Interview with writer / debut novelist David Trock

Writer and debut novelist David H. Trock is here today and we’re chatting about this newest crime fiction (a murder mystery), A Religion Called Love.

Bio:

David Trock has been published in several genres including crime fiction and medical non-fiction. As a novelist, his foray into murder mystery was launched in 2016 with the psychological thriller, A Religion Called Love. In 2007, his first book titled, Healing Fibromyalgia, was published by Wiley & Sons. He's written book chapters and journal articles primarily in the field of rheumatology. He is an attending physician at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut and a clinician on faculty at Yale University School of Medicine

Welcome, David. Please tell us about your current release.

A Religion Called Love is an unconventional murder mystery that draws attention to controversial themes, such as the meaning of faith, the debate over stem cells & tissue cloning (known as somatic cell nuclear transfer), and the pain of unrequited love.

When a young kindergarten teacher confesses the truth about her unorthodox religious beliefs, a throng of angry parents confronts her. The next day, she is found dead, and an investigation led by Detective Robin Noel (a friend of the deceased) exposes the lurid secrets inside a small town.

What inspired you to write this book?

At first, the story was inspired by the yearnings of three different men for the central character (Kathryn), then I folded in the dynamic of a woman (Detective Robin Noel) who also secretly pined for her, then I focused on the intertwining of their lives after Kathryn's death. The subplots pertaining to religious faith and humanism came later and fit perfectly into the narrative. 

Excerpt from A Religion Called Love:

(from the end of chapter 1)

When word of Kathryn's attitude spread, she was snubbed in the teacher’s lounge, anonymously harassed online and marginalized by a small but formidable core. At dismissal one Friday afternoon, she found herself surrounded outside the door of her own classroom by a throng of angry parents. Confronted by pointed fingers and accusations, she was forced to field questions from all directions. What kind of teacher are you? What kind of values are you teaching our children? You’re a disgrace to the school!

 Kathryn flinched, thinking an object had been hurled in her direction. The brief misperception tugged at her playful sense of humor—she had nearly smiled but thought better of it. By chance, a security guard was making his rounds and diffused the situation by his mere presence. He strolled past the adults, who nodded politely in unison, and when he was out of sight once more, their angry pitch returned. Don’t put confusing thoughts in their minds! You don’t have children of your own, stay away from ours!

 Kathryn tried to assure everyone that her personal beliefs were no threat whatsoever to their children. She insisted that only kindness and fairness and the Golden Rule were emphasized in class—but their anger only escalated. Finally, she said, “I’m going home now.” She squeezed through the fray and turned to say one more thing: “By the way, if you’re certain that having a religion is required to be a good teacher, then my religion is love—love for one another—love and respect for all living things. That is my religion.”

 Kathryn walked away from the spectacle that Friday afternoon and made little of it. She ended her week in the usual way, on the top step of her cement porch with a cup of green mint chocolate chip ice cream. A roach clip sat in the porcelain ashtray beside her. “Sugar Magnolia” echoed in her thoughts. A crescent moon lit a corner of the sky that evening and she slept well. 

 The following day, Kathryn’s body was discovered at home with no sign of forced entry—no evidence of rape or robbery. She was only twenty eight when it happened, a crime that roused the neighborhood from its provincial slumber. Neighbors whispered from behind the yellow police tape that she should have been more careful. A patrol car idled silently at the curb with lights running. Curious onlookers gathered to see what was going on, speculating among themselves about the pretty kindergarten teacher inside. Detectives arrived in short order to ask them what they had seen or heard, and their responses were predictably useless. No less than a dozen different stories belied the fact that nobody knew exactly why Kathryn James was dead or who was responsible. 

A five-block area was scoured for evidence. Detectives went door to door looking for clues. One reclusive neighbor protested for being questioned more than once, but Detective Robin Noel didn't care; she was accustomed to that kind of response.  

What exciting story are you working on next?

I'm working on several projects, both fiction (the first living heart donor), and non-fiction (about treating chronic pain).

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I still think of myself as a doctor, teacher, husband, father, and somewhere in there I get my share of writing done.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I love to write, so I find time to do it whenever I can.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I usually write freehand, then I edit at least once before transferring to my laptop.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I love animals, so I wanted to become a veterinarian.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I've attended several book groups that have focused their debate on the religious themes of A Religion Called Love, and I think that's okay - but don't forget the love part!! 

Thanks for being here today, David!

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Review of Stephanie Gayle's mystery "Idyll Threats"

Idyll Threats

by Stephanie Gayle

Mystery

Reviewed by Lisa Haselton

Transitioning from being a NYC detective to police chief in a small CT town is quite a change and Thomas Lynch wants to make it work while keeping his private life separate from his professional life.

When he’s called in to investigate a murder, it’s common ground for Lynch with his introspective and methodical ways of approaching a new case. But it’s not common for small Idyll, CT. In fact, it’s quite inconvenient for the small town as Founder’s Day – a tourist draw – is about to begin. So Lynch and his staff are under a lot of pressure to solve the case quickly.

The realistic details add a lot of dimension to the fictional town of Idyll – whose inhabitants are anything but idle. Everyone knows everybody and secrets quickly become town gossip. As the new guy, Lynch faces a lot of suspicion and questions – especially about why he’d move to a small town from the big city. On top of that, he needs to not only get to know his staff, but also teach them the intricacies of solving a murder, as it’s not someone anyone has any experience with.

Gayle has crafted a main character with real-life flaws. He has doubts, he’s awkward as the new guy, and he’s struggling with his past – not unlike most of us. He’s a likable character and I felt natural empathy as I learned more of his back story. He loves being a cop – it’s a calling more than a career – and he’s good at it. The interactions with his staff are naturally awkward, since he’s so new to the job and change is never easy for anyone.

I loved how Chief Lynch pulled me into the small town’s murder investigation and I enjoyed the contrasts explored from his NYC experience to small-town America. It was also fun realizing how much technology has changed since 1997 – and attitudes toward an individual’s lifestyle. I admit to being a murder mystery buff and this story kept me engaged and curious. I forgot I was reading at times, as it seemed I was in the moment.

This is the first novel in Stephanie Gayle’s new Thomas Lynch series. I have to hope the next one comes out soon! Gayle has published several stories, narrative nonfiction articles, and another novel, My Summer of Southern Discomfort.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Idyll Threats and look forward to more in this new series. I consider this a highly recommended, pleasurable mystery read.

If you’re interested in learning more about Stephanie, visit her website.

Also: she’ll be the guest at The Writer’s Chatroom where you can chat with her live on Sunday, September 13 from 7-9PM EST.

Release date: September 8, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-6388-078-8

Publisher: Seventh Street Books

(I received an ARC of this book with no promise of a review of any kind.)

Interview with YA mystery author K.C. Tansley

I’m kicking off a new month and new week with YA author K.C. Tansley. She’s here to chat about her new young adult murder mystery, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts. This is the first book in The Unbelievables series.

Feel free to leave comments for her below. She’ll be stopping in to answer any questions you may have.

Bio:

K.C. Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them.

Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is the first book in her YA time-travel murder mystery series.

Welcome K.C. Please tell us about your current release.

The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is a YA time travel murder mystery. It is the first book in The Unbelievables series.

In The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts, prep school junior Kat Preston accidentally time travels to 1886 Connecticut, where she must share a body with a rebellious Victorian lady, prevent a gruesome wedding night murder, disprove a deadly family curse, and find a way back to her own time.

What inspired you to write this book?

It was a concept my best friend, Anthony, and I dreamed up when we were in 7th grade. The 11-year-old me loved the idea of ghosts, curses, spells, castles, time travel, and a murder mystery.

I was a huge fan of soap operas like Dark Shadows and Santa Barbara and that’s where the romantic thread came in. Back then, I only thought about the story I wanted to tell and this was it. Anthony and I never got beyond the character sketches and general concept because the original idea had way too many characters. He still has a notebook somewhere filled with dozens of character sketches.

Decades later, when I was working on Wall Street and mourning the end of the Harry Potter series, I thought if I could write my own novel, then the characters would always be with me. That was when the 28-year-old me remembered the story the 11-year-old me was dying to tell. I emailed Anthony and he gave me the go ahead to work on it. And then the work truly began.

Excerpt from The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts:

     The two weeks leading up to finals were the perfect time to do research at Gilman Library—if you needed to be surrounded by people. Bustle and noise didn’t distract me anymore. I was much more likely to be disturbed by quiet. Or, at least, what the quiet conjured up. Old buildings like Gilman were the worst.

I made my way to the library’s elevator. My progress was slowed by the twenty pounds of research material that I carried. I slid my thumbs under the straps of my backpack, trying to relieve my aching shoulders, while I waited.

Professor Astor’s classes were unusual—even by McTernan standards—and his paper topics were insane. But he was a prestigious university professor willing to teach prep-school kids, so the school let him teach pretty much whatever he wanted. This semester was “The Lore and Lure of Historical Places,” which might sound innocent enough, but Astor had me investigating a notorious double murder that had happened in 1886.

The professor expected McTernan students to do as much as his students at Georgetown, but he helped anyone willing to do the work. For my latest assignment, he’d loaned me some incredible resources from his personal collection. I couldn’t wait to explore the books in my backpack, but investigating a grisly mystery and a family curse meant that I had to take some special precautions. Working alone in my dorm room was out of the question. I needed the frantic energy of my classmates preparing for finals.

Once the elevator arrived, it was a short ride to the fourth floor. The place was packed, just the way I liked it. I found a free chair at a table with three sophomores. They didn’t look happy about my intrusion, but I was a junior, so they had to deal.

I had a lot of work to do. If I was going to discover anything new about what happened at Castle Creighton, I had to start by reviewing what was already known. While I read, I needed to look for blank spots and anything that had been overlooked. Professor Astor’s willingness to believe that I might be capable of unraveling a 129-year-old mystery was one of the reasons he was my favorite teacher.

I slipped on my headphones, cranking up some Taylor Swift. I needed happy music to explore something this dark and scary. Then I pulled out my binder and reread my notes on Castle Creighton.

The castle sat in the middle of an island just a few miles from the village of Wright in Connecticut. It felt a world away from the hustle of Washington, D.C. I’d only seen a few photos of the place, but my first thought was desolate and creepy. Maybe it was the isolation of the island or the Medieval Gothic architecture of the castle, but the place seemed designed to provoke bad dreams. I couldn’t help envisioning what I could face there—an endless line of restless ghosts, waiting for someone like me.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Right now, I’m working on the sequel to The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts. It picks up a month after everything that happened in TGWIG. It’s so exciting to get to continue the adventures with Kat and Evan. We’re going to discover so much more about the Langley family in this book. And if I’m channeling Toria, there will be more time travel for Evan and Kat too.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

It started out as a life long hobby. I wrote incredibly angsty poetry all through high school and college. Back then, it was just something I wanted to do. As I got older, it became something I snuck in time to do. Even after I wrote my first manuscript, I didn’t think I was a writer. I was just someone who wrote. I didn’t start using the title writer until I got more serious about it. When I was writing my novel with the intent to publish—that’s when I felt like I was a writer. So probably around 2009.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write full time, but I also teach part time to pay the bills. My days are mine. Two evenings a week, I teach. Those are half days of writing and promoting.

A typical day starts with me rolling out of bed and sliding into the chair at my desk. I spend an hour checking email and social media. I break for breakfast. Then I get down to writing. When I’m drafting, it’s 2000 words a day of writing. When I’m revising, it’s 50 pages of revising.

Around 1 p.m., I get in an hour workout. Then back to promo work like ad creation, social media, writing guest blogs, setting up events, etc.

Right now I’m creating workshops for school visits. Between developing the talks and creating the Powerpoints, that’s a few months of work.

My graphic designers all have day jobs, so I have to check email at night and respond to them about ad design, newsletter design, and website updates. My day usually starts at 9:30 am and ends at 1:00 am.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I have to feel what my characters feel. So if my character is depressed, I have to summon up that emotion and go into it. Sometimes it’s exhausting to write because my characters go through so much. I have to be right there with them, feeling my way through it. They say to torture your characters, which means I torture myself right along with them.

With The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts, I couldn’t time travel and see how it felt. So I had to approximate it. Think about what emotions it would trigger and summon them up. So shock, fear, and uncertainty were things I was constantly tapping into.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Green.

This is a true story. When I was five and my cousin was six, my grandmother asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up.

My cousin was playing with a cash register and replied, “A grocery store check out lady.”

When my grandmother turned to me, I said. “Green.”

“No, Kourtney, what do you want to be?”

“I want to be green.” It was my favorite thing in the world.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

My tagline is “Believing in the unbelievables” and I do. I’ve had some creepy ghost experiences.

When I lived on Wall Street, there were several nights in that haze between dreaming and fully awake where I saw ghosts at the end of my bed. People dressed in clothes from another era and exuding an eerie bluish light. It turns out there were some horrible fires that destroyed buildings down there. I think when people die tragically something of them remains.

Links:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Thanks, K.C.!