Mike Angley

MA:  MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!  I’m joined today by mystery author Debbi Mack who has one published novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, which she describes as a hard-boiled mystery.  She’s also had short stories published in the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthology in 2004 and in Vol. II, No. 3 of The Back Alley, an e-zine at http://www.backalleywebzine.com/.   Her latest short story will appear in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 4, to be issued by Wildside Press in March 2010.  Debbi also works as a freelance writer and researcher, and was a reporter for one of the Dow Jones news wires.  Before that, she practiced law for nine years.

Welcome, Debbi!  Did you always want to write, or is this something that you became interested in later in life?

DM:  I’ve always wanted to be a writer, ever since I tried to write my first novel at age 10. (Wrote one chapter and stopped when I realized writing a novel was hard. ) I ended up majoring in journalism in college. Instead of pursuing a writing career, I went to law school (seemed like the right thing to do at the time). After practicing law for nine years, I decided to make a career switch to freelance writing. I also started writing fiction, with serious intent to get published. This was in 1995. My first short story was published nine years later, in the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthology. This was my proverbial big break. I submitted my novel manuscript to the anthology’s publisher, and got my first book contract. (Ironically, this was both good and bad for me. The publisher released my novel in June 2005, but started having financial problems nine months later and stopped paying its authors royalties. The authors began leaving the fold in droves. I decided I had to cut my ties, too. So, I got my rights back, tried to shop the out-of-print novel around (with no success–publishers generally weren’t doing reprints of new author titles), and finally decided I’d reissue the novel myself through Lulu.com.

MA:  Well, you certainly had a roller coaster ride in your writing career!  What made you choose to write mystery novels?

DM:  I’m not sure if I chose to write them or they chose me. I read lots of novels and the market for novels, while extremely competitive, is greater than for short stories (although, I’ve published a handful of those, too). I’ve considered doing screenwriting and have written one feature film script, the script for a TV pilot and the script for a one-act musical that I keep in the proverbial drawer. But it’s even harder to break into the film business than publishing, and if you want a career as a TV writer, the conventional wisdom is that you must move to LA (which isn’t an option for me).

MA:  I imagine as a lawyer you experienced some things that later provided good grist for the writing mill.  Did your law career help shape your writing in any way?

DM:  My experience as a lawyer has inspired some of my story ideas, though nothing I’ve written has been taken straight from real life. I’d always wanted to write private eye stories. But there were so many hardboiled female PIs by the time I got around to writing fiction, I decided to make my protagonist a bit different by making her a lawyer who investigates mysteries connected with her cases. I’m not the first to do this, actually. I was inspired by the work of Judith Van Giesen (author of the Neil Hamel series) and, later, by Mercedes Lambert (author of the Whitney Logan series), both of whom have written hardboiled mysteries in which attorneys acted as investigators.  My characters tend to be amalgams of the traits I’ve seen in others. Some of them have characteristics of various people I know, but I wouldn’t say any of them has actually been based on one particular person.

MA:  So tell us about your writing projects so far.

DM:  My one (and so far, only) novel is IDENTITY CRISIS. It’s a hardboiled mystery, in which a female lawyer, Stephanie Ann “Sam” McRae investigates murder and identity theft. It starts when a homicide detective and an FBI agent show up at her office and tell her one of her clients is not only missing, but a “person of interest” in her ex-boyfriend’s murder. Then, Sam learns that someone’s tried to steal her identity. As Sam looks for her missing client, she finds out the client may have been the one who attempted identity theft against her (along with many others). She also runs afoul of the Mob, who’s looking for her client, too. The story is mainly a private eye-style who-dunnit, with a bit of action/suspense and lots of plot twists.

MA:  That sounds pretty interesting, and perhaps not so far-fetched given the identity theft problem these days!  Tell me more about Sam.

DM:  Sam developed based in part on my own experiences and in part on the conventions of the private eye genre. Some of her character traits come from myself and other female lawyers I’ve known, but a lot of her is simply a product of my imagination.  Sam’s strengths are her loyalty to clients, high ethical standards, wit, sympathy for the underdog, the tendency to question authority and her ability to reason and deal with difficult situations. Her weaknesses include difficulty forming meaningful relationships (especially with men), intimacy and commitment issues, excessive stubbornness and lack of willingness to compromise. Some of her strengths, when taken to extremes, could arguably be seen as weaknesses (for instance, when she questions authority so much, it makes her work more difficult).

MA:  Does she encounter a consistent nemesis, you know, one of those perpetual bad guys who always seems to pop up at odd times?

DM:  Sam doesn’t really have a recurring nemesis comparable to Sherlock’s Moriarty. However, Sam does face a continuing antagonist in the police. (She’s a former public defender, who tends to distrust authority figures–especially the police.) As I had originally envisioned it, her biggest antagonist was going to be a homicide detective who had a bad history with Sam from her days as a public defender, when she exonerated a man tried for killing the detective’s fiancé. I’ve written two more stories in which Sam and the detective seem to be reaching a kind of uneasy truce on this matter (maybe even coming to like each other better). However, Sam’s married lover in IDENTITY CRISIS (a prosecutor) is turning out to be more of a continuing antagonist than I’d expected when I started writing these stories.

MA:  I find your description of the stories’ evolution fascinating…almost as if the characters are willing their own plot!  So what’s next?  What will your characters allow you to do may be a better way to phrase it!

DM:  My hope is that I can find another traditional press to take on (what I hope will be) the Sam McRae mystery series. I’ve also written a standalone humorous crime caper (similar in tone to Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard’s work) and I’m currently working on a thriller (also a standalone). I’d love to find a publishing home for them, too.  Otherwise, I’ll continue to work on more short stories and other projects (including Sam McRae novels) and keep pitching them to agents and publishers.

MA:  So do Sam and friends get to stick around in your future work?

DM:  I certainly hope to build a series around Sam McRae, so naturally various friends, associates, rivals, etc., would appear in future books. I think that’s part of the attraction of a mystery series. Recurring characters provide continuity and let you watch the protagonist grow and change, in relation to others. Plus I think a lawyer protagonist has great potential to get into situations that lend themselves to mystery plots.

MA:  I must admit that you are very plucky in the way you’ve handled your initial bad experiences in publishing.  I think many people would have thrown in the towel after what you endured.  Any advice for aspiring writers?

DM:  For one thing, I feel lucky to be able to do this. Writing is my life’s dream and entertaining readers is my goal. Whatever it takes to do that, I’ll do it. My experiences to date have been far from easy, but if you intend to succeed in this business, you just have to keep going no matter what. I try not to look back in anger or bitterness, but look forward with all the hope and energy I can muster.

I hope that despite all the hurdles one must overcome as (essentially) a self-published author, that people will give me the benefit of the doubt. If you read my book’s Amazon reviews, you’ll see the vast majority are highly favorable. I’ve also gotten some excellent reviews in both online and print publications.

MA:  Thanks for coming aboard today, Debbi!  Please visit Debbi Mack’s website for more information about her and her writing:  http://www.debbimack.com and her personal blog: http://midlistlife.wordpress.com

Today I received a superb review of my newest novel, Child Finder: Resurrection.  It was such an early and unexpected Christmas gift, that I had to share it…right away!  I am grateful to multi-book author Joyce Faulkner, who is also President of the Military Writers Society of America, for these wonderful words:

“Child Finder: Resurrection, award-winning author Mike Angley’s second novel, is rich with sensory images and Catholic philosophy. Mixing those two very literary techniques with a bang-bang shoot-em-up tale might seem risky to some—and it is. However, Angley has created a super-hero who transcends comic-bookery while maintaining the genre’s idealistic view of good overcoming evil. He created this approach in his first book, Child Finder, but the reader will find a maturation of style and new complexity in plotting in Resurrection. In this story, not only does Major Pat O’Donnell, the psychic protagonist, talk to God and the Saints and Angels, but God and the Saints and Angels communicate back to him. It’s a nice touch.

There’s a hint of Hitchcockian suspense – the reader knows more than the characters. The bad guy is really bad. What Pat can sense and what he can’t is a mystery, leaving the audience to scream out warnings about what’s behind that closed bathroom door. The mood is ominous and the threat isn’t only to Pat himself, but to his family and friends. If it’s so easy for Pat and the killer to see into the minds of others, shouldn’t we all be erecting brick walls around our own thoughts? Racing around corners and falling through space on the other side of a rickety climb, the novel is a tooth-grinding rollercoaster ride.

Like Child Finder, Resurrection is a general audience thriller which will also appeal to religious audiences and young adults. Fun and thought-provoking, the book can be read as a spiritual allegory or as a fast-paced action piece. Keep your bible and your valium nearby!”

—Joyce Faulkner, President of Military Writers Society of America, author of Shadow of Suribachi, Losing Patience, and For Shrieking Out Loud, Co-author of Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors



On December 15, 2009 I was invited to appear as a guest on Paul Ibbetson’s Conscience of Kansas radio program, broadcast on Kansas Stat University’s FM Radio station, Wildcat 91.9.  This was a great honor for me because Paul is an accomplished and respected radio host, having interviewed the likes of people such as Tony Blankley, Rick Santorum, Jed Babbin, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, among others.  If you go to the podomatic link, my interview starts around the 30 minute point, but I do encourage you to listen to the entire program.

Here’s more information about Paul, and I recommend you visit his website for some great articles and archived interviews: Paul A. Ibbetson.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a published author and lecturer on the Patriot Act. He is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in Sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books “Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society” and “Feeding Lions: Sharing the Conservative Philosophy,” (both available for purchase at Paul’s own book store or at Amazon.com, as well as other major book outlets) and is the host of the award winning radio show the “Conscience of Kansas” on The Wildcat 91.9 FM. Paul is a regular writer for the Conservative Crusader as well as over 30 other online websites.

Once again, my good friend and fellow writer, Mary Deal, comes through with another great article.  This particular one is important to an aspiring writer because it speaks to the nexus between writing what strikes an author’s passion, and writing what the publishing world can sell.  This can be a bitter pill for new writers to swallow.  I think every writer follows his heart first and writes what comes from deep within the well of his passion, emotion, and life experience.  But then the cold, sometimes cruel world of publishing reality settles in.  What strikes the author’s fancy may not even merit a yawn from an editor.  So what is a passionate writer to do?  Read Mary’s article for some advice.  Of course, visit her website, too, for more great articles and writing tips: Write Any Genre.

A False Sense of Value

by Mary Deal

When we writers select a topic on which to expound, chances are, we choose that topic because of its emotional impact on ourselves. We feel something strongly and want to let the world know our opinion. If we felt nothing, what’s to write?

Once the essay or story is finished and we’re feeling good about having gotten our brainstorm on paper, the next step is to decide if what we’ve written is important enough to send out to get published. Or have we simply committed a lot of weak personal opinion and gibberish to paper?

If we thought about the value of our topic before we wrote, we may write nothing. It’s the emotional value of a topic that rouses our muses; that makes us feel we have something to say.

With great certainty, a topic of little interest to the public, but which sparked something in us, will get rejected, unless we can turn the article or story into a spectacular piece of prose. If lackluster but you still think it shows promise, only after submission might such a piece connect with an editor who just might be able to fit it in or ask for a rewrite first. Editors must also feel your enthusiasm through your writing. If not, the many rounds of submissions aren’t worth it.

What a writer must do is to make certain the topic they choose has some value for the reading public, and fit a market. Just because we feel a lot of emotion for something doesn’t mean the reading public will feel the same.

Choosing a topic we feel emotionally charged about is a natural priority in selecting what to write. Just as important: We must ask ourselves if we’re the only person, or among the few, who feel that way. Emotions in writing are necessary, but they can also lead us astray. It’s quite possible to create a spectacular article or story out of a topic few care about. The quality of the writing will be what makes a dull topic come alive. It’s easier to choose a topic that’s both something we feel charged about and which the reading public would find of interest.

Emotions can give us a false sense of value, leading us to think because we’re excited about something others will be too. Unless we’re excited about a topic that has a specific market, our prose could end up on the endless wheel of multiple submissions and rejections. If that happens, the only way to save the piece is to rewrite again and again and make it exciting or exacting. Or simply put the piece aside until the muse provides a way to make it more desirable. Move on to another project.

MA:  I am pleased to introduce today’s guest-blogger, P.I. Barrington.  Ms. Barrington is an ex-entertainment industry professional (read: radio air talent to record label worker bee) who has recently returned to her original career choice of fiction writing. She lives in Southern California, and her first novel, Crucifying Angel, launched in early November.

So, tell us what you did before you became a writer?  Your previous entertainment industry experiences sound interesting.

PI:  I pretty much did everything else I wanted to do in life before I finally succumbed to the realization I have to write whether I want to or not. It’s the easiest work I’ve ever done and getting published has been astoundingly easy. I started out as a newspaper reporter for my local paper and then went back to college and discovered radio! That’s the second easiest job and like writing, was incredibly easy to do professionally. But I wasn’t satisfied. My goal since I first saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as a kid was to grow up, work at a record label and meet Paul McCartney. I worked at Capitol Records and met both Paul and Linda McCartney before her death. That was the epitome of my working career. They were two of the most gracious people I ever met. I could die happy. After a long twenty-odd years I finally decided to try writing again and it all just gelled together.

MA:  I’m impressed!  I’m a big Beatles fan myself, so I think that’s really cool you got to meet the McCartney’s.  As for writing, many authors would say writing is difficult – certainly the publishing/marketing/advertising end of the business.  If you find it easy, then you are undoubtedly talented and lucky!  With all you’ve done in your life, what lured you to novels?

PI:  I love fiction, always have, and I like the fact that maybe somehow I can make someone feel better, happier, or at least engage them emotionally with my books. To me, the best books stay with you forever.  I’d love to achieve that one day. That’s my definition of a ‘real’ writer.

MA:  Considering your background, you’ve likely encountered some interesting people, some high-maintenance celebrity types…did you shape any fiction characters based upon your experiences?

PI:  My characters usually don’t come from real life, per se. They may have characteristics of real people I’ve known but most of them arise from pictures of people I collect from various sources. Most of them are anonymous but they have the look I want and they basically ‘tell’ me who and what they are.  And lots of times they’ll tell me their names.  Sometimes, I will have a germ of a personality quirk, flaw, or habit that later will develop into a full-on character.

Career wise, I’ve dealt with a variety of people from average to massive celebrities. It kind of gives you a perspective as to the conflicts that everyone has no matter who you are. Everyone carries guilt, everyone makes mistakes in judgment, everyone suffers in some way and everyone has to make difficult decisions. That’s the human component in fiction.  My characters always develop major conflicts.

MA:  Well, I think good conflict is what oftentimes shapes a story into excellent fiction.  Tell us about your writing.

PI:  Crucifying Angel is my debut novel.  It’s the first in a series called Future Imperfect. My editor/publisher calls it sci-fi but I like the term “near-future” since it’s not really that far into the future and isn’t really hard-core science fiction. And there is a romantic element to it as well.  The second book, tentatively titled Miraculous Deception is underway at this time. It’s slated for a June 1, 2010 release.

MA:  Interesting – I don’t do a lot of sci-fi reading (even though my series, the Child Finder Trilogy is a paranormal mystery).  Who is your protagonist?

PI:  Well, it started with a female character, Payce Halligan, who immediately became the romantic interest of the male character, both of whom are the protagonists so to speak. I didn’t want Payce to be a ‘thunder thighs’ type of super hero woman so I made her small and petite. I’ve actually known police officers who are small like that, and I think that gives her a more realistic, relatable persona. My hero, Gavin McAllister, is tall dark and British and I wanted him to be completely out of his element so I stuck him in the most opposite place from Britain I could think of, which turned out to be Las Vegas 32 years into the future with the rapidly breaking down environment. I’ve been to both Britain and Las Vegas (too many times to keep count) and environmentally, they’re polar opposites. Britain is cool and wet while Vegas is dry and hot. So, he’s not only battling his own personal demons but also the place he’s physically in as well. Both characters have terribly tragic personal histories and are trying to deal with those as well as each other both as partners and romantic interests.

Gavin has momentary lapses in judgment and he has this awful habit of ending up in situations where he is completely misunderstood.  I think his biggest strength is that he can deal with this giant heap of guilt on his head and that he’s trying to move ahead with it.

MA:  So who serves up the conflict…who is the bad guy or girl in your stories?

PI:  There is a particular bad guy in each book, but there’s also another shadow bad guy throughout all three books. I can’t say more than that right now.

MA:  You sound like a government agent – I can’t say more than that right now, something I used to say a lot!  So, does art imitate life for you in your novel?

PI:  I worked in emergency medicine for a while and that included working with fire and police departments so I have a bit of knowledge there as well as having a brother-in-law who’s a cop.  I watched him work his way up from beat cop to Homicide Detective to Sergeant, and I asked questions all along the way. So I have a pre-built-in reference source!

MA:  You mentioned that Crucifying Angel is the first in a series you are writing.  Tell us about your projects.

PI:  Before I started this series I had several projects going on at any given time. But when my editor contracted me to actually write this series for her, I soon realized that everything had to go on the back burner to get Crucifying Angel done on deadline. I have a little more leeway with Book Two. But I’ve still got those other stories percolating. They’re in different genre’s including a paranormal mystery that hopefully is funny too and it takes place in Hollywood; there’s a real sci-fi fantasy where both genres’ are merged; and an ancient medical thriller that someday will be published—I hope.  Oh, and I’d love to be able to write a sitcom.

MA:  With all the different types of genres and ideas you have, surely your protagonists won’t feature in your other projects, or will they somehow?

PI:  Yes, definitely. Payce and Gavin of course will carry through to the end and several of the characters will carry through one or two books and some will be…’removed’.  I think location has a lot to do with the structure of the story as well as creating plotlines, atmosphere and conflict/obstacle potential. But you have to know your locations especially if you’re writing in current or near-future times.  It lends verisimilitude and engagement to your story.

MA:  (dictionary on my knee…looking up v-e-r-i-s-i-m…oh, forget it!).  Well, thanks very much P.I. for spending some time with us today!  I enjoyed our chat, and I know my readers will enjoy reading about you and your books.  For more information about P.I. Barrington and Crucifying Angel, please visit:

http://theegypsy.blogspot.com/

Over the weekend, three websites ran features about me and my stories, and I could not be happier with the opportunities they presented and the kind words the authors had to say.

Both the Campaign for the American Reader and the Writers Read blogs carried similar articles about the books I am currently reading.  It’s a nice twist to the standard feature about what I am writing.  I spoke about two recent books, The Last Jihad by Joel Rosenberg, and The Last Bullet by Merline Lovelace.  By the way, Merline sent me a very nice email once she read the articles where I spoke about her book.  Like me, she is a retired USAF Colonel who writes fiction in retirement, and her heroine is an Air Force OSI Special Agent, like my protagonist, Patrick S. O”Donnell.

I also featured in an article I wrote about the business reality of writing and publishing for Larry Brooks’s The Story Fix.  My article is called, “Patience, Persistence, Perfection.”  I encourage you to check out all of these articles and the websites on which they appear.

My good writer friend, Mary Deal, has given me a great article she authored about emotional release through character conflicts.  She talks about a subject that sometimes is so nuanced, that oftentimes writers neglect to go through the mental exercise of projecting their emotions into the characters they create.  I can relate to this on a personal level.  When I developed my protagonist’s character, I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions as he journeyed through the plot of the story.  Air Force Special Agent Patrick O’Donnell’s dual — and sometimes competing — characteristics of being both a rough and tumble government agent and a loving, devoted, husband and father, made for some significant ups and downs.  Read Mary’s article for her superb insight into this important element of writing.  Of course, visit Mary’s website for more great articles on the craft of writing: Write Any Genre.  Thanks, Mary!

Emotional Release

Through Character Conflicts

by Mary Deal

Writers must allow themselves to experience all the emotion they create as they write.

Sometimes the lyrics in certain songs get deeper into my psyche each time I hear them. The accompanying instrumentals can accentuate that too.

An example I like is Joy Enriquez’s vocal from the movie Anna and the King. Her squeaks and voice-breaks and near-crying tone at the right moment reach deep into my emotions and opens them up. When the song is over, I know I have heard words and music that have touched a deeper part of me and I feel immensely satisfied.

It is one thing to hear a pleasing melody, another to have the words of a song put you in touch with your emotions.

As an author of words, you should strive to go as deeply into your reader’s psyche, to dredge up emotions and perhaps rake them over fiction’s flame. If you can do this, ultimately you leave your reader with a sense of satisfaction at the story’s end.

In today’s world, it’s not enough to write a story for the sake of telling a plausible tale. As purveyors of emotional satisfaction through words, writers must appeal to the reader’s need for a sense of fulfillment. Like music, a good story is a good story. But music or a story that enables the reader to experience a gamut of emotions will be a better sell.

A simplified difference in story telling is that a good romance, perhaps, shows the reader the attraction between two people, their differences and how they overcome them. They end up together and, voila! The story ends upbeat in spite of it all.

In order to make that story linger in the memory of the reader—which will make them yearn for your next book—your characters must not only have differences but they might be irreconcilable. Certainly two people in love and having those kinds of problems ache inside. You as the writer must ache with them. You must write that story so that you feel all the pain. If you do not feel the pain, you have not presented a plausible enough reason to keep these two people apart. More importantly, you probably haven’t written convincingly enough for your reader if you cannot convince yourself.

If you can write so that you ache for your characters, then can come up with a solution that alleviates your own pain, your reader will feel that same duress and subsequent relief for your characters. You will have raked the reader’s emotions over fiction’s fire, presented a viable solution, and enticed your reader to remember your byline.

Notice that I said “viable solution.” Your ending doesn’t have to be the perfect solution, only an acceptable one. Perhaps, it is some situation that both people must learn to live with if they are to be together. They swallow their pride; they compromise something of great importance to themselves and they hurt because of it—all so that they might remain together. Or perhaps the story ends with them going separate ways and that might be the proper ending. But they still hurt inside. Didn’t your heart ache when you heard Rick (Humphrey Bogart) utter those famous words to Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) in Casablanca before he walked away: “Here’s looking at you, kid.”

When creating conflicts, check in with yourself and see how your heart aches for your characters. If you recognize that as something you feel as you conjure your plots, you will convey it to your reader who will absorb it and yearn for it as they gobble up your books.

I consider it a great privilege to appear as a guest-blogger on the prestigious Author Exchange Blog today!  My friend and fellow Rocky Mountain writer Linda Faulkner invited me to guest and made all the arrangements.  She put together a great post (and she even said I have a baby face…now she’s officially on mine and Santa’s “nice” list ).  Please check out the post and leave comments.

By the way, Linda Faulkner will appear as a guest on the Child Finder Trilogy on January 29, 2010.  It’s a long way off, but well worth the wait.  Make sure you stop by and read her interview here when the time comes!

My guest today is quite an impressive woman!  Laura Elvebak is the author of the Niki Alexander mystery series.  Laura was born in North Dakota, but raised in Los Angeles and San Francisco.  She draws from her nomad kind of existence in various cities throughout Baja California, New York, Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania before settling in Houston with her three children, now grown.  Along the way, she studied writing at UCLA, USC, Chaffey Community College, and Rice University.  Laura optioned three screenplays to a production company and a fourth script placed second in the Empire Screenwriting Contest.  Laura also wrote, directed and acted in a play staged in Houston. She is a member of The Final Twist Writers, Sisters-In-Crime and Mystery Writers of America.  Whew!  That’s quite a list of accomplishments.

MA:  Please tell us a little bit about your professional and personal background, if you don’t mind me asking.  I’m interested in what shaped your writing career.

LE:  I have always been a writer preparing for my ultimate goal of being published. I picked my six husbands because they were great characters – a motorcycle racer, a wounded ex-hard hat diver and demolitions expert, an actor/bartender, a Hawaiian chef and martial arts teacher, an Israeli, who eventually opened a New York restaurant, and a truck driver. Unfortunately, they didn’t make good husbands.  To subsidize my writing and support the husbands and three children, I worked as a waitress, a go-go dancer, car saleswoman, department store clerk, psychiatrist assistant, and a legal and corporate secretary.  I also studied writing at UCLA, USC, Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA and Rice University. I’ve written screenplays and sold four screenplay options to a production company.  I have lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, New York City, Atlantic City, NJ, several towns and cities in Florida, Baja California, and now reside in Houston. (My second husband moved us regularly and insisted we change our last name. I think someone was chasing him.)

MA:  (holding my side, still laughing)  What an interesting set of life and love experiences.  So why novels?  You could write a screenplay about your real life, perhaps even a sitcom!

LE:  I think in novels or movies. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t go to sleep until I imagined a plot – with the previews first.  I could step outside myself and write what I was doing in third person.  The plots would be intricate and novel form.

MA:  I can only imagine that, with all you’ve experienced in life, you’ve met some interesting people who’ve managed to invade your writing mind and find themselves on paper…true?

LE:  I have met many fascinating characters, a couple of bosses – lawyers – I would have liked to kill (in fiction).  Several I met while dancing have inspired as well. Several of the characters in “Lost Witness” (my second book) are people I’ve met. Tara, for instance, is based on a real person I’ve known for years through my youngest daughter. She once lived on the street and both her daughters have lived on the street. I’ve fictionalized them in actions, but they are very real to me.

MA:  You know you keep putting me in stitches!  This is probably the “funnest” interview I’ve done so far.  Tell us about your writing.

LE:  My first novel is “Less Dead,” published in 2008 by L&L Dreamspell (ISBN: 9781603180405).  When a homeless teenage girl wakes up in Houston’s Tranquility Park next to a murdered city councilman and disappears, Homicide Investigator Luis Perez turns to his ex-partner Niki Alexander, now a counselor with a teen shelter, for help in locating the girl.  Three years earlier Niki quit the Houston Police Department after she fatally shot a teenage boy.  Haunted by the memory and the guilt, she is driven to help troubled teens who have run away or been abandoned.  She soon suspects that the missing teen is the street girl she knows as Jade.  Meanwhile, teenage prostitutes and runaways are being brutally murdered and she fears Jade may become a victim, if she isn’t one already.  With the help of a street thug known as the King of the Street, she discovers a connection between Jade and the murdered man that was not initially apparent.  Niki’s search takes her among homeless teens and into predominantly male gay bars where dangerous secrets are revealed.  But she isn’t the only one desperate to find the girl. Someone else will do anything to stop her from uncovering the truth.

The second in the series, “Lost Witness,” a mystery suspense thriller, was released October 2009 (ISBN:9781603181440).  A lost little boy winds up in the world of homeless teens and in the arms of counselor Niki Alexander.  Did he witness a gruesome murder?  Homicide Investigators Luis Perez and Nelson Spalonetti suspect a woman found murdered in an alley was a drug mule from Mexico. Could the child who appeared at the same time be her son?  The traumatized boy won’t speak, and when he disappears, Niki feels responsible and fears the killer may have found him.  Her search leads her from Montrose to River Oaks to a Mexican drug cartel.

MA:  Those are some stirring plots, wrapped around the sad and true world of homeless teens.  How did you come up with Niki as your heroine?

LE:  I had her name and characteristics first, but Niki Alexander really came to life when I realized what she did.  I always wanted to show the teens on the street, how they survived day to day, what they felt and how they kept on.  I wanted Niki to be well acquainted with the cop world and having her kill an older teen during a shootout gave her motive to quit and turn to a profession that would help or save teenagers.

MA:  So from what well does Niki draw her strengths?  How about what makes her weak?

LE:  Niki is loyal and stubborn.  When she sees a wrong, and a kid is hurt, she determines to fix it.  She is a workaholic who cares too much and an idealist fighting the pressure to become a cynic.

She’s been hurt by love and is afraid to commit.  Her husband of one year, a motorcycle cop, was killed in a auto accident.  Yet she is drawn to Nelson Spalonetti, who took her place as Luis Perez’s partner in Homicide. She and Nelson become lovers in this second book.

MA:  So a little romance blossoms in the second story!  How about her nemesis – or nemeses, perhaps?

LE:  The “bad guy” is the hitman.  Her nemesis is a drug dealer who is trying to escape from that life to care for his son who had been taken from him.  But he hides his motives and his actions seem to be everything Niki is fighting against.

MA:  So what’s in your writing future?

LE:  I will continue to write Niki Alexander mysteries. I feel close to her and through her I can tell the stories I feel need to be told.  There are also several other ongoing characters. Nelson Spalonetti and Luis Perez, the homicide investigators; Rube, the “King of the Street” is a young black man on has been on the street since he was a young teenager and often brings a bad situation to Niki’s attention.  Alice is the shelter’s intake supervisor and Niki’s boss. Tara will probably show up again with a few others.

MA:  Laura, I have thoroughly enjoyed this interview!  You are a fascinating lady with an amazing life.  Thanks for spending some time with me today.

You can read more about Laura Elvebak and her novels at her website: http://www.lauraelvebak.com/

And please be sure to visit her blog:  http://www.lauraelvebak.blogspot.com/

I was honored to appear as a guest on MoJoe’s Talk Radio Portal program on December 6, 2009.  We discussed my second book’s release — Child Finder: Resurrection, as well as the first novel, Child Finder.  Hint:  I gave him some insight into the third story in the trilogy, Child Finder: Revelation.  I told him that I literally get goose bumps when I write the story because the things I plan to “reveal” in the novel are simply mind-blowing!

Please give MoJoe’s program a listen.  My segment comes up at about the 30 minute point, so you may have to listen a bit before hearing me!