Monday, November 16, 2015

Interview with Author Saul Warshaw

Author of Bang Bang You Are Dead

Saul Warshaw was a colleague of mine for about 15 years and then he retired and started a while new life in his ninth decade as a writer.  The former broadcast journalist is now up to his latest crime drama, Bang Bang You Are Dead.  It follows his debut novels, Killing Memories and A Killing in Business.

The 83-year-old mystery thriller writer is a New York native and resident of Los Angeles.  His newest book takes place in LA.

When a prominent Los Angeles businessman is targeted with a series of life threatening letters and phone calls, and the Police Department’s investigation is going nowhere, the businessman hires Will Jonas, a retired LAPD homicide detective, and now, a private investigator.  Will’s assignment: Find the person or persons threatening the businessman.  Will’s investigation, however, goes far beyond the letters, as he uncovers long hidden family secrets that lead to a deadly final outcome.

Here’s an interview with Saul:

1. What inspired your latest tale? Gee, I wish I could give you an awesome, deeply meaningful reason -- but the simple truth is -- I'm driven by a "writing bug" and writing Bang Bang You Are Dead was simply my latest effort to serve that bug.  Too, in my previous work as a public relations counselor, I dealt with high powered executives, about whom I'd often wonder -- what's beneath that tough exterior?  What about their personal lives?  Their family relationships?  The Carl Clemson character in Bang Bang gives me a chance to answer those questions.

2. What draws you to write about crime? I've always been a fan of mystery novels.  I devour them as fast as Michael Connelly and John Sandford can write them.  And back a ways, I especially enjoyed all of the terrific books that Lawrence Block wrote.So, when I decided a few years ago to take a serious stab at fiction writing, it was pretty natural for me to write about crime. 

3. Why do we have an insatiable appetite with movies, TV fare, and books that revolve around crime dramas? That's an easy one to answer.  The "good versus evil" theme goes all the way back to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, the Forbidden Tree, and all the rest of the trappings that go with someone or something trying to beat up on something good.  We may not want to admit it, but I believe we all like to see a good fight.  Crime -- offered via all of the mediums you've mentioned -- lets us see as many such fights as we want.

4. What do you admire about your lead character, Will Jonas? Three things.  First, I admire that Will does have a sense of humor.  Without it, he'd be a hard character to like, in my opinion. Second, I'm also glad that -- hopefully -- I've been able to give Will some traits that all of us exhibit from time to time.  Example:  in his fifties, Will is starting to worry about getting old.  Sound familiar?  And third, Will does not like to accept things as they are supposed to be, just because someone said so.  Will definitely is not a "by the book" person.

5. You write about family secrets getting unearthed.  Doesn't everyone have things they'd rather remain secret? Sure!  And that's part of the fun in being a writer. I can "invent" whatever secrets I want a family to have, and then write like the dickens to get those secrets out in the open, no matter how much the folks in the family are objecting. 


6. With the police nationwide under a microscope, can we look to Will Jonas as a model policeman? No.  If Will were operating in 2015, he'd be far from being any sort of model.  Doesn't do things by the book. Cuts corners, just so long as he gets the perp.  That wouldn't be acceptable in 2015.  But let's remember, Bang Bang takes place in 2001.  Does this mean that Will needs to change his way of operating?  Well, we've got a lot of years to cover, until that becomes an issue for the guy, don't we?

For more information, feel free to reach out to Saul directly at saul1warshaw@gmail.com.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBl

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