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| Fellow Thomas & Mercer author, Carlyle Clark |
E.M. Powell: Welcome, Carlyle! Tell us all about your debut, The Black Song Inside.
Carlyle Clark: The Black Song Inside
features Atticus Wynn and Rosemary Sanchez, a pair of newly engaged PIs who
find themselves ensnared in the violent border drug war in San Diego shortly
after Atticus’s ex-lover blackmails him with a secret about Rosemary that even
Rosemary doesn’t know. The story is filled with action and dark humor and
hopefully some very memorable and compelling characters.
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EMP: That’s an intriguing pitch and promises a heck of a
story. Love the cover, too. What first attracted you the thriller/crime/mystery genre? Have you
written in other genres?
CC: What turned me on to
the genre must have been that as a kid I stumbled onto thirty-odd stories from
the series The Three Investigators YA books. I read and reread them constantly.
My loyalty to them even had me sneering dismissively at the Hardy Boys and
Nancy Drew mysteries with such certainty that I never even bothered to read
them to see what I was dismissing. I showed ‘em!
EMP: Another Three Investigators fan! It’s been years
since I heard anyone mention that series. I absolutely loved it. I did venture
into Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew territory, but they could never hold a candle to
Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews.
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| The Three Investigators- we're both fans! |
EMP: But I’m interrupting (as usual)- other genres?
CC: Yes, I have co-written YA
Sci-Fi dystopia and Fantasy. In fact this dovetails nicely into your next
question!
EMP: Yup, the inevitable co-writing question! I’ve heard
you co-write with your wife, Suki Michelle Clark. How does that work? Do you
ever have disagreements about a novel? If so, who has the last word?
CC: Although
it seems, at times, the word “work” is a wildly optimistic description, it’s
worth it because the end product is always better than either of us could have
done on our own. We often have disagreements, and we don’t really have any set
pattern on how they’re resolved other than who is the most passionate about the
issue. Our mutual respect as writers greatly helps in the process.
EMP: Have you any advice for authors who might be
considering co-writing?
CC: Think it through
multiple times and try to talk yourself out of it. If that doesn’t work, both
of you have to understand that there is major compromise involved. If possible,
work out a synopsis or, even better, an outline. Discuss in-depth where you
want the novel to go, what you want it to evoke, and what “tone” you want to
have. Ideally, you’ve read something by your co-author that shows she or he can
write in the tone you’re both looking for. The more of a stylist either of you
is, the harder it might be to match tone. Lastly, have a “pre-nuptial.” What
are you going to do if you each work six months and have irreconcilable
differences, but one or both of you want to finish the project on your own?
EMP: That’s really good advice about a writing pre-nup. I
would think that would help to keep things above board and save a load of
potential conflict. And of course it’s not needed when things have gone as well
as they have for you and Suki.
CC: Co-writing
can be TREMENDOUSLY rewarding and exciting when it goes well, at least it was
for me. I have a talented and dynamic co-writer, my wife Suki Michelle, who
focuses on making as strong a story as possible. No matter how experienced you
are, sometimes you just can’t see issues with your own story. Each of us has
another set of eyes and a somewhat objective perspective on the other’s ideas
and drafts, which can save a lot of time killing unworkable plot points,
character developments, and ideas. Each writer has their own strengths and
weaknesses. The benefit is that often the other writer’s strength is your
weakness. That allows for the novel to be much stronger overall, which is the
case with Suki and me.
EMP: And how strong it is! You create intriguing
characters like ‘The Priest’, a former child soldier for a Colombian rebel
group. How do you make these characters so believable? Do you do a lot of
research?
CC: I
do a lot of research to get the general details of the character’s life
correct, but I’ve found is that the thing that makes a character believable is
the richness of their inner world. For that, I focus on the tapping into what
makes them human and relatable, so no matter how twisted they are like the
Priest, or wild they are like Tornancy, you can understand them and “feel”
them. For instance, in Silence of the Lambs you may not approve of Hannibal
Lecter’s plans to have his sadistic former “warden” for dinner, but you
understand his motivation and would have wanted some revenge yourself (though
hopefully not topped by cannibalism).
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| One Revenge Option (though not for Carlyle!) |
EMP: Every writer has one thing they find the most
difficult when writing a novel. What’s yours?
CC: For
me the most difficult thing is the first revision where I may still make major
changes. I know I should take copious notes, and storyboard, and use index
cards like other authors do, but I’m sporadic at best when it comes to that. I
have to old the entire novel in my head and it’s nerve wracking making a change
and then mentally working the change through the book, only to discover that
the whole book now doesn’t work because of that change. However, after I’ve
waded through the wreckage, what I’ve pieced together has always been much
stronger than what was there before, so I never “leave well enough alone.”
EMP: “Wading through the wreckage”: that’s one of the
best descriptions I’ve heard about revision! Do you enjoy getting feedback from
readers through reviews etc.? Do you have a favorite review that you received?
CC: I
love getting reviews because it’s such an honor that someone took the time to
share their experience (hopefully positive) with my story. At the On the Lam
Conference, Thomas and Mercer author Gregory Widen who is also a screenwriter
(Backdraft) and director (The Prophecy starring Christopher Walken) talked
about how great it was to go to the theater just to watch the audiences react
to his work in real time. As a novelist you don’t get that, so reviews are as
close as I can come. I value them immensely.
I do have a favorite
review from ABDbalou on Amazon because the reader really got the nature of the
humor and noticed that there was character development with the villains as
well as the heroes.
However, I am always immensely tickled by my beta readers and critiquers who—some with very diplomatic sidling and others just flat out—ask if I meant X, Y, or Z scene to be funny because they found it hilarious. Fortunately, so far the humor has always turned out to be intentional.
However, I am always immensely tickled by my beta readers and critiquers who—some with very diplomatic sidling and others just flat out—ask if I meant X, Y, or Z scene to be funny because they found it hilarious. Fortunately, so far the humor has always turned out to be intentional.
EMP: I’m sure it has. Anyone who can write such a
funny bio must surely translate that to fiction! Carlyle, best of luck with The
Black Song Inside. I’m sure it’ll be a great success. Thank you so much for
joining me.
THE BLACK SONG INSIDE
Atticus Wynn and Rosemary Sanchez, newly
engaged private investigators, have seen the dark and violent side of life.
Nothing, though, has prepared them for an explosive murder investigation that
threatens to tear their relationship apart as they struggle to solve a case
that could leave them in prison or dead.
Atticus’s manipulative ex-girlfriend
bursts back into their lives wielding a secret about Rosemary’s family that she
exploits to force the couple into investigating the execution-style slaying of
her lover. The case thrusts Atticus and Rosemary headlong into the world of
human trafficking and drug smuggling, while rendering them pawns in Tijuana
Cartel captain Armando Villanueva’s bloody bid to take over the cartel.
The Black Song Inside is a vivid crime thriller rife with murder and
madness, melded with gallows humor and the heroism of two flawed and compelling
protagonists who, if they can save themselves, may learn the nature of
redemption and the ability to forgive.
Carlyle Clark was raised in Poway, a city just north of San Diego, but is now a proud Chicagolander working in the field of Corporate Security and writing crime and fantasy fiction. He has flailed ineffectually at performing the writer's requisite myriad of random jobs: pizza deliverer, curb address painter, sweatshop laborer, day laborer, night laborer, security guard, campus police, Gallup pollster, medical courier, vehicle procurer, and signature-for-petitions-getter.
He is a married man with two cats and a dog. He
is also a martial arts enthusiast and a CrossFit endurer who enjoys fishing,
sports, movies, TV series with continuing storylines, and of course, reading.
Most inconsequentially, he holds the unrecognized distinction of being one of
the few people in the world who have been paid to watch concrete dry in the
dark. Tragically, that is a true statement.
Twitter Handle:
@Carlyle_Clark
GIVEAWAY:
Carlyle is offering a free Kindle copy of The Black Song Inside.
To enter, leave a comment on this post. He will choose a comment at random.
Comments posted by Tuesday 17 September 2013 will be eligible.
