SPFBO Author Interview: Assaph Mehr
It’s been a few days! Things have been very busy on my end, trying to get The Thousand Scars ready. No ETA yet on the relaunch yet, but editing has been going very well. Stay tuned!
Today I bring you an interview with Assaph Mehr, who is also owner of The Protagonist Speaks. Tyir had a roadtrip over there once. It was very pleasant.
As always, I have a list of my current interviews for SPFBO(5) down below. Check out whichever you like!
SPFBO Author Interview: Angela Boord
SPFBO Author Interview: Huw Steer
SPFBO Author Interview: E.L. Drayton
SPFBO Author Interview: Steve Turnbull
SPFBO Author Interview: Nicholas Hoy
SPFBO Author Interview: Phil Williams
SPFBO Author Interview: Luke Tarzian
SPFBO Author Intrview: L. L. Thomsen
SPFBO Author Interview: Clayton Snyder
SPFBO Author Interview: M. H. Thaung
SPFBO Author Interview: Keith Blenman
SPFBO Author Interview: David Reiss
First of all, tell me about yourself! What do you write?
G’day Michael! I write what I like to read: Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic – for lovers of Dark Urban Fantasy, Hardboiled Detectives, and Ancient Rome. I love reading across all those genres, and since there was no paranormal investigator set on an Ancient Roman background, I set out to rectify that.
How do you develop your plots and characters?
Together. Each novel I wrote was a bit of a different experience. In terms of plot, since they are mysteries I know where we start (my protagonist gets offered a bag of coins to deal with what looks like a supernatural cause) and I know where it ends (what the mystery is about). In between I usually have some aspects of Roman culture and fantasy that I want to hit (the historical-fantasy speculative “what if” bit). Then I write to discover the story in between for myself.
The characters grow organically. They usually come to me and present themselves. If it’s a major character, I might interview them or let them ramble on for a bit, so I get to know them better. Usually as I write they emerge with the story. For example, in the WIP I was writing a scene I called “road trip” because they were supposed to, err, perform a tactical repositioning to another location (strategically running away). They presented it to the person in charge, and she absolutely refused. She even came up with reasons why it’s not a good idea, and a better solution. I had to rename the scene to “Not a road-trip”, and do some fancy re-plotting…
Tell us about your current project.
My current WIP is the third full-length volume in the series, titled In Victrix. It is a story of gladiator games and chariot races, of secret societies and womanly mysteries (or more succinctly, “races, curses, and women’s places”). My protagonist is out of his depth, which is fun to see.
I enjoy researching different aspects for each novel, and I love how each has a slightly different tone, despite what on the surface might appear just similar detective cases. The first novel, Murder In Absentia, was a “howdunit” – a crime that couldn’t have happened; the second novel, In Numia, had an important courtroom drama, trying to nail the bastard. This third one is a “whydunit” – the reasons behind the crime being the most important.
There’s also an over-arching arc for the characters that goes throughout the series and their lives, which I love exploring as well.
Who would you say is the main character of your novels? And tell me a little bit about them!
In a classic hard-boiled detective style, the stories are narrated in first-person by the detective, Felix. His full name is Spurius Volpius Felix, but everyone calls him Felix the Fox (because it’s nicer than Weasel). It’s pig-Latin for “Lucky Foxy Bastard” (not historically accurate, but fun nonetheless).
He’s got a bit of a checkered past. He started to study magic formally but got booted out when the family fortunes were lost and he couldn’t pay tuition. A brief stint in the legions taught him quickly that career soldiers do mostly marching and digging, interrupted by bouts of terrifying violence. He managed to get himself invalidated out in an incident involving loaded dice and a live hedgehog, and somehow found himself working for a couple of notorious private investigators. When the Fates brought them a case with paranormal aspects they didn’t want to touch, Felix jumped on the opportunity and built up his own niche.
He’s been doing nickel and dime stuff (one should say, semis and quadrans), like cursed rings or chasing monsters in the sewers. Since he was desperate for income, he’d take any job and do anything for a bonus (or a free meal). Morals are fluid when you’re hungry. His reputation grew, and the books tell of his major cases, the ones that built up his career.
Is this your first entry into SPFBO? If not, how many times have you entered?
My entry to SPFBO this year is my second novel, In Numina. It is the second major case for Felix (since the cases are independent – there’s just some continuity in his personal life –it’s not a series as such by the contest definition). It’s a tale of haunted houses and court houses, of depraved curses and inspired legal maneuvering, one that will leave readers breathless.
My first entry some three years back was Murder In Absentia, the first book I’ve written. It got a “Very good, but not quite” review from the blog that judged it – and I agree. I’ve learned a lot since and improve with each work I write (and readers agree, as they keep coming back for more and leaving glowing reviews).
I often compare the series to “Harry Dresden in a Toga”. There are significant differences (Felix isn’t a powerhouse magician, but a failed one – the focus is the mysteries), but I do think that it will appeal to the same readership. It also pertains to what I said before – go read Storm Front (the first Dresden book) again; I hope to improve with each subsequent book in the same way Butcher had 
