This interview was conducted with Ed Lynskey
in April 2007. Ed is the American writer of two crime novels: THE
DIRT-BROWN DERBY and THE BLUE
CHEER. Three other novels are under
contract: PELHAM FELL HERE (crime), TROGLODYTES (crime), and THE QUETZAL MOTEL
(science fiction).
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Arlington, Virginia, a few
short miles south of Washington, D.C.
My formative years were spent in the rural countryside to the south near
a bump in the road called Lakota, Virginia.
To complete the cycle, I moved back to Washington, D.C. a few years back
for job-related reasons. If I reach
retirement age, maybe I’ll move back out to the countryside.
What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?
My first lengthy stint was spent working in poetry and short fiction. I’d taken a couple of creative writing
classes in college and enjoyed them. My
poems appeared in A-list venues like The Atlantic Monthly, American
Poetry Review, Boston Phoenix, and Chicago Review. Then about six years ago, I decided to
branch out in writing long fiction, a better challenge and more satisfying
professionally and personally. Recently
I returned to reviewing books.
Which writers have influenced you the most?
I’ll focus my response on crime fiction writers. For clean prose and a solid storyline, I credit Bill Pronzini and
Ross Macdonald. I’m in awe at Walter
Mosley’s characters. From the old
pulpsters, I gravitate to Charles Williams and John D. MacDonald. There are a slew of influential P.I. fiction
writers: Stephen Greenleaf, Dennis Lynds, and James Lee Burke. Lately, noirs have intrigued me. Megan Abbott pens such rich, complex
retro-noirs. Russell James, Graham
Hurley, Ian Rankin, and Reginald Hill capture my immediate fancy.
What kind of things do you write?
My first four books have been detective fiction. The greatest challenge is to put your own personal stamp on the
subgenre without bending and breaking it.
I also wrote a pulpy science fiction book titled THE QUETZAL MOTEL if
just for the variety. My first love
remains crime fiction and noir. I’ve
written two amateur sleuth books and a pair of female P.I. books.
What are you working on now?
I’m locked into the final edits of an Appalachian noir titled Lake Charles. It concerns a young man who wakes up next to
a corpse after attending a Pink Floyd concert.
Of course he’s busted for her homicide.
She begins to speak to him through a dream sequence, promising to help
him to catch her real killer. He isn’t
too certain of her credibility while he wrestles with his own demons, foremost
kicking his pot and alcohol addictions.
My noir tracks our hero’s plight, but it takes a more positive and
decisive twist than most noirs do. Again,
my stamp.
What is your writing day like?
Good question. It varies. Typically, I nail down the new words early
in the morning, say before eight o’clock.
I save my revising for mid-day.
Later, I’ll work on freelance assignments like reviews and
articles. I do most of my reading at
night.
What’s the most exciting thing about writing
for you?
First drafts without a doubt are more
delectable than the subsequent rounds of edits. I’ve liked snaring positive reviews, including a starred review
in Booklist for THE BLUE CHEER and a favorable one in Publishers
Weekly. Bob Wade (Wade Miller) had
nice things to say in the San Diego Tribune. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine reviewed my first book, THE
DIRT-BROWN DERBY. I also get a big kick
out of talking to readers and other fans of the genre.
What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?
The business side -- especially, promotion and marketing -- sucks up vast
amounts of time and resources. I guess
my other biggest bugaboo is the negative reviews I read written by those who
don’t have a clue about noirs or hardboiled writing. Writing two or three pro reviews a week and taking my assignments
seriously, I’m left to wonder.
What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?
Actually, I respect the feedback of serious
reviewers who point out areas for improvement in my novels. I’ve never understood how writers can keep
repeating the same habits if they’re hearing back how critics and readers don’t
like those things. The clustering of
adjectives comes to mind. How many
adjectives can a reader absorb in one sentence? One, sure. Two,
maybe. Three or more, minds go into a
lockdown mode.
Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy
your own creativity?
It’s a tight wire act, balancing what you
like to write and satisfying the market forces. The male detective books probably have been more of a personal
joy than a market commodity. My
extensive fiction reviewing allows me to sample and survey what’s current and
hot. I try to shape my projects
accordingly.
Do you have a homepage? Do you have
any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):
Surely.
The two P.I. Frank Johnson novels are:
THE BLUE CHEER (Point Blank/Wildside Press, April 2007).
ISBN:
0-8095-5667-7 (SRP $12.95 trade paperback original)
http://www.pointblankpress.com
THE DIRT-BROWN DERBY (Mundania Press, August 2006)
ISBN 1-59426-232-2 (SRP $12.00 trade paperback original)
http://www.mundania.com/books-dirtbrownderby.htm
