The Next Big Thing Blog Hop
I was tagged for 'The Next
Big Thing' Blog Hop by Beaten Track Publishing's Debbie McGowan, author of Hiding Behind the
Couch, No Time Like the Present, and the soon to be released The Harder They
Fall. (Read more about the series at Debbie's Next Big Thing Blog Hop here: Debbie McGowan's Next Big Thing Blog Hop).
Thanks for tagging me, Debbie!
1. What is the
working title of your book?
The Killer Trees. This was the working and final title. I published the book at
the end of November 2013.
2. Where did the idea come from for
the book?
This is the third book in my Richard Paladin series, which had been trundling
around in my brain for quite a few years before I just decided to stop screwing
off and write it in 2008. After about six months I had a draft of Killer
Protocols, and Richard Paladin's voice had become firmly imprinted in my head.
That just led naturally into Clean Coal Killers. This one took about six months
to produce a completed draft as well, and then I had to go back into Killer
Protocols to fix a few consistency issues, edit, and polish. Say eighteen
months and I had both books where I wanted them. And then came the idea for
Killer Trees. Again, six months for a draft, another six to edit and polish.
Of course, the real question is where the idea to have the EPA employ a killer
in a war against environmentalists came from. All I can say is, it seemed like
a good idea at the time. And I think it works. Sure, maybe it seems wacko at
first. But read the news. There's a lot of wackiness in the world these days.
3. What is the genre of the book?
I list these books as thriller/suspense. "Spy novels" might be more
appropriate, except Paladin's a killer, not a spy. There's an element of spoof
to them as well. Mostly, I just hope readers find them entertaining enough to
keep turning the pages.
4. Which actors would you choose to
play your characters in a movie rendition?
Ed Norton would make a great Paladin. Ed?
5. What is the one-sentence synopsis
of your book?
When killers face off in a haunted wood, it's not the trees that suffer.
6. Will your book be self-published
or represented by an agency/publisher?
I self-published this book. Honestly, I tried to find a literary agent to sell
the Paladin series. None were interested. It doesn't have any zombies or
vampires.
7. How long did it take you to write
the first draft of your manuscript?
As I mentioned above, the first draft took about six months. This has been the
case with all three novels and a couple others I've written but not published.
I could probably write faster, but I have a day job.
8. What other books would you compare
this story to within your genre?
As a kid (untold decades ago) I was a big fan of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm
series. I also read just about every John LeCarre and Len Deighton novel I
could get my hands on. Add to that Frederick Forsyth, Alistair MacLean,
Trevanian, and a host of pulp writers, and you can see that a whole lot of stuff
sloshed around inside my head and produced Richard Paladin.
9. Who or what inspired you to write
this book?
Inspiration was simple. I had all these ideas and then, one day, I realized the
only way I was going to stop myself playing solitaire on my computer was to
start doing something more productive.
10. What else about your book might
pique the reader's interest?
Everyone who's read The Killer Trees (at least five people I know of) says it
is the best book in the Paladin series, so if you've enjoyed either of the
previous books, you should really enjoy this one. I take Paladin out of his
comfort zone on the East Coast and drop him into a truly strange environment.
Things get weird, too. But Paladin remains the hard-bitten, cynical government
killer doing his job amid corruption and incompetence.
Hey, what's not to like?
I'm tagging Martin Roy Hill, independent author of the thriller Killing Depths about the search for a serial killer on a nuclear sub. I'll leave him to tell you more about it! Martin's blog can be found here: Martin Roy Hill's blog. I'm also tagging Christoph Fischer, author of "The Luck of the Weissensteiners." You can read his entry at Christoph Fischer's blog.
