A reporter and avid reader turned writer.
Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about your personal life, family, education.
I was born in LA and raised in Tillamook, a small town on the Oregon Coast. I went to the University of Oregon and Linfield College. I was a newspaper and wire service reporter for nearly twenty years before going over to the dark side to do corporate communications and then press secretary for a member of the United States Senate. I retired in 2014. My partner, Dinah Adkins, and I live in Portland, Oregon, with our dog Tessa and two cats, Sancho and Vincent.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
I fly fish and play golf. Prior to COVID we travelled a lot, but not so much in the last five years. I enjoy reading. Dinah likes to entertain and I like to cook, so we have dinner parties with our friends. I read a lot, fiction and nonfiction. I try to write at least a little bit every day.
If you are active in career fields other than writing, what do you hope for the future of that business? Describe your work or business activities in which you are presently active.
The short answer is no. As I said, I am comfortably and happily retired.
Do you have hobbies? How did you get started in them?
I started playing golf in my teens. My friends got me started at a small nine-hole course where I grew up. I’ve played St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, and other noteworthy courses. I don’t play as much now as I once did but still enjoy it.
I picked up fly fishing in my forties. The times I’ve spent on trout streams in central Oregon are some of the best memories I’ve had. Landing a 27-inch rainbow in gin-clear water on a sunny late fall day is as good as it gets.
If you are a writer, are you an avid reader?
Yes, both fiction and nonfiction. Like most people, I anxiously await Robert Caro’s final installment of his LBJ biography.
What is your ultimate writing goal as you see it today?
All I want to do is tell a good story well.
What inspired you to write your first book?
The managing editor of the newspaper that gave my first reporting job out of college introduced me to Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Earl Derr Biggers, and other early writers of noir fiction. I realized there was much more to writing mysteries than Agatha Christie and murders in the vicar’s garden. The more I read the more I wanted to write a novel. Working as a reporter, I was writing two or three thousand words a day which left little time or energy for anything else. I started my first novel in the nineties when I left journalism. I found writing fiction gave me much more freedom and creative license than the who, what, when, where and why of journalism.
Choosing a Title
How do you decide on the title of a book?
Titles are tough. It’s not easy boiling down a 90,000-word novel to two, three or four words that capture the story and interest readers. That said, “Chasing the Dead” was fairly easy once you understand the plot.
Have you developed a specific writing style and why?
The greatest influence on my style is my years as a newspaper and wire service reporter. A review of one of my books said I set the hook early and keep there. That was one of the best compliments I’ve ever received. I try to use every chapter to advance the plot or in some way keep the reader interested enough to keep reading. What you won’t find are long passages containing deep insights into the human condition. I majored in journalism not psychology. Readers define my characters by what they do, say, and the situations where they find themselves.
How much of your books is realistic and experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?
All my characters contain some element(s) of people I know or have seen. All my books are set or based on real locations or locations. I try to make those locations almost a character in the book. Four of my books are set in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Those who have read them and have been there tell me I captured the place perfectly. No greater compliment than that.
Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?
Chandler and Hammett are always at the top of the list. I enjoy James Elroy’s early books, particularly The Black Dahlia and LA Confidential. Lately I’ve been enjoying Mick Herron of Slow Horses fame.
Do you remember the first book you read?
No, but it was probably a comic book.
Is there an author, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?
Norman Mailer. I took a course in college called Classic Literature. This was in the late sixties or early seventies. One of the books on the reading list was Why Are We in Vietnam. Other than the title, there is no other mention of Vietnam. The Executioner’s Song is an improvement on the genre created by Truman Capote in In Cold Blood.
Self Expression
If you could not write, how would you express what you wish to convey through any stories?
I have no idea. I’m not an artist or a public speaker. Writing allows me to say what I want without interruption, which is more than I can say about conversations and people’s irresistible urge to talk rather than listen.
When you see new authors struggling, what single piece of advice could you give them on a moment’s notice?
Don’t be afraid. I find that most people don’t like to write because of what others will think. Screw that. Say what you want to say the best way you can. Take encouragement from those you like and be thick skinned about the rest.
How do you want others to see you or remember you? Is it important to you?
Not really. As I get older, I look back on some of the things I’ve done and said. Not all good. Not all bad. I just hope people remember the good.
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