Interview with writer, actor, & mystery novelist David Flynn

Today's guest wears many hats, but we'll get to know him as mystery novelist, David Flynn, as he tells us a bit about his debut novel, The Whisper Man.

During his tour, David will be giving away a DVD of THE UNDYING, a movie he wrote and produced, to a lucky commenter. To be entered for a chance to win use the form below.

Bio:

David Flynn has worked as a writer and actor (under the screen name Patrick Flynne) and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG/AFTRA).

He’s appeared in numerous motion pictures, both studio and independent productions, and in the daytime series, All My Children, Another World, Guiding Light, and Loving and as the ongoing character Representative Ingersoll in videos for The Onion.

He has also performed as a spokesperson in numerous industrial films and television commercials, as a voiceover artist in radio broadcast commercials and as an English language narrator, editor and writer for several series on Ebru-TV, a Turkish company currently broadcasting on the Internet.

David has written 18 screenplays, including THE WAR CHANNEL, a Bronze Award Winner for Best Dramatic Screenplay at the Worldfest/Houston International Film Festival. This script was optioned by the Auerbach Company at Columbia TriStar Television. He has also co-authored two screenplays, one a Silver Award Winner for Best Dramatic Screenplay at Worldfest.

His recently produced screenplay, the supernatural thriller THE UNDYING (www.theundyingfilm.com) starring Robin Weigert, Wes Studi and Jay. O. Sanders is now in distribution domestically by MTI and internationally by Inferno Films. Under its original title, THE BRIDE OF DREAMS, the screenplay was one of fifteen semifinalists (out of a total of 3900 entrants) for a Nicholl Fellowship, a screenwriting competition sponsored by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Nicholl is considered to be the most prestigious screenwriting competition in the industry.

His novel The Whisper Man is the first in a series of mysteries that focus on unusual crimes and criminals in New York City.

Welcome, David. Please tell us about your current release.

Sex, vanity, and psychology are the weapons a sociopath named David Barry uses as he kills for money in The Whisper Man.

David's prey - and profit - are the wealthy of New York City, with each murder crafted to look like a suicide, an accident or the work of another, but always with the goal of increasing David's balance sheet. When a close friend of Manhattan ADA Joseph Kane dies at the apparent hand of his wife, Kane refuses to believe in her guilt. He investigates the recent deaths of several prominent and wealthy New Yorkers and decides there may be an undiscovered killer behind them.

Kane develops a prime suspect and triggers a battle of wits with the brilliant and arrogant David Barry who must kill again, not for profit this time but to protect his identity. The jealousy of Kane's insecure wife and conflicts with his boss become the tools David will use to destroy his adversary.

What inspired you to write this book?

I worked in luxury real estate development in Manhattan for a number of years and came across a wide cross section of well-to-do New Yorkers both in business and in social settings. The wealthy can hire bodyguards and forensic accountants but it occurred to me that the more wealth one might have the more vulnerable one’s life and fortune might be to a totally unimagined threat.

Excerpt:

Later, witnesses at the scene would describe the young Latino with the greasy hair under the tightly tied “do-rag” who ran from the scene of the accident. They would describe the puffy jacket and hoodie he was wearing, the baggy jeans and the large Nikes with the shoelaces loosely tied in the street fashion of the day.They would point north on Eleventh Avenue and east on 29th Street where they saw him run. It all happened so quickly and so unexpectedly. That was all the Police would have to go on.

                                                                        #

            The driver of the Cadillac stopped running as he turned onto 30th Street after crossing Ninth Avenue. He slowed his pace to a street swagger until he reached the narrow opening between two buildings. He glanced around quickly before slipping into the alley. Sure that he was not being observed, he stripped off the jacket and the hoodie and threw them on top of a garbage can. Next he slipped off the oversize sneakers and the baggy jeans, and they followed the jacket onto the garbage can. He was confident that within a couple of hours they would be found by a bum or an addict and sold to someone else for the price of a few hours of diminished consciousness. Recycled into the city’s economy, they would never be identified as the clothes of a hit and run driver.

Underneath the Nikes he wore slender white tennis shoes. Finally, he slipped the do-rag from his head and used it to wipe the grease from his face and ditched it in a different trash can. David Barry, wearing a buttoned down shirt, crew neck sweater, khakis and an attitude of innocence, walked out of the alley and over toward Eighth Avenue.

            David decided that his plan had gone so well that he would take a leisurely stroll back to the scene of the accident and look over his handiwork before going out for dinner. By the time he reached 26th Street, a considerable crowd had gathered and was being held back on the south side of 27th Street. He joined the crowd and slowly worked his way to the front of the group. He watched the actions of the Police and the EMT team for about ten minutes before finally deciding on Thai food.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m now working on The Mischief Man, the second story in a series about unusual New Yorkers involved in crime.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

This might sound corny, but it was right after I kissed the Blarney Stone. Up ‘til then the only writing I had done was business related. When I returned from Ireland my young daughter brought home a story about the Jersey Devil, a folk myth set in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. I thought it would make an interesting movie so I wrote a screenplay that was rejected by agents and producers alike. Reading it over I realized it was bad and I needed to educate myself in the art of writing for the screen. The next story I wrote was the supernatural romantic thriller, The Undying. It did so well in the Nicholl Fellowship that I started writing and writing and writing. Most stories felt right for the screen, but THE WHISPER MAN just felt like a story that needed to be told in print.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write when I’m not working as an actor or voiceover artist. A typical writing day usually begins by reviewing what I’d written the day before, using that as a springboard for the day’s efforts.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I most enjoy making sure that every character has his or her own voice. I draw on my stage experience to think about each character’s actions and motivations and try to make sure that comes out in their words and actions on the page.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A diplomat. It took me a few years to realize I would be terrible at it and I’m glad I came to my senses before college.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Play golf and ride a motorcycle – two of God’s greatest gifts to the human spirit.

Thank you, David!

Readers, don't forget to use the form to enter for a chance to win the DVD!

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Interview with Carlyle Walker and book bash stop for The Black Song Inside

Author Bio:

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 fiction and fantasy. He has flailed ineffectually at performing the writers' requisite myriad of random jobs: pizza deliverer, curb address painter, sweatshop laborer, day laborer, night laborer, twilight laborer (of the fang-less variety), security guard, campus police, Gallup pollster, medical courier, vehicle procurer, and signature-for-petitions-getter.

He is a happily 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.

Welcome, Carlyle. Please tell us about your current release.

The Black Song Inside was written to be a fast-paced crime thriller that was somewhat dark but often humorous with flawed protagonists you can root for as well intriguing and frightening villainous villains. Sand Diego based Private Investigators Atticus Wynn and Rosemary Sanchez, newly engaged, find themselves in an ever-tightening web of violence when Atticus’s ex-girlfriend uses a secret about Rosemary that Rosemary doesn’t even know to blackmail Atticus into helping her find her boyfriend’s killer and a fortune in drug money. The ensuing investigation pits the PIs  against Lost Lobos Locos, a street gang whose leader is Rosemary’ s little brother, outlaw bikers, an aging Mafiosi, a messianic former child-soldier turned mercenary and a cartel kingpin..

What inspired you to write this book?

I had this idea in my head about the type of story I’d like to read and that I thought other people would want to read. So many thrillers are either dark, or light and funny, and I wanted one that was frightening but also funny because that it makes it really fun to write when you’re going through the gamut of emotions, especially for multiple characters, as well as (hopefully!) fun to read.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on an Epic Fantasy titled The Riven Tree, and what’s exciting about it is the challenge of creating a world with multiple cultures and weave them all together in a fast-paced tale that spans multiple novels. That allows for much more development of characters and themes. I’m hoping to have The Riven Tree completed this year.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I took a creative writing class at a junior college and one of the assignments was to write a short story that would be read by the teacher without naming the writer. So I was able to study the reaction of the other class members while my story was read and they really enjoyed it. Some were literally on the edge of their seat. That’s when I thought, “Hey, maybe I’ve got something here.” Incidentally, that story was basically the rough draft of the prequel to The Black Song Inside entitled: He’s Faster.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like?  If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Oh, I wish I could write full time but I’m just a work-a-day stiff. I’m the Assistant Directory of Security at a Fortune 500 company near Chicago.***Teaser Alert**I didn’t stray too far from my childhood aspirations as you’ll see at the end of the interview. Finding time to write is always a challenge. I don’t have a set schedule; it’s big chunks of the weekend and typically in the evening or super early in the morning. I’ve had to forgo the pleasure of sleeping in to find time to write.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My writing reflect some of my real world views in that I find that many horrible things can be funny if you can just cock your head and squint the right way. It’s the old if you don’t’ laugh, you’ll cry. My antagonists often “mouth” that humor, but they are dead serious about it. It’s just that they have a skewed and often scary world view that to them seems perfectly normally and it’s everyone else who’s crazy, which is always an amusing dynamic for me.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a police officer, or ***Drum Roll Please*** a Private Investigator like Atticus Wynn and Rosemary Sanchez.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Yes, I want to thank you Lisa, for sharing your followers with me and all of you followers for sticking with this interview to the end. I hope you’ll check out my novel. It’s free through the tenth!

Thanks, Carlyle.

Author website: http://carlyleclark.wordpress.com/

Title: The Black Song Inside

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Publisher: Make Luck Press

Release Date: November 14^th, 2012

Amazon

Synopsis:

Shortlisted for the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom Award

Newly engaged private investigators Atticus Wynn and Rosemary Sanchez have seen the dark and violent side of life. Atticus's dry wit is born of a traumatic childhood that's left him emotionally scarred and estranged from his homicide detective sister. The medals Rosemary earned during her tour of duty in Iraq are little reward for returning home to San Diego missing a leg and tormented by PTSD and her continuing failure to save her younger brother from his own violent nature. Still, nothing they've been through has prepared them for an explosive murder investigation that tests the couple's trust as they struggle to solve a case where the best result leaves them in prison or dead.

Atticus's manipulative and gorgeous ex-girlfriend, Claire, 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 as well as rendering them pawns in Tijuana Cartel captain Armando Villanueva's bloody bid to take over the Cartel. Villanueva Machiavellian scheme sends one of his minions, Rosemary's own gangsta brother, after Atticus, and as if that weren't bad enough, Villanueva dispatches "The Priest", a former child soldier for a Colombian rebel group who is now a messianic mercenary whose religious psychosis has launched him on a trajectory that can only end in mayhem.

The Black Song Inside is a vivid crime thriller rife with the murder and madness, melded with gallows humor and the heroism of two flawed protagonists who, in struggling to unravel a skein of human suffering, learn the nature of redemption and the ability to forgive others and themselves.

Excerpt:

Rosemary suppressed a sigh. As the only child of parents who had wanted a brood, her life had been spent as the wobbly point of an inverted pyramid, forever attempting to balance the burden of hopes and expectations meant to be spread over a half-dozen children. Instead, it was only she and her adopted brother Johnny, the mayhem magnet.

“The leg I have now isn’t agile,” Rosemary said, rapping it with her knuckles. “With this new one, I can step over things, walk backward, change directions quickly. I’m no longer stuck just going one way and having a change in direction be a major ordeal. I’ll be free.”

Rosemary maneuvered the X2 case for a better view, marveling at the complexity encompassed in its artistic form. “Come take a look at it.”

Mama stayed put, offering a wan smile. “It’s very fancy.”

Mama sniffed as she levered herself out of the armchair. She pivoted toward the window and pushed the silk drape aside. The waistband of her stretch pants dented her torso. From behind, her hair-sprayed bob seemed smooth and solid, as formidable a protection as the brass dome of a deep-sea diver, the hose stretching from the helmet up to a world of stability, sameness. “So much bad weather this summer.”

Rosemary felt the urge to knead her mother’s shoulders. “You could change, Mama.”

Her mother’s neck stiffened. Still looking away, she shook her head. “I happen to like who I am.”

Ah, and there it was, the roundabout implication that Rosemary was somehow betraying Mama by being with Atticus—the only thing that had set the pyramid to wobbling as much as her joining the Army Reserves. Hadn’t Mama’s fears been grimly vindicated when an IED exploded under the Humvee she was driving? Didn’t she have an “I told you so” moment when the explosion transformed the man who’d been next to her in the front seat, Specialist First-Class Yukio Morimitu, an always smiling human being with a new bride and a child on the way, into a spatter of blood and bone clumped in her hair, clogging her ears and nose, and filling her mouth with gobbets of flesh.

Rosemary hobble-stepped to the window, leaned against the sill, and put her arm around Mama’s shoulders. Lightning flickered in the lining of steel gray clouds. “More rain coming,” Rosemary said. “Maybe you better go now.”

“I rearranged my day so I can take you to rehab. We could have lunch, relax, then go.” She studied Rosemary’s face a moment and squinted. “What? You don’t want me?”

Rosemary forced her expression to be neutral. “Of course I do, but you said you couldn’t go, so I asked Atticus.”

“So. You’d rather have him than your own mother.”

“Oh for God’s sake. I asked you to take me first. You said you were busy.”

“So Atticus can’t change his schedule?” The sky cast a greenish tinge on Mama’s face.

Here we go again, Rosemary thought. Countdown…three…two…one…

“Atticus, Atticus, always Atticus. I’m sick of hearing his name.”

“Blastoff.”

“What?” Mama blinked.

“Cape Fucking Canaveral.” Rosemary shuffled back to her bed.

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