Interview with mystery/thriller author Bob Doerr

Today's guest is mystery and thriller author Bob Doerr to tell us about his newest novel, Another Colorado Kill, and a fun upcoming project.

Bio:
Bob Doerr grew up in a military family, graduated from the Air Force Academy, and then had a twenty-eight year career of his own in the Air Force. It was a life style that had him moving every few years, but also one that exposed him to the people and cultures of numerous countries in Asia, Europe, and to most of these United States.

In the Air Force, Bob specialized in criminal investigations and counterintelligence gaining significant insight to the worlds of crime, espionage, and terrorism. His field of work brought him into close contact and coordination with the investigative and security agencies of many different countries and with the FBI and CIA. This background has helped Bob develop the fictional plots and characters in his books. In addition to his degree from the Academy, he also has a Masters in International Relations from Creighton University.

Bob is now a full time author, with three mystery/thrillers already published and a fourth to be released in the fall, 2011. Two of his books, Cold Winter’s Kill and Loose Ends Kill, were selected as finalists for the Eric Hoffer Award. The latter was also selected as a finalist for the Military Writers’ Society 2011 Award for Fiction/Mystery. Bob lives in Garden Ridge, Texas, with his wife of 38 years.

Bob, welcome to Reviews and Interviews. Please tell us about your current release. Another Colorado Kill. What inspired you to write this book?
I have had a goal to write five Jim West mystery/thrillers. This is my fourth. I graduated from the Air Force Academy and spent over six years of my life in the Colorado Springs area. As all the Jim West stories are set in the West/Southwest, I felt C Springs would be a great setting for one of the books.

What exciting story are you working on next?
At the moment, I’m writing an adventure/fantasy novella, in collaboration with my granddaughter. It’s focused at the 10- to 15-year-old readers, and has been a lot of fun. Pre-teens have such great imaginations. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find someone to publish it.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I finished my first Jim West book. I set it aside for a while, and then when I reread it, I said to myself, “That’s a good story.” Even though I had not yet found a publisher, I felt pretty good about my ability to write an enjoyable book.

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 try to write a couple hours a day, at least five days a week. I’m retired from my past, paycheck careers, but it seems that I’m still always busy doing something.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I like to get an idea in my head and simply start writing a story about it. I’ve written a number of short stories that I just have sitting around in my hard drive. I’ve done nothing with them - yet.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
This is kind of silly, but for some reason I supposedly wanted to be a shoe salesman. At least that’s what my parents kidded me about when I got older. Nothing at all wrong with it, but not something many kids probably ever even consider doing. Later, I wanted to be a detective, like Paul Drake, in the Perry Mason TV show.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I encourage anyone who reads one of my books to feel free to give me some feedback via e-mail. I imagine there may be some authors who don’t want to hear from their readers, but I love hearing from them. I try to respond to every e-mail I get from someone who has read one of my books.

Thanks for being here, Bob. Best wishes for this new mystery and your project with your granddaughter.