Interview with Andrew E. Kaufman, Author of "While the Savage Sleeps"

My Interview with author, Andrew E. Kaufman

Linda: Andrew, congratulations on publishing your novel, While the Savage Sleeps, a forensic paranormal mystery thriller. It sounds like a fascinating novel. In reading your biography I see you received university degrees in journalism and political science and then went on to become an Emmy-nominated writer/producer in TV news media. So my first questions are: When did you become interested in writing? Did you write as a kid?

Andrew: For as long as I can remember I've always had a fascination with and a love for the written word. My mother (to whom I dedicated the book) was an avid reader, and I think that had a significant influence on me. Plus, I've always been a communicator and yet somewhat introverted. For me, writing seemed to work in both respects.

Linda: Who or what has influenced your writing and in what way?

Andrew: That's a tough one. I think for me, as far as writing goes, the influence was a cumulative process: One part actual life experiences, one part the many things I've read throughout the years. I don't think any one has had more of an influence than the other. More, my writing is reflection of all of those.

Linda: Who have been your favorite writers over the years? What books do you believe have influenced your writing? What books have most influenced your life and/or your world view?

Andrew: Every single one of them! It doesn't matter whether or not I enjoyed them; in certain ways they've all helped shape me and my writing. I've greatly admired many writers, and that, I think, drove me to be better myself. In others, I may not have admired them so much and as a result decided to avoid writing in the same manner. But yes, there are some writers I've enjoyed more than others. Dennis Lehane comes to mind, and Jonathan Kellerman, too. Both have a very unique voice, which to me is of the utmost importance. You could throw a page in front of me from either of them and I'd be able identify it in a heartbeat.

Linda: I love to ask writers how they receive their inspiration. Many feel their inspiration comes from beyond them at times as they are working with their characters. Have you experienced that in your writing? Do you visualize your scenes? Do you “walk” in your character’s shoes?

Andrew: I've been told by people who have read While the Savage Sleeps that my writing is very visual, that the scenes seemed to play out in their heads like a movie. I think that's because I'm very big on capturing the mood and visuals when I write. In my mind's eye, I'm constantly zooming in, panning, pulling away, and examining things—not in a lingering sense or to the point of distraction, but just enough to give people a sense of where they are while they're on that page. As for my characters, I think they are all extensions of my own personality. In order to portray them effectively and give them dimension, I think you have to really get inside their heads (or maybe it's the reverse, or both). If you don't do that, you end up with very flat characters. My protagonist, Cameron Dawson, has had a particularly difficult life. In order to effectively get that across to the reader, I needed to feel his pain as if it were my own. I was able to do that, but it was a very difficult and emotional process. There were times I literally had to take a break from him and move on to something else because I felt emotionally drained. I suppose for an author, portraying a character can at times be like getting into an acting role.

Linda: Tell us about While the Savage Sleeps, and how the idea for the story began.

Andrew: Believe it or not, it came to me in a dream; no joke. I'd been struggling for quite some time, trying to figure out my plot but not having much luck at all. I remember waking up one morning—or rather, sitting straight up in bed—and saying to myself: “That's it! I've got it!” I suppose my subconscious, or maybe something else, had been trying to tell me something. Perhaps the only way to get me to listen was while I was asleep and my defenses were down. Either way, it worked. The idea resonated strongly, and a novel was born.

In a nutshell, While the Savage Sleeps is the story of two strangers: distance separates them, a dark secret connects them, but a voice from the grave will draw them together. It begins in the fictional town of Faith, New Mexico where strange things are happening. People are disappearing and for others it's far worse. The answer lies not in their backyard but miles away where Kyle Bancroft's life is turning upside-down. She's seeing, hearing, and dreaming things she can't explain: flashbacks to World War II and an eerie hospital ward with locked doors, empty gurneys, and gutteral screams. To make matters worse, a ghostly green-eyed girl is complicating Kyle's vision with an urgent message: time is running out. Kyle’s otherworldly encounters are driving her straight toward Faith, where she and Cameron will need to find out whether the child speaking from the grave is dangerously evil or trying to help them uncover a secret the town has been hiding for more than fifty years.

Linda: You have taken what is becoming the new direction in publishing...self publishing, e-publishing, as many of us are doing. Why your decision to do so? Your book is available at Amazon Kindle. What other plans do you have for it? Will it also be in print soon?

Andrew: I feel very strongly about this. I spent more than a year querying agents, trying to find representation, and I had quite a few requests for the manuscript, as well as a lot of positive feedback. The comments were indeed very encouraging, things like: “It's very well written.” and “Compelling story.” and “Has tons of potential.” But in the end, many of them felt it was a genre that fell a bit too far outside their areas of expertise. Agenting these days has become extremely specialized. Most are very specific about what they feel they can sell. Because While the Savage Sleeps mixes two sort of unlikely bedfellows, forensics and the paranormal, I think that made it difficult to pin down, where genres are concerned and thus, a not-so-good candidate for agent representation. But I believe e-books and self publishing are about to change everything. This isn't your father's “vanity press” anymore. Amazon and many others are now paving the way for indie authors and allowing them to find their audiences, or perhaps visa versa. Regardless of what the naysayers think, this is a great time to be an author because it's a whole new game. Just look at Joe Konrath. He's selling his e-books hand over fist. As for print, yes, I'm currently in the process of working out the details on that and hope to have a hard copy available by the end of summer.

Linda: With your years of experience in writing, research, and skill as a journalist, how would you compare that to your experience of writing a novel?

Andrew: Two completely different worlds. When I wrote for television news, the stories were often 15 to 20 second blurbs—not exactly the most nurturing environment for creativity. Even when I produced special series, they were often only about a minute-thirty, and that was with soundbites. But on the other hand, it did teach me some valuable skills. For one, I learned to be economical with words. I admit I did go the other direction for a bit, a little crazy with words, but that I think was to be expected (I was verbally frustrated), however, I did come back around and tone it down. TV news also taught me to research my stories well. For While the Savage Sleeps, I actually attended an autopsy. I wanted my scene to not only be factually correct, I also wanted the readers to get a sense of the mood and nuances in that setting. I have to admit it was a truly nauseating experience, one I'd rather not have to experience again, but I don't think the book would have been the same without it.

Linda: One more question—what is your favorite quote?

Andrew: “And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” –Anais Nin

Linda: That’s a great quote. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to interview you for my blog, Andrew. Again, congratulations on getting your book out there, and the best of luck with it.

Andrew: The pleasure was mine. Thank you for having me!

Visit Andrew E. Kaufman's website and his blog.

~Linda

Joseph Wambaugh, Master of the Police Procedural

A former detective sergeant in the Los Angeles Police Department, Joseph Wambaugh is considered the master of the police procedural. In fact, in 2004, he was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. He has written numerous best-selling novels and nonfiction, including The Onion Field.

I read several of his early books, including the nonfiction, The Onion Field, but have to admit I have not taken time to read many his later ones.

On his website under his first book, The New Centurions, he has these words:

“The New Centurions is fiction, but everything in it is real.
The New Centurions: a novel about policemen by a policeman. Tough, but compassionate, it’ll make you understand--perhaps for the first time--what it’s really like to be a cop.”

That was in 1971 when I read The New Centurions and at that time I was happily married to a Southern California cop, raising our family. And because I was a cop’s wife, I found the book to be upsetting despite the fact the work was one of fiction—and well written. Too much of it was too real and threatening to a young cop’s young wife. It was like a disturbing look behind the scenes of what often went on in a cop’s life, and what happened on the streets of Los Angeles. Down and dirty, dark and ugly, dangerous and risky. Just the sort of things you want to think about every time your husband puts on his uniform, his gun belt and badge, and goes to work, day shift, or night shift, and sometimes a different shift nearly daily, and all the while you tend to your young children, pretending that all is really going to be okay. I had been a cop’s wife for about six years at that point. He became a reserve police officer in our third year of marriage and then a full time officer two years later. He was a patrolman, a detective, a Lieutenant, a Captain, and retired out after nearly 30 years. Also at times he was Acting Chief. We had been divorced a few years before his retirement after 25 years of marriage.

I had enough exposure to the police life in a small Southern California department only miles away from Los Angeles, that I often did not like what I saw happening with the officers and their families. A lot of marriages within the department were falling apart. For some, drinking became a problem, and for others, job stress led to emotional problems, including abuse.

But all of what I did experience during those early years of my first marriage actually gave me some great "fictional" material to use in my writing. I know when my late husband, Don Pendleton and I wrote Roulette, (a story about husband and wife cops in Southern California who are faced with a serial killer invading their community) some of my “cop” knowledge was invaluable and I believe those years were also helpful in writing Shattered Lens with my PI character, Catherine Winter, set in Los Angeles and Hollywood. I’m currently working on a second Catherine Winter novel.

So possibly you can understand how the “reality” of Joseph Wambaugh’s books could be a little unsettling to any police wife. Living in Southern California, already having the Watts Riot and a few other similar situations that happened in our “neighborhood,” it only re-enforced the reality of Wambaugh’s writing, the reality of a cop’s life on the streets, and even the political influences that had to be dealt with. I wanted to read Wambaugh’s books, but then again, a part of me did not.

Those early books, The New Centurions, The Blue Knight, The Choir Boys, and others, were discussed heavily among our social group of cops and wives. From what I recall, the wives thought a little differently about the stories than the men did. I say men, because at that time I believe we only had one police woman, a detective, on the department. Any other females within the department were civilian employees, such as dispatchers or secretaries.

Wambaugh refers to his books as police dramas. That they are. His latest books are a trilogy: Hollywood Station, Hollywood Crows, and Hollywood Moon.

Watch an inteview of Joseph Wambaugh by Keith Rawson, December 10th, 2009


~Linda

Joseph Finder, Author of Thrillers

“Writing is the only profession I can think of that requires no license, no certificate, no special training, and no special tools. Anyone who wants to can be a writer. All you have to do is write.” ~Joseph Finder, Author



Joseph Finder is a best selling author of thriller novels. Here in this interview he talks about his new book, Vanished, the first in a series featuring his new character, Nick Heller, a high-powered investigator with a private intelligence firm who was trained in Special Forces and “specializes in digging up secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden.”

This video is Joseph Finder conversation with actor Holter Graham who did the audiobook rendition of Finder’s book, Vanished.

~Linda

Interview of Thriller Writer, Lee Child

In an interesting interview, Lee Child discusses writing, his books and his character, Jack Reacher. His thirteenth Jack Reacher thriller is Gone Tomorrow. His next book will be 61 Hours.





"All good thriller writers know how to build suspense and keep the pages turning, but only better ones deliver tight plots as well, and only the best allow the reader to match wits with both the hero and the author. Bestseller Child does all of that in spades... [He] sets things up subtly and ingeniously, then lets Reacher use both strength and guile to find his way to the exciting climax."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Read an excerpt of Gone Tomorrow

Isaac Asimov on Writing

Writing can have its frustrations, and often those frustrations do not come from so-called writer's block, but from the business end of trying to get published. So the quote here by author, Isaac Asimov is correct.


“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist.” ~Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)


Asimov was a very prolific writer of science fiction, science, short stories, and essays. He wrote over 500 books in his long career and won numerous awards for his writings.

~Linda

Shattered Lens, Catherine Winter, Private Eye novel at Amazon

I'm pleased to announce my latest novel is now available.



SHATTERED LENS

“Hollywood is glitter and gutter. Some make it to the top and stay there, basking in the splendor of it, while others hit bottom and are engulfed by the ugliness of it.” ~Catherine Winter, Private Investigator

The stalking of two young professional print models leads private investigator Catherine Winter into the dark and dirty shadows of Hollywood's entertainment elite. Portraits of these people become distorted and out of focus as murder, pornography, illicit drugs, and blackmail, color the view while Catherine searches for truth and justice.

Catherine, now widowed and in her early sixties, insists, “As long as arthritis doesn’t lock up my joints or cataracts don’t keep my eyes from hitting the bulls-eye with a .357 slug then my shingle will stay on my door—C. Winter, Private Investigator.”

In her long career Catherine has seen it all and does not flinch when up against the criminal world. She is determined, open minded, and relies on her intuition in investigative work.


“Linda Pendleton’s first private-eye novel is a brilliant debut.”
~Richard S. Prather, Author of the Shell Scott Mystery Series



Linda Pendleton writes fiction and nonfiction. She coauthored the crime novel Roulette with her late husband, Don Pendleton, and her suspense novel, The Dawning is about a mysterious government agency, UFOs, and the paranormal.


Now available at amazon.com in trade paper and Kindle Reader.





Linda

Jimmy Buffett and Margaritaville

Photo by Eric Stephens

Jimmy Buffet sings, talks about his creativity: writing, music. His books have been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list in both fiction and non-fiction. We all know his music...how can one forget Margaritaville? His business ventures have been very successful with his restaurants.

He sounds good, looks good. I like his humor....

~Linda

Author, Elmore Leonard on Writing and His Career

“My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” Elmore Leonard, Author

I don’t know if you’ve read Elmore Leonard’s books but if not, you’ve probably seen one or more of his movies.

He is one of the best writers when it comes to dialogue. His dialogue is so real, street-smart, down and dirty. He’s very talented. His writing over the years has covered various genres: Westerns, crime novels, thrillers, mysteries, short stories and screenplays. Elmore Leonard was recipient of the 2008 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Award (videos below)

I had the honor of meeting him several years ago at the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference where he had spoken. It was either 1983 or 1984. A little while after his talk he was sitting in the lobby quietly autographing a box of books. I had three of his books to be autographed and he invited me to join him, and we had a nice conversation. He was very laid-back, soft spoken, and modest. I liked him very much.

This month’s AARP Magazine has an article “Making it Up as I Go Along” by Elmore Leonard about his writing career. As a writer I really identified with it.

“At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.”

“I think of characters who will carry a story. The plot comes out of the characters, their attitudes. How they talk describes who they are. Dialogue, in fact, is the element that keeps the story moving. Characters are judged as they appear. Anyone who can't hold up his or her end of a conversation is liable to be shelved, or maybe shot.”

Leonard writes with pen and paper, and then types it when it is what he wants. He does not use a word processor. Although I do identify with that as I once wrote that way, I cannot imagine going back to a typewriter.

He commented on how the characters let him know where the story is going next. How true that is. I love it when the characters take over the story and tell it their way.

I had commented on that to a friend the other day in wrapping up my new novel. Yes, I finished writing my Civil War period novel. It turned out bigger than I thought it might because those characters still had more to say. I have not yet gone into postpartum depression but that may come in the near future after I come down from cloud nine! I am very happy with the book. It is damn good, even if me and my characters wrote it—and say so. LOL.

Sometimes I swear I am channeling those people from the past. At least I wasn’t around the Civil War in this lifetime.

Previous life? I think so.




Interview Part One



Interview Part 2:




For more Leonard Interview videos

~Linda

Best-selling Author Catherine Coulter Book Signing

I recently attended a book signing by best-selling author, Catherine Coulter at a local used bookstore in Roseville. Nancy had alerted me to the fact that Coulter would be appearing. Nancy reads her books and was looking forward to the latest FBI Thriller, Double Take, featuring husband and wife special agents, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock.

I decided to attend to get Nancy an autographed copy of the hardcover for her upcoming birthday.

Catherine writes historical romance and contemporary suspense thrillers. Her publishing career is rather impressive. Her first romance was published in 1978 and she has written more than fifty books. Since the publication of her first FBI thriller her books have been best sellers.

I may have read some of her earlier books, I don’t know, but I have not read any of these thrillers. I did get an autographed copy for myself, and one of the early ones in the series. The bookstore had brought in new copies of every book she wrote so there was a big choice of her writing.

Coulter spoke for 45 minutes or more before signing. She’s an attractive, petite woman and had on a nice stylish brown suit and brown pumps with a 3 or 4 inch heel. Her skirt was much too high above the knee, inches, and should be left to those under 30 years of age. (She’ll be 65 in December, but does look damn good for her age...my age). She is apparently known for "her legs" as she was recently voted "Best Legs" at a Romance Writers Convention in San Diego. She was interesting, humorous, and answered questions from her fans. I say her fans, because many of the group of 30-40 people knew her characters in several of her series well. Although I do not call myself a fan, I do respect the success of any writer and always want to know more about his or her creative drive and writing process.

She stood and moved around as she spoke, and even remained standing throughout the book signing. By the way, I think she did a very nice personal inscription for Nancy, wishing her a Happy Birthday.

But as I found myself envious of Catherine before long. I’m not an envious person at all, but I was envious and irritated as time went on. Why, you ask? Was it her success as a writer? NO. Her obvious wealth from collecting all those royalties? NO. Was it her appearance? NO. It was her SHOES! Every time I looked at her SHOES it irritated me. Why, you ask? Because I was standing in sandals with sore feet and a bad low back. I was in pain, and for minutes I would forget my pain as I concentrated and enjoyed what she was saying. Then I’d see the high heels again, the shoes! I was envious of her ability to wear heels of that height and be on her feet for more than two and a half hours, and looking very comfortable the whole time. Although the bookstore had refreshments and bottled water (great for a 100 degree day) they failed to provide CHAIRS. So there we all were, standing, shifting from one foot to another, holding our backs, and I was not the only one very uncomfortable. At least part of the time I had the frame of the plate glass window to lean against (hoping we did not have an earthquake roll through Northern CA). I’ve never been able to wear high heels, even in my younger days, and have always loved heels with jeans.

The woman who had arranged for Catherine’s signing there, Kim, had her own used bookstore here in town until a few months ago. I did a book signing there with my friend, author Evelyn Fuqua about three years ago. I told Kim for the next author signing they have to have chairs, and if not, I will not be there!

I did meet two other authors there who had come for Catherine’s signing. Brenda Novak who has published a number of romance and romantic suspense novels and Robin Burcell who will have her fourth novel published early 2008. Both are award winners. I liked them both. I wish we’d had more time to have discussions about writing. I would have enjoyed that. They both live in the area and Coulter lives in Sausalito, above San Francisco.

For future book signings, NO HEELS ALLOWED! Only sandals, boots, flats, tennies, and oh, slippers.

~ Linda

Linda's Saturday Night Musings

I am excited to have a joint blog with my sister, Nancy. After getting the blog up and going today, my last couple of hours have been spent wondering what to write for my first entry.

I am an author. When asked what I write, my response most often is, "Fiction and nonfiction. My writing goes from flying angels to flying bullets!" I may also then add, "Of course, not usually in the same book."

My writings cover a variety of genres: inspirational/new age nonfiction, mystery/suspense, Comic books, poetry, angel cards, ecourses, and screenplays. A lifelong interest in the fields of metaphysics and the paranormal has influenced my writing and research.

In 1990, the nonfiction book, "To Dance With Angels," coauthored with my husband, renowned author Don Pendleton, was published by Kensington Books, and is now in its fourth edition. The book is a definitive study of life and death and spirit communication and was my first book of several nonfiction books in the area of metaphysics, spirit communication, the paranormal, and self-help.

My fiction includes mystery, suspense, historical novels; Comic adaptation and scripting of two of my late husband’s action/adventure series novels, "The Executioner: War Against the Mafia" and "Death Squad"; screenplay adaptations of several of our novels; and an original screenplay. I recently completed a private eye novel (doing the hard work now of finding a publisher) and am currently at work on two novels. You can read more about my books at my website: http://www.lindapendleton.com

Actually I have three websites, listed below under Favorite Links. My excellent web designer, Judy will probably be thrilled to see I now have a blog so I won’t be bugging her all the time to add to my websites. LOL

I was pleased to learn today that Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was recently inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2007. It is too bad she was not given that honor before her passing in August of 2004. She was an incredible woman, and I was lucky enough to have known her personally. Her last book, "On Grief and Grieving," written with David Kessler, completed shortly before her death, is excellent for anyone who has lost a loved one. Her work on death and dying has impacted millions of people and will continue to do so for many years to come.

I was saddened earlier this week to learn of author Sydney Sheldon’s death. I very much enjoyed his novels. His characterization of female protagonists was so good that you’d forget a man had written the book. I heard him speak at the Santa Barbara California Writers Conference in 1983 or 1984. A very interesting man.

Until next time, Linda