Author R&R with J.L. Abramo

 

If you believe in omens, J. L. Abramo's crime-writing career was launched the day he was born in Brooklyn on Raymond Chandler’s fifty-ninth birthday. Abramo later earned a BA in Sociology at the City College of New York and a Masters Degree in Social Psychology at the University of Cincinnati and is a long-time educator, arts journalist, film and stage actor and theatre director. He is the author of Catching Water in a Net, winner of the St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America Award for Best First Private Eye Novel, and the subsequent Jake Diamond private eye mysteries Clutching at Straws, Counting to Infinity, and Circling the Runway, which won the Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback Novel of 2015 presented by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Abramo's latest novel, American History, is both a historical novel and an epic crime novel and a multi-generational saga of loyalty and deceit, law breakers and enforcers, and families torn apart or bound together in a one-hundred-year battle for survival. The book follows the Agnello and Leone families and their stories that parallel the turbulent events of the twentieth century in a nation struggling to find its identity in the wake of two world wars.

Abramo stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R about researching and writing American History:

 

WHEN YOU TITLE A NOVEL AMERICAN HISTORY—EXPECT A LOT OF HOMEWORK

During my last visit here, I spoke of the importance of location in my work—and the essential need to be accurate in depicting settings which are critical elements in the narrative.  I also spoke of the importance of being precise in describing time period, particularly with regard to Chasing Charlie Chan where most of the action took place nearly twenty years before I began writing the book, and a good deal of the action concerned historical events going back to the nineteen-forties. 

Rather than cover the same ground, I refer you to the earlier discussion as a prelude to my talking here of the greater challenge—and of the wealth of knowledge gained and enjoyment experienced—in doing the research for American History. 

American History is set in a number of locations in both Europe and the United States, and the story spans a time period of nearly 100 years. 

The saga of the Agnello and Leone families—perennial enemies—begins in Naro, Sicily.  I chose this small town in Agrigento province because my grandfather and father were born there and also because it gave me good reason to explore my heritage.   I had learned, from the memories of family members who emigrated to America, about what life was like for them in the old country—it was a rocky, infertile land with little promise of a better future for their children.  I came to understand the conditions which inspired these and millions of other immigrants to journey across the ocean—by way of western European ports such as Liverpool and Belfast—to an unknown land with alien customs and language.  And I came to appreciate the courage it required.  I complimented this anecdotal knowledge with academic research—reading books such as Sicily by Guy De Maupassant, The Peoples of Sicily by Louis Mendola and Jaqueline Alio, and The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.  Giuseppe Agnello came to America in 1915.  Nearly thirty years later, his son, Louis, served on a U.S. Navy ship during the allied invasion of Sicily.  Fifty years later still, Louis’ grandson visits Naro to learn more about his ancestors.  Same places, different eras. There was more homework to do.

Most of the action in American History is set in New York, San Francisco, and Denver.  I set my Jake Diamond series, from Catching Water in a Net through Circling the Runway, primarily in San Francisco, and I have set Gravesend and Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn.  I have lived in those places, and in Denver, and rely on my personal experiences.  But I always need to double-check any specific landmarks, business establishments, and street intersections to avoid glaring geographical errors.  In American History, I had the added responsibility of accurately depicting nine decades of change in these settings.

I also touch upon actual events in the narrative, and did extensive reading about historical figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt; Fiorello LaGuardia; William Sebold, a German working as a double-agent for the FBI during World War II; organized crime figures like Paul Castellano and John Gotti; and many others.  I also had need to research historical events—the ocean crossings in the 1910s, World War I, the Spanish Flu of 1917, prohibition years, the illegal importation of goods in the 1920s and beyond, early transcontinental railroad travel, World War II in the Mediterranean, and also learned about a number of prisons from coast to coast.

I tried to be as accurate as possible with regard to the changing political and social climate of America over the decades.  I read books, both non-fiction and fiction, illuminating life in America during the twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties.  Last Call by Daniel Okrent, The New Yorker Book of the 40s, and The Fifties by Davis Halberstam were particularly helpful.  I also borrowed from my own reminiscences of the sixties and seventies.

Like much of my work, American History is heavily centered on family.  Family loyalty, family honor, hierarchy and dynamics.  Personal experience, and books including The Italian Americans by Luciano J. Iorizzo and Salvatore Mondello, The Italian Americans: A History by Maria Laurino, and The Urban Villagers by Herbert Gans were equally valuable.

Finally, there was the language.  These immigrants, particularly in their first years in American, would naturally have spoken to each other exclusively in their native tongue—but that would have been impractical.  I did feel, however, that including a sprinkling of foreign words and phrases—primarily in the early portions of the novel—might help the reader imagine that the characters were actually conversing in their native language.  For that purpose, I studied the language and I received invaluable help from my sister Linda, who is a much more proficient translator.

The road I traveled and the research I employed to write American History was—for me—enlightening, surprising, exciting, and a good time.  Hopefully, the reader will enjoy following the epic journey of these two warring families—spanning a continent and a century in America.  

 

American History is available from Down & Out Books and all major booksellers. You can find more about J.L. Abramo via his website or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Author R&R with J.J. Hensley

 

J.J. Hensley is a former police officer and former Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service. He's the author of the novels Resolve, Measure Twice, Chalk’s Outline, Bolt Action Remedy, and Record Scratch. He graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. in Administration of Justice and has a M.S. degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University. Hensley’s first novel, Resolve, was named one of the Best Books of 2013 by Suspense Magazine and was named a Thriller Award finalist for Best First Novel.  

Record Scratch (due out this week) is the second installment of the series featuring private eye and former secret service agent Trevor Galloway and centers on a woman who wants to hire Galloway to not only solve her brother’s homicide, but recover a vinyl record she believes could ruin his reputation. He doesn't want or need the case, but when the potential client closes the meeting by putting a gun under her chin and pulling the trigger, his sense of obligation drags him down a path he may not be ready to travel. 

As Galloway pieces together the final days of rock and roll legend Jimmy Spartan, he struggles to sort through his own issues which include having the occasional hallucination. He’s not certain how bad his condition has deteriorated, but when Galloway is attacked in broad daylight by men he assumed were figments of his imagination, he realizes the threat is real and his condition is putting him and anyone nearby at risk. The stoic demeanor that earned Galloway the nickname The Tin Man is tested as he reunites with an old flame, becomes entangled in a Secret Service investigation, and does battle with old enemies.

Hensley stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some Author R&R talking about "Research, Records, and Receipts":

 

I like Vince.

Vince is a nice guy. Vince runs Galaxie Electronics in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and happens to be an encyclopedia of information about record players, turntables, and vinyl albums. Vince and I spoke at length with the understanding I might use both him and his shop as references in a novel I was planning to write. I did make it clear I couldn’t guarantee the safety of the semi-fictional character nor the store that I ended up naming Planetary Electronics. Vince was more that okay with that arraignment. Poor, sweet, innocent, Vince.

 

Hopefully, Vince will still speak with me and he’ll understand how incredibly valuable he was to the creation of Record Scratch. Vince is one of many people who have saved me from making horrible errors over the years and allowed me to plug in details readers find interesting. I’m often amazed when writers make basic mistakes that could have been avoided by not only conducting simple online research but by making a few phone calls or going out an interviewing people face-to-face. It’s amazing how many people are excited to help an author get the details right and most aren’t even offended, and sometimes may be flattered, if some thinly-veiled version of himself ends up getting massacred in chapter seven.

Over the past few years, I’ve researched blacksmithing, sniper rifles, the sport of biathlon, and several other specialized topics I wouldn’t have taken the time to learn about if it were not for writing. It’s fairly easy to get motivated to become educated on specialized material because it’s new and exciting. However, many errors are made in novels because of the presumption of knowledge. Much of this comes from television where we have spent decades hearing criminal suspects and lawyers claim that Miranda rights must always be administered to a suspect or watching cops chamber rounds into weapons that in real life would have already been ready to fire. Many authors assume this information is true and think certain “facts” aren’t worth researching. Unfortunately, that is when basic errors occur, especially in crime fiction. Thanks largely to the indoctrination we receive from Hollywood productions, writers have to be careful when making assumptions as to what constitutes reality. Even when we have experience in a certain area, the research never ends.

Case in point, I have an extensive background in law enforcement. However, methodologies and technologies change and many of the tools used on the job today weren’t available to me (garble garble) years ago. I narrowly avoided making an error in one of my books when I was writing a scene that involved pepper spray. I was going to have an officer carry a specific type of spray that I happened to know was extremely effective because not only had I carried it when I was a police officer, I’d been sprayed with it in the academy. Trust me. It was effective. Anyway, something made me think I should check with a friend who is still active in my former department to see if they still carried that brand of spray.

“Oh, no!” he told me.

I asked why not.

“It turns out it’s a bit flammable when used with Tasers.”

Good to know!

Well, back when I was a police officer in Virginia we didn’t have Tasers. The technology had changed and I nearly made a silly error in a novel. Now you might be thinking that nobody would have noticed that kind of mistake. Someone…always…notices. And although many writers have better luck getting organ donations rather than Amazon reviews, it will be THAT individual who will write multiple scathing online reviews pointing out the writer’s complete lack of knowledge and total abundance of laziness. That’s just the way it works.

These are some of the reasons I conducted so much research for Record Scratch. Vince was kind enough to help me with the mechanics surrounding equipment not many people understand or appreciate. My brother, who happens to work in the music business, gave me a crash course on recording studios, soundproofing, and an assortment of other items. The chief of a police department in Pennsylvania met with me to explain various training requirements in the state and the sharing of jurisdictional resources. And I may have purchased a turntable, speakers, and several vinyl albums in the process. Research. It’s all about the research. You hear me, IRS?

Note:  Always keep receipts for your research.

 

J.J. Hensley's Record Scratch is on sale this week via Down & Out Books and all major booksellers. You can learn more about Hensley and his books through his website and blog and follow him Facebook and Twitter.

Author R&R with J.J. Hensley

 

J.J. Hensley graduated with a B.S. in Administration of Justice from Penn State University and a M.S. degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia Southern University before working as a police officer then a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service. He is the author of the novels Resolve, Measure Twice, and Chalk’s Outline, with Resolve named one of the Best Books of 2013 by Suspense Magazine and a Thriller Award finalist for Best First Novel.


Hensley's latest crime novel, Bolt Action Remedy (Down and Out Books), follows former Pittsburgh narcotics detective Trevor Galloway, who's been hired to look into the year-old homicide of a prominent businessman gunned down on his estate in Central Pennsylvania. When Galloway arrives, he determines the murder could have only been committed by someone extremely skilled in two areas: skiing and shooting. He believes the assailant should not be too difficult to identify given the great amount of skill and athleticism needed to pull off the attack. When he discovers the victim’s property is next door to a biathlon training camp, the situation becomes significantly more complicated.

Galloway makes plenty of enemies as he sifts through stories about lucrative land deals, possible drug connections, and uncovers evidence suggesting the homicide may have been elaborate suicide. As he attempts to navigate through an unfamiliar rural landscape, he does his best not to succumb to an old drug addiction, or become confused by one of his occasional hallucinations. Oh, and a Pittsburgh drug gang enforcer known as The Lithuanian—if he’s even real—is tracking Galloway and wants to take his eyes. Galloway would rather keep those. For Galloway, the problems keep piling up and somebody out there believes problems should be dealt with by employing the most permanent of remedies.

J.J. Hensley stops by In Reference to Murder today to offer up some of the background into writing and researching the novel:

 

The epiphany hit me like a shot. Ever since the publication of my first novel in 2013—which had been set against the backdrop of a marathon—I knew I wanted to write another mystery that was somehow tied to an endurance sport. However, with Resolve I had drawn upon my personal experiences with both distance running and law enforcement and the research I had to conduct was minimal. For my subsequent novels, I had to do research on addiction, sniper training, blacksmithing, and a variety of other topics, but most of the research could be conducted online and through short interviews with subject matter experts, without breaking much of a sweat. As my latest revelation settled into my mind and I decided I to integrate the sport of biathlon into a novel, I realized it would allow me to create characters who not only participated in an endurance sport but already carried guns! Perfect. A mystery in which nearly everyone has access to, and in trained in the use of, weaponry!

I thought things out and the plot for Bolt Action Remedy came into focus. Former Pittsburgh narcotics detective, Trevor Galloway, would be asked to look into a cold case in which a prominent businessman was murdered by someone who displayed great skill in two areas: skiing and shooting. Galloway would pull into the small town of Washaway Township, PA and initially conclude the suspect pool would be small, given the skills needed to pull off the crime. However, he would discover the crime scene was adjacent to a biathlon training camp, where everyone could ski and shoot, and his list of suspects would grow exponentially. Perfect.

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and incredibly skillful shooting with highly-specialized biathlon rifles. I had first been exposed to biathlon when I was with the U.S. Secret Service and working protective operations for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. I knew from my years as a police officer and as a Special Agent with the Secret Service that shooting after running, controlling your breathing, and focusing on hitting a target when adrenaline is pummeling your physiology is beyond challenging. Needless to say, I was mesmerized by a sport in which people could ski at a breakneck pace and then fire a rifle with the goal of hitting small targets with incredible accuracy. Biathlon was perfect for what I had planned. Speed! Guns! Skill! No problem.

Well… small problem.

After my initial excitement ebbed, I realized the research I would have to conduct would be more extensive than anything I had done previously. In my previous books, I had at least a cursory knowledge of the subject matter. Bolt Action Remedy was going to present several challenges.

For one thing, I can’t ski. I don’t mean “I can’t ski” as in I am only mediocre and am somewhat uncomfortable on difficult courses. I’m not trying to be modest about my abilities. I mean “I can’t ski” as in “I CAN’T ski”. Not a bit. Also, although I have extensive experience with pistols, shotguns, and submachine guns, I have zero experience with shooting from a distance and certainly no expertise with specialized lightweight biathlon rifles.

My research for Bolt Action Remedy was going to require me to do a little more digging than I had done while writing my previous novels. I mean, this is the United States. It’s not like I can walk down to the local Biathlon store to chat about the latest ANSCHÜTZ rifle models. While biathlon is popular in certain parts of the world, it has yet to reach a wide audience in the U.S. and, while there are some online resources available to research the sport, those resources didn’t give me the depth of knowledge I was looking for to complete the book. To cover my knowledge gap, I contacted Curt Schreiner who competed in biathlon for the United States in three separate Olympic Games. Curt is with the Saratoga Biathlon Club and has forgotten more about biathlon than I could ever know. Through a series of conversations with Curt, I was able to get a feel for the sport, a sense of the camaraderie that exists among the competitors and the hard work and precision that goes into each event. I also learned that high-level biathletes have Ski Technicians who focus on things like waxing the skis to achieve the optimal result. I didn’t even know ski wax was a thing, so obviously I learned a lot from Curt. When I completed a very rough draft of Bolt Action Remedy, I sent it to him and he provided invaluable feedback that kept me from embarrassing myself in print.

Typically, I really enjoy conducting research for a book and this was no exception. I find it maddening when I’m reading a book and come across an error that could have been avoided easily if the author had conducted even minimal research. Even to this day, I conduct research on law enforcement matters even though policing is in my background. Technologies and methodologies change and crime novelists should do their best to provide an element of authenticity to their work. I’ve always believed that crime novelists can create better fiction by trying to be a bit more real. Hopefully, that is the result with Bolt Action Remedy.

 

You can learn more about Hensley and his books via his website and follow him on Twitter, Facebook and his blog. His books are available from Down and Out Books and all major booksellers.

Author R&R with Rich Zahradnik

 

Rich Zahradnik was a journalist for 30-plus years working as a reporter and editor in all major news media, including online, newspaper, broadcast, magazine and wire services. He held editorial positions at CNN, Bloomberg News, Fox Business Network, AOL and The Hollywood Reporter. He's also the author of the Coleridge Taylor Mystery series (A Black Sail, Drop Dead Punk, Last Words). The first three books in the series were shortlisted or won awards in the three major competitions for books from independent publishers. A Black Sail was named best mystery in the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and a finalist in the 2016 Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards. Drop Dead Punk collected the gold medal for mystery ebook in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards, while Last Words won the bronze medal for mystery/thriller ebook in the 2015 IPPYs and honorable mention for a mystery in the Foreword Reviews competition.

The latest series installment, Lights Out Summer (Camel Press), is set in March 1977, when ballistics link murders going back six months to the same Charter Arms Bulldog .44, and a serial killer, Son of Sam, is on the loose. But Coleridge Taylor can’t compete with the armies of reporters fighting New York’s tabloid war—only rewrite what they get. Constantly on the lookout for victims who need their stories told, he uncovers other killings being ignored because of the media circus. He goes after one, the story of a young Black woman gunned down in her apartment building the same night Son of Sam struck elsewhere in Queens. The story entangles Taylor with a wealthy Park Avenue family at war with itself. Just as he’s closing in on the killer and his scoop, the July 13-14 blackout sends New York into a 24-hour orgy of looting and destruction.

Rich stops by In Reference to Murder today to talk about writing and research Lights Out Summer:

 

Researching the Coleridge Taylor Mysteries changed in a big way in 2014—in both interesting and embarrassing fashion. Sometime before then, I’d put on my gift list the massive “The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages 1851-2009.” The tome included three DVDs—remember those?—containing 54,693 front pages linking to complete articles.

Taylor is a reporter who always has an acute awareness of the other stories going on around him. He reacts to news and how it’s covered even when it’s not his story. The novels are set in the seventies. From a storytelling standpoint, a headline from a certain day can give readers a feel for the period—or remind them of a crime or political event or cultural incident they’d forgotten and perhaps echoes what’s happening today.

Right, so that’s why I needed the book. My wife gave it to me for Hanukkah. The cost of the giant thing was somewhere between $125 and $165. Within months, the New York Times announced online subscribers would have access to TimesMachine, an online archive of complete issues of the paper as they originally appeared going back to 1865. I never did put one of those DVDs into my computer. You can now buy the DVD/book package on Amazon for $8.27.

I am well past my embarrassment. (The Times could have given me some warning, though.) TimesMachine is indispensible. I can go deeper to see the stories beyond the front page. The ads, too. This helps for all the reasons I mentioned above. And others. My new mystery, Lights Out Summer, is set in 1977 and an important set piece in the plot is the New York blackout of July 13-14. No book was written about those terrible 25 hours when thousands of businesses were looted and destroyed. But I could read all of the articles the Times published during and in the aftermath of the stealing, fires and vandalism. (The Times itself pulled off a miracle by sending editors over to Jersey and getting the paper out.) I’ll admit, the TimesMachine is particularly helpful to me because my books are set in New York, so I can track local politics, cultural and crime. Tidbits are sprinkled throughout the novels.

Each of my books involves a major New York historical event in the plot: the city’s near bankruptcy, the Bicentennial celebrations, Son of Sam’s murder spree. And for each, I’ve found at least a couple of books to go deep on the subject even if the event—like the Bicentennial—serves as a backdrop to the crime story. For “Lights Out Summer,” I was greatly aided by “Son of Sam: Based on the Authorized Transcription of the Tapes, Official Documents and Diaries of David Berkowitz” by Lawrence D. Klausner and “Son of Sam: The .44 Caliber Killer” by George Carpozi Jr. I learned of an earlier New York serial killer, 3X, from the wonderful “Police Reporter: Forty Years One of New York’s Finest Reporters” by Ted Prager. That book also gave me insights into what Taylor’s job was like for one or two generations of reporters before him.

A collection of general histories, timelines and atlases of New York rounds out my library.

Oh, and one last reference is indispensible: “Billboard Top 10 Singles Charts, 1955 to 2000.” Music triggers memories in readers. The seventies were a period of massive change as disco, punk, hairband rock and the sixties survivors fought for listeners’ attention. I could easily pick out a song I remember from 1977 and drop it in. But the charts show me what tunes were hot in a particular week—adding a nice level of detail. They also remind me of songs and bands I’d forgotten.

Disco-Tex and the x-O-Lettes anyone?

You can learn more about Rich and his books via his website and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. Lights Out Summer is available via all major book retailers.