Getting Inside A Cop’s Head: Interview with Ellen Kirschman, Police Psychologist

By Mark Young

Dr. Ellen Kirschman

Fiction writers are always trying to figure out what makes a cop tick. What makes cops run toward danger rather than fleeing from danger? Are there any psychological motivations and stresses that might make a law enforcement officer crack or cross the line between law abider and law breaker? How far can their characters be pushed in the novel until their world collapses?

 There are a few writers who have been granted a rare glimpse into the cop culture—their motivations, their fears, and their worst nightmares. Police Psychologist Ellen Kirschmen is one of those unique individuals who has gained access to police culture for more than thirty years. 

Ellen wrote about cops in her doctorate dissertation titled Wounded Heroes. Her first book, titled I Love A Cop: What Police Families Need to Know, was motivated by her desire to help law enforcement families cope with the stresses of the job. Later, Ellen wrote Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know to help mental health professionals and others to know how to relate to cops. Several months ago, Ellen came out with her first mystery novel, Burying Ben, a story about a female police psychologist trying to survive the police culture as a civilian, a woman, and a political liberal. The world of main character Dot Meyerhoff is turned upside down when a rookie cop by the name of Ben—whom she is counseling—unexpectantly commits suicide and leaves behind a note blaming Dot for his death.

MARK: Ellen, welcome to Hook’em and Book’em. I would personally like to thank you for helping those in law enforcement face the psychological challenges of the job. In my career, I have witnessed the damage the job has done to these officers and I know the barriers you must have faced during your career. Thank you! 

That being said, I also must add that I know that in some cases harm has been inflicted on officers when psychologists did not understand the police culture, they violated confidences, or when police departments used these psychologists as a means of discipline to force the cop off the job.

I imagine it is a fine line you must tread when trying to help these officers and their families. Before we get into this subject more deeply, please explain to our readers how you became a police psychologist and what are the goals of this unique professional?

ELLEN: I was working as a clinical social worker in a psychiatric clinic. Several of my clients were married

to cops (this was a long time ago when there were few women officers) and the stories they told about their home lives were quite distressing. When I asked my clients to invite their husbands to a session, not only did the husbands never show up, their wives quit therapy soon after. All this piqued my interest: what was it about the job that created such problems for families? More out of enthusiasm than experience, I put together a class called "I Love a Cop" at my local community college. The first session was filled to capacity and there were 40+ women on the waiting list. I had stumbled into an unfilled need. 

There are approximately 250 police psychologists in the US. By that I mean those whose practices are primarily devoted to public safety and who belong to recognized police psychology organizations such as the police psychological services section (PPSS) of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Over the past several years, the profession has received recognition as a specialty by the American Board of Professional Psychology. In brief, the goal of the profession has been to apply behavioral science principles that are ethically and empirically based to problems facing law enforcement at both the individual and organizational level.  The four basic domains of police psychology practice are assessment, organizational consultation, intervention, and operational assistance. Many, if not most, police psychologists have assessment practices. My background is in the consultation and intervention domains. 

MARK:  The police culture is very guarded for obvious reasons—public scrutiny, possible civil or criminal sanctions, and fear for the safety of their families to name a few. It would seem your success in helping officers might depend upon how they got to your office—voluntarily seeking counseling or department-mandated Fitness For Duty (FFD) evaluations. Please define the differences between the goals of voluntary counseling and FFD evaluations?

ELLEN: My practice has always been voluntary. In fact, I spent twenty-five years consulting to one agency where my office was located on the flight path between the briefing room and the locker room. This was an unusual decision made by the officer-led task force who hired me. They wanted to normalize counseling and make it part of healthy self-care. Officers had the option to see me in a private location as well. I did a lot of counseling "on the hoof." Apparently, standing up and talking while leaning on the doorsill doesn't count as therapy. Neither does talking in patrol cars or in the locker room.

There are two major differences between voluntary counseling and FFD evaluations. 1) In an FFD the client is the agency who requests the FFD, not the officer; and 2) There is no confidentiality for the officer in an FFD. In voluntary counseling a clinician could lose his or her license for violating confidentiality. The only exceptions are when the client is a danger to self or others, abusing a child or an elderly person, or incapable of caring for self.

MARK: Under what conditions are FFDs ordered by the police departments?

ELLEN: FFDs have never been my speciality. Your readers are best served by checking out the FFD Evaluation Guidelines published by the PPSS. According to those guidelines the purpose of an FFD is to determine whether the employee is able to safely and effectively perform his or her essential job functions. A FFD is considered when there is an objective, reasonable basis, founded on direct observation, credible third party report, or other reliable evidence, that the employee's ability to work safely and effectively is in question. An FFD should never be used as discipline. Nor, for that matter, should mental health providers ever be used as stand-ins for decent supervision.  

MARK: Let’s switch gears for a moment. You have just released your first novel titled Burying Ben. What is the gist of this novel?

ELLEN: Dr. Dot Meyer has barely settled into her new job as department psychologist for the Kenilworth Police when Ben Gomez, a troubled young rookie that she tries to counsel kills himself. Overnight, her promising new start becomes a nightmare. At stake is her job, her reputation, her license to practice, and her already battered sense of self-worth. Dot resolves to find out not just what led Ben to kill himself, but why her psychologist ex-husband, the man she most wants to avoid, recommended that Ben be hired in the first place. Ben’s surviving family and everyone else connected to him are determined to keep Ben’s story a secret, by any means necessary. Even Ben, from the grave, has secrets to keep. By the time she uncovers the real reasons behind Ben’s suicide and brings the people responsible to justice, Dot has not only resurrected belief in herself, she has also acquired some surprisingly useful new skills: impersonating a public official, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. 

MARK: What motivated you to write this story?

ELLEN: I was delusional. After writing two non-fiction books, I actually thought it would be easier to make things up. It isn't. I've always worried that a client of mine would kill him or herself and I've wondered how I would cope with the guilt. Writing Burying Ben gave me a chance to work this out on paper. Writing fiction is payback time. I get to take pot shots at cops, at my fellow psychologists, at my ex-husbands, and myself. Lastly, and most importantly, it is time to talk about police suicide and the fact that officers are two, perhaps three, times as likely to kill themselves as they are to be killed in the line of duty.

MARK: You found switching from non-fiction to fiction to be challenging but I suspect you are having fun. Am I right?

ELLEN: Very challenging but a lot more fun. Writing non-fiction is a journalistic endeavor. The challenge is to get your facts right and present them in an understandable, readable package. Fiction requires the writer to capture the reader's imagination so that he or she is locked into the story, cares about the characters and wants to know how the whole thing turns out. Non-fiction readers can pick up a book and put it down again at will. A good novel should have the reader baring her teeth at anyone or anything that interrupts her before she finishes the story. 

MARK:  Just prior to the release of Burying Ben, you and two other colleagues released a non-fiction book Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know. Is this strictly targeted toward clinicians, or would others—like fiction authors—find this book of value in understanding cops?

ELLEN: Several mystery writers have told me that they own dog-eared copies of I Love a Cop that they use for inspiration. I think Counseling Cops could be equally helpful. The book is targeted toward anyone who counsels law enforcement officers; in addition to mental health providers that would include chaplains, medical doctors, and peer supporters. 

MARK:  What was the purpose behind writing Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know? Can you provide us an example as to why this book is necessary?

ELLEN: The purpose of writing Counseling Cops was to create culturally competent clinicians. My two co-authors are both retired officers as well as psychologists. Their experiences on-and-off the job make this a much richer book than had I written it myself. As you know, cops find it very difficult to ask for help. They're supposed to solve problems, not have them. To a cop, having problems equals being weak. So when pressure mounts and an officer finally reaches out for help, he or she deserves to see a provider who understands cops and the culture in which they work. Here are two examples from the book of how things can go wrong: 

"Tracy was looking for a therapist. The first therapist he consulted teared up and didn’t think she could bear listening to the kinds of challenges he encountered at work. The second therapist reassured Tracy that he understood the impact of carrying great responsibility because many of his clients were CEOs of large organizations. Tracy responded in anger. 'When a CEO makes a mistake, the company loses money. When I make a mistake someone dies.'" The therapist Tracy finally chose was a combat veteran who knew firsthand what it meant to put your life on the line and the costs of doing it year after year." P. 6.

"Bill had been in two shootings that resulted in his killing two suspects. He was having nightmares and seriously considering quitting police work in order to avoid the possibility of a third deadly encounter. His department EAP referred him to a local clinician who had a lot of experience, none of which involved law enforcement. This was Bill’s first-ever counseling session. The therapist listened to Bill’s story carefully. When Bill was finished talking the therapist asked him “So, are you ready to stop killing people?” Bill left the session very upset. It wasn’t until he talked to some of his friends who had been in therapy that he learned how inappropriate and un-therapeutic this question was and accepted another referral to someone familiar with the police culture." P.8

MARK: What are some of the more prevalent issues you deal with when a law enforcement officers walks through your door? 

ELLEN: As you said earlier, trust and confidentiality are probably the biggest hurdles to forming a therapeutic alliance. In terms of clinical issues, or common problems, cops probably don't vary greatly from their civilian counterparts. I don't know of a scientific answer to your question, but I'd say family problems probably top the list. The issues we cover in Counseling Cops are alcoholism, substance abuse and addiction, depression and suicide, trauma, organizational stress and betrayal, family issues, growing old on the job, sleep deprivation and shift work, and something we call the Emergency Responder's Exhaustion Syndrome which is a combination of depression, exhaustion, isolation, and anger. 

MARK: A lot has changed in the law enforcement community in the last 30 years—including the way stress-related issues are understood and handled by officers and police departments. What are some of the positive changes you have witnessed that might help these officers survive?

ELLEN: Critical incident debriefings are common these days. They vary, of course, in effectiveness, but they are way more helpful than choir practice. Large urban departments and many smaller ones now routinely provide access to low cost confidential counseling as well as police chaplains. In my opinion, one of the best changes is having well-trained and well-managed peer support teams. Cops like talking to other cops, if they can be trusted.

MARK: What are some of the areas that law enforcement might do a better job in helping these officers cope?

ELLEN: I would like to see every agency, big and small, have a confidential peer support program including family members, family orientations at first hire and again every five years, a chaplaincy program, supervisors who are knowledgeable about spotting mental health issues and compassionate when talking to their officers, and easy access for officers and their families to culturally competent, confidential, low cost counseling. I'd like to see police academies devote more time to teaching officers how to manage stress and develop resilience, and I'd like to see field training programs incorporate behavioral science principles and promote wellness, both physical and psychological. 

MARK: What suggestions would you give authors trying to create plausible and realistic cop characters? What sources of information would you suggest?

ELLEN: You mean after reading my books? Go on a ride-along. After all these years I still learn something new every time I do. Attend a citizens' academy. You'll learn a lot and have an opportunity to interact with officers. Volunteer at your local police department. Whatever you do, don't watch cop shows on television. 

MARK: Any other suggestions as to how these authors might obtain a better understanding of this closed culture?

ELLEN: Learn about guns. Practice on the range. Try your hand at a firearms training simulator (FATS). If you're qualified and have the time to invest, consider becoming a reserve officer or putting yourself through a police academy. 

MARK: Are you still a practicing police psychologist or are you pursuing other goals at this point in your life?

ELLEN: I no longer have a private practice. I do continue to teach peer support, self-care for cops, give workshops for public safety families, and for clinicians who want to work with first responders. My biggest commitment is to the West Coast Post Trauma Retreat (WCPR) for first responders with post traumatic stress injuries (PTSI). I volunteer to do four six-day retreats a year. If any of your readers and their spouses or significant others are suffering with symptoms of PTSI, I encourage them to find out more about this amazingly effective, all volunteer, peer driven, clinically guided program at www.wcpr2001.org. 

MARK:  What is ahead in your writing career? More fiction? More non-fiction?

ELLEN: More fiction. I've just completed the first draft of the second Dot Meyerhoff mystery and I can't wait to start revising. 

MARK: What would be one thing you’d like to share with new police officers just starting out in their career?

ELLEN: Remember, this is a job, not an identity (nobody wants to hear that, especially not rookies). Work hard to find some balance in life. Police work entails a lot of negativity. Negativity is contagious. Try not to catch it. Remember that all you can control in life is your professionalism and your integrity. Don't waste time trying to change anyone else. Keep your expectations realistic. You may love the job, but it won't love you back. Most importantly, know the difference between your work family and your real family. Your work family can (and will) be fickle. If you treat your real family with respect, they'll be there when the job isn't. 

Thanks for giving me this opportunity.

MARK: Ellen, thank you for joining us here on Hook’em & Book’em.

*******

Author and writer, Ellen Kirschman, MSW, PhD, has been a police and public safety psychologist for over 30 years. Ellen’s work with first responders has taken her to four countries and 22 states. After giving up her private practice, Ellen spends her time writing, teaching, and volunteering as a clinician at the West Cost Post Trauma Retreat for first responders. Her first book, I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know, has sold more than 100,000 copies. Her next book, I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know was penned after the tragic events of 9/11. Her next non-fiction book, published this year, was Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know, the third in the ‘Need to Know’ series. Just released, Burying Ben, is her first foray into the fiction world of writing.

Ellen lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, a photographer and a retired remodeling contractor. In their spare time, Ellen and her husband enjoy hiking, traveling, and cooking. Find out more about Ellen at her web site at www.ellenkirschman.com.

Catching Burglars: Ex-Cop-turned-Author Writes From Her Passion

By Kathy Bennett

[Editor's Note: Author Kathy Bennett writes from her own police experience. She served 29 years with Los Angeles Police Department. And if that was not enough experience, she married a cop. Find out more about Kathy at her own web site here]

Everyone who has a job knows that there are some aspects to the job that you like better than others. If you’re a baker maybe you don’t like baking the cake but you enjoy applying the icing. Perhaps you work as an auto mechanic. You aren’t fond of replacing brakes, but tearing apart a car's engine and putting back together again provides you a great sense of accomplishment.

Police officers are no different. Some officers love to write tickets. Others like working with the community to solve ongoing problems. For some officers, spotting people driving stolen cars or detaining suspects holding narcotics gets their hearts racing.

The suspects I liked to target were burglars. It didn’t matter if they were burglars who invaded a person’s home or if the suspects broke into cars. For me, the attraction was the fact they worked 24/7. Even more incentive was that burglars are hard to catch. What can I say? I like a challenge.

One of the more memorable arrests I made I was working with another female officer whose name also happened to be Kathy. She was my favorite partner ever. We’d just started working together and were assigned to the ‘morning watch,’ which many other departments and professions call the graveyard shift. Most officers working the morning watch enjoyed patrolling in the dead of night and the ones who worked it year after year were a tight-knit group. We were newcomers, and had to prove ourselves.

There was an industrial complex where businesses were getting hit several times a week, and had been for months. Kathy and I decided our first shift together that at some point we’d go over to the industrial complex and park in the shadows and see if anything developed.

I was driving our black and white patrol car, and we slowly cruised past the many closed businesses in search of a good ‘hiding spot.’ We passed by a building that had a chain-link fence enclosure attached. The fencing had privacy slats, but that didn’t prevent Kathy and me from spotting a guy prowling around.

After detaining him, we determined there was a business in the complex that had been burglarized, and that the suspect was in possession of two large key rings containing about a hundred of regular door keys along with dozens of vending machine keys. The suspect was a transient and had no explanation for the many keys he had with him. Along with the keys, we had evidence from the business that had been burglarized to book him, so we hauled him to jail. That was the first of a number of good arrests we made on morning watch. During our first month we were readily accepted into the fold and were well respected by our co-workers. Kathy and I worked morning watch together for the better part of seven years.

Another time, there was an area where the division had a high incidence of burglaries of items from motor vehicles.  Somewhere around three o’clock one morning, Kathy and I were driving through the 'hot' area with our lights off and, lo and behold, we saw a car parked in the middle of a dark street. We nabbed three young men who all went to a religious school together. They were in the process of breaking into a car, and once we’d taken them into custody, we got them to show us the fourteen other cars they’d broken into. The boys were arrested and booked. Needless to say, when we called the kids' parents to come pick up their felon sons, the parents weren’t happy at all.

In my latest book, A Deadly Justice, my personal itch for capturing burglars led me to create a team of

sophisticated burglars as adversaries for my main character, LAPD Detective Maddie Divine to uncover. But in order to keep my story authentic, Maddie and her partner, Jade, get involved with other investigations as well…just like it happens in real life. What Maddie doesn’t know is that investigating the burglars may reveal a secret in her own life she’s tried desperately to bury.

*******

Kathy Bennett is no stranger to murder and mayhem. She served twenty-nine years with the Los Angeles Police Department - eight as a civilian employee and twenty-one years as a sworn police officer. While most of her career was spent in a patrol car, she’s also been a Firearms Instructor at the LAPD Academy, a crime analyst in the “War Room”, a Field Training Officer, a Senior Lead Officer, and worked undercover in various assignments. Kathy was honored to be named Officer of the Year in 1997.

Kathy's debut novel, A Dozen Deadly Roses, and her second book, A Deadly Blessing became bestselling ebooks at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. A Deadly Blessing, is the first book in a series featuring LAPD Detective Maddie Divine and was named a Best Nook Book Original for 2012. Law enforcement personnel laud Kathy's authentic stories of crime and suspense for 'getting it right.'

Kathy's third book, A Deadly Justice, was released in September of 2013. She's currently working on her fourth novel, A Deadly Denial.

Interview: Bestselling novelist James Scott Bell

By Mark Young

Whether his character is a butt-kicking nun or zombie attorney, novelist James Scott Bell’s active imagination always manages to create vivid characters that come alive on the page. And when it comes to humor, Jim can make the grim reaper crack a smile.

You want examples? Try this—opening lines to Jim’s bestselling novel, Try Darkness:

The nun hit me in the mouth and said, “Get out of my house.”

Jaw throbbing, I said, “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“This is my house,” she said. “You want more? Come on back in.”

Sister Mary Veritas is a shade over five and half feet. She was playing in gray sweats, of course. Most of the time she wears the full habit. Her pixie face is usually a picture of innocence. She has short chestnut hair and blue eyes. I had just discovered those eyes hid an animal ruthlessness.

See what I mean? Can you picture Sister Veritas? If you have not experienced this author’s writing style, you’re in for a treat. Sometimes Jim writes funny stuff. Sometimes, he can explore the darkness, looking for the redeeming light.

James Scott Bell is a busy man—writer, lawyer, teacher, mentor, a man of many talents—and willing to take a risk. Legal thrillers. Historical suspense. Even writing zombie attorney legal thrillers under the pen name K. Bennett. Jim practices what he preaches, publishing with some of the top publishing houses in the business while also venturing out into the self-publishing venue himself. Most recently, he earned an Thriller Writers Award finalist spot for his self-published novella, One  More Lie. He is a regular contributor to Writer’s Digest Magazine, where he served as a fiction columnist. WD  has published a number of Jim’s books on writing. Walking with a foot planted in both publishing worlds, Jim is able to provide a unique perspective on this ever-changing game of publishing.

MARK: Welcome back to Hook’em & Book’em, Jim. First, give us a synopsis of your current writing life. What is happening in the fast-paced world of James Scott Bell?

JIM: He's yelling out the window of the runaway train, "Slow down!" The reason is that I've got more

projects on my writing board than I'll ever get to. But, honestly, I like it that way. With the current self-publishing boom, you just never run out of things to write. I'm having more fun than ever, which I think the writing life should be.

MARK: How are your teaching seminars going? Who do you co-teach with and what topic do your students seem most interested in?

JIM: I love teaching workshops around the country. When I have the chance to teach over two or three days, I like to include interactive exercises along with the tools and techniques. I want to get writers deeper into their own work, and come up with gold. In November of each year I get together with Donald Maass (Writing the Breakout Novel) and Christopher Vogler (The Writer's Journey) for a big, 3-day conference. We each take a whole day, and find that our approaches complement each other nicely.

MARK: What do you try to focus on in these seminars?

JIM: My focus is on techniques that work. I've never stopped studying the writing craft, even after I was making a living at it. It fascinates me, why things work, how writers can get better at what they do. When I teach I'm trying to give extremely practical advice any writer can use to improve their work.

MARK: I am an avid follower of THE KILL ZONE, a blog where you and your co-writers share information and advise about all aspects of writing and the publishing world. One particular article you wrote a few weeks ago, titled Field Report From the eBook Revolution #3: The New Equilibrium, brought attention to such controversial topics as digital only contracts from traditional publishers, the continuing decline of physical shelf space in books stores, and the disappearance of the midlist authors. Where do you see the publishing industry headed in the next few years?

JIM: We all know things are changing, but no one knows the rate or content of the changes to come. No one. It's all up in the air. Which makes it exciting for the fast movers—which include authors who like to write—and challenging for big publishers who are like huge zeppelins propelling through storm clouds. I find the landscape fascinating.

Surely more and more people will read on tablets and e-readers. Print will still be around, but limited. One interesting development is the survival and even the rise of independent bookstores. They are like flowers that have grown up through the asphalt. They are small but pretty, and people appreciate them. Tight communities of print book lovers will congregate here.

It's all good for writers, who have options and opportunities.

MARK: What are some of the obstacles that traditional publishers face?

JIM: The same obstacles typewriter manufacturers faced when the PC caught on. There are still typewriter specialty shops that repair old machines. But these are boutiques for lovers of the old things. Some typewriter companies and shops saw what was coming, and moved into the computer age, and have managed to survive and, sometimes, thrive. But they did have to change.

Major publishing today faces a tsunami that few people saw coming back in late 2007. That was when the Kindle was introduced.  Can you believe it cost $399? Virtually no one anticipated the speed of change that happened next.

The rapidity of it all put pressure on every part of the industry. It's what led to Borders going into bankruptcy in 2011. The big publishers took that like a blow to the sola plexus, and they've been staggering around since. But in a

blog post I likened the industry to Jake LaMotta, the "Raging Bull." It refuses to go down.

But with physical shelf space disappearing, their main mode of operation and distribution is fading away. That was their main advantage. Now they've got to find ways to make themselves advantageous again.

MARK: What are some of the obstacles indie authors/publishers face?

JIM: There are two main obstacles: quality and discoverability. The former is about having the discipline and drive and work ethic to make yourself better and better, all the time, not giving up, producing the words. This is always job one for a writer. All the digital savvy in the world isn't going to help you if your writing is subpar.

The second aspect, discoverability, is an ongoing process. In one sense, taking care of the quality also takes care of the discovery. Word of mouth works. Great writing catches on. The depth and degree of discovery is always going to vary. But it will happen for the writer who is doing excellent work. Then come various tools one can use to try to get leg up. Like the Kindle Select program which you, Mark, have used very successfully. There are others. The self-publishing writer should set aside a certain amount of time each week, even if it's just an hour, to study what's possible in terms of marketing.

There's also social media, but writers can misuse it. I've seen it over and over. Variations on "buy my book" don't work. You have to engage and be real. But also, don't put so much time into it that you're taking away from your most important job—writing.

MARK: Your latest novel, Don’t Leave Me, released last January, seems to be doing quite well in the rankings. Tell us about this suspense novel.

JIM: It's the story of two brothers. The older, Chuck Samson, is a chaplain who served with a Marine unit in Afghanistan. He was captured, rescued, and came home with a rare form of PTSD. And he needs to take care of his autistic brother, Stan. In Chapter One, an unseen enemy, for some reason, takes aim at Chuck. And things just get worse from there. Chuck has to run for his life, and from the cops, who think he's a murderer. There's a secret buried deep in Chuck’s psyche that is the one thing that could save him and his brother. But can he ever get to it?

I wanted to write a thriller with a lot of twists and turns, but the crux of it is the love and loyalty of two brothers.

MARK: I know you’re hesitant to discuss future writing projects until they’re hatched. However, I noticed on your web site you shared that you are  “currently at work on two series: pulp style stories featuring Irish Jimmy Gallagher and the vigilante nun series Force of Habit”. What can you tell us about these writing projects? Trying to bring back pulp fiction?

JIM: I think pulp fiction is already back. It's a great time to be a productive

writer! Just like in those days, a writer who knows how to tell stories can carve out a decent wage. I love the fact that short form (stories, novelettes, novellas) have a place now.

I wanted to write boxing stories set in Los Angeles in the 1950s. So I did, and that series is up and running. So is Force of Habit, which started as a joke my son told me. He thought a nun who can do martial arts, and fights for justice, could have that title. Ha ha, right? But I liked it! I told him I was going to write it. I wrote it as a novelette and it caught on with a lot of readers. So I wrote a sequel,  Force of Habit 2: And Then There were Nuns. I keep getting emails wanting to know when the next one's coming. I'm working on it! It's called Force of Habit 3: Nun the Wiser.  

MARK: Where can writers go to learn about your teaching seminars? Where are these going to be held? What other events are you going to be involved with this year?

JIM: Simply go to my News and Appearances page.

MARK: Thank you for your time, Jim. Look forward to reading your next work.

JIM: Thanks, Mark. It was great to be Hooked and Booked today.

*******

JAMES SCOTT BELL is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure, and numerous thrillers, including Don't LeaveMe, Try Dying and Watch Your Back. His novella One More Lie was the first self-published work to be nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award. Under the pen name K. Bennett, he is also the author of the Mallory Caine zombie legal thriller series, which begins with Pay Me in Flesh. He served as the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine and has written highly popular craft books for Writer’s Digest Books, including: Revision & Self-Editing for Publication, The Art of War for Writers and Conflict & Suspense

Interview: NYT bestselling author John Lescroart

By Mark Young

It has been more than two years since New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart visited us here on Hook’em & Book’em. There has been a least one major change in his writing career since that time which we will cover in the Q&A section below. It has been too long. Join me as we find out what has been happening in John’s literary world since we last visited.

After his release of The Hunter last year, I intended to try to corner him with questions about that novel but I fell into my own writing cave, emerging months later to realize I never followed up on this opportunity. One of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions was to make sure I did not miss another chance to visit with this gifted author. I wanted to interview John before his next novel, The Ophelia Cut, comes out this May. Between the two novels, I felt I might be able to kill two birds with…oh, enough of the clichés.

In The Hunter, the subject of adoption is an intricate part of the story. This subject matter is close to my heart, and this novelist quickly drew me into the story after I learned the main character found out his adoptive mother may have been killed. Not that John needed this heart tug to get me to read another of his great novels. After discovering this author a few years ago, I’d follow his writings anywhere.

John Lescroart has crafted a community of crime-investigating individuals –characters that stay with you long after the novel ends—who live and work in the San Francisco bay area. In this novel, The Hunter, San Francisco private investigator Wyatt Hunt must dig into his own past after receiving a disturbing text message: “How did your mother die?” Hunt learns his mother might have been murdered, and he begins down a path into his past that he never knew existed. What he finds out will shock him and the reader. Do not assume you know where this story might be headed. You would be wrong!

MARK: Thanks for joining us again, John. Let’s start off with The Hunter. Tell us a little about the plot and the main character, Wyatt Hunter.

JOHN: Well, you’ve done a great job of that already. Wyatt Hunt is a San Francisco private investigator whose fictional debut was in The Hunt Club. Wyatt was an adopted child, raised by loving foster parents, and hadn’t really given too much thought to his birth parents. Then one day he gets a mysterious text that asks: how did your mother die? And once he opens that can of worms, he cannot rest until he finds the answer, and that answer is as traumatic as it is unexpected.

MARK: The topic of adoption is a central theme in this story. Just this subject alone would grab my attention for personal reasons. How did you come to choose this as an intricate part of Hunt’s character history?

JOHN: When I’m creating my characters, I try to give them what I think are interesting backgrounds, even if I’m not sure of all the details. In Wyatt’s case, I thought it was inherently provocative that he came from a foster background, even though in my first two Wyatt Hunt books, I didn’t go into much detail about this other than the bare fact of it. Then, as I started thinking about the book that would become The Hunter, this background moved to center stage, and I knew I would have to explore it to get to the core of Hunt’s character. It was an exciting and powerful opportunity, and I couldn’t pass it up.

MARK: Without giving the story away, there is one well-known cult you use in the novel to build upon the plot. Is the missing funds from the cult something you came across in research or is this a part of your creative fiction?

JOHN: Actually, both the well-known cult and all of the facts that I attribute to it, including all of the financial details are, to the best of my knowledge, absolutely true. I always like to ground my stories in reality, and this aspect of The Hunter turned out to be one of the most resonant that I’ve used in any of my stories.

MARK: The Hunter sales seem to be doing quite well in the market place. I noticed on your blog that this novel rose from #10 to #4 on the New York Times Paperback Mass-Market Fiction list. Congratulations! And I took a peek on Amazon regarding your upcoming novel, The Ophelia Cut, a Dismas Hardy novel, to be released May 7, 2013. The ranking on Amazon is rising fast even before your release. Your readership really seems to be snowballing. Besides writing outstanding novels, what other ways have you been able to connect with readers?

JOHN: I try not only to write books that are timely and fun to read, I also keep in touch with my readers in a variety of ways. I speak at writing events quite regularly. I also have a webpage that I update all the time. Beyond that, I’m on Facebook and Twitter and I have a blog page. So all in all, I try to keep in close contact with my readers, and to respond to requests about the writing process, or individual books. Also, I invite emails from my readers. If you write me on my web page, I try to respond every time. That’s a great source of connection and fun.

MARK: I noticed that you’ve switched publishers this last year, leaving Penguin’s imprint, Dutton after many years and joining Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. Can you give us a little inside information about these changes? How are you managing this major shift in your publishing career?

JOHN: I think that sometimes it just gets to be time for a change. Dutton was a wonderful publisher for twelve of my books, with every one a NY Times bestseller. My editors there, Mitch Hoffman and later Ben Sevier, are both great guys with whom I’m still on excellent terms. My publishers, Carole Baron and Brian Tart, are likewise terrific people. But I think there just got to be a kind of expectation of where I fit into the sales projections, and then this tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The sales force of any one company can only go out so many times saying, “This is so-and-so’s best book. You’ve got to stock it in big numbers.” And unfortunately, if they don’t do that, the book doesn’t “happen.” So, after The Hunter spent only one week on the NT Times list, I decided it was time to get involved with a company whose enthusiasm for my work, and belief in its commercial prospects, was a little greater. And Atria has been nothing if not wildly enthusiastic and gung-ho. I’m very excited to be bringing The Ophelia Cut out with them.

MARK: Looking toward the near future, your main character, Dismas Hardy, returns to center stage in the next novel, The Ophelia Cut, in what appears to be a suspenseful legal thriller. Tell us a little about this story and what kind of trouble Dismas might be headed for in this new adventure.

JOHN: The Ophelia Cut has Dismas Hardy threatened from all sides. In the first place, faithful readers will remember that he and three of his closest friends (Abe Glitsky, Gina Roake, and his brother-in-law Moses McGuire) were involved in an extra-legal solution to a big problem a few books back (in The First Law). If any of the details of that solution came out, it would cause huge problems for all of the principals, probably ruining lives as well as careers. As this book begins, Moses McGuire, a recovering alcoholic, shows dangerous signs of spilling the beans about this event. At the same time, McGuire’s daughter Brittany gets involved with a boyfriend who is nothing but trouble, and who eventually rapes her. When the boyfriend then winds up dead, McGuire becomes the chief suspect. After he falls off the wagon, he becomes a great threat to reveal the earlier secret. As the McGuire’s trial progresses, the ratcheting tension spills over into every aspect of Dismas Hardy’s life, where it seems that every one of the choices he has to make is more awful than the last one. How far can he go before his world, and that of his friends and family, falls completely apart?

MARK: Can you tell us how you came to select this title, The Ophelia Cut, without giving away the story?

JOHN: The Ophelia Cut is that rare example of a phrase showing up in the book in the course of the writing. In this case, I was on my third draft, on the very last page of the book, and a character brought up this phrase in conversation. As soon as I wrote it down, I empathized so much with the phrase, and it seemed to encapsulate the very essense of the book, that I actually teared up. Ambiguous though it might at first appear to be, to me it simply captured the deepest themes that the book explored. It simply had to be the title.

MARK: There have been a lot of changes in the book publishing industry over the last few years. Major publishers seem to be cutting back on the number of authors they sign, book advances seem to be shrinking, and even some major authors have chosen to follow a more independent publishing path. From your prospective, where do you think the world of book publishing is headed?

JOHN: Since I’ve signed a three-book deal with Atria, I hope it’s headed to great things over the next couple of years. But in a general sense, I hope that the turmoil calms down somewhat. I believe the royalty structure around eBooks needs to be corrected. It would also be nice if we could return to having the “secondary” publication of books (e.g. downloading, paperbacks), after the hardcover release, take place after giving the hardcover a few months at least to sell in that format.

MARK: Many authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and others seem to be experimenting with shorter works in the digital market—novellas and short stories—as a way of attracting readers to their novels. I noticed that writers like James Patterson are offering the first nineteen chapters of their novel for free to entice readers to buy the complete work. How do you feel these efforts are paying off? Have you contemplated offering shorter works as part of your marketing strategy?

JOHN: In fact, I contemplated it with The Ophelia Cut. I wrote a short story that was, I though, tangentially related to the book. When I submitted it to my agent and editor, they decided that it would be great as the book’s prologue! And so it came to be. I would expect over the next book or two, these “teaser” elements will become even more prevalent. Although I must say that giving away the first 19 chapters for free seems a bit excessive. (Although I will also admit that James Patterson probably has a slightly better idea about how to market books than the rest of us!)

MARK: With The Ophelia Cut now set for release, can you tell us a little about your next project?

JOHN: My next book is tentatively entitled The Keeper, and all I know about it is that it begins with a man coming home from picking up his brother at the airport on the day before Thanksgiving to find that his wife is gone. I’m taking any and all suggestions for what happens next. J (Yee Gods, my first emoticon in an interview! What is the world coming to?)

MARK: I can imagine with your writing schedule, coupled with promotional tours and marketing efforts, you have little free time left to blow off stream. When that time is available, how do you enjoy spending it? Playing in the band? Watch the Giants win some games?

JOHN: Free time? Hmmm. Maybe not so much. I’m in “work mode” now on The Keeper, putting down as many pages a day as I can, as it is due in the middle of July. My tour for The Ophelia Cut will take most of May. Meanwhile, for fun, I still love cooking. I’m playing a little bit of guitar, but not enough. And I’m very much looking forward to the Giants winning the World Series again this year. My wife, Lisa Sawyer, and I still have many good times together, and spending time with her is mostly what I look forward to day to day. If I didn’t like my work, I might find the schedule grueling, but fortunately, I love what I do. And that’s the secret to never really working a day in your life. 

MARK: John, I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to join us here on Hook’em & Book’em. We look forward to your upcoming novel.

********* 

Readers can find out more about John Lescroart and his writing career by visiting his web site at JohnLescroart.com or interviews here on Hook’em & Book’em on May 10, 2010 and January 1, 2011.

Peek into the future on Hook'em & Book'em

Ready for the New Year? I am excited about what this year will bring our way. New books to read. New publishing opportunities. New friends. Let me share a little of what might be coming up.

Let’s start with reading. Now, I know some of you still prefer the traditional print novel where you can feel the texture, smell the print, and use that ol’ bookmark between the pages to signal just where you left off the next time you pick up that book. I still like the print version myself, although if I choose to buy a hardback novel for my library shelves, most likely it will be a Costco special of one of my favorite authors. Otherwise, it is eBooks for me. Everyone has their preferences.

For the less traditional folks, let’s talk about digital copies for a moment. Recently, my first Kindle reader bit the dust when my daughter accidentely leaned on the face of the reader and cracked the cover. I tried to read my digital books on my Samsung tablet, which was nice but not quite the same—particularly as I tried to categorize my novels and books for easy retrieval. So, I ordered the Kindle Paperwhite and just got it set up a week ago. Wow! Easy to read, the size of a paper back novel that easily fits in my pocket, and easy to organize the hundreds of novels and non-fiction books I have lingering in my Kindle Cloud in Amazon’s digital sky. I won’t bore you…uh, am I too late…with all the reading features, but I am once again a very satisfied reader

No matter your reading choice—Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kindle Fire, Kobo or print—there are marvelous opportunities in store for you. The publishing world is changing—for readers and authors.

Here on Hook’em/Book’em, we have a lot to look forward to over the coming year. For example, one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz, promises to return for a visit later this spring after his next novel is put to bed. And I hope that such authors as John Lescroart, James Scott Bell, and Tess Gerritsen, among many others—will rejoin us throughout the year to tell us what is happening in their corner of the publishing world.

I would like to expand our coverage of new and independent writers who are emerging among the ranks of authors that readers might want to know about. As the eBook world continues to find its place in this publishing environment, new indie writers and indie publishers are rising to prominence in this wild west frontier of the new digital age. What was true in 2009 is old news, and might not work in 2013. Join us as we learn about these changes coming up in the not-so-distant future.

I need to get back to our friends in law enforcement and the intelligence world to find out how fiction and reality come together in mystery/suspense/thriller novels. Everything from border searches to predator drones, from human trafficking to forensic science, will be examined through the eyes of my experts in the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence community. As I started to jot down ideas for a Gerrit O’Rourke sequel (release in 2014) I was interested in the predator drone technology and how that impacts our world today. After I finished my latest novel, Fatal eMpulse (A Gerrit O’Rourke Novel), I came across sources and information about the on-going war on terror that I thought might interest readers here on Hook’em & Book’em.

Which brings me back to my roots—law enforcement. I have been editing the final changes to Broken Allegiance (A Tom Kagan Novel), which will be released in 2013. This police procedural focuses on the struggle between gang officers and gangsters going on throughout our nation. This novel deals primary with the notorious Nuestra Famila prison gang in California, but its tentacles—like those of many prison gangs—extend into every state and federal institution throughout our nation, and on the streets of every city in American. As I edited this novel, it rekindled my desire to rejoin my friends in law enforcement and share with you some of the insight and work experiences cops face today.

Coming back to law enforcement issues is like coming home after a long trip abroad. In my last two international thrillers, I and my readers traveled all over the world and landed in some pretty exotic and dangerous locations. But now, it is time to come home. The Tom Kagan novels (yes, there will be more than one) and our friend, Travis Mays, will be joining us again as they travel through the twists and turns of investigations into murder, drug trafficking, and political corruption. After Broken Allegiance, I plan on putting together a sequel to Revenge, titled Blood Quantum (A Travis Mays Novel). Travis Mays and his girlfriend, Jessie White Eagle, and her father—Frank, chief of the Nez Perce Tribal Police—once again join forces over one of the hottest issue facing the Indian nations today, a concept called blood quantum. After two long years, I and my readers get to travel back to this beautiful Idaho reservation along the Clearwater River. Travis and his friends find themselves in trouble once again as tribal and BIA politics erupt in murder and deception.

Come with us as we explore—on Hook’em/Book’em—all of the above ideas and opportunities as well as try to keep up with changes exploding within the publisher world. 

Here are a few topics:  

• Expansion of digital inroads by traditional publishers.
• New developments and opportunities within the indie publishing community.
• Social networking, publicity and marketing. 
• Finding out about some of the new and promising authors emerging in this ever-changing community of writers, readers, and publishing outlets.

I trust that something mentioned above will pique your interest. And, I welcome any other topics of interest that our readers might want to explore. This coming year is going to be exciting. I hope to be able to share some of that with you here on this blog. Thank you for your faithfulness to to Hook’em/Book’em. Happy New Year!

Interview: Mystery Novelist Robin Burcell

Novel: The Bone Chamber 

By Mark Young

Author Robin Burcell’s main character, FBI forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick, returns in The Bone Chamber trying to hide from psychological wounds inflicted in the past. However, Sydney is dragged from her hiding place—an FBI academy classroom on the Quantico marine base where she teaches—to help in another baffling case filled with secrets, lies, and murder.

Readers: If you think Robin was tough on you in Face Of A Killer, wait until Sydney starts eluding the bad guys in this novel.

And readers better pack a bag. This time Sydney travels to exotic locations in Italy to find clues that only The Bone Chamber might reveal. The story begins with a skull, resting on a table in a closely-guarded room at an FBI facility at Quantico, where Sydney reluctantly performs her artistic magic. Her painstaking recreation only makes the case more dangerous as she unlocks facts that everyone fears.

Mysterious Special Agent Zachary Griffin manipulates Sydney’s life—thwarting her Thanksgiving holidays with family in San Francisco, for example— to get at the truth of this murder. Sydney soon realizes even Griffin—if that’s his real name—may want to uncover the murder, but everything else about his life is a lie. Who can she trust?

You’ll have to read The Bone Chamber to find out.

Robin joins us today to talk about this latest mystery novel and her writing career.

MARK: This second Sydney Fitzpatrick novel is packed with thrills, intrigue and conspiracies. Robin, I’ve tried to tell our readers a little about The Bone ChamberT without giving away too much. What did I miss that you think they need to know about this mystery?

ROBIN:  I think you’ve about covered it. Heck, you made me want to pick it up and read it! 

MARK: This international thriller starts at the FBI academy in Virginia and the nation’s capitol, finally traveling from San Francisco to Italy and back again. The story raises all kinds of conspiratorial theories that might even date back to biblical times. This must have been an interesting research project. Where did you travel for background and what sources of information did you glean for this story? Tell us a little about this journey.

ROBIN:  Originally I did most of my research at the library and on the internet. Especially concerning the historical aspects of the books.  But in order to bring that sense of actually being there, I came to the realization that someone was going to need to go to these locales and make sure my depictions were accurate. (And why not me?) Actually, it was my mother who pointed out that the book would be far better if I personally visited the places in the book. She’d lived there for several years, researching the ancient columbaria, and so I had depended on her to vet some of the scenes to get the flavor right and make sure they were accurate. But it seemed time and again, I’d have a scene written, and she’d tell me it couldn’t happen that way, because my vision (from internet tours) and the reality of the actual place were … very different. She suggested I travel there, and said she’d play tour guide (since she speaks Italian.)  It was a great setup. We traveled to each of the locations set in the book, and I was able to see where some scenes needed to be changed for accuracy, and how I could ramp up other scenes to make them better.  It was amazing how much it added to the tension in the story.

MARK: What was the best part of your research?

ROBIN:  Besides traveling to a foreign country in the name of research? The food!  It was fantastic! One restaurant, Hostaria Antica Roma, which was right up the street from one of the key scenes, was so memorable, that I rewrote my restaurant scene to include the meal and setting. The owner and I still correspond via e-mail and Facebook.  I’m telling you right now, if you go to Rome, visit that restaurant. You won’t be disappointed! 

MARK: At end of The Bone Chamber, you wrote a fascinating article titled “Fact or Fiction” regarding the Freemason's possible ties to the Templar Knights, and a politically-explosive conspiracy in Italy that piqued the public’s interest. What did you find most interesting about all this? And …. how much do you believe this is true?  

ROBIN:  By far, the most fascinating aspect is the history and scandal of the Italian Freemason lodge, Propaganda Due (also known as P-2). Granted this lodge was just one of many, many lodges throughout the world at the time, and by no means representative of what the Freemasons are or were about, but its history in the 1980s of how the men involved with this lodge nearly toppled the Italian government and banking system, even infiltrated the Vatican, due to such widespread corruption (with ripples felt around the world), well it was the perfect example of conspiracy theory.  It’s something that most people would say could never happen in today’s world.  And yet it did happen just a few decades ago.  It’s also a lesson learned that we hope won’t be repeated. My book continues on with the assumption that today a few key players from P-2 are still attempting to manipulate both the Italian government and the U.S. government. 

MARK: For our readers who’ve not had the pleasure of reading Face Of A Killer, give us a little back story on Sydney. What is she trying to recover from in the past? What is it that drives her to hide in an FBI classroom as an instructor?

ROBIN:  The story opens on the 20th anniversary of her father’s murder, with the killer about to be executed (finally) in ten days time.  Sydney, now a seasoned FBI agent, was 13 at the time, and the case always haunted her. It was, in fact, why she went into law enforcement. She decides to interview the killer before his execution, if nothing else to hear why he murdered her father. Even though her mother and everyone else is against this idea, it’s her way of getting on with her life. What she doesn’t expect is to leave that interview suddenly doubting the guilt of the man accused of murdering her father and setting the fire to cover up the crime—even though they have incontrovertible evidence.  His execution is in 10 days. That’s 10 days to prove his innocence or guilt. After all, if he did it, so be it. If he didn’t, the killer is out there still.  But the investigation takes a sudden twist when the government comes after Sydney trying to stop her from digging into something they’d hoped was dead and buried. 

It’s another case of conspiracy theory, based on some real pieces of history involving our government, this time in the U.S.

MARK: Is there a little bit of Sydney in you, Robin?

ROBIN:  Well, we’re both artists, and in law enforcement, and we have the same strong morals, so I’d have to say yes in that respect. But Sydney’s a lot more kick-ass than I ever was!  And, where Sydney doesn’t mind hopping on a plane, putting her job at risk, I like sitting in my nice safe living room over dealing with black op government agents (or anyone else) who are hell bent on trying to kill me. 

MARK: I understand that you may have inherited a desire to write from your grandfather. How did your writing career evolve? How did you manage this writing career while still holding down a very active law enforcement job?

ROBIN:  My grandfather was a very well-respected sports writer in his day, and so that gene of loving to write must have trickled its way down. I actually started off wanting to be a journalist, but never quite made it down that track. But the love of writing never left me, and I was forever penning stories on pads of paper (most not very good), a habit that didn’t leave even after I started in law enforcement.  In fact, driving around on patrol on those dark and lonely nights, sometimes I’d see or hear things that would set my mind spinning in interesting directions. This person would make a great character, or that story is too great not to write down. Imagine if this happened instead of that.  Finally I decided that I needed to stop thinking about writing, and get very serious about doing it. I bought a computer and started transcribing all those pads of paper.  Unfortunately, they were pretty bad attempts. So I began the process of learning the craft, joining writers organizations, networking, reading books on writing… and giving up TV. 

MARK: Beyond perfecting your writing craft, how did you break down the publishing barrier to get your first novel on the book shelves?

ROBIN:  At the time I was on a romance kick. I was in love with reading them, and decided I was going to write one—with the mistaken notion that a romance would be easier than other genres.  I joined Romance Writers of America, and entered the first couple books in a contest they had called the Golden Heart. The finalists of said contest landed on the desks of five editors of major publishing houses for the final judging.  This was a way to avoid the dreaded slush pile of hundreds of other manuscripts submitted.  An editor at HarperCollins was one those judges, and she asked if she could see the entire manuscript. She bought it as a result.  I’ve been with HarperCollins ever since, writing under their various imprints.

MARK: Is that first published novel still fresh in your mind? Did you have any time to celebrate or did you immediately focus on getting the next novel ready?

ROBIN:  I remember it well. I told my husband that I now had my foot in the door of the publishing world, and we could try for that second child. I ended up pregnant with twins, which sort of put a damper on writing anything, much less romance!  It was two years before I wrote again, and this time I decided that murder and mayhem was a better fit. My next book, which came out four years later, was a mystery.  I’ve been writing mysteries and thrillers ever since.

MARK: Your police background must provide a wealth of material to draw upon, including a variety of people you encountered on the job.  Did any people you worked with in the past emerge as models for your characters? Can you share your most memorable model from law enforcement or should we leave this well enough alone?

ROBIN:  (Cue in the evil laugh…)  Yeah, we’ll just say that sometimes I’ve thrown in a character or two who needed to be dealt with—and doing it fictionally seemed the wiser course of action.  But I have written friends in cameo roles, used their names when I’ve needed officers to populate scenes. Sometimes I’ll use the whole name, sometimes partial. It’s been fun.

MARK: What advice can you give aspiring novelists who struggle to write about crime fighting with some semblance of reality? Where should they go for research? Short of becoming a cop, how can they get this kind of exposure?

ROBIN:  Watch CSI.  Then make sure you don’t do anything they’re doing. There are actually a couple good and easy resources.  One, contact your local police department and ask if they have ride-along programs (though many have cut back because of budget issues). The FBI usually has a local citizen’s academy in which one can attend several classroom sessions to learn about what they do.  There are a number of good books out there, such as police officer Lee Lofland’s Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide For Writers, and he has a blog in which he interviews experts (or discusses police work himself).  And there is also Yahoo Group’s Crimescenewriter, in which one can ask questions of the experts on the list, former CSI, cops, FBI, fire, ambulance and medical types. 

MARK: What does your writing schedule look like? Early writer, late writer, somewhere in between? And how much coffee do you require?

ROBIN:  While I was working fulltime, I would come home, turn on the computer and write for an hour or two each day, until I was so tired (breaking for dinner, etc.) that I was falling asleep at the desk. I also kept paper in my car to write during any down time. (Waiting in doctor’s offices, waiting to pick up kids at school, that sort of thing.)

Now that I’m writing fulltime, I drop the kids off at school, come home, write at least a page or two, then check e-mail. Then go back to writing. Pick up the kids, deal with after-school stuff, write until dinner, maybe watch TV unless I’m on deadline and then write some more.  I actually have a little TV at my desk, so I will often do e-mail and watch an evening show at the same time.  If I don’t get my work done, no TV for me, though!

One important note that has really changed my production schedule. I am now writing first before reading e-mail, or going on Facebook, or anything else. I have found that my most productive time is that first hour or two, which I used to spend answering e-mail. Now that I spend it writing, when I do break for e-mail and then go back, I have doubled my page count per day. (The same can be said for computer games. I pulled those off my computer years ago. I found that the I’ll-just-play-one-game-of solitaire really cut into my writing time). When you have only a good solid hour of writing time per day, even 15 minutes doing e-mail or games is a big, big time suck. 

MARK: Some writers believe you should write every day to perfect the craft. Do you find this to be true, or are there parts of the year you must put writing aside and focus on other matters—marketing, promotion, family?

ROBIN:  It’s definitely true. I sit down at the computer nearly every day.  If I’m not home, I have a notebook in my purse, or paper in my car. I pull it out and write by hand. (Sometimes when I’m stuck on a scene, changing how/where I write, really helps. So writing by hand, while slower, seems to free up my mind.)  While I was on book tour this year, I took a laptop, thinking I’d write on that. I found that I worked better writing by hand.  I wrote in the airport waiting for flights, on the plane, and if I wasn’t too beat, in the hotel at night.  What I’ve found is that writing is like running.  If you don’t do it all the time, you get out of shape, and it is much, much harder to keep a good pace—especially writing a novel with a complex story line. You end up having to go back and review the story so often that you lose too much forward momentum if you put it down for anything longer than a day or two.

MARK: I understand you are putting the finishing touches on another novel. What can you tell us about this new book to piqué our readers’ interest? When will it be released?

ROBIN: I’ve just finished the third FBI thriller in the series. It is, as of now, untitled. I’m hoping it will be out next year, but haven’t heard yet …

MARK: Lastly, what is the most important writing advice you ever received?

ROBIN: A page a day is all it takes, and you have a book done in (about) a year!  This is probably the best advice I ever received, because one of the most daunting things a new writer faces is the blank page. And how can one fill 85,000 words while working full time? A page a day…

Robin Burcell is the author of the Anthony Award winning SFPD Homicide Inspector Kate Gillespie novels and the Sydney Fitzpatrick novels, an FBI agent who uses her forensic artist skills to unravel the most difficult murder scenes. You can find out more about Robin Burcell and her writing career at this author’s web site.