How much research had to be done for this book? How did he decide on the title? Why did he create his own publishing company? What kind of books does he like to read?
How long did it take you to complete this book?
I started it in 2006, and the last draft, #5, took six months. The novel came out this summer.
What was your inspiration for this book?
After my previous books, which were all inspired by things that had happened in my life, I had no other big or crazy events in my Rolodex of experience. Because I teach college, I often used to correct papers at a Starbucks in South Pasadena. It was in a beautiful bank lobby, but after about a year of doing that, it occurred to me that banks get robbed, and what if that happened to me while I was there? What if I were taken hostage?
That led to creating a unique character, Ian Nash, a somewhat clueless Ph.D. student in theatre, who reminded me of Patty Hearst. Hearst had been abducted in the seventies and then became part of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Ian, though, realizes after he’s taken hostage in a bank robbery gone awry that he might not live. To survive, he channels the subject of his dissertation, playwright David Mamet, known for his strong male characters.
Was there a point where your characters took control of the story?
That always happens. One exercise that I’ve given my creative writing students is to put Albert Einstein and Adolf Hitler in a waiting room of a dentist’s office. I tell them to write a scene, nothing more. When you have clear and driven characters, things happen.
How long did it take you to decide on a title for your book? Were there many other possible titles you had picked out?
Titles are tough. I typically have one at the start of a new project, but then when the editor and book designer come along years later, they may have different needs. With this book, my original title was Falling Down Mt. Washington. Some of the action takes place on Mt. Washington in Highland Park, which is about ten minutes north of downtown Los Angeles as you head toward Pasadena.
The editor and book designer each felt my title was more of a literary title than a thriller. I can’t remember all the many titles we tried, but because Ian is in theatre, I wanted a sense of drama in the title. The book designer, Deborah Daly, suggested that blood on the cover of a thriller is always good, so we came up with the title Blood Drama, which I love, particularly with the image Deborah found.
How much research, if any, did you have to do for this book?
I always research deeply. I ended up interviewing two different FBI agents and learning everything I could about bank robbery. Also, this is my first thriller, so I explored what people expect in the genre. I’m not someone who likes churning out a story to meet a formula, so my goal was to create a literary thriller, inspired in part by mystery writers Raymond Chandler and Michael Connelly.
What are your thoughts on self-publishing?
I’ve written on the subject many times and even have a list of links those considering “Goin’ Indie.” (Click here for that.) I happen to straddle the worlds of traditional publishing and self-publishing because right out of grad school, I landed a job as the senior editor of a publishing company. I learned and saw all sides of publishing, from the writing of the books, to the editing, production, marketing and publicity. Thus, when my agent said there was no money in short fiction and wouldn’t even show my collection of short stories that had been published by respected literary magazines, I created my own company, White Whisker Books, to publish what became The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea Now I publish three other authors besides myself.
Many self-publishers shoot themselves in the foot by not mirroring some of what traditional publishers do, including getting professionals to edit, design, and market their works.
These days, I see a huge schism in publishing. Self-publishers, if they’re going to make money, will do so through eBooks, where costs are much lower and less risky. However, can you name even two successful self-publishers, people known for their writing? Most people can’t. The awards and recognition still go to those published traditionally. I’m not saying this is a great thing—just a fact.
I wrote about this more at length here.
How important do you believe having a good editor is for the success of your book?
It’s critical. If you don’t have a good editor, you have nothing. A person may be a great editor in his or her own right, but it’s nearly impossible to get objectivity about one’s own writing. You need to have an editor. It’s what all the major writers have.
Do you ever become bored with what you are writing? If you do, how do you get past that point?
As I tell my college students, boredom is a great tool. If you get bored in your own writing, then that’s a sign you’re going in the wrong direction. Don’t keep doing more of the same thing. You’re not only boring yourself, you’re boring your reader. You probably don’t have enough action, so create new action.
If I get bored, I’m not bored for long.
What kind of books do you like to read?
I’m eclectic. The only requirement is it has to be interesting. If I’m not interested by chapter two, then I usually stop and move to one of the many other books I want to read. I usually teach novels in my English classes, but recently, I’ve been teaching two memoirs, Just Friends, by Patti Smith about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.
The students, to my delight, have loved both. My goal each semester is to get my students to enjoy at least one book and realize there are many great books out there. I hope for them to be life-long readers.
Recently, I thoroughly enjoyed Joyland by Stephen King, The Piper by mystery writer Lynn Hightower, and Too Bright to Hear, Too Loud to See, by Juliann Garey, a truly brilliant story about a bipolar film executive in Hollywood.
How do you manage to balance your time between family, friends, and writing?
I don’t. There’s never enough time for all of it. I simply schedule a lot and make to-do lists and usually don’t complete as much as I want to every day. Still, it gets done.
Have any new opportunities come your way because of your writing?
Every novel takes me down new avenues. It’s one of the joys of writing.
My previous novel, Love at Absolute Zero, focused on a top physicist at the University of Wisconsin who decides to find his soul mate in three days using the scientific method—which I found to be a hilarious premise. My wife is a librarian who worked for a while in the astrophysics library at Caltech. I met a lot of brilliant people there. Many didn’t seem to understand people, which helped me shape my protagonist, Gunnar Gunderson. He goes through hell in his quest for happiness.
I had to learn a lot of physics, particularly quantum mechanics, which is about what happens to matter near absolute zero. Once I learned it, I had to explain it briefly and clearly to readers who may not understand science. It couldn’t get in the way of the humor and drama of the story.
I also was able to visit Madison, Wisconsin, and Copenhagen, Denmark, and I got to know a number of notable physicists including the director of the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark.
With Blood Drama, I learned a lot about what the police and FBI do, as well as more about Highland Park and South Pasadena.
If your question is about movies, there are no movies yet.
Are you successful enough to write full time?
My writing and work as a publisher might be enough to support at least one person, but I like teaching so much that I hope to always teach at least one or two classes. It keeps me engaged with younger people, and that keeps me on my toes.
NOTE: This interview was originally published in 2013.
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