Today's Mystery Author Guest: Larry Seeley

As promised yesterday, fellow mystery author Larry Seeley is visiting my blog today. To read his bio and see his photo, please page down to yesterday's post.

Above is the cover photo for his most recent release, 17 Degrees North, the second book in his Jack Sloan mystery suspense series. Seventeen degrees, three minutes North is the latitude of the border that separates Juarez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas—for all practical purposes, one city with two souls. Jack Sloan follows a trail between Juarez and Santa Fe with stops in El Paso and Phoenix. The trail begins and ends in the barrancos of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Santa Fe with Jack’s discovery of a satchel full of cash. Jack tells his wife Darlene about his find, and they’re both sucked into the most dangerous mystery of their lives.

The money is tied to the kidnapping/murder of Robert Pendleton, a prominent New York hedge fund manager. The hostage is taken in Juarez, released and killed in New Mexico, and the Mexican AFI and U.S. FBI work together to solve the case. High-profile publicity is not something either government wants. Carlos Santiago, the AFI agent assigned to the case, and Frank Hunter, his FBI counterpart, know that something doesn’t fit, but they need Jack’s help to find out what. Love, greed, and betrayal drive the characters and their stories. It comes to a surprising end in the same place it started—the hauntingly beautiful barrancos of the high desert.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

Below are Larry's answers to my interview questions. Please leave a comment for him, and if you have a question of your own for her, ask it!




1. Who or what inspired you to start writing and when did you start?

I started reading Hemingway and Louie L’Amour when I was very young. I recall reading newspapers at age six—headlines about the war (WWII). I began working at a young age and used spare money to buy books. I read a Bruce Catton history, This Hallowed Ground, at age sixteen and wrote a lengthy book report that my teacher fell in love with. After that I wanted to be a writer but didn’t start seriously until I lost my day job in 2004 at age 65.

2. What tools and process do you use to “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

I often write a short bio of the main characters and a line or two about supporting cast. I use real people I have known to fill in the details—and I’ve known some genuine ‘characters’. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve spent a lot of time around gamblers and their crowd. You see every facet of human nature in people who walk the edge to earn a living. Same with the Army. I still recall the oddballs I met there and sometimes use their traits in my characters.

A guy I knew in Vegas went there with two million dollars in twenties stuffed in the trunk of his Caddie. Three years later, he was broke. He got a security job on the casino floor. A year later he had a heart attack wading through the slot players, then took up hard drugs. He couldn’t live without a rush and he couldn’t afford to play cards, so he figured the next best thing was speedballs. He’s now dead.

3. How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I do a broad stroke for the main theme. What I figured out early on was that readers need to see a beginning and a desired end to a story, otherwise, they lose interest. A target goal that runs through the entire novel, augmented by support narratives and dialogue.

4. In the age-old question of character versus plot, which one do you think is most important in a murder mystery and which one do you emphasize in your writing? Why?

Characters are the most important part of any story. If readers can’t identify with one of them, they won’t be interested in your plot, no matter how clever.

5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

Biggest challenge is the same we all face—getting someone else interested in what you are doing. It takes ego to write and greater ego to think it’s publishable. Writing comes to me without much angst. I can sit down and produce a decent story without exerting myself. What inspires me is seeing my work in print (or electronic format these days) and knowing that someone else is enjoying it.

Writing is easy; marketing is hard. I’m not interested in book store signings unless the establishment is willing to place a substantial order. Then I’ll support them. I have a great on-line marketer these days, and I’m learning a lot about what it takes to sell a book in an incredibly competitive arena. Blogs like yours are a great venue, and I appreciate a chance to say what I think.

6. What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

I stay up and sleep late. Coffee at 11:00 am, into the office, check emails and marketing programs, then commence writing about noon. I work until 4:00 pm, then feed the animals. With eight cats, four dogs, and lots of chickens, that’s no small task. Oh, and I take a break about 2:00 pm to walk my dogs to the river for some exercise (theirs and mine). Later on I swim, fix dinner (the unspoken arrangement between my wife and me), watch some recorded shows like Game of Thrones, Mad Men, etc., then go back to the office about 10:00 and write for a couple of hours. My target is five pages per day, either new or rewrites. Time is irrelevant.

7. What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Don’t take yourself too seriously, and don’t stop rewriting until you have what you consider a perfect page. Writing is ten percent creating and ninety percent rewriting.

8. Now here’s a zinger. Tell us something about yourself that you have not revealed in another interview yet. Something as simple as your favorite TV show or food will do.

When I was ten, my older cousin constantly beat me up. He was a pretty big guy who played the accordion—not an instrument that endears you to other children. One day he was torturing me, and I ran into my house when no one was home. I latched the screen door. There was a hole in the screen, and he kept taunting me and sticking his finger through the hole. My dad had left a pair of hedge scissors on a bench, so I picked them up and waited. He pushed his index finger into the opening again, and I clipped off the end. He didn’t play accordion again.

9. What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

I've almost finished writing the third novel in the Jack Sloan series, Bridge of the Americas. The fourth novel in the series will be titled The Placebo Effect. I plan on producing two books a year until I croak.

10. Is there anything else you would like to tell my blog readers?

Best place to look me up is at my website. There are many links associated with the site. I’m also on Facebook. I look forward to speaking to book clubs or any group interested in my work.


Thanks, Larry! Now, who has a comment or question for him? 

Tomorrow's Guest: Larry Seeley

Tomorrow, mystery author Larry Seeley will be a guest on my blog. Author of 17 Degrees North, the second Jack Sloan novel, Larry is the former CEO of the gaming firm that built the first Native casino in Maritime Canada, and a former professional blackjack player. He and his wife live north of Santa Fe in a high desert valley bounded on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and on the west by the Jemez range. There they care for several chickens, eight cats, and four dogs on their secluded ranch. Con artists and swindlers swarmed Native casinos in the early days, and learning to deal with them and discovering whom you could trust and who had a knife at your back gave Larry a distinct edge in deciphering people—and a decided advantage in character creation and development.

In his guest post tomorrow, Larry answers my interview questions, and I'm sure you'll be intrigued by what he has to say. Then, feel free to ask him some questions of your own in the comments.

How a Film Festival is Like a Genre Book Convention

During the past four days (Thursday - Sunday), I attended the Breckenridge Festival of Film. My husband and I had "Peak 10" passes that got us into ALL of the screenings, filmmaker forums, and parties. This was the first time I've attended a film festival, and I was struck by the similarities between film festivals and genre book conventions, as well as by the similar effects the electronic age is having on both the film and book industries.

The filmmakers' forums at the festival were very similar to the author panels at genre book conventions, but there were only two forums. The majority of festival attendees' time was spent watching films, with brief moments between films for Q & A with someone associated with the film (could be the director, producer, screenwriter or some combination). The parties every night, where fans could hob-nob with filmmakers were very similar to those at book conventions, where readers can hob-nob with authors. And, like authors at book conventions, the filmmakers were busy making connections with each other.

Below are a couple of photos from the event. In the first, I have my back to the photographer, and I'm chatting with Doug Wolens, the director of The Singularity documentary, at the Filmmakers Welcome party at Burke & Riley's Irish Pub. In the second, my husband is mugging for the photographer at the Technopolis Now! Premiere Party at Kenosha Steakhouse.

As for similar effects the electronic age is having on both the film and book industries, independent art film theaters are succumbing to the same economic pressures as independent bookstores. Filmmakers at the festival were bemoaning the reduction in the number of screening venues, much like authors are bemoaning the lack of signing venues. Also, independent filmmakers are beginning to bypass traditional distributors and are selling their films direct to the public through on-line retailers, much like "indy" self-published authors are doing with on-line ebook retailers. My feeling is that independent films and electronic books are going to follow the path that music has taken in the last few years, with most of the sales eventually taking place on-line. We live in interesting and exciting times!

Below is a list of some of my favorite films from the festival (and the awards some of them were given). I hope you'll find a chance to see them soon.

- Raid of the Rainbow Lounge - Best GLBT Award, documentary about how Fort Worth, TX, transformed its treatment of GLBT citizens as a result of this event
- The Movement: One Man Joins an Uprising - Best Documentary, about the disabled skiing movement
- The Last Race - Best Short Drama, about organ donation
 - Bobby Ellis is Gonna Kick Your Ass - Best Short Comedy
- Trade of Innocents - Best Drama, about the child sex slave trade
- Off the Rez - about a young Native American basketball star who becomes the first in her family to attend college
- Incest! The Musical - a short comedy that one attendee likened to 'a snarky episode of Glee'
- The Assignment - a short comedic coming of age film
- Chicken with Plums - a full-length French drama about a talented musician who loses the will to live after his wife breaks his beloved violin
- Money and Medicine - a documentary that examines the waste that pervades our health care system
- Tracer Gun - a short drama that I describe as a creepy romance
- Cadaver - a short animated love story with voices by Christopher Lloyd and Kathy Bates

Photos from Peru - Part Two

Yesterday, I shared some photos from my May top-of-the-bucket-list trip to Peru and Ecuador with Overseas Adventure Travel. Today, I'm posting the second half of the set of photos I selected from Peru. Next week, I'll share some from Ecuador. Enjoy!

Above is one of the spectacular views we had from the train during our morning ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. After lunch we rode a park bus up the steep 14 switchbacks to reach the site. The first photo below is the view after walking in the entrance gate and turning a corner. At least one of our group, who had anticipated this trip for years, burst into tears at the sight.

Below is a photo of the Temple of the Sun, showing how tightly the Incas fitted rocks together to build their structures. Below that is a photo of me and my husband Neil at the site, then one showing the steep terraces that the Incas built around all the open sides of Machu Picchu, mostly to provide stability and support for the settlement.

As we neared the end of our first day at Machu Picchu, we watched the llama herder drive his small herd back to their nighttime stable. I took a photo of my photographer hubby doing what he loves best (after skiing), and below the photo of him is one of his spectacular shots.

Neil was the only one of our group who opted to get up early and go to Machu Picchu for sunrise, and the photo below is one of the beautiful ones he took. After that is a a picture of the trail to the Sun Gate, where the Inca Trail comes into the Machu Picchu complex. Below that is a photo of those of us in our group who hiked up to the Sun Gate, with Machu Picchu in the background.

After the Sun Gate hike, we hiked over to see the Inca Bridge, planks of wood across a gap in a steep cliffside trail that can be pulled up in case of an enemy attack. Ingenious! Below that photo is a last one of Neil and I taken at the site before we left for lunch and the return train trip to Ollantaytambo and bus ride to Cuzco.

The next morning in Cuzco, we visited the local market, which included flower sellers, grains, fruit, breads (all shown below), produce, meats, clothes, shoes, liquor, chocolates, electronics, toys, and cooked meals (not shown).

Next stop was an alpaca clothing and weaving shop, where we got a demonstration of weaving.

Then we toured the Sacsayhuaman fortress situated on a hilltop overlooking Cuzco.

After that, we saw a demonstration of how potatoes were cooked in a stone oven over a wood fire (and actually ate them!), saw some alpaca up close, and went through a traditional healing ceremony conducted by an Andean medicine man.

After lunch, we explored the Plaza de Armas in the center of Cuzco.

We finished up our stay in Peru by watching a very colorful and energetic performance of native dances. The next morning, we took off for Ecuador.

Photos from Peru - Part One

In May, my husband and I went on my top-of-the-bucket-list trip, a two-week trip to Peru and Ecuador with Overseas Adventure Travel. We had a wonderful time, and the guides and logistics were excellent. I highly recommend the travel company, and if you would like a referral that would give you $100 off on any trip you book, let me know.

It took awhile to go through our thousands of photos to pick just a few to share on my blog. I'll share some from the week in Peru today and tomorrow, and next week, I'll share some from Ecuador. Enjoy!

The two photos of ancient pottery and gold work above are from the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru in Lima, Peru. The two photos below are from our walking tour of Lima, a cathedral and the central square.

The evening of our first day, we went to the El Circuito Mágico del Agua, the largest fountain complex in the world, in a public park. The three photos below are from that magical display, the last one being from the laser show projected on the largest fountain.

The next day, most of the group went on the optional tour of the pre-Inca archaeological site of Pachacamac, pictured below, and my husband Neil lent a hand with the restoration work. ;-)

After that, we visited a typical squatter camp outside of Lima and toured their community kitchen, shown below. Then, in a huge contrast, we returned to the high income area of Larcomar near our hotel with it's ocean cliff-side shopping mall and high-rise apartments and the El Parque del Amor  with the "El Beso" sculpture of a couple engaged in a passionate kiss.

The next day we flew to Cuzco, then took a bus ride into the Sacred Valley. The first picture below shows me with a native woman and her llama mama and baby (notice the height difference!), and the second shows a view of the Sacred Valley.

We explored the Inca ruins above the town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley, shown in the next two photos. then our guide Rene showed us how local babies were swaddled (third photo below), and a couple of the women who were selling their wares at the site hitched a ride on our bus back into town (as shown in the fourth photo). The last photo shows me shopping in the market at Pisac.

The next day was our chance to explore a "Day in the Life Of" the local community. We started at the local farmer's market, where folks sold all kinds of foods, including guinea pig (cuy), coca leaves, a variety of potatoes and other produce, and other livestock such as chicken and pigs (isn't the little girl cute?).

 After the market, we visited a local school and interacted with the children, who showed us their workbooks and tried to teach us a few words of Spanish. Below is a photo of my tutor with me. Below that are two photos of the Ollantaytambo fortress built by the Inca, one of the few places where the Spanish lost a battle during their conquest of Peru.

Our next stop was at the home of a local woman who gave us a corn fritter cooking lesson (see below), then served us a delicious lunch, including the local delicacy of cuy (guinea pig).

Then we moved on to drinking! We stopped off at a watering hole that serves the local beverage chicha made from fermented maize, which has a low alcohol content. When a batch of chicha is ready, the bar owner puts out a red plastic bag on a stick to let the locals know. Rene, our guide, poured us small samples, but he drank a full glass! Back at the hotel, we got a lesson in how to make Pisco Sours, with Neil volunteering to be the bartender-in-training.

That's all the photos for today. Next up--Machu Picchu!