Tell us a little bit about yourself and your life growing up.
I grew up in the central valley of California. We lived on a small farm until I was in college. I had no neighborhood kids to play with. I went to a country school to far away for convenient extracurricular activities, because of my parent work schedule. My sibling were several years younger than me, and because of this I spent a lot of time reading, listening to music, and watching movies on television in the evening with my Grandmother who lived with us.
You've mentioned being taught the beauty of the English language by Bob Dylan, Robertson Davies, Charles Dickens, and Leonard Cohen. How have these influences shaped your writing style and approach to storytelling?
The first time I heard Bob Dylan, I was hooked. His way of telling a story and twisting a phrase in his lyrics captured my imagination. I am a huge fan to this day. The same is true of Leonard Cohen. I first heard him as a sophomore in high school. When all my friends were listening to Top 40 radio, I was fascinated by Cohen’s words and dark baritone delivery. I often tried to mimic Dylan and Cohen in papers I wrote for school! I must admit not with the greatest results. My teacher were no prepared for my puns, plays on words and my use of metaphors and symbolism in my writing.
I read A Tale of Two Cities as a freshman in high school. The way Charles Dickens wrote the story was an open door to the world of literature. Up to that point my reading was mostly history and biographies. In 1986 I listened to an audiobook of Robertson Davies Fifth Business while rototilling the huge back yard of a home bought. I found myself several times standing in the newly turned soil captivated by the words this author had written. I felt as if he was speaking in my voice. It was like I knew what he would say next. I didn’t actually, but I had such a connection to his writing upon finishing Fifth Business bought the other two book in the Deptford Trilogy. I now have read everything he ever published and was fortunate to receive a couple of letters from him in response to my inquiries as to his advice to someone who wanted to write.
Your bio mentions that you've dined with a wide range of people, from politicians to rock stars and beggars. How have these diverse interactions influenced the characters in your books?
Someone once said that everyone we meet leaves a bit of themselves with us. I think having been blessed with a life of interactions with a gamut of people in every strata of society has given me insights to what makes people tick. I have found when describing people in my writing I often see the image of someone I have met and their physical and facial mannerisms. Even if it is just a fleeting flash of someone I can’t identify exactly that piece of them becomes a character in my story.
How do your experiences with your love of music, film, and literature contribute to the themes and emotions explored in your writing?
It is all part of the fiber of my being. My love of film gives me a cinematic vision when writing. My descriptions are as close to what I would see it in film as I can create. The rhythm of lyrics and again their use of language has created in me an unwillingness to just write prose. I want it to make the reader stop, as I have done a million times, in a movie or song and smile and think “how cool was that!” Words are magic. My love of literature is a constant reminder to keep my standards high, and fight for the best story I can write.
Having traveled the globe, how have different cultures and landscapes influenced the settings and backdrops of your novels?
My wife and I have now been to 58 countries. Given the opportunity to talk to people around the world is apparent we all have stories, we all have something unique that is one of those things I have been fortunate enough to take away with me. Some of the most interesting, and if I may, strangest people I have met have been fellow travelers. I delight in sharing a meal of cup of coffee with some travel in and out of the way place, and listening to how their life got them to that place.
You've interacted with priests, murderers, surgeons, and drug dealers. How do you draw inspiration from real people to create authentic and compelling characters in your books?
In most of our adult life we have two or three jobs. Usually in the same field. I have been fortunate to have three careers in three totally different fields. They put me in the path of people with vocations different than mine. Drawing from that is one of the most valuable resources for my writing I have been given. Their work, jargon, experiences all can be injected into my writing to give what I am describing as close to the actual experience as possible.
You mention your lovely wife and travel partner, Janet. How does your collaboration with her impact your writing process or the themes explored in your works?
When you have a life partner (We are now in our 48 year together) common experiences help to give life a clearer understanding. Janet is my worst and best critic. She is the first reader of anything I write. As to the themes of my writing I’m afraid I even surprise her! Those are completely the product of my somewhat skewed imagination.
How do you navigate the creative challenges of writing in diverse genres, and what attracts you to each genre?
The truth is, I get bored really easily. If I start to tire of a character or series it is time to move on. I loved Cole Sage like he was part of me. But rather than carry on for book after book, I feared he would grow stale. So I decided, against the advice of readers, and marketing people alike to let him ride off into the sunset with his dignity intact. People love him to the last book, and thankfully don’t write reviews that show he has grown boring.
I love the idea of time travel, so The Time Pedaler was born. My wife asked me “Why can’t you write a book without somebody always getting killed?” Having the main character go through his high school years with a time machine seemed like so much fun I couldn’t resist. Again eight books, each representing a semester of high school, gave the story line a natural conclusion.
The Logan Connor books gave me a CIA guy, Dupree is a lawyer, Flynt and Steele are a buddy cop series, and The Rohm series gave me a fish out of water detective. And all of them kept me on my toes and in a new world to not get bored in.
Living in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is a unique backdrop. How does this environment influence the atmosphere and tone of your novel, "No Road Home"?
Well, he is an exclusive insight for you. The entire book was written on three different cruises. 84 days total over five months. During at sea days, I would take my laptop to the “crow’s nest” at the front of the ship and write. It began on a transatlantic cruise, continued on a trip to South America, and finished on a New Zealand to Vancouver B.C cruise. On the last voyage my proofreader and her husband we along. How’s that with mixing business and pleasure?
Can you share more about "No Road Home" and how it differs from your series? What inspired you to write a standalone novel?
Originally, the Dupree series was intended to be a standalone novel. And due to, as they say, popular demand it ended up four books. So when I started No Road home I was bound and determined for it to not have a sequel. At last count I have six books outlined and partially written. I have at least thirty titles, and synopsis written for other books, including a twenty book historical series.
At seventy-one one tends to slow down a bit. There is no way on earth I can scratch the surface of those titles.
No Road Home was an idea I have played with for some time. I have always loved stories that the main character gets a chance to start over, unrequited or lost love, betrayal and tragedy, are the fabric of all great books. As I look back at my own books these themes are a constant source of inspiration. For No Road Home, I though what if it had all those elements? I think I have accomplished just that. I believe this book may be the best I have written so far.
Your collection, "The First Chapter Collected Short Stories," showcases your talent in short-form fiction. How does your approach to storytelling differ in shorter formats compared to full-length novels?
The First Chapter was a true labor of love. People always ask, “Did you always want to be a writer?” Yes! The first story in the anthology is my first story in print. In 1964 I wrote a little story for our 6th grade class paper. Through the book are samples over the years of my continued desire to write. Also included is my first novel: The Whistler. It was write over forty years ago! I had a job where I was locked in an office in a town twenty miles from my home, and I wrote it during my lunch hour as a gift to my first born son. The last story was written in 2017 just before the book was published. I think my readers new and old will get a kick at seeing my development over the years. Truly the evolution of an author.
Many of your series fall into the mystery and thriller genres. How do you balance the elements of suspense, mystery, and character development in your novels?
I think the key is the main character. If he or she is interesting compelling and put in extra-ordinary situations I let them act as if I think that person would if they were alive. Cole Sage grows from book one to ten. He loves, wins, loses, and find a way out of sight spots.
I have committed also, to having heroes who are indeed heroes. No Womanizing, alcoholic, drug addled losers who would never been tolerated in the real world. I have been many places and been in many situations with many people. Nobody, I mean no professional in my experience swears like the characters in modern books. It is not necessary and doesn’t carry the story.
I hate contrived, rubberstamp, mysteries and thrillers. I really hate it when the good guy talks the villain to death before they shoot them, or worse they manage to escape. How stupid!
My characters get in trouble, stay in trouble, until the problem is solved. No superhero stuff just real people doing what real people do and come out the other end bruised, battered, but victorious!
Do you have any specific writing rituals or habits that you find crucial to your creative process?
Put on the headphones, listen to long vocal less Grateful Dead jams! LOL
What advice do you have for aspiring writers, especially those looking to explore diverse genres and draw inspiration from their life experiences?
Read, read, read! Then write, write and then write some more. I have thousands upon thousands of words written that will never see the light of day. But like with any habit, or skill, the more you do it the better you get. Secondly, develop thick skin. Most of what you write will be crap. Be open to honest evaluation of your work. Your auntie, loving you story is not the audience you are looking for. Have someone who you know that reads your genre read it and make them promise – good, bad, or indifferent they will tell you the truth. Early on I joined an online writers group. It was brutal. BUT I came away with a lot of advice and new habits that have been worth their weight in gold.
