Featuring Cultured, Book 6 in the Jake Longly Thriller series by D.P. Lyle

 

I am honoured today to be joined by podcaster, radio host, blogger, and mystery/thriller writer D.P. Lyle! Welcome to Escape With a Writer! 

DP Lyleis the Amazon #1 Bestselling; Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Award-winning; andEdgar(2), Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, Scribe, and USA Today Best Book(2)Award-nominated author of 23 books, both non-fiction and fiction (the SamanthaCody, Dub Walker, Jake Longly, and Cain/Harper thriller series and the RoyalPains media tie-in series). Along with Jan Burke, he was the co-host of Crimeand Science Radio and hosts the podcast series Criminal Mischief. He has servedas story consultant to many novelists and the screenwriters of shows suchas Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy,Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, TheGlades, and Pretty Little Liars.

Website: http://www.dplylemd.com

Blog: https://www.dplylemd.com/blog

CriminalMischief Podcast Series: https://www.dplylemd.com/podcasts

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/dplylemd

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dp-lyle-md-5368a816/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4519359-dp-lyle

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-p-lyle

InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/dplylemd/

 

How manyhours a day do you write?

I don'thave a set time or a number of hours each day that I devote to writing.Basically I write when I feel like it and I don't when I don't. That said, I'musually up around four or five in the morning, and after I've had my coffee andanswered a few emails and other things, I write. That may last an hour orseveral hours. Along the same line, I don't have a specific word count goal. Iknow many writers have set times and word counts, but I don’t. When I beganwriting 25 years ago, I promised myself it would never become a job. I had ajob with my medical practice. I didn’t want another one. Writing was fun time.Not that I don’t take my writing and my career seriously, but I look at it asmy time to play with my imaginary friends.

How doyou choose which stories you will write?

I alwayshave several story ideas in play at any time for my two current thrillerseries—the Jake Longly comedic thrillers and the Cain/Harper darker and moretraditional thrillers. I try to write a book in each series each year. As forwhich story to choose, it's the one that wakes you up in the middle of thenight and the one that you're thinking about when you're"daydreaming." It's the one that intrudes into your thoughts the mostand if you don't address that one first, it will keep bugging you andinterfering with the story you’re working on. That’s the one you choose for thefront burner.

What isthe most difficult part of your artistic process?

I don'tparticularly care for first drafts. That's the heavy lifting. Since I don'toutline, that's also when I develop the story’s the plot. This means that thefirst draft is a lot of work, but it's also an adventure. I start with a coupleof scenes in mind, begin writing, and see where it takes me. By the time I getto around 40,000 words, I have the story well hammered out and I know whereit’s going and how it's going to end. I don't know any of that when I start thestory. Once the first draft is done, the fun begins. I love rewriting. That'swhen you really make a story a story.

Fiveyears from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

I hopeto still be turning out two novels a year, doing a lot of teaching, andcontinuing to work on my blog and my podcast series—Criminal Mischief: The Artand Science of Crime Fiction. I don't see any reason to change because what I'mdoing right now is a lot of fun. And fun is what it's all about.

How manyunpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I'vebeen fortunate in that every novel and short story I've written has beenpublished. In May, I released my 23rd book, CULTURED, the 6th in the JakeLongly series. I’ve also completed and edited the next in the series, and itwill be available next summer. Right now I'm working on my 4th Cain/Harper bookand I am at that magic 40,000 words, so the story is really rolling. To answeryour question, I have 23 books in print, another one completed, and another onein the works.

Wasthere a person who encouraged you to write?

I grewup in the south where everyone can tell a story, so storytelling has alwaysbeen part of my life. My family, my friends, and virtually everyone I knewcould tell a story. It's part of the culture down there. I’ve been an avidreader since I was very young and always wanted to write. I could spin a goodyarn, but could I write one? They are, of course, two entirely differentanimals. I assumed that I’d try writing the stories in my head once I retired,but I realized I was nowhere near retirement—-and indeed still haven’t.Approximately 25 years ago, I told myself, if not now, when? I took someclasses at the University of California Irvine in their extension program,joined a couple of writing groups, and began writing. I guess you would say therest is history. As for writers that have influenced me, James Lee Burke andElmore Leonard are at the forefront. There is much to learn from each of them,and I certainly have.

 CULTURED,Jake Longly #6

 

“Raywants you to join a cult.”

So itbegins. Jake Longly is yet again dragged into a private investigation he wantsno part of. This time into the world of the very rich and decadent. Self-helpand financial guru Jonathon Lindemann has built an empire, and a rustic, yetposh, retreat in rural Magnolia Springs, Alabama. As creator of The LindemannMethod, he is the golden goose for his investors and the Svengali to the manyyoung and beautiful women who work for him. Money, power, sex, what couldpossibly go awry?

 

 

SKIN INTHE GAME, Cain/Harper #1

Raised as siblings by an itinerant "gypsy" family, knife expert Bobby Cain, trained by the US military in the lethal art of covert eliminations, and Harper McCoy, nurtured by the US Navy and the CIA to run black ops and wage psychological warfare, are now civilians. Of a sort. Employing the skills learned from the "family" and their training, they now fix the unfixable. Case in point: Retired General William Kessler hires the duo to track down his missing granddaughter, a Vanderbilt University co-ed. Their search leads them to a small, bucolic, lake-side town in central Tennessee and into a world of prostitution, human trafficking, and serial murder. The question then becomes: Will their considerable skills be enough for Cain and Harper to save the young woman, and themselves, from a sociopath with "home field" advantage, a hunter's skills, and his own deeply disturbing agenda?

Terrific—trulysinister, scary, and suspenseful. Lyle never lets you down.—Lee Child, NYTBestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

SKININ THE GAME hums like a tuning fork in perfect thriller pitch. Heroes BobbyCain and Harper McCoy are skilled with blade and mind, and the villain heresent chills up my spine from page one on. This is further proof that Doug Lyleis at the top of his game.--T. Jefferson Parker author of THE LAST GOOD GUY

 

ForMore Info and to Purchase These or Any of D.P. Lyle's Books: 

https://www.dplylemd.com/books