Lager and Literary Chat with Luke Murphy

Luke Murphy is the International Bestselling Author of two crime-thriller novels.  In preparation for our chat at the Writer's Retreat Chalet, I had a Lay-Z-Boy shipped in (which stuck out like Frasier's Dad's chair), a keg ready to be tapped and pounds of chicken wings to devour.  The Carrington clan would not have approved.  Luke did readily. After the keg was dry and oodles of chicken eaten, we settled back.

JS: I have to bring up my wife's question after reading 20 pages.  "Has he gone to LA?  He sure seems to know a lot about it"  I know you went to Vegas for Dead Man's Hand, but LA?

LM: The simple answer is NO, I didn't visit LA...but I had a lot of help. One of the editors I
worked with is from LA, so he was able to help me a lot. The internet, with sites such as Google Maps, allowed me to research and roam the city, checking out various street names and locations. I traded emails with the LAPD and the LA City Attorney's office, so they were very generous with filling me in on the rules and regulations, as well as some insight into Los Angeles. 

JS: Was it tough writing as a female?

LM: It's funny. I'm a male caucasion, but I have yet to write a book from that POV. Dead Man's Hand was written from an African American male's POV, and Kiss & Tell was written from a female's POV. Weird, right? I have to admit that I cheated a bit when writing from this female POV. I created Charlene Taylor, the protagonist in K&T, as a tomboy - a very athletic, tough-minded female character. To be honest, she acts and feels more like a male than a female. Of course she does have a sensitive side with female instincts, but she likes booze, sex, and talking tough. But to answer your question, I found myself asking questions to my wife at times, like, "How would you feel if this happened?", "What would you do in this situation?". So it wasn't easy at times.

JS: I loved Kiss & Tell.  Any sequels in the works?  For Dead Man's Hand?

LM: I'm currently working on a sequel for Dead Man's Hand. The manuscript is with my third
editor, and I'm hoping to have it out to publishers by the spring time. As for Kiss & Tell, I

would love to write another book with those characters. I received a lot of positive feedback from readers on the character of Charlene Taylor, so I would like to write another story involving her. The wheels are turning LOL.

JS: With a teaching job, three kids, a wife and a pug, how do you find the time to write?

LM: Good question, I wish I knew LOL. I'm a little more flexible and have more time in the summer, when school is out, but winters are challenging. I have four jobs: teaching, tutoring Math & Reading, reffing hockey (Wed. nights), and writing. This is what a typical winter day in my life looks like:

6am - Wake up, start fire, make lunches, shower, dress

7am - Wake up the rest of the family (the dog is the toughest) and help get them ready for school and daycare

8am - Bus picks up 2 oldest girls, then I take my youngest to daycare and go to work

9am-3pm - Teach at school

4pm-5pm - Tutor Math and Reading at my house

5pm - 9pm - Family time (supper, homework, bath, story time, quiet time, bed time, etc.)

9pm-12pm - Writing 

Some nights are different, better than others. Because writing isn't my full time job, and I don't rely on it to pay bills and eat (thank God because I would have starved long ago), if I'm not feeling it on a certain night, I just turn off the computer. If the writing is going well, then I will go longer. So my writing could last anywhere from 1-3 hours on any given night.

In the summer time I prefer to write in the mornings, because that's when I feel I'm most productive.

So this is my life. Now that I actually sit back and look at my schedule, I think it's kind of a crazy ride.

JS: Will you stick to novel-sized format, or throw a novella our way?

LM: Another good question. I've actually been dabbling in shorter, novella length books, but nothing that I would feel comfortable enough to seek publication yet. I've also been contemplating a switch-over in genres, maybe leaving the crime-thriller genre for a bit and trying my hand at something different. But still, nothing I am ready to dive head first into yet. But I do believe that in the future (3-5 years), you might just see something different from Luke Murphy.

(My take-away from this chat is if you have a crazily hectic life, you can be an International Bestselling Author too!  And have the Lay-Z-Boy to prove it!  Not to mention Murphy is a phenomenal writer.)

Author Link: Author.to/Author

Dead Man's Hand link: http://ow.ly/hd4Xv

Kiss & Tell link: http://myBook.to/Kiss

Cocktails & Confessionals with Cathy Astolfo

Catherine Astolfo is the author of many suspense/thriller/comedy novels. She is lucky enough to be the first guest in my Writer's Retreat Chalet (aka the Carrington mansion from Dynasty, high above Toronto). After a few bottles of wine, a few questions were asked of her...

JS: Judy Blume is famous for waking up and scribbling thoughts on a tissue box.  Anne Rice writes on her walls.  How about you?

CA: I have been known to write things on bar napkins and bathroom walls, but I was awake during those moments. Perhaps not conscious, but awake.

I do get up in the night and scribble ideas, just like Judy. However, my husband, who happens to be the painter in the family (as in walls, not art), put the kibosh on wall writing for the kids, so I was forced to be a role model. Though I could have blamed it on sleep-writing.

Nowadays I keep a journal in my bedside table and one in my purse. I have a slew of pens and pencils around the house, along with notebooks. I have a pile of journals that are half-filled with half-assed thoughts that never made it into stories. At least, not yet. I have a compulsion to write all the time.

I have a theory that I borrowed from Susanna Kearsley. (Okay, stole.) Writers are born writers. Although everyone can scribble down a few ideas and thoughts or write a daily journal, not everyone is obsessed with doing so. Born writers are obsessed. We have a switch in our brains that demands a flow of words be consistently put down on paper. Authors are writers who are also obsessed with sharing those words. That switch includes a passion for having others read our thoughts. Most of us aren’t blessed with ESP, so we have to acquire agents and publishers.

These obsessions result in the compulsion to write no matter where we are: on walls, tissue boxes, in sand, or in the air.

JS: Where do you think your thoughts come from? You've run the gamut from the very dark to comedy.

CA: Most people who know me question the very dark thoughts as opposed to the comedy. I have a good sense of humour and I’m pretty optimistic. I like people. I like to have fun. When I invent someone who is a bit like that, no one bats an eye. But when I invent a character who not only abuses animals but also runs a bestiality club, they are beyond shocked.

One reader shared a theory with my friend that I must have had a traumatic childhood (I didn’t). I countered with the hypothesis that my dark place was a result of being an elementary school teacher.

Seriously, as a teacher and a psychology major, I have had an enduring interest in evil. Why do some people choose the path of violence and cruelty while other—who had a similar upbringing—choose kindness and generosity? I’ve read a ton of books on psychopathology. I’ve encountered some children who appeared to have a disposition toward meanness and even evil, right from their entrance into school. The sad part is, they don’t change despite all our efforts, including (often) that of their parents.

My thoughts, therefore, are centred on evil when I read a particularly bleak bit of news about what human beings do to others. Or when I hear a true story about someone’s horrible relative. Or when I listen to my veterinarian-assistant niece talk about puppy mills. Despite my fairly optimistic nature, I want to delve into the hearts of darkness through my writing. I want to seek the why.

Writing very dark thoughts is, I’ve realized, an outlet in which I can control what happens. In most of my scenarios, there is a happy ending, unlike real life. Justice is served. Criminals (usually) get their just desserts. To quote a line from my darkest novel, The Bridgeman, “I was its skin, its movement, its shape, its god, its creator, its destroyer.” When I am writing the very dark books, I control the bad guys’ fates.

I also love being able to explore social justice issues. The mystery genre allows any topic to be included in the plot. Often, some psychopathology is involved in the issue, which is a bonus for me.

JS: Do you have a favourite book you've written?  Personally I loved Sweet Karoline.

CA: I think that’s like asking which of your children you like best. I can’t pick. I love them all for different reasons. Even the ones who get vilified (i.e. The Bridgeman for its harsh content).

JS: Do you form the entire book prior to writing, or let it plot on its own?

CA: I do a bit of both. I’ve heard some people call this pants-ing versus plotting. As in by the seat of your pants or, I surmise, writing down the plot as an outline before you begin. The idea for Sweet Karoline began with one sentence: “I met Ethan on the day that I killed Karoline.” No plot, other than a vague idea that I wanted to include my children’s ancestral history. The Bridgeman had a detailed plot outline and a character study, but it winged off in different directions anyway.

Often I have an idea, the germ of a plot, and I do a general outline accordingly. But I consider it a living document. It can change its mind, grow or shrink, at any time. I don’t have to follow every single plot twist from the initial plan.

Often the characters truly do seem to take over, even though I’m sure you’ve heard that cliché before. It honestly has happened to me—and what a thrill when it does! The subconscious is dictating instead of that editor/critic/control freak on my shoulder. Now I seek those moments like an addict.There are many authors, very successful ones, who simply sit down at their laptops and write. Others make detailed character outlines and plot plans. What I often say to anyone who asks my opinion about pants-ing or plotting is this: Do what works for you.

JS: So what are you working on now?

CA: (laughs) That's a long answer.  I am currently going through a bout of ADD.  I'm editing the second Kira Callahan novella, editing a Young Adult book called Shadow House, writing a non-fiction booklet about Twitter for Writers, collaborating on a Thriller script with my daughter and collaborating on a Horror script with my son.  That's all, though I may throw in some short stories here and there,

(So, my takeaway from this is that you don't give Cathy any liquor without going through her purse and pulling out the Sharpies.  It'll save you cash in repainting the bathroom.  That and she is an exceptional author.)

To learn more about Cathy, hit the links below.  Trust me, her novels are golden.

Website: www.catherineastolfo.com

Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/catherineastolfo

Twitter https://twitter.com/cathyastolfo

FACEBOOK Author Page Link: https://www.facebook.com/Catherine.Astolfo

The Voice

Losing one's voice when trying to dictate a story to the computer really couldn't be more frustrating.  There is no way Pharell, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani or Adam Levine would turn around for this froggy croaking.

Circumcision

So, for those not in the know, here's a handy-dandy chart showing the uncircumcised penis becoming a circumcised penis.  Men reading this just lost their minds.

The Birds

By the way, the birds to the right of this I imagine to be the ones chasing Tippi Hedren in the Hitchcock classic, not the ones that drive my cat, Freud, into a manic state.