story, and I’m really proud of it. I’d tell you the title, but I’m not yet sure it’s gonna stick – my agent and I have changed it a couple times already. With luck, you’ll hear a lot more about it soon. 

Why so serious questions questions:

What would be your desert island read? 

Just one? Sheesh. I suppose I’d go with JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL by Susanna Clarke. It’s long enough to entertain for days on end, and rich enough to provide a fresh escape each time I read it. Plus, maybe reading about the chilly English weather will keep me cool. 

Your favorite villain? 

There are so many to choose from – but I confess, the books I love best don’t tend toward heroes and villains in the traditional sense. So instead, I’ll pick one each from television and movies. My favorite TV villain is Alias’ Arvin Sloane. He’s so oily, so cruel, and so smart, he provided a lovely foil for the heroic Sydney Bristow. And my favorite movie villain would have to be True Romance’s Drexl Spivey, the white pimp who thinks he’s black. He’s vicious, feral, and – thanks to a brilliant performance by Gary Oldman – unbelievably funny. You can’t take your eyes off him when he’s on-screen, for fear of what he’ll do next. 

Whose hero do you wish you had created? 

I’m going to go a little outside the box on this one, and choose Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter Morgan – in part because I think the idea of a serial killer who hunts other serial killers is lightning in a bottle, and in part because I think both the books and the television series (while entertaining) squander some of that character’s potential. Obviously, questions of morality are front and center in my own writing, and I think I could push Dexter in some interesting philosophical directions. It seems a better hypothetical use of my time than imagining myself writing subpar Philip Marlowe or Sherlock Holmes novels, don’t you think? 

Sam (who truly loves studying) or Dean (who truly loves pie) Winchester? (I always found some similarities between the Winchester and Sam and I'm not the only one as it seems...) 

I’m going to use this question to get a little something off my chest. I used to watch Supernatural, back in its monster-of-the-week days. But then I stopped – not because I didn’t like it, but because they started telling stories that had a lot in common with this book of mine called DEAD HARVEST that my agent was shopping. Fast-forward a few years to when the book finally comes out, and all the sudden folks everywhere are saying my book sounds a lot like Supernatural – or the TV show Reaper, which also debuted after I finished it. The fact is, we all got to the same place via different routes, with no knowledge of what the other writers were getting up to. Maybe now that I’ve got a few Collector novels under my belt, I can go back and catch up. 

Back to your question, I’ll say this: I’d rather hang out with Dean Winchester, but I’ve got more in common with Sam. Sadly the things we have in common don’t include good hair or impressive-for-a-bookworm musculature. 

More importantly: which kind of pie ? Oh, I love all kinds. But if I had to pick a couple favorites, I’d say pumpkin, rhubarb, blueberry, buttermilk (which is really more of a tangy lemon curd), and key lime. 

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To follow Chris on Twitter or his blog

About The Collector series: Sam gave away his soul to save his wife. Now he's collecting others' soul. But he remembers what it's like to be human and what were his values so he follows his instinct more often than his orders, which puts him in situations where it's difficult to know what's right to do and who he can trust.