Ladies Man – A Short Story in Four Parts – Part Four

Continued from yesterday…

Ladies Man
Part Four


by G.B.Pool

Now, I’m in L.A. Opportunity beckons.

Whataya know. The brown guy came back. He’s got a plate of food. For me? Hot dog. I found another friend.

I limped toward him. Sympathy never hurts. Unless they throw another rock. He set down the plate and pointed to it. I gave him a good long stare just to let him know I’m proud. I can take it or leave it. See?

He left it. Good. I’m starved.

I ambled over to the plate and darn near licked the restaurant’s name off the china. That’ll hold me for another day. I wished the brown guy would step back outside so I could let him know how much I appreciated the meal. But, hey, I’m really not the sentimental type.

Now let’s see what L.A. has to offer a guy like me. I’m resourceful. I sauntered down the street, feeling pretty sure of myself. The street was crowded. This time of day in Las Vegas, I’d be chillin’ somewhere until nightfall.

That’s when I saw him. He ran out of an alley and made a grab for some old broad’s purse. The woman tried holding on, but she was no match for the thug. He pushed her to the pavement and ran back down the alley.

I was after him in a flash. I could outrun the bum without breaking a sweat and was crawling up his back before he knew what hit him. I landed a few good swipes across his neck and he shrieked like a girl. The purse fell from his hand as he tried to stop the bleeding. I gave him a few more whacks and then got off him, snatched the purse, and dashed back up the alley.

People were helping the old woman off the sidewalk. She was pretty shaken, but when she saw the purse sitting at her feet and me smiling at her, she looked a whole lot better.

“My hero,” she said in a soft voice. “Wanna come home with me, big guy?”

It must be my face that gets ’em. She reached over and scratched under my chin. I swished my long, black tail and gave her a deep, sexy “meow.”
I followed her home.

I might stay a little longer this time.

I’m gettin’ old.

Ladies Man – A Short Story in Four Parts – Part Three

Continued from yesterday…

Ladies Man


Part Three


by G.B.Pool

I high-tailed it around the back of a restaurant, and then put on the breaks. Somethin’ smelled awful good, and I hadn’t eaten in a day. My mouth watered as I watched a short, brown man toss plastic bags into a dumpster. If the lid didn’t shut all the way, I could get in there, rip open one of those bags, and look for something to eat.

Ever since the car accident, I can’t ease under those heavy lids. But I could sure make short work of a plastic bag.

The brown guy was lookin’ at me. He said something I didn’t understand, but the expression on his face said he just might turn out to be a friend.

He got rid of the garbage, slammed the lid shut, and went back inside the diner.

Oh, well. I’ll find somebody else.

I remembered the middle-aged lady who took pity on me after the car hit me. It wasn’t her fault. She was a witness. The driver didn’t even stop. The lady shook her fist at the car and yelled a few choice words I didn’t think ladies used, while I was licking my wounds.

“You poor fella,” she said. “You hungry? I just might have something in the icebox for a good-looking guy like you. Want to come to my house?”

I could tell by the tone of her voice, she’d made the offer before. As for me, I’ve accepted before.

Sometimes I start out on the couch, but after a while, I’m making myself at home in the lady’s bed. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, I get more out of it than just a back rub.

I got my dark, good looks from my old man. The rest of the brood took after Mom, kinda puny with a standoffish attitude. I heard tell Mom had a reputation for sleepin’ around. I guess you could say the same for Pop. But he had class. Breeding, some said. He taught me the ropes, but when he split, I didn’t have any good reason for staying around.

Lucky for me, the ladies like me. I fancy them myself. They usually treat me good, and I try to repay the kindness, while I’m around. I clean up after myself and don’t snore. But when they start thinking they can tie me down, they got another thing comin’. I’m Splits Ville.

Ladies Man – A Short Story in Four Parts – Part Two

Continued from yesterday…

Ladies Man


Part Two


by G.B.Pool

Barstow and I parted company one night when I nearly got caught heisting a few tasty tidbits from an all-night grocery store. I had wandered in behind another late night customer and made my way to the rear. The morning staff was long gone, so I could graze through the crates of day-old bread, or week-old whatever, and dine in style.

I was wiping the last of a moldy meatloaf from my face when I heard running. I turned in time to see a broom aimed at my head. I ducked and ran. The guy in the white apron took another swing, but I was racing down the cookie isle before he could get past the sinks. I spotted a man making for the doors and sailed through after him. I was in the shadows, catching my breath, by the time “apron boy” made it outside.

It was time to move on.

I strolled over to my favorite diner at the crack of dawn and spotted an eighteen-wheeler loaded with wooden pallets idling in the parking lot. I ambled aboard right before it rumbled onto the street and headed south. The sun was getting hot. Before I turned into beef jerky, I wedged myself down between two piles of splintery wood and fell asleep.

After a while, the steady hum of the road turned into the roar of the city. I opened my eyes. The flat and endless desert had morphed into a mountainous terrain of concrete and steel.

So, this is L.A.

I hang around truckers because those guys know where to eat. “Pallet man” pulled into a local eatery and I decided this was the end of the line. I emerged from my hiding place and dropped lightly to the pavement.

A guy wearing a funny pair of rubber shorts and a cockroach-shaped hat careened through the parking lot on a bicycle and nearly ran me over. As I jumped out of the way, I had to dodge a kid on an oversize roller skate as he raced past me. Sheesh!

Ladies Man – A Short Story in Four Parts – Part One

As a special treat this week, G.B. Pool will share her short story, Ladies Man, in four parts. Gayle teaches short story construction seminars and on Saturday, April 10th, she will be on a panel of short story authors at the Burbank Library, Buena Vista Branch.

Ladies Man – Part One
by G.B.Pool

Call me Sly. That’s short for Sylvester. I started using the name after I snuck into a movie theater running old Stallone movies. It was just me and a bunch of strays with no place to go. I curled up on a seat and tried to catch forty. Gunshots jolted me from my nap and I decided to watch the flick. Boy, that Stallone could take care of himself. If I could have tied a red rag around my head, I would have called myself Rambo, but Sly’s good enough.

You see, I ran away from home when I was a punk. The mean streets have been my address, on and off, ever since. It’s rough out there. I’ve got the scars to prove it. But I’m tough.

It wasn’t all bad. I lived with this gorgeous showgirl in Las Vegas when I was younger. We both kept late hours, but she never asked me any questions. And I never asked her what she did between shows, so we got along great. I always had enough chow to eat at her place, but I didn’t like being tied down. So one night when she was takin’ out the garbage, I slipped out the back door, snuck aboard a southbound truck, and kissed Vegas goodbye.

I slept most of the way, not really knowing where I’d end up. The driver stopped at a diner somewhere along the freeway. I heard another trucker mention Barstow. That’s when my “chauffer” saw me stretched out in the back of his flatbed and started yelling.

“Hey! Get outta there you no good…”

He threw a rock at me. I’ve had worse. Remember the scars?

I ran down the dusty street, checking out my new digs. If times got lean, I could do some second story work. An open window on a hot night was easy. I’d sneak in, grab a few things, and scat before the owners or their dogs picked up the scent.

Dogs and I don’t get along. I tolerate them… from a distance.

Tune in tomorrow for Part Two!

Test the Integrity of Your Mystery – Part 4

Continued from last week.

This final blog involves the fourth column of your worksheet. You already know from the first three parts where your seen takes place, who’s involved in the scene, and what action takes place in those scenes. Now it’s time for:

Unanswered Questions.

Unanswered questions must be addressed. Remember the old adage about the gun on the mantle? To paraphrase, if the gun is there in ACT I, someone had better shoot something before the end of the story.

At the end of each scene, list the questions raised during the scene.

Let’s say that your slueth discovers a scrap of paper in the victim’s fireplace. The questions this raises in the reader’s mind are “What was written on the paper?” “Who tried to burn the paper?” “Is it relevant to the mystery?” List all three in the Unanswered Questions column.

When all of your columns are complete, scan down the Information column until you find the answer to each of your questions. It helps to place a checkmark next to both the Information and the corresponding Question. By the end of your story, everything in both of these columns should have a checkmark.

If Aunt Gertrude wonders aloud what ever happened to her diary, the reader will carry that question to the end of the story. Left unanswered, it won’t matter that the murderer has been caught and that the sleuth survives to solve his next case. The reader will want to know why no one ever found the diary and what information it contained.

Even if a piece of Information provided is a Red Herring, it will still raise questions. It doesn’t matter if the answer is “Aunt Gertrude’s diary has nothing to do with the murder.” As the author, you need to make sure that the slueth recognizes that the Question asked has been answered. If you leave anything hanging, you risk irritating your reader.

I hope that using this chart will ease the way to a balanced mystery with a tight plot. You should wind up with a story that makes sense and, as a result, satisfied readers.

Interview with Western author Will Davis

Will Davis is an award-winning author of Westerns. Living in the west for over fifty years, Will became interested in the region and its history. The books he writes are based on real historical events, which he researches to assure that they describe what they were like in the 1800’s. Parts are drawn from his experiences with wilderness horse pack trips, cattle drives, and rodeos. He also draws upon his studies of the Indians of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and often includes them in his tales of the West.

His first novel, Bell Country Bushwhackers, was published in 2007; his latest, Six Points of Death, in 2008, both by Outskirts Press. His third novel, The Ring, is due out this fall. Welcome, Will!

Writing westerns involves more than putting a cowboy hat and boots on your protagonist. Can you describe what elements make a novel a Western? What is unique to that genre?

The genre is unique because the early West was unique. There were no states, there were no laws and most of the southwest weather and terrain was not kind to its invaders. The men of the early west had to have physical and mental fortitude. They were constantly defending themselves and their families from outlaws, Indians, unprincipled business men and scoundrels in general.

The Westerner, (Cowboy, Cowgirl), had to have strong survival skills. Their horsemanship was often a matter of life or death. If they were going to survive, they had to be proficient with firearms and had to know when to use them and when to refrain.

They followed an unwritten “code of the west” and those that failed to followed it often found themselves hanging from the end of a rope.

What is the special appeal that Westerns hold for their readers? How do you bring out those qualities in your books?

The technology revolution is fast causing the demise of the Westerner of the past. Novels of the early west help the upcoming generation understand and appreciate those that settled the West. There is a special appeal to the reader when they learn about the courage and the daily challenges of the early Westerner. Many of the man and women of the west would provide outstanding role models when it comes to “do what you believe in, and believe in what you do”

Your novels require a lot of research to get the details right. Can you tell us more about your research process? Any tips on how to successfully blend fact with fiction?

Research is by far the most difficult part of writing historical fiction. The stories must be believable and the locations and characters must closely represent the men and women of the times.

I visit the locations I write about. I spend time at their libraries and talking to families that have lived there for generations. I photograph the terrain and any of the original buildings still standing. I spend much of my time reading about the area and those that lived there. I decided to focus on the Apache tribe and I read any books I can find that describes their beliefs, rituals, wars, and social activities. I am careful that I blend the fact and fiction in such a way that I have famous (real) characters in my books in a place they could have been at the time. I also slightly change the names of some of the characters to make sure I am not reflecting badly on their descendents.

You are also an avid and talented photographer. Writers, like photographers, need to create three-dimensional images with a two-dimensional medium. Has your skill with the camera helped make your writing more visual?

My photography background helps me to get visuals of the areas I write about. I am able to select the best perspective that will help me describe the movements of my characters through the region.

There are many ways to publish today. Which method did you choose for your books, and what factors led you to make that choice?

I talked with many published authors and they all agreed the most difficult task of writing was getting their works published. In many cases, it took years. I am not known for my patience and I decided I didn’t want to wait years to see my work in print.

I looked into several self-publishers and decided on using Outskirts Press of Parker Colorado. I have been very happy with them and plan to have my third novel published by them. Once I have three books out, I plan to look into getting an agent to go to a more universal approach to publishing.

What are some of the pluses and minuses to self publishing? What should writers consider when they’re contemplating the self publishing route?

As in most things, there are pluses and minuses to self-publishing. First the pluses; it’s quick, you can have a book on the market in sixty to ninety days, you work directly with the publisher, no agents or promoters, you can customize your book size, print and cover and finally, you can maintain the rights to the work and move it to any publisher you like at any time you like.

Now the minuses; there are up-front cost, there are no agents to promote your work, and there is a requirement on the authors part to get their work in front of the public. The authors must do their own marketing to get the work in the chain bookstores. It is a challenge these days to convince the larger bookstores to carry your work.

The author of your books is Will Davis, which is not your real name. Why did you decide to publish under a pen name?

When I searched the book selves, I noticed that many of the authors had very western sounding names, i.e. Luke Short, Jack Slade, etc. I decided my German name was not a convincing western author’s name. My full name is David William Bushmire. I took my first two names, reversed them and came up with Will Davis. So far it has served me well.

Any last words?

My advice to any would-be authors of historical fiction is:

1. Know your subject

2. Write from experience when possible

3. Do research to make your story believable

4. Pay for a professional editor

5. Read other’s work on similar subjects

Visit Will at his website or purchase his books from Barnes and Noble online, Amazon, or online at the independent Page One Bookstore.

Test the Integrity of Your Mystery – Part 3

Continued from last Friday.

Now that your Scene column is filled with the various locations and the action that takes place in each scene and your Character column lists every character who appears or is referenced in those scenes, let’s move on to the facts.

Information.

In this column, you will note the clues and pertinent information passed on to the reader during the scene.

Avoid Ommisions

Once this column is complete, omissions stand out. In Agatha Christie’s “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”, Hercule Poirot notices that the shoe on a battered corpse is old and worn, whereas the same exact shoe was new and shiny when he saw it on the woman shorty before–suggesting that the woman he saw alive was an imposter. If Christie had not included a scene allowing Poirot to get a good look at the imposter’s shoe, then the detective’s discovery would have seemed omniscient, rather than logical.

If you have a scene at the end of your story where the sleuth tells all, you can make a list of her summation in the information column and cross reference it with earlier information given just to make sure you’re playing fair. For example:

“I noticed a hidiously large footprint in the begonias which could only have belonged to Gregor the Giant who worked with the traveling circus.”

Did you give the reader these clues ahead of time?
Is there a scene where you show the discovery of the footprint?
Is there a scene where you let the reader know the circus is in town? Maybe a character is perusing the local paper and saw an advertisement.
Is there a scene where the slueth at lease sees mention of Gregor the Giant, if not the giant himself?

Create Balance

Once you see all of the information as it is relayed to the reader, you may also find that you could time a revelation to better advantage. If all of the clues cluster around the beginning or end of the story, the middle will drag.

It’s especially disheartening to read an entire story where not much happens only to have the clues pop up on the final pages. (Trust me. I just read a book like this. I loved the characters, loved the dialogue, but by the last quarter of the story, I didn’t care. Where was the detection? This was supposed to be a mystery!)

It feels as if the writer is saying, “Oh! I forgot to tell you.” and “Let me get this bit in here because the ending doesn’t make any sense as it stands now!”

In Plain Site

When you look over the information imparted, you might find that you tell too much, or tell it too early. It’s not very satisfying to read a mystery when you know who the murderer is by page twenty-five. Maybe the clue could be sublter. A giant footprint outside the library window when there is a giant in town is not very subtle. What about two narrow, deep holes? What could have made these? If your references to the circus aren’t over the (big) top, it may come as a surprise to find that the holes were made by Sammy the Stilt-walking Man.

When I first began reading Agatha Chrisie, I found myself crying, “Cheat!” at the end of her books. Then I would page back through and find that the clues were all there! But they were subtle. I highly recommend writers read her books to discover how to lay a path of clues without using neon signs.

That’s it for Information. Next week I’ll show how Questions Asked can ensure there aren’t any loose ends.

Interview with Author Hannah Dennison

Hannah Dennison is the author of the Vicky Hill mystery series. Like Vicky, Hannah was an obituary writer for a small English newspaper before crossing the pond to try her hand at screenwriting. Fortunately for us, she switched to long-form narrative and a mystery writer was born!
Welcome Hannah!

Now that your third book is in print, does the writing process come easier to you, or is it more difficult to keep a series fresh?

I love this question. It couldn’t be more timely! For me, it is just as hard meeting a deadline with my fourth book—due mid March—as it was my first. If anything, the pressure is worse because I want the book to be better than the last one! Keeping the series fresh is always a challenge but having a “season long mystery” (to borrow a TV phrase) is a useful. Vicky’s ongoing story arc is how to deal with her criminal parents who are increasingly encroaching on her life. Having Vicky gradually mature as a young woman also helps. She starts off being somewhat “naive” in the romantic department but as time moves on, Vicky starts to grow up.

Your books each revolve around an eccentric English event—snail racing and hedge jumping to name two. Were these sports popular when you lived in England, or have you had to dig to find these gems?

I came across hedge jumping completely by accident. I overheard a conversation in a restaurant between a couple that was fighting over “Charlie’s ridiculous hobby.” Eavesdropping – which is what we writers do best—I learned that Charlie had an obsession for jumping over hedges. His enthusiasm was so great that weekends were spent scouring the English countryside for suitable specimens—a neat, box privet, a comfortable, springy laurel or the deadly blackthorn for Charlie to leap over. My editor liked the idea so much, I thought, well, I’m English (and eccentric by default) so I wondered what other sports American readers would not know about. Once I started digging, I was stunned by the unusual sports my fellow countrymen enjoyed—hedge cutting, Naked Farmer competitions, worm charming, bog snorkeling, flaming Tar Barrel racing and Morris dancing. The list is endless. These plot backdrops inadvertently provide my series with a “hook.” A sort of … good grief, let’s see what she’s writing about this time.

Each book adds new depth to your protagonist, Vicky Hill, as she learns about betrayal and disappointment. How do you keep developing her character and yet retain the naivety and optimism that makes Vicky so loveable?

I’m happy you feel she is developing. Walking that fine line between naivety and being TSTL – (too stupid to live) is a constant challenge for me. But like everyone, Vicky has to grow up at some point. I hint at the battles she faces ahead on dealing with her father’s criminal activities but most of all, each book does bring her nearer to the Great Seduction scene that I am very excited about writing. I’ve even thought about conducting a reader survey to see who that lucky man might be!

Gipping-on-Plym is the village where Vicky currently resides. A product of your imagination or based on someplace you know?

I lived and worked in the real town of Tiverton as an obit writer for the Tiverton Gazette—no surprises there—so yes, it is an amalgamation of Tiverton in East Devon and Totnes in South Devon (an area that has taken recycling to a new level). I have included a few places that do exist. How could I not set a scene at The Nobody Inn pub in Doddiscombleigh. They have a delicious menu for anyone who might find themselves in Devon.

I love how you bring forward minor characters from previous stories and spotlight them in later books. How do you determine which minor characters are worth expanding on?

To add to your earlier question, expanding some of the minor characters really helps keep the series fresh though I don’t know which ones will make the cut ahead of time. They tend to tell me. They also don’t do as they’re told. I have a loveable paramedic called Sexpot Steve who is infatuated with Vicky Hill and who I have tried to kill off in both Scoop! and Expose! … but he just won’t listen!

The “Cabot Cove Syndrome” says that if you have a small village and you keep killing the residents off or jailing them for murder, soon the village will be empty. On the other hand, you don’t want the new guy in town to be the killer or victim every time. How do you avoid this writing pitfall?

Yes. That’s a hard one. One thing I’ve learned about human nature is that everyone has some kind of skeleton in the closet. As my plots are character driven, it is immensely satisfying to exploit those skeletons. I’ve always given every one of my characters – major or minor – a secret. It can be as small as being an obsessive collector of vinyl records to someone who has an unreasonable dislike of hedge jumpers. Sometimes a newcomer can survive but simply act as a catalyst. I feel that making the familiar characters fascinating can at least help soften the inevitable.

Tell us what’s next for you.

My fourth book—THIEVES!—will be out January 2011. I will be submitting a proposal to my publisher, Berkley Prime Crime, for two more in the series. I’d love to see our Vicky through her first real romantic encounter especially as one of her greatest fears is dying an old maid, “pure and unsullied.” I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure that won’t happen!

Thanks so much for having me today Jackie.

Vicly’s latest exploits can be found in “Expose!” at bookstores and online, and a review of the book is at Jackie Houchin’s New & Reviews. If you’d like to know more about Hanhah, visit her website.

Test the Ingegrity of Your Mystery – Part 2

Continued from last week.

Now that you’ve listed all of the scenes including where they take place and what action occurs, move on to the second column of your chart.

Characters.

The point of listing the characters is to help you keep track of everyone who makes an appearance in your story. List every character who appears in each scene. This includes characters who are not physically present but come up indirectly in conversation. Also, if Mr. X speaks to Ms. Y on the phone, add Ms. Y to the list.

This serves a few purposes.

Avoid Irritating Surprises

If your victim has an identical twin sister and that fact is crucial to the plot, it’s not really fair to the reader if no sister has been mentioned until the crucial moment when she pops up. By all means keep the fact that she’s a twin under your hat, but even a casual mention of a sibling earlier in the story will keep your reader from throwing the book across the room when one conveniently shows up. Put twin sister in the character column of the scene where “siblings” are mentioned. 

If you want to make her appearance a complete surprise, there must be a hint that this unknown person exists, such as a conversation the victim has with her over the phone or a letter signed with her initials. The reader gets enough hints from the conversation or letter that the person involved is important even if the reader doesn’t know exactly who it is. Even an ambiguous mention by the detective that “there must have been someone else in that room the night so-and-so died” will do. If the twin sister is on the other end of the phone, has written the letter, or is the unknown someone who must have been in the room, put twin sister on your character list for the scene. 

I also list characters who I assume are involved in the story but aren’t specifically mentioned. For instance, if the victim’s will comes up in a scene, put (attorney) in the character column. The parenthesis show that you haven’t decided how to introduce the character, but that he should exist. Consider it a reminder that your sleuth wants to talk to the attorney. If the will has nothing to do with the murder, it would still be the natural inclination of the police to investigate the angle, even if it’s a dead end. You may decide to handle the will in a clever manner that won’t involve an attorney at all, but it will have been a deliberate move, not an omission.

Keep Suspects on Even Ground

Tracking the number of times a character receives mention will also ensure that the detective gives the suspect proper consideration. If Harry Cheese is the killer, but the sleuth only discusses him once during the course of the investigation, the reader will feel cheated. Conversely, if every chapter includes Harry Cheese, Harry Cheese, Harry Cheese, you might as well light a neon sign flashing Killer over his head.

Balance the Investigation

Listing the characters will also show if your story lacks character balance. Some writers have amateur detectives who assist the police. Stephanie Plum exchanges information with Joe Morelli, Cora Felton has Chief Harper, and Hercule Peroit has Chief Inspector Japp. If your sleuth and the police share an equal number of scenes, ask yourself if you want them to be co-protagonists. If your intention is to include the police officer only as a supporting character, you will have to either condense his scenes or find a way for your sleuth to uncover the same information.

Next week I’ll discuss how to avoid the bad joke syndrome. You know. You get to the punch line and say, “Wait! I forgot to tell you____!” 

Interview with J. Michael Orenduff

J. Michael Orenduff’s website claims that the award-winning author “grew up in a house so close to the Rio Grande he could Frisbee a tortilla into Mexico from his back yard, a practice frowned upon by his mother.” That must be how he makes Albuquerque, New Mexico come alive in his Pot Thief series. Orenduff also writes for the stage, and his play, The Christmas Visitor, has garnered several awards–including first prize in the Jewel Box Playwriting Contest–and was selected as one of the “Top 100” by Writer’s Digest in 2008.  Welcome Michael!

According to the Archeological Resources Protection Act, your protagonist, Hubert “Hubie” Schuze, is a pot thief. Did the ARPA really put treasure hunters out of business?

Almost. The only place it is now legal to dig for artifacts is on private land, but getting permission to do so is difficult. Most known sites are on public land. You can fish, graze cattle, cut firewood, and mine for gold on public land, but if you happen to kick up an arrowhead while hiking, you better leave it where it falls.

Hubie resides in New Mexico and studied anthropology. J. Michael Orenduff lived in New Mexico and studied anthropology. What else do you and Hubie have in common?

Almost nothing. He’s short, single, and has a full head of hair. I’m tall, bald, and happily married with two children and a grandson. Hubie hates travel and martinis. I love both.

You’ve lived in so many interesting places—Texas, Maine, Bulgaria, Chile, Bermuda. What made you place your mysteries in New Mexico?

I wanted the protagonist to have some moral ambiguity, so I made him a treasure hunter, and New Mexico is the perfect place for that.

In The Pot Thief books, Albuquerque comes to life. You convey a deep sense of the scenery and people in the details, all the way down to the food. Since you no longer live in New Mexico, how do you corroborate the details?

I spent much of my childhood in New Mexico, and the memories are as fresh as the desert air. Maybe that’s why they call them the “formative years.” New Mexico is in my blood. I have many family members and friends all over New Mexico, and I visit there every chance I get.

Your books involve scientific theories and manage to make them entertaining! The Pot Thief Who Studied Pythagoras delves into math, and The Pot Thief who Studied Ptolemy reflects on astronomy. Why this added layer? And were you worried the titles might intimidate readers?

I think the “Pot Thief” part of the title actually added a few sales to young people who thought it referred to a different kind of pot! Seriously, I believe a good book should entertain and enlighten. I spent most of my life as a teacher, so I enjoy the challenge of trying to make theories understandable and interesting. I try to work them into the story in such as way that they don’t sound like textbooks or lectures. I also get help from experts in the various disciplines. The next one in the series is The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein, so that should be a real challenge.

As someone who’s read both books, I can attest to the fact that the science fits the mystery and is offered in an enlightening manner. I wish my high school science teacher had made class as understandable and enjoyable! 

When you write your mysteries, which do you focus on first—the crime, the scientific theory, or the antagonist?

I tried focusing on the antagonist, but in each of the first three books, a strange thing happened. I decided about halfway into the story to change who did it! Of course that required considerable re-writing, but I enjoy the process, and it makes for better ‘aha’ moments because the final story is more ingenious than the one I thought up before starting to write. I guess I have to be immersed in the book before the creative juices flow.

I understand that you recently sold out of books at the launch of The Pot Thief who studied Ptolemy. What have you done to build up a following of readers?

The successful launch of The Pot Thief Who Studied Ptolemy was due in large part to a great article in the Albuquerque Journal just days before the launch, to the hard work of the bookstore owner who publicized the event, and to the fact that it was held on the evening of the annual Holiday Stroll in Old Town where people come out to shop and watch the lighting of the Christmas tree. There were a lot of Pot Thief books under Christmas trees in Albuquerque.
I think the two main keys to building a following of readers is to be in touch with as many of them as possible and to have a new book out at least every year.

Your wife is noted art historian Lai Chew Orenduff. Have you ever thought about teaming up with her to write an art mystery?

Absolutely. She is too busy with her day job at this point, but when she retires, we definitely want to write such a book

That’s something I look forward to. Until then, what’s next on your agenda?

As mentioned above, The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein will be out later this year. It’s complete, so I’m working on the next one and trying to find a theater company to produce one of my plays. The play, The Christmas Visitor, has won four awards from various playwriting contests and was going to be produced by a theater in Norfolk, Virginia, but they went broke last month, another victim of the economy. We give government money to banks who pay their executives billions in bonuses, but there was no stimulus money for the arts. I’ll step down from my soap box now. Thanks for the interview.

Thank you, Michael.

You can find out much more about Michael and The Pot Thief series by visiting his web site and blog and in this recent interview with author Marilyn Meredith on her blog, Marilyn’s Musings. His books can be found in many bookstores–both in store and online–and you can check your local independant bookstore as well. Michael and his wife Lai will present “A Good Cover is Worth a Thousand Words”at this June’s Public Safety Writer’s Conference in Las Vegas.

Finally, you can find a review of the first Pot Thief book (with the second soon to follow) at Jackie Houchin’s News and Reviews .