This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Barry Finlay. Check out our discussion of the Marcie Kane thriller series and his latest work, the Jake Scott mysteries. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:12): Hi everyone. My guest today has written fiction and nonfiction. Among his achievements, he's climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with his son and written a book about it called Mount Kilimanjaro and Beyond: A Life-Changing Journey. I love that title. He's also written a travel memoir called I Guess We Missed the Boat. In 2014, he began work on his Marcie Kane thriller collection consisting of five books. He recently released a second in a new series of books, I assume it's a series, featuring his protagonist Jake Scott. Among his many accolades, he's received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for Philanthropy. Impressive. I'm pleased to have with me Barry Finlay. Hi Barry. How are you doing today? Barry (01:49): I'm doing well. How are you doing? Debbi (01:51): Fine, thank you. It's great to have you on. Thank you for being here. Barry (01:55): Thanks. Thanks for having me. Debbi (01:57): Oh, I'm glad. I'm thankful that you could wait to be on . I have people on the waiting list now. It's so ridiculous. I can't believe it. Barry (02:06): Yeah, I think I booked in March, I think. Debbi (02:09): Yeah. Well, that's doing relatively well compared to some people. Yeah, he would not believe so. Tell us about Jake Scott and why you decided to write a series about him. Barry (02:22): Well, Jake Scott is kind of an old-fashioned, affable, easygoing individual. He is a former reporter and he stumbles across crimes that he just can't resist poking his nose into and trying to find out what happened. It's a mystery series. The first one's called Searching for Truth, and I decided to write this one. I wrote another series first called the Marcie Kane Thriller Collection, and the first book in that series, The Vanishing Wife had a protagonist called Mason Scott. And Mason Scott was an easygoing accountant, and I kinda liked the character, but I also had a character in the first book called Marcie Kane. And so I had a choice of continuing on with Marcie or continue on with Jake, and I decided to continue on with Marcie, but at the same time, I really like Jake. So after writing five books in the Marcie Kane thriller collection, I kind of reinvented sorry, I let,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Chip Jacobs. Check out our discussion of his true crime story, The Darkest Glare, as well as his debut novel, Arroyo. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:55): Hi, everyone. Today I'm pleased to have with me as my guest, a bestselling author and journalist. I love journalists, by the way, since I was a journalism major. Yes, I was . Chip (01:08): Me, too, Debbi (01:09): All right. All right. His latest book is a true crime story. It is the latest, right? It's called The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles. I've read it and it is quite the bizarre story. He has written several other books, including Strange as It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahlar, The People's Republic of Chemicals, the international bestseller, Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. I love these titles. Anyway, more recently he released his debut novel Arroyo, a work of serialized, I’m sorry, a work of historical fiction set around the construction of Pasadena's mysterious Colorado Street Bridge, which really intrigued me. I had to look that up. He's also worked as a reporter and written opinion pieces for a variety of major newspapers, including the LA Times, the New York Times, CNN, and several others. It's my pleasure to introduce Chip Jacobs. Hey Chip, how are you doing today? Chip (02:27): Hey. Hey, Debbi. Honored to be here. Thank you so much for having me on. Debbi (02:31): Oh, well It's my pleasure, believe me. Very happy to have you on. And so tell me, talk about how you ended up writing The Darkest Glare which was written a bit like a thriller with this absolutely psychotic villain in there. How did you learn about the story and what interested you in writing it as a book? Chip (02:58): Yeah, I mean, I will never be called a true crime author cuz I'm not a true crime author. When I went into journalism I always tried to avoid getting assigned a crime story or active murder case or whatever, because that just wasn't in my DNA. And nonetheless, stories will find you. And in the mid nineties I was working at a newspaper competitor to the LA Times, having a blast getting under people's skin. And I developed a relationship with a source who just gave me tip after tip after tip, and he just had the highest batting average and he was always getting me above the fold on front page stories...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Lynn Hightower. She writes thrillers and her latest one is most intriguing. Do you believe in the Devil? :) See what you think after you hear this! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. You can buy Lynn's latest book here! Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. Unfortunately, our planned guest was unable to make it this week. However, my guest today is filling in for him. She is the author of numerous thrillers, including the Sonora Blair and Lena Padget detective series. Along with writing bestselling and award-winning books, she teaches novel writing in the UCLA Extension Writing Program, and is a manuscript consultant and writing coach for novelists. Very, very good. It's my great pleasure to have here today, Lynn Hightower. Hi, Lynn. Thanks for coming on. Lynn (01:33): Oh, thanks for having me, and thank you for a lovely introduction. I appreciate it. Debbi (01:38): Oh, well, it's my pleasure. Believe me. I was fascinated by the description of your latest novel, The Enlightenment Project. Lynn (01:47): Yeah. Debbi (01:48): In fact, I bought a copy. I just went ahead and just bought a copy. It just seemed really interesting. Lynn (01:56): I appreciate that very much. Debbi (01:59): Sure thing. Tell us what the book is about. Lynn (02:04): Have you ever known anybody who was possessed? Debbi (02:08): Actually, no, , not that I know of. Lynn (02:10): Well, when you meet my hero Noah Archer, you will, He was possessed at the age of 11. He is now a neurosurgeon, very much a science guy, did not believe in supernatural things until he had no choice, and it haunted him and it inspired his career. He started a research project called The Enlightenment Project. Now, I researched a lot of neurologists and neurosurgeons, and the one thing they advise their patients to do is to meditate. And no one knows that patients have the same issues I do with being told to meditate because the minute you tell me think of nothing, Oh, please, that's not happening. And I really think the way people are told to meditate is ridiculous. I think it sets you up to wrestle with your brain. Alright? And so Noah decides that he is going to just put a hair net of electrodes, actually ceramic [sic] ones over your head, and we'll just do a very gentle electrical stimulation of all the spiritual parts of the brain, which is, surprised me to find that spiritual neurons are all over the brain.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer and travel memoir writer Sherry Knowlton. Check out our discussion about crime writing, travel, and travel writing (with or without crime)! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here.   Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest today is the award-winning author of the Alexa Williams suspense novels, including Dead of Autumn, Dead of Spring, and Dead on the Delta. A lot of environmental stuff mixed in there. I love that. A retired executive in the government and health insurance industry, she draws on her professional background and her extensive travels for story material. Her most recent publication is a travel memoir called Beyond the Sunset. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest today, Sherry Knowlton. Hi, Sherry. How are you doing today? Sherry (01:36): Pretty good. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. Debbi (01:41): Well, I'm very happy to have you here, believe me. It seems like forever ago I read Dead on the Delta , and I still remember the descriptions of the safari your protagonist went on. I was impressed with how you created a story that dealt with Alexa's personal relationships as well as the political, economic and environmental issues associated with elephant poaching and other bad things. Can you tell us about the series and what inspired you to write it? Sherry (02:18): Okay. , the series as a whole is called the Alexa Williams Suspense Series. And there are actually five novels so far. Debbi (02:33): Ah. Sherry (02:37): Dead on the Delta is a little bit unique, which we can talk about in a minute. But the first four are all seasons, as you said, some of them in the titles Dead of Autumn, Summer, Spring, and Winter. And those are all based in this local area where I live, which is southeastern Pennsylvania. Excuse me, I've got a bit of a frog in my throat. And I was inspired actually because I wanted to write about an actual incident that had occurred in the local area where the dead body of a young woman was found. And for years, nobody could identify who she was. And that always sort of touched a chord. And so it inspired me to write. And then each of my subsequent novels does have a theme, whether it's women's issues, environmental issues, Those are the, probably the two, the two big ones. (03:46): When I wrote Dead on the Delta, I had run out of seasons . So,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Gareth R.T. Owen. Check out our discussion about writing for both publication and the screen! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here.   Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest today is an award-winning author, screenwriter and filmmaker, originally from Wales, which is a country I have yet to visit, but would love to. He now lives in Los Angeles, where his short films have won festival awards, including best film and best screenplay. He's worked in feature films, documentaries, commercials and music videos. As a writer, producer, and actor. His debut novel is a gritty psychological thriller. And what better than a screenwriter to create such a book? I'm pleased to have with me today as my guest, Gareth Owen. Hi, Gareth. How are you doing today? Gareth (01:37): Great, thank you. Thank you very much for having me. Debbi (01:41): Oh, it's my pleasure. Believe me. I am just the tiniest bit impressed with your accomplishments. Acting, filmmaking writing. What don't you do? ? Gareth (01:55): Yeah, I'm definitely more comfortable behind the camera and on the creative side, but yeah, I found acting was just a fun way to get on set and meet people. And I think as an actor, you have a lot of downtime. So in between takes when, you know, the crew is setting up the lights and things like that, you have a lot of time to chat to different people, and I was always inquisitive finding out what everybody did and what their roles were. And so for, yeah, you know, building a network acting was great, but I haven't, haven't done much stuff in front of the camera for a while. It's definitely, definitely more comfortable behind. Debbi (02:34): I can relate to that. Definitely. yeah, and being on set is a very instructive thing, isn't it? Gareth (02:41): Oh yeah, absolutely. There's so many different people doing so many different roles, and it's very fast paced and yeah, great way to learn is to just be there and see what people are doing. Try not to get anybody's way, but at the same time ask questions. And yeah, it's a great learning experience every time I go on set, I thoroughly enjoy it. Debbi (02:59): That's fantastic. What did you start off doing? Did you start off with photography or acting or writing? Gareth (03:09): Writing, yes. Screenwriting. I'm essentially a big movie buff, you know, I love stories of every kind but a huge movie buff.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features another entry in the Adventures of Philip Marlowe entitled “The Old Acquaintance.” You might even see a few “old acquaintances” in the video version. And OMG, this is so obviously like Firesign Theatre’s “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger — Third Eye!” Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi: Unfortunately, our guest will not be able to appear as planned. However, instead, I have another episode from the Philip Marlowe files. This one is called "The Old Acquaintance,” and I'd like to thank the people at Old Time Radio for preserving these episodes. THE OLD ACQUAINTANCE Marlowe: When it started a girl's wedding and New Year's Eve were only six hours away. And I didn't think the bride to be would make either one of them, but that was before I ran up against the slot machine operator, the escape convict and above all the old acquaintance …! Announcer: From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of crime fiction, comes his most famous character as CBS presents the Adventures of Philip Marlowe. And now with Gerald Mohr starring as Philip Marlowe,  we bring you tonight's exciting story, "The Old Acquaintance." Marlowe: At six o'clock in the last evening of the year, I was sitting with my feet up on my office desk, thinking of impossible New Year's resolutions and what the girl on my butcher's 1949 calendar would or would not be wearing. But at that present point, there was a soft, almost apologetic knock on my office door. I said, come in and saw a quiet man in quiet clothes, who extended a quiet hand. He introduced himself as Paul Riker, a Beverly Hills insurance broker, but the tremor in his voice said very worried client, which on New Year's Eve was something I could do without. Paul Riker: Mr. Marlowe. You've got to find Nancy Marshall for me, Marlowe: Just for a springboard, Mr. Riker, who is Nancy Marshall? Paul Riker: She's my fiance. We were to be married at my place in Beverly Hills tonight. Marlowe: On New Year's Eve? Paul Riker: Yes. You see it was at a New Year's Eve party a year ago that we met for the first time. Marlowe: Oh, when's you last hear from her? Paul Riker: About two hours ago, she called and said that she was in terrible trouble. That nobody, especially the police could help her, that well that the wedding was off. Marlowe: I see. You're sure it's not just a matter of you're being left at the altar, huh? Paul Riker: Another man. Oh, oh no, no, I I'm certain that's not it. Now, please, Mr. Marlowe, will you help me? Marlowe: Mr. Riker? To you New Year's Eve means wedding bells, but to me, it's something else, specifically a cozy little apartment on Wilshire Boulevard, where there's a very nice girl and a couple of chilled bottles of sham ... Paul Riker: What is it, Mr. Marlow? What, what's wrong? Marlowe: Shh. There's somebody outside.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Indy Perro. Don't miss our discussion of Central City, small towns, crime, and a bit of philosophy! :) Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest today is a novelist who identifies himself as an independent thinker. Yes, I like those and a recovering academic. He has a degree in history and graduate degrees in religious studies, comparative literature and education. That's quite a bit to recover from . For more than a decade, he's taught philosophy, religious studies, writing, and literature. His debut novel is called Central City. I'm pleased to have with me today's guest, Indy Perro. Hi, Indy. How are you doing today? Indy (01:35): I'm doing well, Debbi. Thanks for having me. Debbi (01:37): You know, I was gonna try to roll my Rs on your name, but I thought nope, no way. I can never roll my Rs. Is it a Spanish name? Indy (01:46): Yeah. Yeah. Perro is the Spanish word for dog. Debbi (01:49): Yes. Yes it is. And I can never roll my Rs when I say dog in Spanish. So I will always have a speech defect in Spanish. Your credentials just blow me away. You must have a lot of material, ideas for novels from your experiences. Indy (02:09): Yeah. they tend to be a little bit philosophical in nature. Debbi (02:15): So I noticed that. Indy (02:17): So my, yeah, my ideas tend to be built around questions and then I develop the story to help me test out those questions and find the tension in the answers. Right. And that way there tends not to be an easy answer, but instead I can tease out different perspectives. Debbi (02:39): I really like that. That's really cool. What inspired you to write your novel? Indy (02:48): Oh, so Central City is inspired by the environment I grew up in. I grew up in a Midwestern city and at a time when, you know, crime rates were higher, you know, I wanna say higher than they are now, but at least higher than they were before the pandemic. And you know, I'm old enough now that I've seen sort of American society ebb and flow in several different ways and you know, crime rates dip, and then rise back up. The neighborhood that I grew up in doesn't really exist anymore. It's now like a commercial and industrial area. Other neighborhoods that were, you know, my stomping grounds as a kid have become gentrified or have gone the other direction, you know,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with screenwriter and documentarian Eva Vitija Her latest film is a documentary of the life of crime writer Patricia Highsmith. And it's fascinating stuff! :) Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest today is a screenwriter and director, and she has written feature film screenplays as well as made documentaries that have won prizes and been nominated for awards. And if you go to imdb.com and type in her name you'll discover that she's made some other really interesting documentaries. (01:24): One in particular I wanna see now is My Life as a Film. Oh boy, that looks good. That looks really interesting, but her most recent release is a documentary about Patricia Highsmith. Thus, she is on the show because as you know, if you are a crime fiction fan, you know that Patricia Highsmith was the author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, about two very interesting characters. More than two, but anyway, but what you think you know about the author might not be who she really is. So let's talk about that with my guest. The movie is called Loving Highsmith and my guest is writer and director Eva Vitija. I hope I'm saying that right. Eva (02:13): Vitija. (Vit-ee-ya) Debbi (02:14): Vitija. Oh, I knew it. Darn it. I knew it. Eva: (02:17): It's fine. Debbi: (02:17): It's the Spanish pronunciation. Muy mal. Eva (02:24): No, no, it's good. Debbi (02:26): Very cool. Eva (02:27): Actually, it's an Albanian name. So you could-- Debbi (02:30): It's a what? Eva (02:31): An Albanian name. Debbi (02:32): I was gonna say, I was looking it up and I was trying to figure out the roots of it. Very interesting. I just wanna say you are the first working screenwriter/director to appear on this show and a woman. So take that patriarchy. Ha ha. Eva (02:50): Thank you so much for having me. Debbi (02:54): I'm glad you're here. It seems you've been fascinated with Patricia Highsmith nearly all your life. What was it that provoked you, your interest as a child in her? Eva (03:07): Actually it we always went to holidays in the village where she lived. It was a, a small village in the Ticino, which is the Italian part of Switzerland. And it was very well known that she lived there. And my parents told me that this famous writer is living here and alone with her cats and this somehow I was,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Kimberly McCreight. We discuss her latest novel, Friends Like These, as well her other books, some of which are being adapted for the screen. That's exciting! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest today is the New York times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, which was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Alex Awards. Her second novel, Where They Found Her was a USA Today, bestseller and Kirkus Best Mystery of the Year. Her third, A Good Marriage was named Best Book of the Summer by the New York Times, People and Publishers Weekly. It was also an Amazon Best Mystery of the Month and will be coming to Amazon on your TV or coming to your TV by, by way of Amazon and Nicole Kidman's Blossom Films. She's also written a YA trilogy called The Outliers. Also optioned for film by Lionsgate and Reese Witherspoon's Pacific Standard. Her latest novel is Friends Like These, and I've read a few chapters. I'm just a few chapters into it and I am so hooked. It is awesome. In any case, welcome, and thank you so much for being here, Kimberly McCreight. Kimberly (02:02): Thanks so much for having me. And I'm glad to hear your hooked. That's always good to hear. Debbi (02:09): Oh, totally. I am loving what I'm reading. It's awesome. Am I saying your name right? McCreight? Kimberly (02:14): Yes, that's exactly right. Debbi (02:16): I'm so glad. I just wanna thank you so much for being here. First of all. And one of the things I love about Friends Like These is the way you've told the story through characters who are alike, but are very, very distinctive. Do you usually work from multiple perspectives? Do you usually write from multiple perspectives? Kimberly (02:39): Yeah, all of my books are from multiple points of view, although I guess the, except for the first two of my YA trilogies, those were from a single point of view, but that was really a departure for me. So all of my other books are multiple points of view and usually multiple timeframes. Friends Like These was the most points of view I have ever done. I think there are six or seven. And also most of my books include like interstitial elements, journal entries or social media to kind of … it's this orchestral way  of telling a story. So, yeah, that was it. To be honest, I think made it a little hard for me to sell my first book because that's the way I wr...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Lee Matthew Goldberg. Check out our discussion of crime writing, screenwriting, and our favorite movies and books. Including, but not limited to, the awesome Twin Peaks! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:54): Hi everyone. My guest for this episode writes thriller novels and he writes for adults and young adults. His books are in various stages of development for film and TV. He's also editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe dedicated to publishing fiction that's outside the box. That sounds interesting. He is a contributor to several publications, including Pipeline Artists. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, WeScreenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay Contest. He is also co-curator of the Guerilla Lit Reading Series. I'm very pleased to have with me today, author and screenwriter Lee Matthew Goldberg. Hi Lee. It is wonderful to have you on. Lee (01:52): Hi Debbi. Yeah, thanks so much for having me on, Debbi (01:54): Oh, it's my pleasure. Believe me and I, I had to get in the mention of Stage 32 because I'm on there, too. And it's just ... Lee (02:01): Oh, it's good. It's, it's a good, it's a good resource. I think if you, you know, are a budding screenwriter and you're looking to like get in the industry and figure out how. Debbi (02:11): Yes, yes, absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. It, it is an excellent resource. So let's start off. I wanted to start off. How did you start off writing novels or screenplays? Lee (02:26): I mean, if we really go back in time, I was like a kid trying out writing screenplays, but my first actual publication was a novel in 2015 and then I had my second book optioned and there was some interest and it, it all seemed great and then everything fell apart. And in my mind I was like, well, let me just try to adapt all of my works. And then I could be the one trying to feed it to producers and try to make something happen. So that's kind of my goal now. I, I, I write the scripts of all my books and try to see what could happen. Debbi (03:03): Mm-Hmm is there a form you enjoy? Do you enjoy doing both equally or do you prefer one format over the other? Lee (03:14): I mean, definitely I'm a novelist first and you know, the, the time it takes to create a novel, you're giving yourself over a lot more.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Dwyer Murphy. Check out what he has to say about his debut novel, AN HONEST LIVING, as well as his favorite crime writers and movies. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (00:52): Hi everyone. My guest today is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in many publications, including The Common, Rolling Stone, Guernica, The Paris Review Daily, and Electric Literature. He's also editor-in-chief of CrimeReads a very popular site for crime and thriller readers, including myself. I read it. He is also the author of the recently released novel AN HONEST LIVING. What a great title for a novel about a lawyer. Thank you very much. And it's really a good book. I have to say that. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest Dwyer Murphy. Hi Dwyer. How you doing today? Dwyer (01:41): Great. Thank you for having me. This is a real trip. I love, you know, I love to talk crime and noir with real aficionados. That's my favorite part. Debbi (01:48): Oh yeah. And movies. Oh, you mentioned movies in your book and I'm like, I'm in. I love movies, especially those old noir movies. So your book I have to say really is like a love letter to New York City. I'm really enjoying it as a crime reader and as a native New Yorker. So what prompted you to write the book? What inspired you? Dwyer (02:15): Well, it was something I had always wanted to do and had tried many times over the years for a long time, I was kind of writing, trying to write a very different type of book. I had a specific sort of very somber series, literary novel that I felt like needed to get out of me and nobody in the world needed to read that including me. And I sort of became disenchanted with the prospect at some point. And then at that point had already rediscovered my love of crime fiction and noir. And my wife was my wife was pregnant with our first child and we were realizing how dramatically our lives were about to change. And we had this sort of nervous habit that we would do. We'd stay up late watching old movies. And we were watching Chinatown one night and we had this strange habit where we kind of discuss different lawsuits the characters might bring against one another. It's just how we like to watch movies. So my wife is a lawyer and I'm a retired lawyer and that's just how we, how we amuse ourselves, I guess. And so we were talking through the plot to Chinat...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Joel Burcat. He writes a series of environmental thrillers that you'll want to hear about. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi: Hi, everyone. My guest today is a practicing environmental lawyer and he writes environmental legal thrillers. Kind of makes sense. In any case, he has also edited legal publications, but today we'll focus on his fiction. Although given the subject matter and being a former EPA attorney myself, I can already picture this interview spinning out of control. In any case, it has that potential. I'm pleased in any case to have with me thriller writer and environmental attorney, Joel Burcat. Hi Joel. Joel: Hi Debbi. It's great to be on your program. Debbi: Well, it's great to have you here. Thank you for coming on and thank you for waiting. I was reading your guest post and I focused in on those words, "gray area,” and I thought, boy, that's exactly where I like to write, in those gray areas. And I always end with a kind of a bittersweet twist. I can't seem to come up with a completely happy ending. It's as if, okay given these laws, given this set of circumstances, here's the best we can do. How do you come out on that? Do you think lawyers have a tendency to do this? Is it a legal thing or is it always mystery writers? Joel: You know, it seems to me that it's relatively easy to write a story that's in black and white. I'm not picking on him and certainly nobody can pick on Lee Child, but Jack Reacher is always sort of a black and white kind of character. You know he's always on the good side and that the other guy is always on the bad side. There's no gray area in there. And with so many other writers, it's very, very clear, not necessarily with writers, but certainly with books that they write or characters that they write, you know, that they are the good guys and that the antagonist is absolutely the bad guy. And in fact, the antagonist can be, be really, really, really bad, and then you've got your good guy, your hero, your the protagonist. You know, it seems to me that it's relatively easy to write a story that's in black and white. I'm not picking on him and certainly nobody can pick on Lee Child, but Jack Reacher is always sort of a black and white kind of character. You know he's always on the good side and that the other guy is always on the bad side. ... And what I found in real life is that typically p...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer David Rohlfing. Learn more here about his Detective Sasha Frank mysteries! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi  Hi, everyone. I'm pleased to have with me today the author of the Detective Sasha Frank mysteries. He is currently working on his third book in that series. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest, David Rohlfing. Hi, David, how are you doing today? David  1:11 I'm doing very well, Debbi, how are you? Debbi  1:14 Excellent. Thank you. Oh, I love your backdrop. Look at those covers. Very, very nice. So tell us about Sasha Frank, what inspired you to write this particular series about this particular protagonist? David  1:29 Well, I think I was, it was suggested to me by a friend when I was nearing retirement from my business career that I should write a book. But he suggested that I write a book about business and business philosophy and the like, in especially customer service, which I was heavily involved with. So I attempted to do that and I found out very quickly that it's difficult to write a book like that, because you're really writing about yourself and I wasn't comfortable doing that. So I instead pivoted and thought, well, maybe I could write a mystery novel. And I sat down and over one winter for a few months, and just sat down and actually wrote DELIBERATE DUPLICITY and initially, it was only going to be the first book in the series. But I enjoyed writing it and enjoyed the character very much, who I developed and wrote a second book COLD CONSEQUENCES, but the character its himself was derived from being a small, smaller town detective. Obviously, there's a lot of detectives in big cities across the country. But there's not a lot of smaller towns and I live in a town that's got about 120,000 people in the two cities that make up this area and I thought it would be interesting to write about a smaller detective in the Midwest. Obviously, there's a lot of detectives in big cities across the country. But there's not a lot of smaller towns and I live in a town that's got about 120,000 people in the two cities that make up this area and I thought it would be interesting to write about a smaller detective in the Midwest. Debbi  2:57 I was gonna ask you about that. What made you choose Bloomington? David  3:02 Well, I live here. So I grew up in central Illinois, I've lived all around the United States and outside of the U...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Alice Bienia. Learn about her background as a geologist and her Jorja Knight mystery series! Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi: Hi everyone. Today I have with me the author of the Jorja Knight Mystery series, her debut novel KNIGHT BLIND was an Arthur Ellis award finalist for best unpublished first crime novel in 2016. Her short stories have also been published in various anthologies. She's a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers Guild of Alberta. It's my pleasure to introduce Alice Bienia. Sorry. I'm probably saying that wrong. Alice: Yeah, no, that was perfect. Debbi: Oh, great. Oh, my goodness. Thank you very much. It helps that I’m married to an Italian man, whose name is pronounced Ike-Angelo and-- Alice: Oh yeah. Debbi: Not the way it looks, even though it should be. In Italy, it would be. Maybe that helps. Anyway, thank you so much for being here today. You have a very interesting background, geology. What kind of work did you do before you wrote novels full time? Alice: Yeah, I was a geologist and I started off my career as a mineral geologist. And so what that involved was going out in the field usually remote areas that hadn't been really explored before. And my job was to basically map the area, try to figure out what lay in the subsurface. And we were looking for various mineral deposits copper, lead, zinc, uranium—later, coal, and yeah, from there, I migrated into the energy sector and ended up my career after about 30 years working as a consultant to the energy industry. So a lot of work in the Bush, lot of work, living in tents and yeah, and having some great experiences up in Northern Canada. Debbi: Wow. What parts of Northern Canada? Alice: Yeah, so I worked in Northern BC, Northern Alberta, British Columbia. I worked in the Arctic I worked offshore in the Beaufort Sea and also in Eastern Canada offshore on some drilling activity offshore in Eastern Canada as well. So yeah, most of my career took me to these wonderful, beautiful places in Canada that are hardly ever seen by anyone, and yeah. Filled with all kinds of interesting animals, environment. Debbi: Fantastic. Alice: Yeah. So yeah, it was great. Debbi: Did you get involved at all in sustainability-type work? Alice: Well, back in the day, a lot of people might not know this, but most of the companies had environmental departments an...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Lucy Clarke. Among other things, we discuss her latest novel, One of the Girls. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. Debbi (01:46): Hi everyone. Our guest today is the author of seven psychological thrillers. One of them THE BLUE is currently being made into a seven-part TV series on Paramount+. Her latest novel is ONE OF THE GIRLS. I'm so pleased to have with me today. Lucy Clarke. Hi Lucy. Thanks for being here. Lucy (02:09): Thank you for having me. It's wonderful. And this is my publication day itself for ONE OF THE GIRLS. So it's extra special to be talking to you today. Debbi (02:19): It's extra special to have you on. Thank you. I was just looking over your books and based on their descriptions, I had to think it's a sub genre called things that can go way wrong on your vacation. Lucy (02:33): I think that is about right. Debbi (02:39): Yes. You focus a lot on travel. Do you travel a lot? Lucy (02:44): I do. I love to travel. Before I had children, I spent the 10 winters abroad traveling all over the world in Australia and Canada and around Europe. Yeah, and I just find it really something that I loved on a personal level and I find it really brilliant for writing as well. And I set all of my books in typically sort of exotic locations or just somewhere, yeah. Somewhere where I take my characters outta their ordinary lives at home. And I am interested to, by displacing them somewhere else, how that new place affects them and whether they flourish or founder. And that's one of the questions I, I like to explore and ask in, in my writing, Debbi (03:38): That's a great way of looking at the storytelling taking them out of their ordinary lives. And it's the second time in two weeks that I've heard a person describe their writing as taking people, putting people in extraordinary circumstances. Lucy (03:55): Great. Debbi (03:55): So, right. So that's kind of an interesting thread that kind of ran through both interviews that I just did anyway. Lucy (04:07): I feel like, you know, we all think we know our ourselves very well, but if you are tested, if you are put in those extraordinary circumstances, I'm really interested to see how people react and, and would you react in the way you might imagine? And I think that makes really interesting fiction as well as reality.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with graphic novelist and crime writer Fabian Nicieza. His latest novel is The Self-Made Widow. Check out our discussion of his novels and the inspiration to be found in places like Northern New Jersey. :) Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here. [00:46] Debbi: Hi, everyone. Our guest this week is a comic book writer and editor who's best known as the co-creator of Deadpool, a movie I have yet to see, by the way. [1:00] Fabian: Brace yourself. [01:02] Debbi: So I've heard. He's also the author of some wickedly funny mysteries if the first one is anything to judge by, including the Edgar Award-nominated first novel, Suburban Dicks. I'm pleased to have with me today-- How do you pronounce it? Is it Fabian Nicieza? [1:31] Fabian: Ah, that was almost perfect there, Debbi. I really congratulate you. You fall under the 0.01% of Americans who pronounce it properly. The way I say it is in Spanish. It's Fabian Nicieza. In English, it's Fabian Nicieza. And often in American, it's Fabian Niconza. But you did perfectly. [1:55] Debbi: Nicieza. [1:56] Fabian: Nicieza [1:57] Debbi: Nicieza. I like the español pronunciation? [2:02] Fabian: Español. Well, I'm from Argentina originally and it's a Spanish name from Spain. Yeah. So my grandparents emigrated from northern Spain to Argentina in the early 1900s. [2:14] Debbi: Well, Fabian Nicieza, welcome to the show. And I'm glad to have you here. [2:20] Fabian: Thank you, Debbi. It's a pleasure to be here. [2:21] Debbi: Wonderful. When I started reading that first book, just based on the look inside feature, it didn't take long for me to start laughing out loud, literally. All I can say is, "God, what a first chapter!" You really know how to pull a person into the story. [2:41] Fabian: I appreciate that. I had about 20 years to make sure that I had it right. That's how long it took me to write the book from my original-- I mean, I had the original idea for the book, based on things that were happening in my real life, and I just extrapolated it into fiction. It really extrapolated as an end result. But that opening chapter quite honestly, was something that I'd already conceived of in 1995. I had the book's beginning, middle and an end, and characters really well thought out back then. I just either never wrote it because I had other paying work I had to do, or I was never confident with my own prose.

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer and bestselling author Fiona Barton. Check out our discussion about her work including her latest novel Local Gone Missing. And we chat a bit about Doctor Who. :) Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here's a PDF transcript of the interview. Debbi (01:46): Hi everyone. We're back with our first episode of Season Eight and I'm so excited to have with me a distinguished journalist and a New York Times bestselling author. Previously a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph and chief news reporter at the Mail on Sunday, she's had lots of experience covering crime in her 30-year journalism career. She is also, as I said, a New York Times bestselling author of The Widow, The Child, and The Suspect.. Her latest book is Local Gone Missing. I'm pleased to introduce my guest, Fiona Barton. Hi Fiona. I'm so happy. You're here today. Fiona (02:32): Hi, it's so good of you to have me on. Very pleased to be here. Debbi (02:36): Well, I'm extremely happy to have you here, and I've gotta tell you, I was looking over your books and the first two books concern your sleuth, Kate Waters, who's a journalist. Now, I suspect that a lot of that writing was inspired by your 30 years as a journalist. That's just a guess on my part. What do you have to say about that? Fiona (03:01): Pretty good guess, pretty good guess. Well, it's interesting, because when I started writing The Widow, my first book, I didn't have a reporter in it. It was about a marriage with secrets. It was gonna be told by Jean, my widow in the title. And I thought, oh, I need somebody for Jean to be telling this to. So, Kate came knocking at her door, and gradually her part in the book sort of got bigger, because I loved writing her. It was coming home, you know, she's been everywhere. I've been. And so I kept her for The Child, the second book. And she was the investigator really in the second book. And then the third book, The Suspect, she was still there, but I turned the tables on her poor lady. And she became the story and I thought at the end of The Suspect that I probably ought to let her have a lie-down. She'd been through a lot. So, I rested her and started writing about a whole new cast of characters. Well, it's interesting, because when I started writing The Widow, my first book, I didn't have a reporter in it. It was about a marriage with secrets. Debbi (04:18): Hmm. Did that lead to the book that you have now?

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer, screenwriter, and producer Sascha Rothchild. Check out our discussion of her debut novel Blood Sugar! And a bit of chat about screenwriting. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. Our guest on the final episode of Season 7 of the Crime Cafe is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter who just released her debut novel, Blood Sugar and I have a copy right here and check out that cover! If you're watching on YouTube, I tell you that is a beautiful cover. Her credentials include working on the public radio show This American Life, writing a memoir-turned-screenplay called How to Get Divorced by 30, writing and producing various television shows—GLOW, The Bold Type, The Baby-Sitters Club and The Carrie Diaries, to name a few. And she's now a showrunner for a Netflix series. Her feature film screenplay Who Invited Her? has been optioned by DreamWorks with Reese Witherspoon to executive produce it. Not too shabby, as they say. It's with great pleasure that I introduce my guest Sascha Rothchild. I hope I said that right. Sascha: Yes. It's a mouthful. Sascha Rothchild. I know my parents had fun with that one. Debbi: Well, very cool. I just want to thank you for being here, spending time with us first of all. I could ask you 10,000 questions based on your background, but we'll start with the book anyway. What prompted you to write a novel? Sascha: I had an idea late at night that started with a personal event. My husband is a Type 1 Diabetic, and he had a low blood sugar at night, which is quite dangerous. He has a continuous glucose monitor and it beeps very loudly to wake him up so he can eat sugar and he had a low blood sugar. There was the beeping. I woke up, I woke him up, he ate sugar, he's safe and healthy, and he fell right back to sleep. But I was wide awake and my writer brain started turning and asking, well, what if and what if? And I thought, well, what if he had died? Well, that would be horrible. But then I moved on to story and plot and I thought, what if the police thought I killed him because the spouse is always the first suspect? And then I thought, wait! What if I actually had murdered people in my past and gotten away with it. Now I'm being investigated for the one murder I didn't commit.

This week’s episode of the Crime Cafe comes to you courtesy of Old Time Radio and Raymond Chandler! 🙂 Due to problems beyond my control, our guest wasn’t available. However, the show must go on! 🙂 So here’s your latest episode, an old Philip Marlowe radio story, "The Hard Way Out"! 🙂 This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Support the show on Patreon! Enjoy the podcast! 🙂

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Ben Westerham. Check out our discussion of his David Good P.I. and Banbury Cross Murder mystery series! This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest today is the author of two crime and mystery series. One is the David Good, PI series, and as you can see if you're watching me on video—or not see if you're listening—I’m holding up my Kobo with the second David Good book queued up and ready to read. I am a big fan at this point of the Good series, and also it is a good series, more than just the protagonist. He also writes the Banbury Cross Murder Mysteries, which I haven't tried yet, but they certainly sound interesting. Originally from London, he now lives in rural Northamptonshire in the Midlands. I'm pleased to have with me crime writer, Ben Westerham. Hi Ben, how are you doing today? Ben: Hello, Debbi. I'm not so bad and it's great to be here. Been looking forward to this for quite a while. Debbi: I know. It took long enough, huh? My gosh, I cannot believe how many people are signing up for this thing. I'm booked into 2024, believe it or not. Ben: You are super-popular, aren't you? Debbi: I don't know how this happened. I don't know. It's one of those inexplicable things. I have to say that one of the things I enjoyed about the first David Good novel was that it was a hardboiled private eye story with a distinctive British feel to it. I've read all kinds of British fiction, all kinds of private eye fiction, but this one really felt like Raymond Chandler channeled through a British veil or with a British accent, and a feel of almost parody about it but not quite. Is that what you're going for here? Is it parody? Ben: I'm delighted to hear you say that. Yes. When I sat down to decide what I wanted to write for the first series, I'm not surprised; I read a lot of crime, so immediately I was drawn to crime. And I did then think I wouldn't mind having a go at hardboiled, but I couldn't get myself just to write straight hardboiled, I think in no small part it's the old imposter syndrome thing. You just think so many other people done it so well, I'm going to come along and what am I going to do? But I do like humor as well so what I've tried to do is exactly those bits that you've already mentioned was to bring th...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Josh Cybulski. Don't miss our discussion of his debut novel, Second Story Work! This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. Today, my guest comes to us from Canada, an awesome country with great writers and great TV shows, and the author of the crime novel, Second Story Work. One of those authors from Canada. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest for this week, Josh Cybulski. Hi, Josh. How are you doing? Josh: I'm great. How are you? Debbi: Great. Excellent. Good. I love like your arrangement of posters back there. Very cool. Josh: Oh, thank you. I have the poster for the book right there, and then a couple of my favorite movies—Back to the Future and Fight Club. Debbi: Excellent. Two excellent choices, I have to say. For movies, for sure. Nice poster of the book, too. Josh: Thank you. Debbi: So, tell us about the novel. This is your first novel. What's the book about? Josh: Yeah. So Second Story Work as you mentioned, it's my first novel. It's about four friends who graduate from college in 2000—well, the end of 2007—and they move to Vancouver, British Columbia, which is on the other side of Canada from me to start their careers in the film industry. And if you remember anything about 2008, the entire economy tanked in 2008. So in the book, the characters can't get work. Basically they move to Vancouver. They're unable to get work, they can't pay their bills. So at one point they're presented with an opportunity to commit a crime that basically allows them to pay their bills and stay in Vancouver for a while. So they end up doing so, and from there, they basically blow through their money rather quickly and then they're in the same position where they no longer have money to pay their bills. So once again, they turn to crime and it creates a snowball effect that carries you throughout the novel. With each crime comes an escalation, a brazenness and they get more and more brave, we'll say, as they go through the book, and that's pretty much the gist of it. They're unable to get work, they can't pay their bills. So at one point they're presented with an opportunity to commit a crime that basically allows them to pay their bills and stay in Vancouver for a while. So they end up doing so, and from there,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Karin Slaughter. Be sure and listen to our talk about her writing and the exciting new Netflix series based on her novel, Pieces of Her. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi, everyone. I'm thrilled to have with me as my guest today an award-winning, best-selling crime fiction author who writes two series and several standalone novels. One of her standalones, Pieces of Her, has been adapted into an eight-episode series for Netflix starring Toni Collette. It's my pleasure to welcome my guest, Karin Slaughter. Hi Karin, how are you? Karin: I'm great. Thank you. Debbi: Well, I'm really pleased and happy to have you with me here today. It really is a thrill. I have to ask you about your two series. What was it that inspired you to write two series set there in your, I believe, home state of Georgia? Karin: Yes. I love Georgia, and especially when I started out before the movie industry came here and people realized it was not a horrible backwoods area. I really felt like an ambassador writing about the state and the New South, particularly Atlanta, which is incredibly diverse and a wonderful place to live. So, I just wanted to write what I knew, which was the South, but I think you should also write what you want to know about, and I wanted to know about crime and what it does to people and communities and small towns and large towns, and how it really affects us all in the same way, at the same basic level. I really felt like an ambassador writing about the state and the New South, particularly Atlanta, which is incredibly diverse and a wonderful place to live. ... I wanted to know about crime and what it does to people and communities and small towns and large towns, and how it really affects us all in the same way, at the same basic level. Debbi: Yes, it's really interesting to listen to different writers talk about what inspires them to write about crime in particular, but that's a great reason. Pieces of Her is set in a small beach resort in Georgia and starts off with a bang, I have to say, or perhaps a squish. That's all I'll say about that, but just tell us a little bit about the story. I really think of it as kind of a love story about a mom and a daughter learning who they are,

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Emilya Nawmark. Check out our interview to learn more about her series set in the semi-mythical town of Sylvan. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest today studied art and illustrated books before she started writing them. She is a web developer and a designer, an illustrator and artist, and a writer of psychological thrillers, crime and suspense. I'm pleased to have with me today my guest Emilya Naymark. Did I say that correctly, Emilya? Emilya: Yes. Perfect. Debbi: Wonderful. I was going to ask you about that and I forgot, of course. Thanks for being here today. I really appreciate it. Emilya: Yeah. Thank you for having me. I'm just thrilled Debbi: Certainly. Yeah, certainly. I have to commend you on your guest post. I mean, it just evoked the feeling of being there in upstate New York. I've been there and I've almost drowned there myself. Emilya: I know. I was amazed. I actually listened to your collection of near-death experiences. I was like, oh my God. Debbi: It is rather astonishing that I'm alive, I have to tell you. Behind the Lie is the second book in your Sylvan series, correct? Emilya: Yes. Correct. Yeah. Debbi: And Sylvan is the name of the town where the series takes place, right? Emilya: Correct. Debbi: I thought that was very interesting. Tell us about your protagonist Laney Bird, and what inspired you to write the series. Emilya: First, I want to talk a little bit about Sylvan. Sylvan is a made-up name, but it's for a very real place. I basically set both novels in the town where I live. The street where my characters live, when I write it, I imagine the street where I live. I look out the window and I describe the houses that I see and the roads that I see. And when I write about neighboring towns, I actually use their real names. When my characters move around, they use real highways and everything. Laney is also similarly a bit of a hybrid. She used to be an NYPD undercover detective before the first book begins. So, before the first book begins, that's what she does, and she works a Russian mafia racketeering case that goes really, really bad. She quits the NYPD. At the same time, her husband, who she loves crazily, leaves her and leaves her in charge of their 10-year-old kid w...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Robert McCaw. Check out our interview to learn more about his Hawaiian crime thriller series and meet the author. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi, everyone. Our guest today has both a military and legal background, having served as a US Army Lieutenant, and a partner in a major international law firm. He's the author of four books in the Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery series, and is giving away copies of the latest book Treachery Times Two to two lucky winners. For details on how to enter the giveaway, check out his guest post on my blog at debbimack.com. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest, Robert McCaw. Hi, Robert. I'm so glad you could be here today. Robert: Well, thank you for having me and thank you for all the people who are listening Debbi: Well, thank you for being here and I'm really glad to have you on. Your book is very interesting. The way you paint the Hawaiian Islands is interesting in the mysteries, but I wanted to ask you. As you grew up in a military family, you must have traveled a whole lot, correct? Robert: Twelve schools in 12 grades. Debbi: Oh my gosh! Isn't that...? Wow! I know something of what that's like having traveled a lot myself when I was growing up, but how did you end up … Is that how you ended up practicing international law? Robert: Well, actually there's a story about that. I was an Army lieutenant in Korea. I was called into the camp commander's office. He handed me this big thick purple book, and he said “I’ve just appointed you the prosecutor in a court martial.” This was back in the days when in the special court martial, neither the prosecutor nor the defense counsel had to have any legal training. The only rule was that the defense counsel had to have at least as much legal training as the prosecutor, which meant that both could have none. So, I investigated this case. I was up against a member of the Pennsylvania Bar who was the defense counsel. I lost all the motions but I finally said to the judge who’s the panel, I said, why don't you just hear the facts before you decide all these questions. I put on the facts and the guy was convicted. My father was a military lawyer and I wrote to him, and I said, you know, all this legal hocus-pocus you've been talking about at the dinner tab...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Jennifer Graeser Dornbush. Check out our interview to learn more about her fiction and how she got into screenwriting. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest today is a screenwriter, author, speaker, and forensic specialist. Along with her crime fiction, she's published a book on forensics called Forensic Speak: How to Write Realistic Crime Dramas. That's what we need—more realism, yeah. She has also developed film and TV projects with Lifetime TV, Echo Lake, and many other producers. She's consulted on forensics with writers on shows like Bull, Hawaii Five-O, Leverage and other shows. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest, Jennifer Dornbush. Hi, Jennifer. How are you doing? Jennifer: Hello. I'm very well. Oh, I'm little sick as we just mentioned, but I'm fine. Everything will be fine. Debbi: But otherwise, you're fine. Jennifer: Everything will be just fine. Debbi: It will all work out perfectly. It will all be just fine. Jennifer: In the scope of things, I am great. Debbi: As my sister likes to say, what could possibly go wrong? Anyway, you do so many things, it's hard to know what to ask you about first, but tell us about your series, the one featuring Emily Hartford. What are your stories about? Jennifer: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, this is my Coroner’s Daughter mystery series. There are two books that are actually published live and out there, and there are three more on the way. Just recently signed a three-book deal with Blackstone Publishing, and so the next one will be coming early 2023. Basically, they feature Dr. Emily Hartford who's a young, up-and-coming doctor in Chicago. She's also the daughter of a coroner who left her home when she was a teenager due to tragic circumstances, which I will not reveal cause that's part of a big storyline in the book, but she is suddenly called back to her hometown because her father has had a heart attack and she's been estranged from him for 10 years. And so, it's kind of about her returning back and sort of stepping into his shoes, basically doing death investigations in a way she never expected for her life to turn in that direction. She never expected to come back home, so she's basically trying to run murder mysteries while also contemplating her medical caree...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Ellery Kane. Check out our interview to learn more about her work in forensic psychology and her fiction. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here's a PDF transcript of the interview! Debbi: Hi everyone. Before I introduce our first guest of 2022, I just want to say thank you to Lanny Larcinese—I hope I pronounced that right—for becoming our first new patron of the new year. Thank you so much. And our first guest for 2022 is a forensic psychologist by day and novelist by night. She was one of 10 semi-finalists in the James Patterson co-author competition. A Texan at heart, she now lives in the beautiful San Francisco Bay area. It's my pleasure to introduce my guest Ellery Kane. Hi Ellery. Thanks for being here today. Ellery: Hi. Thanks so much for having me. I'm looking forward to our chat. Debbi: Me too. Yeah, I've been. I will say this. We have something in common. We've both been to prisons to visit inmates for interviews for different reasons. Ellery: Okay. Debbi: I was an attorney at one time and had to go visit somebody in a prison. Ellery: Oh, were you? I had no idea you were an attorney, so you know a little bit about how prisons are a whole...another world Debbi: They sure are. Yeah, and kind of scary when you first walk into them. Ellery: Absolutely. Can be a real culture shock for somebody that's never been in a prison before. Debbi: Absolutely. For someone who doesn't know, what is your role as a forensic psychologist? What is it that you do? Ellery: A forensic psychologist is a psychologist that has anything to do with the law, so it's really about the intersection of psychology and the law, and forensic psychologists do a lot of different things. Usually in the popular media, you think of people like Alex Cross or Clarice Starling, but forensic psychologists do a lot of different things. They can be involved in things like child custody cases or in determination of disability. What I do specifically is violence risk assessment, so I work for the Board of Parole Hearings in California, and I assess long-term inmates who have been in prison for many years, most of them for very serious crimes like murder or other violent offenses, and they're coming up for their parole hearing. My job is to assess their risk for violence to help the parole board make a decision...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Rod Sadler. Check out his thoughts about the upcoming release on parole of a convicted serial killer. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Download a PDF copy of the interview here. Debbi: Hi everyone. My final guest of 2021 had a 30-year career in law enforcement before turning his hand to writing true crime. He has three books out: To Hell I Must Go: The True Story of Michigan's Lizzie Borden, A Slayer Waits: The true story of a Michigan double murder, and his latest, Killing Women. I'm pleased to introduce my guest, Rod Sadler. Hi Rod. How are you doing today? [01:34] Rod: Hello, Debbi. Thank you so much for having me. I am doing just great and I have really been looking forward to this. [01:40] Debbi: Fantastic. Well, I have to tell you, your guest post. I really appreciate your being here, first of all, talking to us. Your guest post was most interesting, I have to say. I would think having an actual pen pal, if you'll excuse the pun, who is a serial killer would be interesting. [02:02] Rod: Yeah. And I will tell you, it's much less than a pen pal. I guess it was for a short time, but when the first letter arrived—actually just to take a short side note here, if you're ever going to start a letter to a serial killer, let me give you a piece of advice, and this is directly from my wife. Do it with someone else's return address. She was less than pleased when we started getting letters from him, so... [02:33] Debbi: I can easily imagine. I can just imagine. What drew you to writing true crime in general? And the reason I ask is that there are so many police officers that I've interviewed and some of them write crime fiction and some of them write true crime. How did you pick true crime? What drew to that as opposed to fiction? [03:02] Rod: Well, it actually started as a genealogy project back in—oh my gosh—early in my career. I became a police officer in the early 80s and I worked for a campus police department. I'll try to make this short because I can ramble on, but my great-great grandfather had served as the sheriff in the county that we live in, and so I started doing some genealogy about him just to find out a little bit more. I was going through old newspapers and I found an article from 1897 describing this gruesome murder in the small town where I grew up and it menti...

This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer David Kushner. Check out our discussion his nine-part series on Substack about a murder at the Texas Renaissance Fair and other writing. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, everyone. Today, it's my pleasure to have with me an award-winning journalist and author. And along with writing true crime and non-fiction graphic novels, he's written for a variety of major periodicals. Today, we'll focus on his writing for a newsletter he has on Substack called Disruptor. My guest today is David Kushner. Hi, David. Thanks for being with us today. David: Hi, thanks for having me. Debbi: Well, no problem. It's a pleasure for me. I was reading over what you wrote on Substack about the festival. The Texas Renaissance Festival. What prompted your interest in the crime that took place at this festival? David: Well, I had gone to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Actually, it was about 17 years ago to do a story on it for FHM magazine, which was a men's magazine at the time and I was interested in it for a couple reasons. One was because it's the world's largest renaissance festival. It's in kind of the middle of a small town, that's a town of about 100 people outside of Houston. So, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. And this guy George Coulam who came there in the 70s and incorporated the town. Became mayor and then essentially transformed the town into a working recreation of a Renaissance Village, all that was super fascinating to me. And I went there and I was there for a few days reporting the story. Then at one point, when I was leaving the festival one night, a scuffle broke out very close to me and a lot of shouting and a crowd formed. And I got out of there, you know don't want to be in a situation like that. But what I later found out was that actually somebody had gotten killed in that fight. Somebody was stabbed multiple times and it was a terrible, obviously, terrible tragedy. It's something that I always thought about having just kind of brushed up so close to it. And then as things went, this magazine went out of business. I never wrote this story, but I thought about it for 17 years. And then I finally decided, you know, I have this newsletter and I thought there's a different way maybe I can approach telling it and telling it i...

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer John Gaspard. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi everyone. Our guest today is the author of the Eli Marks mystery series. He also writes the Como Lake Players mystery series under the pen name Bobbie Raymond. Bobbie Raymond. I believe I have that right. In addition to three standalone novels, he has written several books about low budget filmmaking. Now that's an interesting subject. Coming to us from Minnesota, my guest today is John Gaspard. Hi, John, did I pronounce that correctly? John: You did. You pronounced it one of the two ways that is acceptable. My wife is more persistent about Ronnie Gaspard, but I've always had Gaspard so I answer to either one. Debbi: Gaspard. Very French. John: Yes. Oh yes. It's like Smith in the phone book over there. Debbi: All right. Okay. By the way, I love the short story that you provided for your guest post. John: Great! Thank you. Debbi: I just want to say that if you out there have not read it, any listeners have not read it, I would highly recommend you go to my blog and take a look at it. It's fun and it even comes with an animated video, which I loved. it's on my blog on my website and it's a great way to sample John's writing and Eli Marks. What prompted you to write this particular series about this kind of protagonist? John: Well, boy, that's a really good question. I had written a standalone suspense novel called The Ripperologists about people who are experts on Jack the Ripper who have to solve a current day recreation of the crimes, and I liked the process, but that particular story didn't have what I thought were a lot of legs. I was a big fan of the writer Lawrence Block and the different series that he had. His Matthew Scudder series, which is pretty hardboiled, and then his Bernie Rhodenbarr burglar series which is more lighthearted and a little goofier, and I really liked that. I'd liked something in that mold and was looking for a hero. In The Ripperologists, there had been a dynamic of a crotchety old expert and a younger whippersnapper guy, and I liked that so I created Eli Marks, the magician who's in his thirties and his uncle Harry, who had essentially raised him who's in his eighties. Harry is a master magician. He has worked in all forms of professional stage magic, close up magic, kids' magic,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Iain Parke. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, everyone. Before I introduce my guest, I’ll just mention that my latest novel, Fatal Connections is out now. It’s the second Erica Jensen mystery. And since Erica is a female marine veteran, Veterans Day seemed like a good day to have it released. So, if you like hard-boiled mystery, please check it out. Yes, it’s at all the usual retailers, so do check it out, including Amazon, of course. But with me today is a guy who writes about motorcycle clubs, or as it’s described on his website, Biker Noir. I like that description. You should totally check out his writing sample on his website. It’s really awesome. And with me today then is Iain Parke. Hi, Iain. How are you doing? Iain Parke: Hi, very well. Thank you. Greetings from across the pond on a fairly grotty November night. Debbi: It’s kind of grotty around here. It’s not nice, but it’s been raining. Actually, it was kind of nice. It’s cleared up and well, we kind of went from rain to cleared up. So, it was not so bad, really when it comes down to it. [crosstalk] Iain: Yeah, you can tell you’re talking to someone from England because we’re on to the weather already. I mean that’s all we talk about. Debbi: That’s all we talk about in Maryland too, that’s interesting. Very, very interesting. I got to tell you though, I noticed you have an MBA and an interesting background, insolvency and business restructuring. So, the fact that you kind of drew on that experience to write a conspiracy thriller as a novel seem to suggest something dire. Iain: Yeah. I did an MBA and was interested in running businesses, and set out effectively to have a career in running businesses and doing just things in this sort of distressed business space. And I won’t bore you with the career history, but essentially at one point I ended up, I wanted to get a secondment. I was working for PwC, one of the big firms at the time and I wanted to secondment to Canada and I ended up in Tanzania, which just proves my geography is fairly lousy. So, from going to the west coast of Canada to going to East Africa, I ended up sort of running a match factory with about a thousand employees, including 300 ladies putting matches into boxes by hand on the slopes of Kilimanjaro for a year.

This week, in lieu of a guest author, we have an episode courtesy of Old Time Radio! :) It's the Philip Marlowe episode, "The Heart of Gold". This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. The transcript of this show and any other Old Time Radio episodes are being made available to patrons of the show! Next week's guest will be Iain Parke. Enjoy the podcast! :)    

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Anne Laughlin. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest today has authored six crime novels, including her latest book, Money Creek, which she's offered as a giveaway. The first two commenters on her website on the contact page will each get a copy. She is a four-time Goldie Award winner and been shortlisted for a Lammy Award three times. She also reviews contemporary LGBTQ literature at the Lambda Literary Review. A resident of Chicago, it's my great pleasure to have with me, Anne Laughlin. Hi, Anne, how are you doing? Anne: Hi, Debbi. I'm doing great. How are you? Debbi: Good. Thank you. Let's see. I want to thank you, first of all, for being here today. Anne: Oh, it's a pleasure to be here. Debbi: And taking the time to talk with me. Anne: Yeah. Debbi: To all of us. And your books, they're all standalones, correct? Anne: That's right. I have yet to start a series, though I keep thinking I will. Maybe— Debbi: I was going to ask you. Anne: Yeah. The book I'm writing now would work out for a series character. But you know what, when you write a series, you really should be more mindful than I'm being and have in mind kind of an overall arc for that character. Debbi: Exactly. Anne: Be thinking ahead several books. Yeah. Debbi: Yes, exactly. Anne: I don't think I can think ahead several. I don't know if I have that capacity. Debbi: You might be surprised. Anne: Yeah. Yeah. So yes, all standalones and kind of a combination of traditional mystery, suspense novels, police procedural, the private investigator. Debbi: That's really cool that you have that kind of mix there. Anne: Yeah. Debbi: I notice that in a few of your books, quite a few it seems, you either have legal issues or a lawyer involved. And I wondered if you had a legal background. Anne: Yes. I, for many years, worked in large law firms as a trial assistant, and that... I burned out from that eventually and had to leave the business. But while I was there, I learned so much about lawyering, and what I learned, I was able to take in with me as I was writing books. So, because it was a comfortable milieu, I used it more than once. And also, lawyers are good topic or good subjects for crime novels. Debbi: Yes, they are, very much so.

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Sandra Wells. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi everyone. Before we get started, I want to thank everyone who participated in the DMRF's Virtual Zoo Day on September 25th. They include Sharon Anderson, Santina Caruso, Robert Chamness, Carolyn Chun, Marlena Cook, Scott Davis, Paul Downie, Eirlys Evans, Eric Flint, Rip and Denise Gardner, NM, Kenneth MacClune, Kathy Owens Hankins, Connie Ridgway, Sarah Sensory and Brandy Yassa. Thank you so much for participating and being on my DMRF Dystonia team. I really, really appreciate it. DMV Dystonia, that was the name of the team. Thank you so much for participating and being on my DMRF [DMV] Dystonia team. I really, really appreciate it. Debbi: In any event, today we have with us, an author who began writing in March of 2020 and has produced six novels and a children's short story since last year. She lives in Saint Clair, Tennessee, enjoys photography and is searching for the perfect barn picture in the Tennessee and North Carolina areas. Our guest today is Sandra Wells. Hi Sandra. Good to see you. Sandra: Hi. Thank you for having me on. Debbi: Sure thing. No problem. Sandra: The Halloween story is not so much of a kid's Halloween story, it's pretty out there. I wouldn't recommend to read it to kids. Debbi: Huh. You've written six books in less than two years. In my book, that's pretty impressive and I've always been amazed with people who can crank stuff out like that. How do you stay so consistently productive? Sandra: I started writing when I was 59, when I turned 59, on a bet with a friend of mine. Her father and mother... her name is Valerie Bloom, were authors and she bet me that I couldn't write a book. So I had to take her up on it and I wrote my first book and I just haven't stopped. Now every two and a half months I could turn one out. I may get tired of it and slack off here, but not so far. I write everything using my cell phone, only my cell phone. Debbi: I noticed. Sandra: That worked out good, because no matter where I'm at, if I have a thought then I've got my cell phone with me. Debbi: That was my thinking. I was going to ask you about that. Do you have any kind of writing schedule, though, that you keep? Are there times that you set aside specifically for writing? Sandra: No,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Rea Frey. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, everyone. My guest today is the author of several novels, as well as the CEO and founder of Writeway, where basically you get to learn about the publishing industry before you get into this crazy business. Let's see. She lives in Nashville with her husband, daughter, and three wild animals. We'll have to talk about the wild animals too. I'm pleased introduce my guest, Rea Frey. Hi, Rea. Rea: Hello. Debbi: It's so good to have you here. Rea: It's so nice to be here. Thanks for having me. Debbi: Sure thing. I got to say, I love your website so much. It's so clever and pretty. And I like the photo on the homepage with you holding those books that are dripping paint or something. Rea: Yeah. Debbi: I mean, it seems to be a metaphor of some kind. Rea: Yes, we could say it's a metaphor for so many different things, but yeah, it was a fun site to put together. Debbi: Yeah. Yeah. It's great. It's wonderful. I like it. And I like the idea of your show, your podcast, but we'll get into that in a second. Debbi: Tell us first about your books. How would you describe your writing? Is it domestic suspense, thriller? Rea: Yeah. It's domestic suspense, which, in all honesty, when my debut novel came out, Not Her Daughter, and they told me I was in the domestic suspense genre, I was like, "What is that? What is domestic suspense?" I wasn't aiming to write in a genre, but I always like to say I write things that basically scare the shit out of parents. I love to kind of take that worst case scenario, because I'm a parent, and really play out those fears, whether it's kidnapping, a guardian dies, someone disappears. I love playing with that and playing with morality a little bit. So I'm definitely more relationship-based instead of, you know, straight thrillers, but I technically do fall in that domestic suspense category. I wasn't aiming to write in a genre, but I always like to say I write things that basically scare the shit out of parents. I love to kind of take that worst case scenario, because I'm a parent, and really play out those fears, whether it's kidnapping, a guardian dies, someone disappears. I love playing with that and playing with morality a little bit. Debbi: Okay. Well, you know,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Mark Edward Langley. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Please join my fundraising team, DMV Dystonia, to raise funds for research on this rare movement disorder. Remember to pick that team when signing up! The full link is here: https://bit.ly/DMVDystonia Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, everyone. Our guest today began his love of reading as an employee with B. Dalton Booksellers. Remember them? I do, fondly. He's the author of the Arthur Nakai Mystery Series which takes place in New Mexico, the only part of the Southwest I still haven't really seen to my satisfaction. I want to go back someday. Debbi: His second novel, Death Waits in the Dark, was a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards 2020 and won the Feathered Quill Award in 2021. His latest novel is When Silence Screams. Debbi: I'm pleased to have with me, author Mark Edward Langley. Debbi: Hi, Mark. It's great to see you here. Mark: Hi, good to be here. Debbi: I'm glad you're here. Thank you. Mark: Happy to be here. Debbi: Excellent. Good. First of all, I've got to say, I used to love B. Dalton Booksellers. What did you do there? Mark: Oh, Lord. You're going back to 1980, and my parents, my family, moved down there, but my dad got transferred, and it was just close by. I... "Well, I'll get a job there," and I ended up, for the time I was there, started out in the backroom, receiving the books, getting them all labeled and stickered and stuff, and putting them out. And then, got to be on the register and that kind of stuff. So, ended up stocking and work and that. And I loved being down there because it was right down the street from the Windmill Dinner Theater, and a lot of actors came through doing plays there, and a few of them actually stopped in the store to buy some stuff. Debbi: Excellent. Mark: I loved it. I loved it. But I got instilled in reading then. I was watching the Spenser for Hire series on television. And one of the ladies I worked with said, "If you love the show, you should read the books." So I started reading the books and was hooked from thereon. Debbi: Isn't it interesting how things often start with television? I know that my love of mystery started with watching Honey West way back in the day. Mark: Oh, boy. Debbi: Now I'm going back. I was watching the Spenser for Hire series on t...

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Samantha Downing. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Please join my fundraising team, DMV Dystonia, to raise funds for research on this rare movement disorder. Remember to pick that team when signing up! The full link is here: https://bit.ly/DMVDystonia Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here’s a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, everyone. Our guest today recently released her third novel. It's called FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, and has been optioned by a production company to be adapted into, I suppose, an HBO Max series. We'll have to talk about that to the extent it can be talked about. Her first novel, MY LOVELY WIFE, has been nominated for multiple awards, and is also under option to be adapted for the screen. She lives and works in New Orleans, a place that I've always wanted to visit, but have not gotten around to yet. I am pleased to have with me Samantha Downing. Hi Sam, how are you doing today? Samantha: I'm good. Thank you for having me. Debbi: Well, thank you for being here. I really, really appreciate it. The setting of your latest book reminds me of an interview I just did with another author who was an educator. And her comment to me was that she was surprised that more authors didn't set their books in schools because they're like microcosms of society. And my thought was it's like a small town. What are your thoughts on that? Samantha: Absolutely. I think there's a... In this book, in FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, there's a number of social structures that exist within the school. There is the structure between the teachers themselves. This is a private school where the kids are all wealthy. The parents pay the bills. And some of the teachers are wealthy, some of them are not. And there is a structure between the parents and the teachers. The parents pay the bills and are the donors to the school, so they think they can tell the teachers what to do. And then there are the students who drive better cars than the teachers. So, the money and the wealth and the entitlement has a lot to do with the story itself. The protagonist, or one of the main characters, is Teddy Crutcher, who is not wealthy and lives on a teacher's salary, and that is something that really drives him and his actions in the book. In this book, in FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, there's a number of social structures that exist within the school. Debbi: I was going to say,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Saralyn Richard. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I'm your host Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I'll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy inks for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You'll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Please join my fundraising team, DMV Dystonia, to raise funds for research on this rare movement disorder. Remember to pick that team when signing up! The full link is here: https://bit.ly/DMVDystonia Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’m a Blubrry affiliate, but that’s not the only reason I’m telling you this. I’ve been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you’re in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, “You should try this.” Try Blubrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract, and it’s just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn’t that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here's a link to a PDF copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi everyone. Today, making her second visit to the show, is the author of the Detective Oliver Parrott mysteries and other books that we'll be discussing. She's a former educator who's written for children and adults. It's my pleasure to have with me, Saralyn Richard. Hi Saralyn, I'm really happy to see you again. Saralyn: Thank you, Debbi. And thanks for having me on your show. Debbi: Sure thing. And by the way, as Fernando would say, you look marvelous darling. You do indeed. I am almost finished with your second Oliver Parrott book. Will you be writing more of those? Saralyn: I am currently writing the third Oliver Parrott book. Debbi: Excellent. Saralyn: Yes, he is still whispering in my ear. So as long as he continues to do that, I'll be recording what he's telling me. Debbi: Can you give us a hint as to what the book is about? Saralyn: Well, it's also set in Brandywine Valley and the working title for the book is INHERITANCE BLUES and it has to do with a meth lab and a Ponzi scheme and a really famous old lady whose children have interest in what they're going to inherit from her. And I think it's going to all come together in a really interesting book. Debbi: Sounds interesting. Saralyn: So, I've just started with it. It's just in the very beginning stages. I think I've written two chapters. Debbi: Sounds fascinating. Saralyn: Thanks. Debbi: In the latest novel, I noticed that Oliver's wife, Tonya, makes an appearance and she has served with the military and come back from deployment and has PTSD. Did you do a lot of research on that topic? Saralyn: Yes, I did. And Tonya was an important character in the first book as well, but she was still doing her tour of duty in Afghanistan. So she couldn't be as big of a part of the picture as she was in A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND MURDER. There, she's really right up there with the main characters and her PTSD takes front and center spot and becomes a big part of the plot. So I don't know how far along you are,

Debbi Mack interviews crime fiction writer Thomas O'Callaghan. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Please join my fundraising team, DMV Dystonia, to raise funds for research on this rare movement disorder. Remember to pick that team when signing up! :) Debbi (00:54): But first, let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I'm a Blubrry affiliate, but that's not the only reason I'm telling you this. I've been using Blubrry Podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years and it's one of the best decisions I ever made. They give great customer service, you're in complete control of your own podcast, you can run it from your own website, and it just takes a lot of the work out of podcasting for me. I find for that reason that it's a company that I can get behind 100% and say, "You should try this." Try Blubrry. It doesn't require a long-term contract, and it's just a great company, period. It also has free technical support by email, video, and phone, so you can get a human being there. Isn't that nice? If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. No long-term contract, excellent distribution, and great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I’ve included an affiliate link on this blog. Here's a downloadable copy of the interview. Debbi: Hi, again, everyone. Today, I have as my guest, the author of a series of thrillers featuring a New York City detective, Lt. John Driscoll. His work has been translated for publication in at least six countries outside the US. He's also a native New Yorker, so that's a plus because so am I. I'm pleased to have with me today, Thomas O'Callaghan. Hi, Thomas. Thomas: Hello, Debbi. Debbi: I'm so glad you're here today. Thomas: Yeah, nice to be here. Very nice to be here. Debbi: Awesome. I love your bookshelf there in the background. It's so neat and beautiful. Thomas: Thank you very much. Debbi: I wish my shelves were so beautiful. Thomas: Thank you. Debbi: What prompted you to write this series? Thomas: Interesting question. I never thought of writing. In college, I studied history and planned on perhaps going to law school. After that, I began working for an insurance company, Allstate Insurance Company, and I had a pretty good career with them, sales agent. Everything was going well and I figured I'd retire as a sales agent, only I didn't think I'd retire at the age of 49. They changed the way they paid us, and if I wanted to stay on, it meant I was no longer an employee, but I was a franchise agent and I had to pay for secretarial help and other support staff and whatnot. The option was to sell my book of business and leave or retire or stay on as a franchise, so I sold my book of business, and that carried me for about three years. Thomas: But at age 49, I needed something to do. I spoke to a friend of mine who had a similar circumstance. She asked me what did I like to do. If you're going to have a second career, it might be something you might like doing. I said, "Well, I like to take photographs." This was before the advent of the old iPhone. I had an old 35-millimeter camera and I went out and I snapped some pictures. I lived near Prospect Park in Brooklyn at the time and I snapped some pictures and I enjoyed it. Thomas: The enthusiasm waned after about a month and I said to her, I said, "Well, it's not a career choice." She said, "Well, what else do you like to do?" I said, "Well, to be honest with you, I always thought I'd be an actor." I wanted to be a thespian when I was in high school and in college and I performed in theater groups and I did some off-Broadway shows. I said, "That's what I'd like to do," so she recommended I go down and have some training because it had been a while and I went to HB Studios down in Manhattan and that was fun, two months working with a group of other actors and some professional trainers. Thomas: I enjoyed it very much, but again,

Debbi Mack interviews crime fiction writer Clay Stafford. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first I'd like to put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I'm a Bluburry podcasting affiliate, but that's not the only reason I'm telling you about this. I've been using Blubrry podcasting as my host for the podcast for years and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. They provide great service. You can run your podcast from your website. They provide fantastic distribution at a reasonable price. That's why it's a company I can get behind one hundred percent and say, "You should try this." If you want to podcast, try out Blubrry. It doesn't require a long-term contract. It's just a great company, and they provide great technical support, too, by email, video, and on the phone. I've included an affiliate link on this blog. Unfortunately, our scheduled guest had to cancel. However, I was lucky enough to have someone else waiting in the wings. :) FYI, this post includes an affiliate link or two. Debbi: Hi, everyone. Today's guest is uniquely accomplished, to say the least. He is, and I quote from his bio, "an author, screenwriter, playwright, producer, director, actor, showrunner, publisher, songwriter/composer, CEO, educator, speaker, and needless to say, entrepreneur." He is also founder, CEO, and president of the Killer Nashville Conference for writers. He's done numerous things we can discuss, actually. And it's my great pleasure to introduce Clay Stafford. Hi Clay. I'm so glad you're here today. Clay: Well, hey, Debbi. And all of that only says that I am very old. That's what it comes down to. Right? Debbi: But you have done so much with that time. Clay: Well, thanks. Thanks. You know I started as a kid actor. Did you know that? Debbi: I was going to ask how you got started. How did you get started? Clay: Yeah. I started actually working professionally when I was 10, and so have been in the business ever since then. Worked and then formed my first production company when I was 16 years old, and started doing commercials for banks and other things. And so everything kind of went from there. Debbi: Wow, that's really impressive. What led you to a life of literary crime? Clay: First of all, I love all literature. I'm incredibly eclectic. I love the classics. I love ... The only thing I say that really just pushes me too far is romance when we get into the shower scenes, and everybody always hears me talking about the shower scene. Can't stand the shower scenes, but I can skip that. Romantic suspense, I love. So I just love everything, and when we founded ... I guess we're going to talk a little bit about Killer Nashville, the conference. Right? First of all, I love all literature. I'm incredibly eclectic. I love the classics. Debbi: For sure. Clay: When I founded Killer Nashville, it was, as you can see, based on stories that contained elements of mystery, thriller, suspense. And to me, I think no matter if you're writing literary, if you're writing straight crime noir, if you're writing science fiction, those elements actually are propelling the story forward and keep the reader's interest. I know we have the genre of mystery and crime, but you can do that in multiple--historical, sci-fi, fantasy--ways, and still impose the same elements on there of the storytelling. I think no matter if you're writing literary, if you're writing straight crime noir, if you're writing science fiction, those elements actually are propelling the story forward and keep the reader's interest. Clay: So as long as it's got that, which to me tells me that the story's moving forward, I'm all in. So it doesn't really matter about the genre itself. So how did I get involved with crime? Well, that's just the Michael Jackson song, just another side of me. So that's just part of one of the techniques where the mystery, thriller,

Debbi Mack interviews crime fiction writer, Richard Meredith. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’ve been using Blubrry podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years, and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They provide great service. You’re in complete control of your own podcast. You never have to leave your own website. There is a plugin that you can use to incorporate Blubrry and distribution through your website. So it’s a great service that has taken a lot of the work of podcasting out for me. And I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, you should try this. If you want a podcast, try out Bluebrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract. It’s just a great company, period. And I am a Blubrry affiliate. So there’s that. Debbi (02:07): And did I mention that they have free technical support by email, video and phone? Yes, you can actually reach a human being there. I’ll say no more. Debbi: Hi everyone. We're back for a seventh season of the podcast, which just blows me away. I mean time flies, man. I can't believe I've been doing this for six years. Anyway, as always, I'm blown away also by the variety of backgrounds that people bring into the writing craft. And my first guest for this season is no exception. He has a background in biology. He's worked as a marine scientist and wildlife biologist for the federal government and the private sector. He has also worked on commercial fishing boats. My guest today is author Richard Meredith. Hi, Richard. Thanks so much for being here today. Richard: Hi, Debbi. Thank you very much for having me. It's a real honor to be with Crime Cafe. And I also want to thank you for posting my guest blog on your website. That was wonderful. Debbi: Oh, my pleasure to do so. Like I said, you have a very interesting background. What was it you did on commercial fishing boats? Richard: Well, this may be before your time, but there was during the '70s, there was this controversy about the tuna dolphin controversy where the fishing boats were catching the dolphin and so I was one of the government monitors on those boats. So I did that for about two years. Debbi: That isn't before my time, by the way. Richard: And I did that for a couple of years. And then my wife said the next job that comes in on the beach, take it. That was in Kansas City. So I got pretty far from the ocean after that. Debbi: Well, that's very interesting. I used to work at EPA actually. So I was going to ask you if you did environmental protection. Richard: Yeah, I was at the Corps of Engineers and we worked with EPA quite a bit. Yeah. Debbi: Very good, excellent, wonderful. All that Clean Water Act stuff. Richard: Yeah, exactly. Debbi: There you go. Had you written any fiction before you wrote The Crow's Nest? Richard: I wrote a novel called Sky Dance, which was about my experience. Well, it's a novel, but it was based on my experiences in Ecuador when I was working on doing environmental impact studies on petroleum projects down there. And that was self published. I did it through CreateSpace with Amazon. But this was the first one that was published by a publisher. Debbi: I see. So is this the first in a series or is this a standalone? Richard: This is a standalone. Yeah. My next three that are still, well, I'm trying to find a publisher, but they're a series. Yeah. Debbi: Tell us a little about The Crow's Nest. What's it about? Richard: Well, I say that The Crow's Nest is a crime thriller without police, federal agents, or the military. It's just two men seeking justice against a brutal cartel. It's unique so far in that I think it's the only novel about the use of the crude submarines in the smuggling of cocaine between Columbia and Northern Mexico. I describe it as the mutant spawn of Das Boot and S...

Debbi Mack interviews intellectual property attorney Kathryn Goldman on the Crime Cafe podcast. Debbi (00:54): But first let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’ve been using Blubrry podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years, and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They provide great service. You’re in complete control of your own podcast. You never have to leave your own website. There is a plugin that you can use to incorporate Blubrry and distribution through your website. So it’s a great service that has taken a lot of the work of podcasting out for me. And I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, you should try this. If you want a podcast, try out Bluebrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract. It’s just a great company, period. And I am a Blubrry affiliate. So there’s that. Debbi (02:07): And did I mention that they have free technical support by email, video and phone? Yes, you can actually reach a human being there. I’ll say no more. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. It’s a miracle! Click here to download a copy in PDF. And check us out on Patreon. Debbi (00:12): Hi, everyone! Today I have as my guest a person of great value to writers and other creators, an intellectual property attorney. Her particular interest is in protecting online content and representing writers, artists, photographers, and other businesses who have an online presence. She is editor of the legal blog, Creative Law Center, which I can tell you is a must-read for writers, artists and other creative people. And in the interest of full disclosure, both of us attended law school at the University of Maryland School of Law and graduated in 1987. So, yay Maryland! It's a pleasure to introduce our guest today, Kathryn Goldman. Hi, Kathryn. So good to see you. Kathryn (03:19): Thank you for having me, Debbi. How are you today? Debbi (03:23): I'm fine. Thank you. How are you doing? Kathryn (03:25): Good. Good. It's a beautiful day outside. Debbi (03:28): Wonderful. A little chilly, but that's okay. We'll bear with it. You know, April will improve as time goes by. Let's see. Let's talk first about the CASE Act. Now, what is the CASE Act? And what are the benefits for indie authors and publishers? Kathryn (03:48): So the CASE Act is the Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act: CASE. That's what that stands for. And it was passed at the end of last year. It's been bouncing around in Washington for a lot of years now and it's finally gotten passed. And what it does is it gives any copyright holder the ability to enforce their rights in a small claims tribunal. The Copyright Office is going to set up the Copyright Claims Board. And so you will be able to file a claim against someone if your work is being infringed. And you don't have to go into federal court, which can be extraordinarily expensive. So this is really, really beneficial for indie authors and small businesses, small publishers, and creatives to enforce their rights. So the CASE Act is the Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act: CASE. That's what that stands for. And it was passed at the end of last year. It's been bouncing around in Washington for a lot of years now and it's finally gotten passed. And what it does is it gives any copyright holder the ability to enforce their rights in a small claims tribunal. Debbi (04:57): Now, the scope of this act covers anything that can be copyrighted, correct? Kathryn (05:02): That's right. If you have a copyright registration on your creative work, you can go and enforce your rights at the Copyright Claims Board and the types of claims that the board will hear are infringement claims and claims of abuse under the DMCA. Are you familiar with the DMCA? Debbi (05:32): I know of it. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Correct? Kathryn (05:35): Correct. Correct.

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Daniella Bernett on the Crime Cafe podcast. Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe Debbi (00:54): But first let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’ve been using Blubrry podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years, and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They provide great service. You’re in complete control of your own podcast. You never have to leave your own website. There is a plugin that you can use to incorporate Blubrry and distribution through your website. So it’s a great service that has taken a lot of the work of podcasting out for me. And I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, you should try this. If you want a podcast, try out Bluebrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract. It’s just a great company, period. And I am a Blubrry affiliate. So there’s that. Debbi (02:07): And did I mention that they have free technical support by email, video and phone? Yes, you can actually reach a human being there. I’ll say no more. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. It’s a miracle! Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (02:25): Hi everyone. Today we have another author making a repeat appearance on the podcast. Her mystery series now includes her sixth novel Old Sins Never Die. You can find my own review of the book on my blog as well as on GoodReads and so forth. I gave it five stars, by the way. So check it out. It's a pleasure to welcome back the very talented writer, Daniella Burnett. Hi Daniella. Daniella (03:00): Hi Debbi. It's always nice to come back And speak to you about mysteries and books and all sorts of things. So I thank you for having me back again. Debbi (03:06): Well, it's a pleasure, believe me. And I enjoyed your book very, very much. Daniella (03:12): Oh, thank you. That's very gratifying. I always like hearing that. I never get tired of that. Debbi (03:17): Somehow that seems to be a common trait of authors. I can't imagine why. Even though technically you write the Emmeline Kirby-Gregory Longdon series, do you tend to think of Emmeline as being really the main protagonist? Daniella (03:38): Well, she tends to get into more of the trouble, but I think I view them as equal protagonists because they both bring different aspects to solving the crime and ensuring that the criminal is caught. So I think it's an equal between the two of them. Debbi (03:58): That's good. Actually, I like that. Yeah, because Gregory certainly has a complicated backstory of his own. Daniella (04:08): Oh, he does. But that makes him interesting. Debbi (04:11): Very, very interesting. Apart from the investigatory role of journalists generally, was there a reason that you chose journalism as her profession? Daniella (04:26): Well, as you said, it's a way ... she's not a professional sleuth, but journalists have that inherent need to find out the truth, to make sure in cases of a crime to make sure that justice is served. So that was, I didn't want to have a police officer, but I wanted someone who had a similar type of role. So, that seemed like the perfect career for my protagonist when I was envisioning the series. Plus, I studied journalism. So, you know, I had a little bit of familiarity with that, that whole skill, that whole so forth. So that's why I thought a journalist would be an ideal protagonist. I didn't want to have a police officer, but I wanted someone who had a similar type of role. So, that seemed like the perfect career for my protagonist when I was envisioning the series. Plus, I studied journalism. So, you know, I had a little bit of familiarity with that, that whole skill, that whole so forth. Debbi (05:17): Yeah, I can, I can understand that as I have a journalism background myself. Understanding that type of mindset. The need to find out the truth, the desire to express it.

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Laurie Buchanan on the Crime Cafe podcast. Debbi (00:54): But first let me put in a good word for Blubrry podcasting. I’ve been using Blubrry podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years, and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made. They provide great service. You’re in complete control of your own podcast. You never have to leave your own website. There is a plugin that you can use to incorporate Blubrry and distribution through your website. So it’s a great service that has taken a lot of the work of podcasting out for me. And I find for that reason that it’s a company that I can get behind 100% and say, you should try this. If you want a podcast, try out Bluebrry. It doesn’t require a long-term contract. It’s just a great company, period. And I am a Blubrry affiliate. So there’s that. Debbi (02:07): And did I mention that they have free technical support by email, video and phone? Yes, you can actually reach a human being there. I’ll say no more. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. It’s a miracle! Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (00:12): Hi everyone. My guest today is the author of two self-help books and the first in a new series of crime novels. Her debut novel Indelible introduces Sean McPherson, an ex-cop turned handyman at a writer's retreat where the story takes place. Her next book in the series Iconoclast is scheduled for release in May of 2022. Twenty twenty-two. She enjoys yoga, bicycling, camping, and travel. She also likes long walks, including apparently a 211-mile hike across Scotland. Well, I'm ready to go if she is, back. Scotland's cool. It's my pleasure to introduce today's guest Laurie Buchanan. Hi Laurie. Thanks for being here. Laurie (01:50): Thanks for having me. Debbi (01:52): Sure thing. It's a pleasure. What inspired you to start writing crime fiction? After two self-help books? Laurie (02:08):I had been to, I won't name it, but I had been to a very large conference, writing conference in the Midwest. And I teach and sometimes I'm in the audience and do both sometimes at a conference, and I was teaching at a conference, but in this case I was in the audience listening to another speaker. And you know, when people go to a writing conference, they pay good money and they assume that what they're being told is accurate. And a speaker got up, a female, a well-known female writer, and she said, and she looked everybody in the face. And she said, "I hope you enjoy the genre that you're writing in because you are stuck in it. You can only write in one genre." And I thought, you know, I wanted to just stand up and say, "No, no, no, no, that's not true." So my, my way of saying that's not true is to, I stepped out of my comfort zone nonfiction and I started writing fiction and I absolutely love it. Debbi (03:04): It is wonderful, isn't it to use your imagination that way? Let's see. I take it that being at this writer's conference might've been part of the inspiration for setting your book in a your retreat? Laurie (03:20): Actually, no, I was writing my first book. I got an idea writing my first book, even though, even though my idea was for fiction, I was writing my first book and I was at a retreat on Whidbey Island and I, it was a retreat for all women writers and across the way I happened to see with my very own eyes, an extraordinarily handsome man who was the groundskeeper and he was limping. And that planted a seed, it just planted a seed and that seed took hold and grew roots, and many years later, came out in the form of a book. I was writing my first book and I was at a retreat on Whidbey Island and I, it was a retreat for all women writers and across the way I happened to see with my very own eyes, an extraordinarily handsome man who was the groundskeeper and he was limping. And that planted a seed, it just planted a seed and that seed took hold and grew roots,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Frank Zafiro on the Crime Cafe podcast. Debbi (00:54): But first let me put in a good word for Bluebrry podcasting. I've been using Bluebrry podcasting as my hosting service for my podcast for years, and it's one of the best decisions I ever made. They provide great service. You're in complete control of your own podcast. You never have to leave your own website. There is a plugin that you can use to incorporate Bluebrry and distribution through your website. So it's a great service that has taken a lot of the work of podcasting out for me. And I find for that reason that it's a company that I can get behind 100% and say, you should try this. If you want a podcast, try out Bluebrry. It doesn't require a long-term contract. It's just a great company, period. And I am a Bluebrry affiliate. So there's that. Debbi (02:07): And did I mention that they have free technical support by email, video and phone? Yes, you can actually reach a human being there. I'll say no more. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. It's a miracle! :) Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (02:24): Hi everyone. Today, I have a guest making his second appearance on the podcast, a retired police officer, he hails from the great state of Oregon. The author of more than 30 novels, including the River City series and the Charlie-316 series, he also hosts his own podcast, Wrong Place, Write Crime, which I have had the pleasure of being on. My guest today is Frank Zafiro. Hi, Frank. Welcome back. And thanks for being here. Frank (03:00): Hey, Debbi. Great to be back again. Debbi (03:02): Excellent. Wonderful. It's good to see you. You seem to be making something of a career out of writing collaborative novels and series. Can you write them faster than you would if you were writing them on your own or is it about the same? Frank (03:20): Oh, I think it's faster. For a couple of reasons, I mean one you are you know, you're only writing about half of the first draft, so you know, it's faster, you know? Uh, but the other thing is, is that when you're working and the bigger piece is when you're working with someone else there's a certain synergy that, that kicks in and you really gain momentum. And so when you get the piece back and it's your turn to write something you're energized and you also don't want to keep your partner waiting. In some cases, the person I'm working with, they're not working on anything else, at least not in the first draft stage. And so I'm kind of holding them up while we're doing this in a way is how I feel about it. So I want to get it back to them as quick as possible. But I think it would happen either way because there's just, you just get that really strong momentum going that you're, you know, you're building something great. And it just, it goes really fast. I mean, Charlie-316 took like three weeks and it was a hundred thousand word draft. I mean, that, to me, that was just, that blew my mind when we got to the end of it and looked at how long it had taken. Debbi (04:47): Oh my gosh, that was for a first draft, right? Frank (04:50): Yeah. And you know, the thing of it is, it's the first draft, but the way that the process works, it's a pretty tight first draft because it's been essentially edited twice, once by each of us throughout the process. So but yeah, it's still, still technically a first draft. Debbi (05:09): Well, that's fantastic. Three weeks. Wow. Frank (05:13): That's a bit of an aberration, but that's a good example of how quickly things can happen. Debbi (05:19): I was going to say would most of them be like that? Frank (05:24): Most of them are like that. Not quite as fast, but, but I, there hasn't been one that, that for in which that first draft lagged or dragged, they've all gone quickly. You know, sometimes the editing process has gone just as quickly. Other times, it's,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Troy Lambert on the Crime Cafe podcast. For your podcasting needs, I use and recommend Blubrry Podcasting. I also recommend Stitcher Premium, if you’re a fan of podcasts. If you like true crime or crime fiction, there are loads of podcasts out there for you. And with Stitcher Premium you can listen to the exclusive archives from Criminology or bonus episodes from True Crime Garage. You can also listen ad-free to episodes of your favorite podcasts. I’ve subscribed, and for only $4.99 a month, it’s nice to have ad-free entertainment. Just go to www.stitcher.com/premium and use the promo code, CRIMECAFE, to try it out absolutely free for a month. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (00:02): Hi everyone. My guest today is a freelance writer, author and editor, who also happens to own his own small niche publishing company. I'm very pleased to have with me today Troy Lambert. Hi, Troy. Good to have you on. Troy (02:02): Hi. It is fantastic to be here. Debbi (02:05): Well, I'm glad you're here. What kind of freelance writing do you do? Troy (02:11): So I do a variety of freelance writing. I actually started out by writing government contracts, writing research papers for the federal government, which ... The number one thing that taught me was that my words were valuable and I could get paid for writing. And so that translated into an incentive for me to expand my fiction writing career, as well as my freelance writing career. But I primarily write about business and tech, those type of things. I don't there's other little things I write about from time to time, but those were my mainstays. Debbi (02:46): Huh. So you still keep up the freelance writing then? Troy (02:50): I do. I don't do as much as I used to, but I do. And I still, I read a lot about of in-depth articles about like SEO and Google and things like that related to business, because now I use that in business. So it's, it's actually a subject I'm really familiar with. So. Debbi (03:08): Kind of a natural fit then. Is that your paying work or do you also make a living off of your fiction? Troy (03:17): Yes. So I make a living off my fiction. I make a living off of editing and I make a living off of freelance writing, primarily. I have, there's, right now, the publisher that, the niche publisher that I have that we started last year is not profitable like many small businesses. It's still in the point where almost every bit of money that's coming in is going out to build the business further. Debbi (03:41): Interesting. I was going to ask you about that publishing company. What niche do you serve? Troy (03:46): So we primarily publish what I would call minor celebrity nonfiction. So there are people that are not going to get a deal with the big book publisher, because they're going to sell, you know, 20,000 books over their lifetime, not, you know, a million, but they've still got a viable story. They've still got a viable book and they need a pathway to get it out there. But we are attempting to change the thinking about publishing to more of a print to order print-on-demand type model instead of big print runs because big print runs are wasteful financially for one thing. Those books go back to the publisher and get pulped half the time. And it's just environmentally irresponsible to print books that we're not gonna sell and then we're not going to use. And so we feel like that allows us to cut costs, be more author-centric, offer better author contracts to these guys that wouldn't necessarily get a bigger contract somewhere else, but also to just cut down on the wasteful habits and big spending, the big publishers have that are engaged in constantly. But we are attempting to change the thinking about publishing to more of a print to order print-on-demand type model instead of big print runs because big print...

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer James H. Roby on the Crime Cafe podcast. For your podcasting needs, I use and recommend Blubrry Podcasting. I also recommend Stitcher Premium, if you’re a fan of podcasts. If you like true crime or crime fiction, there are loads of podcasts out there for you. And with Stitcher Premium you can listen to the exclusive archives from Criminology or bonus episodes from True Crime Garage. You can also listen ad-free to episodes of your favorite podcasts. I’ve subscribed, and for only $4.99 a month, it’s nice to have ad-free entertainment. Just go to www.stitcher.com/premium and use the promo code, CRIMECAFE, to try it out absolutely free for a month. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (00:12): Hi everyone. Our guest today is the author of the UrbanKnights thriller series. He served as an Air Force officer on active duty and in the reserves for more than 10 years. He also does his share of cool traveling to places like London, Toronto, the Arctic Circle, and the Caribbean. He also hails from the Motor City, Detroit. My guest today is James Roby. Hi James. James (01:23): Hello. How are you today? Debbi (01:25): I'm fine. How are you? James (01:27): I am outstanding. I'm happy to be here. Debbi (01:30): Excellent. Excellent. Good. So how did you get involved in fiction writing? What got you started with that? James (01:37): Well I mean, honestly, it's been almost like a lifelong thing. I remember my father liking, you know, oh, Humphrey Bogart-type movies and you know, the crime thrillers and noir and that kind of thing. And I, and I kinda picked that up from him. And then as I got older, I started looking at things like James Bond. And then later I started seeing like Shaft and all those things kind of molded together in my mind to this character I eventually created. But you know, I remember distinctly, and I'm dating myself, going to see Superman with Christopher Reeve and just being so moved by the, you know, I was a little kid, but it was like, this is a story that I wish I was in. So I started writing a character that was Superman, but it was my background. James (02:30): And then from there I started writing some other things. I did a book for a friend of mine, who's big into Star Trek. So I did like the history of the Enterprise and he really liked that. And then finally I wrote a---I'm sorry, I have to admit it. A fan fiction for a TV show I was watching. And then from there, I just, I was watching this show, another show from my past, Mike Hammer with Stacy Keach, and I really liked that show, and all those things just kind of clicked together and I've been doing it ever since. Debbi (03:02): Oh my gosh. I had no idea that you wrote fan fiction. That's so cool. James (03:06): I did one. I did one. Debbi (03:08): One. Okay. I think that's awesome. I think that's really awesome. So the UrbanKnights series has a protagonist. Who's a former operative of the Defense Intelligence Agency. That's a really interesting sort of background for private eye to come from. James (03:28): He started off. He pretty much mirrored my background until I figured he's me except cooler. And Jordan Noble started off as a missile launch officer at Minot like I did, but he had an event in his life that changed his trajectory. And I started off with the OSI, which is the Office of Special Investigation for the Air Force. It's kind of like the Air Force is FEI, but I wanted to make it a little bit more jazzy, a little cooler, you know, not so commonplace. So I'm looking at our first place, obviously the CIA, but man everybody's either ex-CIA or CIA. And at the time when I thought of using the DIA, it wasn't quite as well known in fiction. I mean, there are some characters. Denzel Washington's portrayal of the Equalizers from the DIA, but this was before that.

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Cathi Stoler on the Crime Cafe podcast. For your podcasting needs, I use and recommend Blubrry Podcasting. I also recommend Stitcher Premium, if you’re a fan of podcasts. If you like true crime or crime fiction, there are loads of podcasts out there for you. And with Stitcher Premium you can listen to the exclusive archives from Criminology or bonus episodes from True Crime Garage. You can also listen ad-free to episodes of your favorite podcasts. I’ve subscribed, and for only $4.99 a month, it’s nice to have ad-free entertainment. Just go to www.stitcher.com/premium and use the promo code, CRIMECAFE, to try it out absolutely free for a month. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (00:02): Hi everybody. My guest today writes mystery and suspense novels. Her latest novel and her giveaway book is BAR NONE from the Murder on the Rocks mystery series. A board member of Sisters in Crime, New York/Tri-State, MWA and the International Thriller Writers, she's also a founding member of Sirens of Suspense, a group that offers expertise and knowledge for aspiring crime writers. I'm pleased to have with me again, Cathi Stoler. Hi Cathi. It's great to have you on. Cathi (02:27): Hi, Debbi. It's great to be here. Debbi (02:32): Oh, well it's my pleasure. Believe me. And I'm just glad you're here and doing well I hope in New York? Cathi (02:40): Yeah. You know, I mean like everyone else, it's just been a little ... Debbi (02:45): Been a little off-putting? Cathi (02:48): Yeah. Even just going outside, there's not the usual energy, you know, you feel it after a while. I'm sure you know what I mean. Debbi (02:57): Mmm-Hmm. Yeah, it's strange times overall. Tell us a little about Jude Dillane. Am I saying that correctly? Jude Dillane? And the Murder on the Rocks series? Cathi (03:14): Well Jude owns The Corner Lounge on 10th street and Avenue B on the Lower East Side. She seems to have a penchant for getting in trouble and involved in murders and mysteries. There's three books in the series. The one that was, both BAR NONE and LAST CALL came out pretty close together. The end of last year, one in July and one in November. So I'm working on the third one, it's called STRAIGHT UP and it will continue that character. And will also continue part of the story from LAST CALL, but she has a good pal Sully Thomas, Thomas "Sully" Sullivan. He's her landlord and her friend. She has good friends from before and they both sort of work together and help each other. Debbi (04:12): So there are three books in the series so far, but you're working on the next one? Cathi (04:17): I'm working on the third one. I'm almost finished with that. And then there will probably be a fourth. Debbi (04:24): Got ya. Okay. So what's the third one called again? Cathi (04:28): The third one is called STRAIGHT UP a Murder on the Rocks mystery. They will all have that tagline, same tagline. Debbi (04:40): Yeah. What inspired you to write a mystery series set in a bar? Cathi (04:45): Well, my husband was in the restaurant business for many, many years before he left that business, and I used to go visit him. He always worked close to where we lived and I would visit him at the bar, and I got to know all the people, the waiters, the waitresses, the cooks, and you know, the other staff. And it was just fun. You know, it was a fun kind of environment. He always said, Oh, he thought maybe he'd write a book someday, but I knew he was not going to really do that. So I just stole his idea. No murders ever took place at the bars where he worked or anyone involved in any, so. [M]y husband was in the restaurant business for many, many years before he left that business, and I used to go visit him. He always worked close to where we lived and I would visit him at the bar, and I got to know all the people, the waiters,

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Phillip Thompson on the Crime Cafe podcast. For your podcasting needs, I use and recommend Blubrry Podcasting. I also recommend Stitcher Premium, if you’re a fan of podcasts. If you like true crime or crime fiction, there are loads of podcasts out there for you. And with Stitcher Premium you can listen to the exclusive archives from Criminology or bonus episodes from True Crime Garage. You can also listen ad-free to episodes of your favorite podcasts. I’ve subscribed, and for only $4.99 a month, it’s nice to have ad-free entertainment. Just go to www.stitcher.com/premium and use the promo code, CRIMECAFE, to try it out absolutely free for a month. And, once again, we have a transcription of the show notes. Click here to download a copy in PDF. Debbi (00:12): Hi everyone. My guest today is a crime novelist and short story writer. His work has appeared in such literary journals as O-Dark-Thirty, Near to the Knuckle, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, a title I really love. And these are just a few. It's a pleasure to have with me for his second appearance on the Crime Cafe, crime writer, Phillip Thompson. Hi Phillip. How are you doing today? Phillip (02:14): Good, Debbi, how are you? Debbi (02:16): Not bad. Thanks. All things considered. We were just talking about 2020 and what a weird year it's been Have the holidays been good ones for you? Phillip (02:27): They have, I mean, as good as any holiday can be in this year very low-key. It's been pretty good though. Debbi (02:37): That's awesome. Do you make new year's resolutions? I'm not a new year's resolutions kind of person. I always believe that anytime you want to make a change, you can make it regardless of the time of the year, but in a sense this year seems like one of those years where people are really thinking about that kind of thing. How do you come out on this? Phillip (03:00): You know, I, I don't think I ever have I used to have the, sort of the smart-alecky "my new year's resolution is to not make any new year's resolutions." But no, I don't. I kind of, I like your philosophy. If you need to make a change, you can make it, you know, on April the third, if you need to. Debbi (03:19): Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Or maybe even April 1st, but really mean it. Phillip (03:28): Right. Debbi (03:28): And everybody will think you're kidding. I don't know. Phillip (03:33): Well, then you get away with it, if you don't see it through. Debbi (03:36): Then you have an excuse. Yeah. Wow. I didn't even think about that. A new trend. Fantastic. Let's see, the last time you were here, you released a second Colt Harper novel, I believe. OUTSIDE THE LAW? And now you have your third one out called OLD ANGER. What is this book about? Tell us about the story. Phillip (04:02): Okay. It's, like you said, it's the third in the series and it's, this story is really, as the title might suggest it, it brings up a couple of old issues that have been hanging around, not just, not just for the characters, but for the place, which would of course be the Deep South. All the books take place in Mississippi. And it's really a story of, of the issues that come with Southern racism and the perceptions around that. Debbi (04:40): Yes. What kind of a person is Colt Harper and what are your plans for him generally speaking? Colt is kind of a guy who sees himself as a lawman. That's you know, it's his version of upholding the law has an awful lot to do with, with meting out justice. But I think he has a hard time seeing the difference between justice and revenge or, you know, redemption and revenge. Phillip (04:49): Well, Colt is kind of a guy who sees himself as a lawman. That's you know, it's his version of upholding the law has an awful lot to do with, with meting out justice. But I think he has a hard time seeing the difference between justice and revenge or, you know,