Julia Buckley's Blog, page 13

Hollywood Native Laurie Stevens Talks Indie Books and L.A. Noir

Amy Edelman of THE HUFFINGTON POST called your book "a frighteningly great indie." What's the premise,

The plot revolves around a troubled Los Angeles Sheriff's detective, Gabriel McRay, who is terminated for police brutality. Gabriel suffers from rage, aggression, nightmares, and memory lapses. He is court-
ordered to seek therapy. During therapy, he discovers he is plagued by a suppressed memory of a childhood trauma. When a serial killer begins leaving personal notes addressed to Gabriel on the bodies of his victims, the notes begin jarring his memory. Gabriel soon realizes the killer's identity lies within the blocked memory. He then runs two parallel investigations: The first, a dark journey into the terrifying recollections of his past and the second: a search for a killer who seems to know more about Gabriel, than he knows himself.

and why does she call it frightening rather than "mysterious?"

The method in which the killer dispatches his victims could easily fit a horror novel!

Would you put your book in the mystery or the horror genre?

The book has elements of horror, mystery (because it is a who-dunnit) and most definitely is a psychological thriller.

Your website mentions "Follow Your Dreams Productions." What is that?

Follow Your Dreams Productions is the company I created to produce the stage play, "Follow Your Dreams" and to also fund the publishing of this book.

You have written for both television and movies. With what shows have you been affiliated?

Regarding television and film, two credits of which I'm proud to be a part are "Chris Isaak's Guide to the New Orleans Jazz Fest," which was the last footage shot of New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hit, and "The Ghost and the Gangster," which I wrote for the late, Academy Award- winning producer, John Daly. Just to be associated with him was a kick. The stage play, Follow Your Dreams, which ran for two months in Los Angeles, gave me the opportunity to co-write with director, writer and producer Ronald Jacobs (That Girl, The Andy Griffith Show, The Mod Squad). Mr. Jacobs is not only a co-writer, but he's been a wonderful mentor to me in regard to my writing. Working with him allows me to exercise my funny bone. Writing comedy is a wonderful break from the dark side of writing mysteries.

How did you go from writing in Hollywood to writing mysteries?

I actually started off writing short horror and mystery stories – they were my first published items. I turned to scripts because the opportunities came along. For me, writing mysteries is a solitary endeavor and I enjoy stepping out and co-writing in other genres when the opportunity knocks.

You mention that your favorite pastime is to "pick the brains of therapists." How exactly do you go about doing that? Did you arrange interviews with therapists in order to research your novel?

Most people, even psychologists, like to be interviewed about their work. Before I bother anybody, I will research all I can on the internet. After that, when I have specific questions that need answering, I'll seek out the opinion of professionals. I think they appreciate that I look like I know what I'm talking about (even if half the time I don't!) Now I have a wonderful pool of psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists who are willing to help me out with my work. Taking people out for coffee is a great way to keep the conversation casual. I'm very excited about an upcoming event in which psychology students at a local college will actually be analyzing the antagonist from The Dark Before Dawn!

You live in L.A., and that's the setting of your novel, DARK BEFORE DAWN. Many famous mysteries have been set in L.A. Did you find this intimidating when you chose your setting?

I myself am a big fan of L.A. mysteries and noir. There is something about this city that just begs to be a setting for trouble. I'm a second generation Californian, so I was not in the least bit intimidated to set my plot down right here in Los Angeles. The Santa Monica Mountains are both eerie and beautiful, deeply imbedded with various facets of the Old West, the American Indians, Hollywood movies, the Pacific Ocean, and New Age lifestyles. I couldn't think of a better place in which the characters could operate.

Will there be a sequel to your book?

Oh, yes. The next novel, Deep into Dusk, is ready to roll. In it, Gabriel continues to deal with the "trauma" he has now recalled. The new case to which he is assigned perfectly correlates with where he is in his psychological progression and, unfortunately for him, features a femme fatale.

How did you come up with Gabriel McRay, the name of your Sheriff's detective?

The name just seemed to come, and it felt right. Sometimes I think writers are open conduits – we get these ideas, sometimes out of nowhere, and then the characters write themselves.

Did you interview people in the Sherriff's office in order to research McRay?

Okay, here's a real mystery. I wrote the original draft some years ago. At that time, I had interviewed a detective who gave me a tour of the Sheriff's substation in my area and answered a lot of questions for me. Unfortunately, I lost contact with him in the interim. So now the book is published and his name makes the acknowledgement page and I go to the Sheriff's substation to hand-deliver a copy of the book with my thanks. Only nobody there knows him. They look up his name in the database, thinking that maybe he was transferred or retired. He's nowhere to be found. It's as if he never existed.

That is so bizarre!

The good news is, the Lieutenant and other officers are so mystified by the missing detective, they've become solid supporters. The only thing they ask is that I keep the police procedure as real as possible. On an interesting side note, my husband and I once snuck into the county morgue to do research. Thankfully, my niece is studying to be a forensic anthropologist, so I no longer need to trespass in order to research the forensics.

That's good! What are some of your own favorite mysteries?

Thomas Harris's books are a big influence and some of my favorite reads. Red Dragon is truly one of the most frightening books I have ever read. I grew up on Stephen King. Not exactly mysteries, but I was practically addicted to his books, and that's probably where the horror comes from. I admire Jim Thompson's books like The Killer Inside Me and Pop. 1280 and, as I've mentioned, I'm a fan of old L.A. noir, like the works of Raymond Chandler.

Chandler is the name I think of when I think of L.A.

Good luck with your publications, Laurie!

Thanks so much, Julia, for the opportunity to appear in Mysterious Musings!

Hurrah!

Congratulations to Linda, who won the free Kindle version of THE GHOSTS OF LOVELY WOMEN.

I hope you enjoy it, Linda!

Win a Free Kindle Book!!

The Ghosts of Lovely Women is climbing the Kindle charts! Click on the cover at right to get the Amazon Link.

English teacher Theodora "Teddy" Thurber is shocked to find out that a former student of hers--a bright and beautiful young woman named Jessica Halliday--has been murdered.

Soon afterward, Teddy discovers some cryptic messages that Jessica left for her, and she begins to try to follow the trail in order to find the truth about her former student's death. In the process she must delve into the literature that Jessica loved best, since it is from these literary masterpieces that Jessica has derived her clues.

Helping Teddy is the new history and psychology teacher, who seems fascinated by Teddy, despite her conviction that she leads a dull life. As her search for Jessica intensifies, she must also deal with the unwelcome advances of an old boyfriend, complicating her life even further.

Teddy's persistence puts her and the ones she loves in danger; but she can do no less than try to avenge the murder of a promising young woman whose future success had been assured.

At her side throughout this mystery is her faithful beagle, P.G.


LEAVE A COMMENT HERE AND BE ENTERED IN A DRAWING FOR A FREE KINDLE COPY!!!

And don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend. :)

November's Reality

"Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast."

--Sara Coleridge

Happy Halloween!

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Have a devil of a good time!

What Would He Think of Kindle?

In Josephine Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIME, Inspector Alan Grant, grumpy because he is confined to a hospital bed with a broken leg, says this:

"There are far too many people born into the world, and far too many words written. Millions and millions of them pouring from the presses every minute. It's a horrible thought."

Oh, Alan Grant! What would you (and Tey) think of Kindle and Nook and blogs and the entire virtual world of words?

I'm guessing he would say it was EXTREMELY horrible. :)

Two for One Monday

Today at Dames of Dialogue I'm talking about my menagerie of pets and how each of them is worthy of a Marley and Me-type memoir.

And at Poe's Deadly Daughters, I'm talking about my new book, THE GHOSTS OF LOVELY WOMEN.

Stop by and say hi!

On My Christmas List

I love the idea of this Haiku helper. What a fun way to pass an idle moment! The link to the catalog is here:


http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/gam...

Louie Flann is a Funny Fellow

The following is a guest blog by Louie Flann, whose book NEXT TIME WE STEAL THE CARILLON is available now on Kindle. Louie's slightly skewed view is at the center of his humor, and he shares his outlook for writing fiction here.

See, writing is like talking, with one notable exception. When people ask questions, there is usually only one answer--one truthful answer. In fiction, a question has an unlimited number of answers. For example: where did you grow up? Spain, The south of France, Berwyn, back of a Ford pickup, Tuesday. Good answers. In writing, one of them stands out as the best (Tuesday).

I either have a turn of plot or want to show a character's traits that interest me. After figuring out the things that make the character who he is—-could be his job, his interests, his hates—-the character writes his own story, almost. We know what he will do next because that is the only thing that he would do in that circumstance. Predictable, evolving into boring.
Slip him a curve—-he breaks his thumb, or his laptop. Ruffle his feathers. You can't imagine how this guy is going to get through this dilemma.

His name is Eric; he's twenty, a student, spends his time on videogames and gets a letter for jury duty. He never has enough time for his schoolwork, and now this. Of course, blow it off. No wait; get someone, pay someone to do the jury thing for him. Great, but who? And where will the money come from? Poor Eric.

How did it end for Eric? He tried to explain to the jury master on the phone that he was too sick to go. The guy didn't buy it, so Eric went for two days and met a girl on the first day, took her out for coffee that night, and got dumped on the third. Oh well.

Now for the good stuff. My book, Next Time We Steal The Carillon, is about college students in the Midwest in the nineties. I would have set it ten years later, but there is not a name for those years. The oughts, the pre-teens, the tweens? Come on! We'll have to wait another ninety years and hope that our great-great grandkids will be more serious about addressing this terrible problem. But, I digress.

Our student detectives have been tasked with the job of finding the stolen school antique. Signs point to witches or some magic people. Then, some other signs point to collectors, and yet other signs point to thieves. Too many signs!

You'll be pleased to know that in the end, they sort all the signs out. Yes, there is a little innocent flirtation going on, and yes, there are some college hijinx going on, and yes, there is some serious detecting going on. These are kids you'd be proud to have as your sons or daughters or mothers or fathers or pastors.

Please note: No animals were injured in the writing of this book.

Check out Louie's website at www.voltessa.com.

A Super New Cover

This book goes on Kindle soon--I'm very excited about the cover art by Ivan Diaz! It captures that mythological/Underworld feeling that I wanted. The girl in the picture is drawing night around her like a cloak.

Look for it on Kindle in about a week!