Interview with detective/mystery author Austin S. Camacho

Novelist Austin S. Camacho joins me today to chat about his new detective mystery, The Wrong Kind.

During his virtual book tour, Austin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Austin S. Camacho is the author of seven novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel, Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies including Dying in a Winter Wonderland – an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association Top Ten Bestseller for 2008. He is featured in the Edgar-nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. Camacho is also editorial director for Intrigue Publishing, a Maryland small press.

Welcome, Austin. Please share a little bit about your current release.

The Wrong Kind is the seventh novel featuring Washington DC private detective Hannibal Jones. This time a distraught woman hires him to track down her daughter who has run away, trying to escape the homeless shelter life her mother has come to accept. When Hannibal finds Connie Blanco she is entwined in a gang war and somehow connected to a murder. The corpse is barely cold before a second murder follows and Hannibal finds himself entangled in a complex plot revolving around stolen drugs. To keep himself and Connie alive he needs to figure out who the mastermind of this twisted scheme really is.

What inspired you to write this book?

I like mysteries that don’t start with a murder and I became interested in the growing gang problem in suburban Virginia and Maryland. Then I stumbled upon a unique way to murder someone and the story fell together.

As you can see in this excerpt from The Wrong Kind, finding a missing person doesn’t always work out well for our hero:

            if you take my advice you’ll go back up to Charles County and look in on your mama. It might not matter to you but it will make her feel a lot better.” He stood, leaned forward and offered a hand to help her to her feet.

            And then the lights went out.

            Hannibal spun in the sudden darkness, one hand snatching his Oakleys off his face while the other darted under his suit jacket reaching for his weapon. Before his fingers could manage to grip the gun his head exploded with pain.

            The impact staggered him. The left rear corner of his head. With luck that might be enough of a clue. He whipped his left fist around and back. He hit nothing but air. Then an arm wrapped around his neck. Another arm went under his right arm and he felt the hand at the back of his head. He knew the hold, not a choke in the classic sense, but what television wrestlers called a sleeper hold, cutting off the blood flow in both his carotid artery and jugular vein. He could breathe fine but with no blood going to his brain it didn’t matter. He felt a deeper darkness moving in and his balance deserted him. The arms suddenly came away. Something crashed into his knees. Most likely the floor. His arms were unresponsive, and it felt like he was falling forward. He took a deep breath because he knew the next part was really going to hurt.


What exciting story are you working on next?
My Work In Progress is about a DC-based, African American female assassin named Skye. She has accepted a contract on a mob boss.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I had written three novels by 1999 and submitted them to several agents and publishers. At that point I decided to self publish to see if anyone really wanted to read my stories. The day the first book was purchased by a reader I finally saw myself as a writer.

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’ve retired from my career as a Defense Department communications specialist. I’m still an early riser because my wife continues to work outside the home. I generally drive her to the Metro to take a train into Washington DC, then come home, fill a mug with coffee, and write for a couple of hours. It’s important that I work every day but as part owner of a publishing company I also spend time during the day editing other people’s work, and doing marketing work, especially social media. Still, I manage to lay down a couple thousand words of my own novels in the morning, five days a week.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

It may be that I need to picture everything that happens in my stories before I can write it. This often means standing up and going thru the motions of a fight scene to see how it would really work. I know my wife is always amused to see me fighting invisible enemies like a violent mime.

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

At first I wanted to be a detective like Batman in the comics I grew up on. By high school that had switched to journalism which I eventually found my way into during my Army time.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I hope people who read my Hannibal Jones novels can see that the books are about more than solving a crime. Each has a social theme, and the series overall is about the rising and advancing of one man’s spirit. I think Hannibal’s personal growth, what he learns from each case, makes this series different from most others.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!

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Interview with detective and film noir writer H.M. Howington

Detective and film noir writer Harold Martin Howington (H.M. Howington) is here today to chat a little bit about his new suspense drama, The Redhead.

Welcome, Harold. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi, my name is Harold Martin Howington, but everyone calls me Marty. I was born on March 24, 1944, in Abbs Valley, Virginia. My family moved from there to Ohio, and we stayed there for several years. My first wife was killed in an auto accident in 1969. I served in the US Army from October 1966 to October 1968. From March 1967 to March 1968, I served in Vietnam, where I was decorated for valor, which I won’t go into now. Through the years, I worked as a musician playing guitar and piano in a road band. I’ve done studio recording and played for other artists in these sessions. I drove a big truck and covered all fifty states, Alaska and Hawaii was by Uncle Sam during the Vietnam War. We stopped in Alaska going over and stopped in Hawaii coming home. I have been in all fifty states. I finally wound up in Florida, where I still live with my wife of thirty-four years. I also performed in our local theater as many different characters in several plays. I did sound and lighting for some plays.

Please tell us about your current release.

Charlie McQuillen is an ex-military intelligence officer who served during World War II. After serving his country above and beyond the call of duty, he retired from the US Army and settled down in Los Angeles, California. He got a job as a police investigator and worked at that until he decided he would try working as a private investigator. His first case kind of fell on him out of sheer luck. So this set him on his way.

What inspired you to write this book?

While reading a book about World War II called Other Losses, I found something very interesting and I thought I should write a story with this information, so I did.

Excerpt from The Redhead:

Her red hair draped down over her shoulders just below her grapefruit sized breast.  I couldn't help think that this girl could be dangerous in a lot of ways.  Deep inside something told me not to trust her, but still I wanted to know what was on her mind.  You could get into trouble sometimes.  I was hoping it wouldn't be this time.

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next story is about a guy found dead in an alley and no one seems to know who he is.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When my book won some awards, including the da Vinci Eye at the 2018 Eric Hoffer Book Awards and “Best Drama” in a contest by Pacific Book Review.

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’m retired now so I write as much as I can. I don’t consider myself a full-time writer because of poor vision.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I write comedy plays and I find myself laughing at the stuff I write.

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

I wanted to be a cowboy, and drive big trucks. I wanted to write and play music also.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I would like to thank everyone who buys my book and I would love to meet every one and sign their book.

Thanks for stopping by today, Marty!

Interview with mystery author Norman Green

My special guest today is mystery author Norman Green. We’re chatting about his new detective novel, The Last Gig.

During his virtual book tour, Norman will be awarding a digital copy of The Last Gig to 3 lucky randomly drawn winners. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Norman Green is the author of six crime novels, most recently Sick Like That. Born in Massachusetts, he now lives in New Jersey with his wife.

Welcome, Norman. Please tell us a little bit about your current release.

A teenage runaway from the Brownsville projects, Alessandra Martillo lived with an indifferent aunt who had taken her in when her mother killed herself, and later, after more than a year on the streets, a caring uncle found her, took her in, and showed her she had a chance. That was many years ago, and now Alessandra’s all grown up, working for a sleazy P.I., repossessing cars, and trolling for waitstaff on the take. The cases aren’t glamorous, or interesting, but the work pays the bills. And she’s good at it---if there’s one thing she’s learned since leaving the streets, it’s how to take care of herself around life’s shadier elements. 

When an Irish mobster named Daniel “Mickey” Caughlan thinks someone on the inside of his shipping operation is trying to set him up for a fall, it’s Al he wants on the job. She’s to find the traitor and report back. But just a little digging shows it’s more complicated than a simple turncoat inside the family; Al’s barely started on the case when she runs into a few tough guys trying to warn her away. Fools. As if a little confrontation wouldn’t make her even more determined.

What inspired you to write this book? 

Brooklyn, really, and the people you meet on the street.

Excerpt from The Last Gig:

 “Your biggest problem is that you’re a girl.” That was the first thing he’d said to her back when they started, that first time she could remember him coming back home. Alessandra had been six years old at the time, a bit tall for her age and naturally athletic, but impossibly thin. He was back in Brooklyn after a tour of duty with the MPs on the Hong Kong waterfront. Tall, dark, and forbidding, that’s how she remembered him; quick to anger, sensitive to any disrespect, intolerant of any lack of rectitude in matters of dress or speech or behavior.

She remembered standing in front of him, trembling, glancing over at her mother for support. Like a lot of project kids, Alessandra’s mother had been her rock, her bodyguard, her ever- present protective shield, but right then her mother would not come past the kitchen doorway. “Beektor,” her mother said, pleading, and her father reddened at the mispronunciation. “Beektor, she’s so small. Are you sure . . .”

“How long do you want me to wait?” he snapped. “She’s old enough. Go make dinner.” He did not look in his wife’s direction to see whether or not he would be obeyed. “Okay, Alessandra,” he said. “Now you listen to me. You’re a girl, and everyone is bigger than you. They think they can make you do what they want, you hear me? You have to learn to defend yourself. Do you understand me? You need to be able to stand up for yourself. Now pretend I’m a strange man, I walk up to you on the street, and I grab you. What do you do?” He approached her then, got down on one knee, wrapped a thick arm around her in slow motion. “I’ve got you now. What do you do?”

She had heard his voice on the phone many times, but this was the first time she had been confronted with the physical reality of the man. He was clearly in charge, and she was terrified of disappointing him. “I would scream,” she said, after a minute. “I would scream for a policeman.”

“That’s good,” he said, but he did not release her. “You should scream. But what if there’s no policemen around? What if they’re too far away to protect you? You need to be able to take care of yourself.” She was afraid to look at him. “You have something to fight with. Tell me what it is.”

She could smell the aftershave he used, feel the smooth warm skin of his arm. She considered his question. “I could hit you?”

“No, you can’t hit me, you’re too small and you don’t know how yet. But you can poke my eye out.”

She looked at her hand, resting on his arm. “Would that hurt?”

“Never mind that. I’m a strange man, remember? I just grabbed you, and bad things are going to happen unless you can make me let you go. Do you understand?”

She did not, but she sensed that he wanted her to say yes. “Yes, Papi.”

“Good. Now we’re going to try it. No, not like The Three

Stooges.” He released her then. He held his hand out in front of her, fingers straight and stiff. “Make your hand like this. No, hard, hard, feel mine. Just like that, hard. Now watch this.” Still down on one knee, he pushed her back a half step. “Now you pretend you’re the bad man, and you try to grab me.”

She smiled at that, just slightly.

“No,” he said, “just pretend. I’m the little girl, you’re the bad man. You’re way bigger than me, I can’t hurt you. Try to grab me.” She inhaled, took a half step, her hands raised, and quicker than anything she had ever seen, he jabbed at her face with his stiffened fingers. “Boom!” he said. “Now tell me what just happened.”

“You poked me.”

“I scratched your cornea. What that really means is if you were a bad man and I was a little girl, the bad man is hurting so much he can’t see the little girl anymore, and she’s running away. Do you understand?”

She did not. “Yes, Papi.”

“Good. Now we’re going to practice. First in slow motion. I grab you with this hand, slow, like that, and I’m going to hold up my other hand and you pretend it’s my face, and you jab at it, slow, slow, hold your fingers stiff. Good. Now a little quicker.” He reached for her again, holding up his other hand, and she poked at it. “No,” he told her, “keep those fingers hard and stiff, and jab harder. As quick as you can. Ready? Okay, go. That’s better. Let’s do it again. Okay, good. Again.”

That’s how it started.

What exciting story are you working on next? 

I’m doing a story about an addict/thief who’s trying to figure out why he’s here.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? 

The day the guy who became my agent left a voice mail telling me we were going to be working together.

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’m a facilities engineer for a major retailer. I write evenings and weekends. I don’t watch a lot of television, you’d be amazed how much time that frees up.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I love dialects, accents, I love the endless ways people mangle the King’s English. I think capturing the ways people talk can take you a long way.

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

A garbage man or a cowboy.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers? 

If you have the itch to write, start with your own story, write about where you came from. That’s how history is really written.

Thanks for joining me today, Norman.

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Interview with mystery author Carmen Amato

Mystery author Carmen Amato is here today. We’re talking about her new police procedural mystery, King Peso. It’s Book 4 in her Detective Emilia Cruz series.

During her virtual book tour, Carmen will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.

Bio:

Carmen Amato is the author of romantic thrillers and the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco which was recently optioned for film. Originally from New York, her experiences in Mexico and Central America inspire many of her books. For a copy of the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library, visit her website.

Welcome, Carmen. Please share a little bit about your current release.
King Peso is the 4^th novel in the Detective Emilia Cruz series. Emilia is the first female police detective in Acapulco. Acapulco is known as one of the most beautiful bays in the world, with great beaches and nightlife, but it’s also ground zero for Mexico’s drug war.

There are several continuing subplots in the series, including Emilia’s hunt for missing women, and corruption within Acapulco’s police department and city government. Emilia also has a new boss in every book.

Then there is Emilia’s relationship with Kurt Rucker. He’s a wealthy gringo and she has problems dealing with that.

In King Peso, I wanted to throw a grenade into Emilia’s already fractious partnership with senior detective Franco Silvio and revisit the money-laundering El Pharaoh casino. In Hat Dance, the 2^nd novel in the series, Silvio and Emilia try to close down the El Pharaoh, but can’t make the charges stick.

I threw the continuing subplots and the new elements into a margarita mixer, hit Blend, and the result is very tasty!

What inspired you to write this book?

Although I’m originally from New York and now call Virginia home, I lived in Mexico for several years. I really loved Mexico’s food, the artwork, and architecture. And beaches!

But when a drug addict disrupted our Christmas Eve church service, I saw the impact of drug cartel violence. I wanted to write about what was happening to Mexico’s society and culture, but make it gripping enough to stand out.

The Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series is based on reality. Emilia’s challenges are pulled right from the headlines in Mexico. There’s no need for me to make up bizarre serial killers when cartel violence and corrupt politicians provide more than enough inspiration. For example, Emilia’s perpetual hunt for women who have gone missing—referred to as Las Perdidas or the Lost Ones--was inspired by the hundreds of women missing from the Juarez area.

So in an odd way, I have that drug addict to thank for the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series, including Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights, and the latest, King Peso. Emilia might be the first female police detective in Acapulco, facing down both the drug cartels and Mexico’s tradition of machismo, but she’s doing it in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

It’s a formula has gotten a lot of attention lately, including a television series deal.

Here’s an excerpt from King Peso:

Kurt was slumped on one of the sofas, elbows on knees, head in his hands.

Emilia snapped on a table lamp, suddenly afraid.

Kurt’s head popped up. There was an expression of desolation on his face Emilia had never seen before.

“What’s going on?” Emilia asked.

He ran a hand through his hair and that indefinable confidence came rushing back, reanimating his handsome features like water filling a glass. “Did I wake you up?” he asked.

Emilia sat next to him on the sofa, unsure of what she’d just seen. “Trouble sleeping?”

“Thought I’d get a snack,” Kurt said, with the feigned artlessness that Emilia had seen too many times across an interrogation table. “I didn’t eat much with all those people here.”

Emilia hesitated. If you’re hungry, why were you sitting here in the dark?

A phone shrilled from the bedroom.

“Yours or mine?” Kurt frowned.

Emilia stood up. “Mine.”

She walked to the bedroom, skirted the bed, and reached for the phone. It stopped ringing. Emilia checked the call log.

Silvio.

Best partner and worst enemy.

“Problem?” Kurt appeared in the open doorway.

“Silvio.” Emilia gave a grimace as she held up the phone. “No doubt he’s drunk and wants to gloat, the pendejo.”

“Tell me you bet with him,” Kurt said.

“He was offering really great odds.” Emilia hadn’t planned on telling Kurt about her little flutter on the Copa America match. “I put down 200 pesos. It was the smallest bet he would take.”

Before Emilia fought her way into the detectives squadroom, Silvio and then-partner Manuel Garcia Diaz had been involved in a shootout during a drug bust. Garcia was killed. Initially accused of setting up his partner, Silvio was suspended without pay during the investigation. To make ends meet, he became a bookie, running bets on boxing and fútbol, and kept the sideline going even when reinstated.

“Your partner is an illegal bookie,” Kurt said. “And you are aiding and abetting.”

“The entire police department is aiding and abetting,” Emilia said dryly. Everybody bet with Silvio. She tossed the phone back on the bedside table. “Do you still want that snack?”

“Snack?”

“You said you were hungry.”

“Right. Sure.” Kurt smiled a little too widely. “I’ll make us something.” He disappeared down the hall.

Emilia went into the bathroom. Her stomach knotted as she washed her face. Kurt was the one whose life was an open book, the one who shared from the heart and pushed for commitment. She was the one who kept secrets and stalled when things got too serious.

But now, it seemed as if that dependable dynamic was gone. Something was wrong and Emilia didn’t know what it was.

She only knew that Kurt had lied to her for the first time.

Not sure why she was doing it, Emilia turned on all the lights as she returned to the living room. The dining room chandelier came to life and illuminated the doorway to the kitchen. The lights were already on in there, bouncing off the stainless steel appliances and glossy Italian cabinetry.

Two glasses of wine stood on the table. Kurt was busy topping chupata rolls with thin slices of jamón Serrano, tomato, and avocado. “One sandwich or two?” he asked as Emilia sat down.

“Just one.”

Kurt put the sandwiches on a talavera pottery platter and slid one of the glasses next to her hand. “Here you go.”

Emilia took a sandwich despite the tension in her stomach. “Second party of the day.”

“Just the kind of people we are.” Kurt touched his glass to hers.

“Is everything okay?” Emilia asked after a minute or two.

“As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.” Kurt poured them both more wine.

“I just―.” She was cut off by the distant ring of her phone.

“Yours again, Em.”

Emilia stood up. “If this is Silvio drunk and butt dialing me, I’m going to slay him.”

She stalked down the hall to the bedroom, torn between fury at Silvio and worry that her relationship with Kurt was washing away like sand in a storm. The phone’s ring was insistent. As Emilia hit the button to talk she saw that the caller wasn’t Silvio, but the central police dispatch desk.

“Detective Cruz,” Emilia answered.

“This is the desk sergeant from Dispatch reporting a home invasion.” The male voice on the other end of the line sounded tired.

“Why call me?” Emilia said, not bothering to mask her annoyance. “Get it out to the night duty unit for that neighborhood.”

“The caller asked specifically for you. Detective Emilia Cruz.”

Emilia lowered herself to the edge of the bed. The knot in her stomach tightened into a fist. “Okay,” she said. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

“Male caller. Couple minutes ago. Reported a home invasion. One victim. Female, 42 years old. Multiple gunshots to the upper chest. Claims she’s been dead less than four hours.”

“How would he know?”

“Didn’t say.”

And you didn’t ask. This sounded like the shooter calling to taunt the police. And he’d named her. Emilia felt sweat bead up on her forehead. “Location?”

The sergeant named a neighborhood known for poverty and violence. It was a combat zone full of street kids where gangs ruled at night and only one cop dared to walk.

She’d been there before.

Emilia found herself nearly doubled over, the phone still pressed to her ear. “Did the caller identify himself?”

“No. Just kept repeating a number. Said it was a badge.” The sergeant on the other end was getting testy with all her questions. “Said to call you and have you come. That neighborhood, we figured it was some sort of hoax. The captain here thought you should be aware. You got any enemies in that area?”

“Did you run the badge number?” Emilia demanded.

“No,” the sergeant said sulkily. “We can get somebody to do it in the morning, if you think it’s important.”

“Run it,” Emilia nearly shouted. “I’ll hold.”

She forced herself upright and held her breath as the clack of computer keys traveled through the line. Blood pounded in her ears and every nerve stretched to the breaking point.

Less than a minute later, the sergeant cleared his throat.

“We got a hit,” he said. “The badge belongs to Detective Franco Silvio.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next book is Awakening Macbeth, a romantic thriller with a paranormal twist that is up for nomination on the Kindle Scout website, where readers help select books for publication by Kindle Press. Hopefully, that will be publishing before Christmas 2016.

After that, I’ll be back to Detective Emilia Cruz with Pacific Reaper, the 5^th book in the series, which is slated for release in February 2017.

I’m not a swift writer, but usually manage to post every week on my blog. But the real juicy stuff, including anything about my contract for an Emilia Cruz television series, goes in my monthly Mystery Ahead newsletter.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I first considered myself a writer when a close friend and I were having dinner at an Italian restaurant. I was getting close to publishing my first book, the romantic thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City, and had several cover designs on my laptop. Before we ordered, we looked through the designs and discussed them. The waiter came over and looked at the designs, too, and suddenly someone I didn’t know believed that I could be the author of a book!

No doubt the waiter figured a good tip could be had, but the moment was a real turning point for me.

A more recent turning point was signing a contract with a major television network for a show based on the Detective Emilia Cruz series. I don’t know what will happen next but it has been an exciting journey so far!

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’m a full time mystery and thriller author and can’t believe how busy I am. In addition to the Detective Emilia Cruz series, I write standalone romantic thrillers.

My work day starts with a walk with the dog and a few household chores, then I will work on my current book for 3-4 hours. If I don’t have a list or an outline in front of me, I tend to waste time so every few days I take a break to organize. That’s when I catch up on social media, work on outlines, and clean my desk which often is littered with notes and things I print out to read later.

Having an accountability buddy has been essential. A good friend also has multiple projects going and we connect at least once a week. More than anything else, this accountability helps both of us to stay motivated and on track.

I’d write more if I could but have to get away from the screen now and then! Family, dog, travel, and friends, not to mention our fixer upper house, keep my life balanced.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m a great one for outlines. Before I start a new project, I outline it on a wall using sticky notes. It takes a day or so as I rearrange stickies until I like the flow and feel the story come together. Then I transfer the stickies to a big sheet of poster paper and tape it to the wall above my desk.

Once I’m knee-deep into the writing, the outline invariably gets stale and I’ll do it all over again. Usually my the end of the book, I’m working from a fresh outline of the last third of the book. The stickies are stuck to a file folder that I can carry around. This is handy because I often write scenes longhand and type, editing as I go, later.

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

Believe it or not, I wanted to travel and tell stories!

Mission accomplished.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

You are all invited to download a free copy of the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library. The Starter Library features “The Beast,” the story about how Emilia became the first female detective in Acapulco, which was first published in The Huffington Post. You’ll also get “The Angler,” the story based on a real life murder mystery, plus the first chapters of the first three Emilia Cruz novels. As a bonus, you’ll get my monthly newsletter, Mystery Ahead.

You can click here to be taken to the Starter Library page.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Amazon

Thank you for being a guest on my blog!
Thank you for having me and helping me introduce Emilia Cruz and her circle of friends and foes to your readers. Happy reading! All the best, Carmen.

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Interview with mystery author Ian Sansom

Welcome to October, readers! My first guest is author Ian Sansom. He’s talking with me about his new crime fiction novel, Westmorland Alone.

During his virtual book tour, Ian will be awarding 3 e-copies of the book to 3 lucky randomly drawn winners. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Ian Sansom is the author of the Mobile Library Mystery Series. As of 2016, he has written three books in a series that will comprise a projected forty-four novels.

He is a frequent contributor to, and critic for, The Guardian and the London Review of Books.

He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, where he was a fellow of Emmanuel College. He is a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick and teaches in its Writing Program.

Please share a little bit about your current release.
Welcome to Westmorland. Perhaps the most scenic county in England! Home of the poets! Land of the great artists! District of the Great lakes! And the scene of a mysterious crime…

Swanton Morley, the People's Professor, once again sets off in his Lagonda to continue his history of England, The County Guides.

Stranded in the market town of Appleby after a tragic rail crash, Morley, his daughter Miriam and his assistant, Stephen Sefton, find themselves drawn into a world of country fairs, gypsy lore and Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling. When a woman's body is discovered at an archaeological dig, for Morley there's only one possible question: could it be murder?

Join Morley, Miriam and Sefton as they journey along the Great North road and the Settle-Carlisle Line into the dark heart of 1930s England.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired to write this book in the same way I was inspired to write all my books – which is to say I sat down one day, decided I was going to write a book and then wrote it. I’ll be honest, I’m not a great one for inspiration. To my knowledge I have never been inspired to do anything.


Excerpt from Westmorland Alone:

It was the most violent collision. There was a moment’s shudder and then a kind of cracking before the great spasm of movement and noise began. I fell forward and struck my head on the luggage rack. I was momentarily stunned and knocked unconscious. When I came to I found we were all tilted together into a corner of the carriage – me, the mother and the baby. Our coach seemed to have tipped to the right, off the tracks, and become wedged against an embankment. What were once the sturdy walls of the carriage were now buckled and torn like the flimsiest material: the wood was splintered, the cloth of the carriage seats split, everything was broken. I remember I shook my head once, twice, three times: it was difficult to make sense of what had happened, the shock was so great. The first thing I recognised was that the mother and baby were both crying loudly – though thank goodness they appeared to be unharmed – and that the carriage was shuddering all around us, shaking and groaning as if it were wounded.

‘Are you OK?’ I said.

The woman continued crying. Her face was streaked with tears.

‘Are you OK?’ I repeated.

Again, she simply sobbed, the baby wailing with her.

‘We must remain calm,’ I said, as loudly and authoritatively as I could manage, above the sounds, trying to reassure both them and myself, willing them to be quiet.

‘Where’s Lucy?’ she said.

Where was Lucy?

I stood up, still rather disorientated and confused.

‘I don’t know—’ I began.

‘You have to get us out!’ said the woman, between sobs.

‘I have to find Lucy.’

‘OK,’ I said. I was still gathering my thoughts, trying to work out what to do.

‘GET US OUT!’ yelled the woman, suddenly frantic.

‘I have to find my daughter! You need to do something.’

I didn’t know what to do.

‘You need to do something!’ yelled the woman again.

‘Help us!’

The carriage continued to rock and sway all around us; clearly, we had to get out.

I looked around: the window was open to darkness and the tracks beneath us.

‘What’s under there?’ cried the woman. ‘Is Lucy under there? Lucy! Lucy!’ She did not wait for a response – she was hysterical. ‘Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!’

‘Look!’ I said. ‘You just have to let me check that everything is safe.’ I was worried that Lucy might be trapped beneath our carriage.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I can’t guarantee that it’s exciting but this is the story I’m working on: basically it’s the next instalment of a very very very long quest. Let me explain. Westmorland Alone is the 3^rd in a projected series of 44 books. Each book is set in the 1930s, each book set in a different county in England. In the books my characters – Swanton Morley (the People’s Professor), his wayward daughter Miriam, and their assistant, Spanish Civil War veteran Stephen Sefton – arrive in each county ready to write a guide book to the county but they find to their horror that some has died. Is it an accident or could it be … murder? That’s the gist of it. Book 4, Essex Poison is due to be published in the UK in February 2017.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Honestly, I still don’t. I write. I’m not keen on ‘writers’.

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 have always had to work full-time and write in whatever quiet moments I can find. Sometimes I get up very early. Sometimes I go to bed very late. Somehow the writing gets done. Perhaps if enough people buy this book I can give up my job and devote myself to writing full-time. That would be nice.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I have no writing quirks. Isn’t writing itself a quirk enough?

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

I have never had any desire to do anything but write. It’s a form of vocational malfunction.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

No, nothing except to say I hope you enjoy the books – they’re meant for you to enjoy.

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