Author
Sheldon Russell is a former Oklahoma public school English teacher and professor emeritus from the University of Central Oklahoma, who currently lives in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with his artist wife, Nancy. Russell has previously won the Oklahoma Book Award and the Langum Prize for Historical Literature but has also penned crime fiction titles, beginning with
Empire, in 1993, and
The Yard Dog: A Mystery in 2009, which introduced the one-armed railroad detective (or "yard dog"), Hook Runyon, set during World War II.
In Russell's follow-up novel,
The Insane Train, the Baldwin Insane Asylum in Barstow, California, has recently burned to the gound, costing many inmates their lives. Hook Runyon is put in charge of security for a train that is to transport the survivors and the head of the asylum, Dr. Baldwin, to a new location in Oklahoma. Hook hires a motley crew of down-on-their luck army veterans to help, but things start to go awry when several inmates and attendants are found dead, and Dr.Baldwin seems increasingly disoriented and incapable of running operations. With the help of a nurse, Andrea, Hook begins investigating the suspicious deaths and uncovers a trail of revenge that has been a long time in the planning.
Russell stopped by IRTM for a Q&A, and you can also enter the giveaway for a free signed copy of Insane Train (via details at the bottom of this post), a book Publishers Weekly deemed one of the top mystery books of 2010.
IRTM: You apparently based Insane Train in part on a real-life event. Can you tell us a little more about that?
SR: Perhaps not so much an event as a series of events. When I was a child, I had an uncle who returned from WWII with serious mental issues. I went with my father to have him committed and that experience left an indelible mark on me. Later, as a college student, I visited this same institution and saw the process from a different perspective. Stark images, some too awful to describe here, have remained with me over many years.
All of this, in addition to years of studying psychology, came together to inspire THE INSANE TRAIN. After all, what better than having Hook Runyon in trouble on a train? Contrary to what one might think, THE INSANE TRAIN is not a dark book. All that’s human can be found in mental disorder, and humor often shines brightest from out of the darkness.
IRTM: You taught English and education, yet you've focused on historical fiction and nonfiction. How did you develop this passion and turn it into a literary career?
SR: Well, I have a minor in ancient history and studied the classics as an English major. But I think my upbringing influenced my interest in history as much as my studies. I grew up on a cattle ranch in the Gloss Mountains of Oklahoma. It was an isolated existence, and I was surrounded by adults who were products of The Great Depression and WWII. I listened to stories about those events my whole life. In many ways the past became more real to me than the present.
I’ve always enjoyed museums, antiquity, old books, and biography. I love wandering around in the past and discovering things long forgotten. Historical fiction indulged all of these passions.
IRTM: Writing a historical novel can be tricky, having to conduct a lot of research to get details as accurate as possible. That must be even more difficult when dealing with mental illness practices of the day, in this case, the 1940s. Where did you look for inspiration and background information for the events depicted in Insane Train?
SR: While digging through the historical society achieves one day, I came upon an article about a fire that destroyed a private mental institution shortly after Oklahoma had become a state. Many of the inmates, a term used for mental patients in those days, were buried in a mass grave. At about the same time, the federal government turned over a fort to the state, and the decision was made to convert it to a mental institution. They transferred the surviving patients to the fort by train. This was, of course, a perfect situation for Hook Runyon, railroad yard dog.
I learned to research as a graduate student and refined those skills as a professor. For me, it’s been one of the more enjoyable tasks of writing. I first read widely about my subject and then narrow it to specifics. I read books about the criminally insane early in my research for THE INSANE TRAIN.
But one of the last things I went to was the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a reference published by the American Psychological Association. While the reference bolstered my confidence as a writer and opened up my thinking, I worked hard at keeping it from showing through in my writing. I try never to state facts about anything. Readers of historical fiction don’t want to read about history. They want to live it through the characters.
IRTM: Where did the inspiration for Runyon and this series originate? He's certainly an unusual and fascinating protagonist even living in a caboose.
SR: As a youngster I was fascinated by the rail yards, the steam engines thundering in and out all through the night, the smell of heat and creosote, the men in their oil-soaked overalls. None was more mysterious and interesting than yard dogs, railroad security agents, men known for their lack of fear and their quick execution of justice. They dealt with desperate men and in the most dangerous of places. Stories about the ferocity of yard dogs abounded, so my interest in them was inevitable.
In my view, journeys make the best stories, and men with flaws make the best protagonists. The railroad, the caboose, and Hook Runyon all fit the bill.
IRTM: The first novel in the series, Yard Dog, deals with a Nazi POW camp in Oklahoma. I having a feeling that many people probably aren't aware there was such a place in the 1940s. Do you feel the teacher in you coming out a bit in these novels by way of helping introduce readers to places and events they might not have learned about otherwise?
SR: THE YARD DOG is set in Camp Alva, Okla., a POW camp that was designed to hold the most dangerous Nazi prisoners near the end of WWII. At it’s height it contained over 5,000 prisoners.
There were many POW camps in the United States at that time, often located in isolated areas for security reasons. I’m always surprised at how many people are unaware of this. Even the locals, particularly the younger ones, have a limited knowledge of the prison and what happened within its walls.
My priority in writing is to entertain, so I resist the urge to teach. That said, I do believe that curiosity is an inherent human trait and that most of us enjoy learning something new, particularly when it’s painless.
IRTM: Author James R. Benn called your writing "mid-century American noir." Would you agree with that description, as related to the Runyon series?
SR: Yes, in large part. Hook is certainly hard-bitten and cynical. He drinks too much, and it’s not always clear on which side of the law he’s operating. He’s been known to drop the hat pretty fast and has little compunction about doing whatever it takes to survive.
On the other hand, he has intellectual curiosity. He reads, collects rare books, and has an affinity for the underdog. Hook likes his women smart and strong, loves his old dog, Mixer, and cuts a lot of slack for his sidekicks, who tend to be off center.
IRTM: You list Conroy, Steinbeck and McMurtry as authors you admire. Do you feel they have influenced your writing, and are there any others in the crime fiction world who have made an impression?
SR: I learned from Conroy to worry more about quality and less about quantity. From Steinbeck, I learned the power of place and from McMurtry, the structure of narrative well told. I’m still learning from the world of crime writers, Robert B Parker’s incisive use of dialogue, John MacDonald’s seamless transitions in his Travis McGee series, James Patterson’s cliff- hanging suspense.
But most of all, I just read to fill the well because ideas spawn ideas, and ideas are a writer’s currency.
IRTM: Your next Hook Runyon novel features a railway tunnel in the Arizona desert that was under guard during WWII. What's next for Runyon in this book and beyond?
SR: The neat thing about this series, from my point of view, is that I can couple up Hook’s caboose to Frenchy’s steamer and move him to the next trouble spot. This kind of flexibility permits new situations, places, and people. Not only does this keep the stories fresh and vigorous for my readers but for me as well.
In the next book Hook comes face to face with a changing world, a world no longer obsessed with World War II. Like after any traumatic experience, adjustments have to be made to new realities. Hook is no exception.
I’ve a couple ideas brewing for future books beyond that and plan to keep Hook in trouble for as long as there’s interest.
IRTM: Since you're an Okie — Woodie Guthrie or Garth Brooks?
SR: I’m going with Woodie here. You gotta’ love a man who looked out for the underdog, had the courage to speak his mind and the nerve to live in immigrant camps while doing it. It’s something Hook Runyon might do.
Russell Sheldon is giving away a signed copy of his book, Insane Train, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to his book tour page, enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 8399, for your chance to win. Entries from In Reference to Murder will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on his book tour page next week.
