Austin Camacho gets around, to
put it mildly. He’s the author of five novels in the Hannibal Jones Mystery
Series (including The Troubleshooter,
Blood and Bone, Collateral Damage, Damaged Goods and Russian Roulette) and four in the Stark and O’Brien adventure
series (The Payback Assignment, The Orion
Assignment, The Piranha Assignment, and this year’s The Ice Woman Assignment. His short stories have been featured in
four anthologies from Wolfmont Press, including Dying in a Winter Wonderland –
an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association Top Ten Bestseller for 2008 -
and he is featured in the Edgar-nominated African American Mystery Writers: A
Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. He is also a media
specialist for the Department of Defense. America's military people know him
because for more than a decade his radio and television news reports were
transmitted to them daily on the American Forces Network.
In his copious free time he is the
Editorial Director of Intrigue Publishing, and is among the principal
organizers of the Creatures, Crime, and Creativity Conference,
to be held October 10 – 12 in Hunt Valley MD.
Austin’s newest book is Beyond Blue, which features a team of
unique and intriguing detectives whose only purpose is to help police officers
in trouble. He (somehow) found time to not only answer Twenty Questions, but
answer them well. Enjoy.
One Bite at a Time: Tell us about Beyond Blue.
Austin Camacho: Beyond Blue is about a privately funded
detective agency whose only purpose is to help police officers who are in
trouble. The novel follows four of the
agency’s cases, which overlap and intersect: An undercover officer is in danger
of really being drawn into a life of crime, a crooked lawyer is destroying
police careers by making arresting officers appear to have violated criminals’
rights, a cop’s wife accuses him of abusing their daughter, and a retired
police detective in charge of airport security could lose his job because of
drugs being smuggled in through JFK International.
OBAAT: Where did you get
this idea, and what made it worth developing for you? (Notice I didn’t ask
“Where do you get your ideas?” I was careful to ask where you got this idea.)
AC: The idea actually
came from one of my writing heroes, Warren Murphy (creator of The Destroyer
series in the 1970s). He asked me to co-write the novel with him, planning a
series, but his failing health prevented him from continuing. Ultimately he asked me to write the novel
solo, although I did have input from him and am happy to share the credit.
OBAAT: How long did it
take to write Beyond Blue, start to
finish?
AC: Writing the draft,
and three strong re-writes required a little over a year. You can add a couple months for the work with
the editor and proofreader.
OBAAT: What’s the back
story on the main character or characters?
AC: Without sharing any
spoilers, a wealthy secret benefactor asked Paul Gorman to establish the Beyond
Blue agency. After a brilliant Army
career in the Military Police, Gorman retired and created a second brilliant
career in civilian law enforcement. He ran three major metropolitan police
forces and was consulted by just about every police chief or commissioner in
the country thanks to his gift for observation and deduction. He recruited a quirky collection of
investigators to his team, including an ex-Marine Corps South Pacific Islander
who could have been a sumo wrestler; a smart-mouthed, Black/Puerto Rican beauty
who left the FBI with a bullet lodged near her spine, a lovely Eurasian charmer
who believes she is James Bond’s daughter, and two ex-New York City police
detectives: a sophisticated black man and his country-music-loving white
partner.
OBAAT: In what time and
place is Beyond Blue set? How
important is the setting to the book as a whole?
AC: Beyond Blue takes place today in New York City. It’s a wonderful chance to explore the
neighborhoods and culture of my home town.
The NYPD is wonderfully diverse, allowing my detective team to help a
wide variety of law enforcement officers.
OBAAT: How did Beyond Blue come to be published?
AC: The manuscript sat
on the shelf for a couple years because I so wanted Mr. Murphy’s total
involvement. Ultimately he asked me to
proceed so we placed the novel on Intrigue Publishing’s schedule. It was just
too good an idea not to get out
there.
OBAAT: What kinds of
stories do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors, in or out of that
area?
AC: I love mysteries
(except the really cozy stuff) and thrillers. My favorite authors focus on
great prose as much as, or maybe more than, great stories. There are a lot of authors whose work I love.
My current favorites would be Dennis Lehane, and Jeffrey Deaver for mystery,
and John Gilstrap and Jon Land for thrillers
OBAAT: Who are your
greatest influences?
AC: I guess I’m most
influenced by the classics. In my humble
opinion the perfect mystery would be written in Raymond Chandler’s prose, with
a Ross MacDonald plot and Elmore Leonard characters. I can only hope readers see those influences
in my work.
OBAAT: Do you outline or
fly by the seat of you pants? Do you even wear pants when you write?
AC: I wear them, but
don’t fly by them. I am a detailed and
dedicated outliner. I admire those who
can simply sit down and write and actually get somewhere. For me to create anything worth reading I
have to know the order of the important events from beginning to end.
OBAAT: Give us an idea of
your process. Do you edit as you go? Throw anything into a first draft knowing
the hard work is in the revisions? Something in between?
AC: Once my outline is
complete I write a draft from start to finish. I never look back or edit on the
go. I simply write one scene, and then
move to the next. When I reach the end I check the word count. If the
manuscript is way long or short I cut or add new scenes. Then I rest the
manuscript for a day or two. When I go
back I rewrite, again from the beginning straight thru to the end. Depending on the book I may repeat this
process 3 or 4 times. On the last pass I
try to challenge every verb (is there a better one for that sentence?)
eliminate as many adverbs as possible and generally tighten the prose.
OBAAT: If you could give a
novice writer a single piece of advice, what would it be?
AC: Only one?
Okay, “write every day.” But if I got to offer a second bit of advice it
would be to read widely, and learn to read like a writer.
OBAAT: Favorite activity
when you’re not reading or writing.
AC: I love to shoot.
Whether poking holes in paper or making bottles and milk jugs explode, putting
steel on target is a big kick.
OBAAT: Which do you take
to bed at night, the money earned or the good review?
AC: The money may be the steak and potatoes, but
the good reviews are the dessert. The real reward for my work is not that
someone bought my book, but that
someone loved my book.
OBAAT: Would you stop
writing if someone paid you enough money so you’d never have to work again, on
the condition you could also never write again?
AC: I don’t think I
could successfully make that deal even if I wanted to. Never write again? I
don’t think I could do that, and even if I did, that wouldn’t be living.
OBAAT: If you were just
starting out, which would you prefer: 1. Form your own indie publishing house
and put your work out in paper and e-book yourself? 2. Go with a small or
medium traditional house that offers very little or no advance, a royalty that
is only a fraction of what you'd get on your own, and also makes no promise of
any type of publicity push, keeping in mind that you also will lose the
publishing rights for a period, sometimes indefinitely? 3. Go with a Big Six or
legacy publisher that offers a larger advance, legitimate review possibilities,
entrance to industry literary awards, and exposure on the shelves of brick and
mortar stores. Pick one and say why.
AC: In a perfect
universe I would choose Option Three. Not so much for the advance, but mostly
because I have always wanted to at least be in the running for an Edgar award.
Of course, this isn’t a perfect world and you can’t choose a Big Six publisher;
they have to choose you.
OBAAT: Beer, mixed drinks,
or hard liquor?
AC: Mixed. Gin and tonic
is my go-to drink, but Malibu rum with pineapple juice is the summer fave.
OBAAT: Baseball or
football?
AC: Baseball is a
game. Football is a sport. And the Cowboys are the family team.
OBAAT: What question have
you always wanted an interviewer to ask, but they never do?
AC: Who should be
reading your books?
OBAAT: What’s the answer?
AC: If you love the
Spencer novels, or enjoy books about Alex Cross you’ll want to read my Hannibal
Jones novels. If you follow the
adventures of Dirk Pitt or Jack Reacher, you will really love the stories
starring Morgan Stark & Felicity O’Brien.
OBAAT: What are you
working on now?
AC: I’ve been asked to
supply a short story for an anthology called “Insidious Assassins.” But when
that’s completed I’m back to plotting the second Beyond Blue novel.
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