Daniel Pyle

This week’s author interview spotlights Daniel Pyle. Author of the crime fiction, suspense, and thriller novel, Dismember, Daniel brings a new twist to this genre.

Thanks for joining us, Daniel.

WCP: As I stated above, Dismember seems to twist the typical plot line for this genre. From Dave Abbott’s background, one would expect he’d be scarred. What person wouldn’t be after losing their entire family in a horrific car crash? But that he would recreate his family in the manner he does, is rather, um, frightening. What inspired this hair-raising tale?

Daniel: It all started with a trip to the ice-cream parlor… No, just kidding, but wouldn’t that be funny? In all seriousness, the idea started where the book does: with the car crash. My family loves Colorado; we go there any chance we get. While we drove those curvy mountain roads, I would sometimes wonder what might happen if we crashed and I was the only survivor. Later, I generalized the idea: what if a family crashed, I thought, and the youngest son was the only survivor, and there was no one around to find him? The idea stuck with me–I could really picture that poor kid out there in the woods, crying out for help, maybe dying from exposure or getting eaten up by animals–but it wasn’t really a whole idea. Not then. The thing didn’t gel until Mr. Boots popped into my head, and there wasn’t really enough material for a novel until I considered the possibility that maybe Davy was a little unbalanced before he ran into the man in the muddy boots.

WCP: How much influence did the man who found Dave have on Dave’s descent into what appears to be sociopathic insanity?

Daniel: In my mind, Davy would have grown up to be a little twisted either way. The quiet boy who wet the bed would have killed bugs and birds, escalated to the neighbor’s dog. Maybe he would have set a few fires or robbed a liquor store when he got older. But without Mr. Boots, I think that’s probably as far as it would have gone. In Dismember, I didn’t go into a lot of detail about the things Mr. Boots did to Davy because I felt that had all been done before. I didn’t want to rewrite Misery. But Mr. Boots does expose Davy to death and isolation very early in the kid’s life. He takes Davy’s natural differences and nurtures them into outright insanity. I also didn’t want the book to be a poorly disguised psychological study; I think that’s also been done. Instead of showing you the whole cause and effect relationship, I wanted to focus on the end results and how they, in turn, affected the rest of the book’s characters.

WCP: Unless this is a spoiler question, what was Dave’s breaking point?

Daniel: My gut instinct is to say that he doesn’t really have a breaking point, that he breaks over a long period of time spanning many separate events, but as I think back, I remember the flashback scene where little Davy finds his dead family rotting in the car (which Mr. Boots took from the scene of the accident and hid) and realizes their deaths are all his fault. If there is one specific moment that really shapes that kid’s life, I think that’s it.

WCP: Do you think there are any redeeming qualities to Dave?

Daniel: Honestly, although Dave often scared and sickened me, I found myself occasionally feeling very sorry for him. Which is only right. I don’t think I could write a character whom I flat-out hated. Dave’s loyalty to his family, although skewed by his madness, is something I can respect.

WCP: Do you share any of Dave’s traits? Or, does he share any of yours?

Dismember by Daniel Pyle

Daniel: The toothpick chewing. I have a filling in one of my molars that has a small gap. Food is constantly getting stuck in there, and I’m always on the lookout for a toothpick. I don’t remember for sure, but I was probably chewing a toothpick of my own when I first wrote one into Dave’s hand. Also, I love my family very much (I have a wife, a daughter, and a new baby on the way), and I think I might go a little crazy if anything ever happened to them. I probably wouldn’t go on any killing sprees, but you never know.

WCP: Before we move onto other questions, would Dave like to add anything?

Daniel: Hang on, let me see if he’s around. I think I heard him out back earlier, chopping some wood. Okay, here he is:

that wasnt wud I wuz choping

Okay, me again. Wow, our spelling lessons clearly haven’t been as effective as I thought.

WCP: This book combines three genres, combining genres is more and more common these days. What is it about these three genres that appeal to you? And have you ventured in your writing into other genres, or even considered it?

Daniel: If you’d asked me what genre Dismember fit into at any point in the writing process, I probably would have called it Suspense with a touch of Horror. It really wouldn’t have occurred to me to file it under Crime Fiction, although I can see how it fits. As far as what appeals to me, I’d have to say it’s the visceral aspect of those genres: the fear, the anger, the worry. To me, these are some of the baser emotions running through us all, but they’re the ones we don’t see every day, the ones people try to hide. That’s what I like to read and write about.

WCP: Crime fiction, at least, seems to be on the rise as far as popularity goes. Do you have any favorite authors in this field? Or ones that have influenced you more than others?

Daniel: I love Lee Child. His Jack Reacher books are some of the most well-written and entertaining novels I’ve ever read, and Reacher is one of my all-time favorite characters.

WCP: Before we move onto other questions, surely Dave would like to add something more?

Daniel: Hold on, he’s out chopping…whatever it was he was chopping again. Okay, here:

my lawer has informed me that I wuz in fact choping wud no more questuns

Poor Dave. But we can’t really blame him for his poor writing skills, can we? I mean, he never had any formal education. Plus, I think he’s worn out from all the chopping.

WCP: Do you have anything else in the works?

Daniel: Always. I have three short stories going, a young-adult project almost half finished, and I recently went to work on a new novel. My last publication was a flash fiction story called “Grounds,” and I have a poem that will be appearing in an anthology published by Shroud Publishing at some point in the not-too-distant future.

WCP: Now for some fun questions:
What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

Daniel: Probably the length of time it took to get to the point where I was writing publishable stuff. I started writing my first (unpublished) novel when I was 14 years old. Back then, I thought I’d be a New York Times Bestselling author before I got my driver’s license. Now, fifty years later…no, just kidding again, I’m only 27. But still, thirteen years–that was a long time to have to keep up my morale.

WCP: Of the following fictional characters, which do you think you share the most traits with: Sherlock Holmes, Freddie Kruger, Jack Ryan, or Peter Pan? And what are those characteristics?

Daniel: I have to go with a combination of Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes. Like Pan, I don’t especially want to grow up. A lot of grown-ups seem to lose their sense of wonder, their imaginations. Those are things I cherish and want to hold to as long as possible. Like Holmes, I think a lot and don’t tend to be overly emotional. Plus, I’m wicked smart. =)

WCP: Chili dogs or pizza?

Daniel: That’s easy: chili-dog-flavored pizza. Mmmm.

WCP: If you could sit down and have dinner with anyone, living or dead, what would it be and what would you eat?

Daniel: Well, clearly we’d eat chili-dog-flavored pizza, so it would have to be someone who’s not a vegetarian.
Actually, I’d love to sit down and talk to Stephen King for a while. He seems like a very interesting person, and he’s a hell of a writer. I’m not crazy enough to think some of his magic might rub off on me, but I’d definitely like to hear his take on some things. And if you’re reading, Mr. King, we can even watch a Red Sox game while we eat/talk. Eh? What do you say? Pizza’s on me.

WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Daniel: Rosebud…

Wild Child Books by Daniel Pyle:

Dismember by Daniel Pyle

Luke Romyn

This week’s author interview spotlights Luke Romyn. Author of the paranormal horror, The Dark Path, Luke is another one of our very talented Down Under writers. We have quite the contingent..

Thanks for joining us, Luke.

Luke: Thanks for having me, Marci.

WCP: What was the inspiration for The Dark Path?

Luke: I set out to create a novel which would really impact on the reader. I wanted a massive amount of action including characters which you could really care about. A lot of the storyline unfolded on its own after I set up these parameters, and just seemed to get larger and larger each time I sat down to write, but in a great way.

WCP: Vain is a scary character. One of the things that I find fascinating about this book that you’ve added a twist to the Armageddon novel and used evil to fight evil. How did you come up with this idea?

Luke: I don’t believe your stereotypical hero could compete with the things Vain has to face in The Dark Path; he’d be running away to his mommy to have a cry. I wanted to create a character with massive flaws, an antihero, who wasn’t even searching for redemption – in fact Vain rebels against it every step of the way. The hard task after creating Vain was to make him likeable, for the reader to care about him and root for him in his quest to protect Sebastian. His sardonic humor helps in this, along with the burning need from his past which haunts his every step – even when he doesn’t know it.

WCP: With Vain being so evil, you would think he’d want the evil to win Armageddon. Without giving it away, what is it about Vain’s character that compels him to hinder instead of abet the dark forces?

Luke: Vain’s actions are what make him evil, not his inherent nature. The events of his past created within him an immense rage, and a need for revenge. However, he never hunts innocent people; he takes his wrath out on those who actually deserve it. As such, when coerced properly, he finally agrees to assist the people seeking to protect Sebastian. There is one spark of good left within the Dark Man, and throughout the story this spark is forever in jeopardy of being snuffed out.

WCP: What do you think is the most appealing aspect of Vain’s personality?

Luke: The conflicting nature and duality of Vain is what draws you in. On one side he is the perfect killer, amoral and untouched by the violence of his life. On the other, there is an intense driving need to protect and to combat evil; a subconscious legacy from his lost past. He is constantly forced to question his actions as he attempts to protect Sebastian from foes against which his skills as an assassin are almost useless.

WCP: Do you share any of Vain’s traits? Or, does he share any of yours?

Luke: After the death of my father in my teens, I enshrouded myself in rage, although I never realized it at the time. My early work as a nightclub bouncer was very violent, and many of my associates at the time were, shall we say, of a darker side of life, a side most people never see. Vain was created from a combination of these things. I used the memory of that rage, along with some of my own experiences and experiences of those associates to create the man I needed to succeed in a quest no one else could accomplish.

WCP: This story is set in New York–a bit of a schlep from Australia. Did you travel to New York for a little bit of research to make the settings authentic?

Luke: I have spent some time in the USA, but unfortunately I was never able to make it to New York. This made it difficult when it came to writing The Dark Path, because I wanted it to be as authentic as possible, wanted the reader to feel as though they were following Vain as he creeps through the streets and alleyways. I spent a lot of my time researching the different areas of New York in order to create this feeling, and hopefully succeeded. A lot of the other locations are places I have travelled through – apart from Hell, that is. At least not yet.

The Dark Path by Luke Romyn

WCP: I personally have a hard time reading horror. Just the other day, I was reading a paranormal with a hint of horror in it, and I had nightmares. Yeah, I’m a wimp. I don’t care to be scared, but many, many people do. What do you think it is about horror and paranormal that attracts people? And do you ever get nightmares from the stories you write?

Luke: People like to glimpse things which they don’t see in their everyday lives. Horror and paranormal stories transport them into a realm away from the normal, seeing things that take them away from the tedium of everyday life. As to my own writing, I never set out to be scary; it’s just that the storyline decided to go that way. You can’t very well write about intense evil without touching on some aspects of horror. My nightmares are limited to politics, which to me are much more terrifying than beasts from Hell.

WCP: I would have to agree with you about politics being scarier than horror. LOL Would Vain like to add anything?

Luke: No. He lets his actions speak for him.

WCP: Do you have anything else in the works?

Luke: I’ve recently finished my second novel called Blacklisted and I’m currently going through rewrites and edits. It’s an action thriller based much more in reality than The Dark Path was, while in another book I’m writing, I’m delving once again into some paranormal and mythical aspects. I’m also toying with the idea of a sequel to The Dark Path, but that’s a long way off at this stage.

Now for some fun questions:

WCP: What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

Luke: I find the whole exercise of writing to be incredible. I never realized how much I need an outlet for my imagination – heck, I never even knew I had an imagination. The ability to create anything I want with a few keyboard strokes is something nobody can ever take away from me.

WCP: What one modern technology do you think you could live without? (Not that you’d like it, but you could if you had to.)

Luke: Mechanical bulls.

WCP: LOL It sounds like you’ve had some experience with them, but I’ll leave that one alone. LOL If you could be any woman, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?

Luke: Any woman? I’d have to say Ellen DeGeneres. She has great wit, star power, a fantastic TV show, and I wouldn’t have to change my sexual preference.

WCP: Freddy Kruger, Vain, Jason, or Frankenstein. Which of these horror “heroes” do you think you share the most characteristics with? And what are they?

Luke: I’d have to say I relate myself most with Frankenstein. A big goon, who is often misunderstood as evil, but realistically just wants to live his life with bolts in his neck and a glued-on butt.

WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Luke: I want to thank you, Marci, along with the entire Wild Child team for making my publishing debut a truly wondrous experience. The Dark Path has so far surpassed all my expectations, and it just keeps growing. The feedback has been phenomenal, and I know it’s just going to keep getting bigger.

Wild Child Publishing books by Luke Romyn:

The Dark Path by Luke Romyn

Carol Ayer

This week’s author interview spotlights Carol Ayer. Author of the romantic comedy, Storybook Love, Carol has a unique perspective on life and a quirky sense of humor that spills into her writing.

Thanks for joining us, Carol.

Thanks, Marci. It’s my pleasure.

WCP: While this story is a romantic comedy, there is more to it than that. It’s about Rebecca finding her strength and believing in herself again. What inspired you to write a story like Storybook Love?

Carol: I started with the setting. I’d worked at Children’s Fairyland–a fairy tale park in Oakland, California–back in the 1980s. I’d enjoyed many a happy day there with my grandmother when I was little, and it seemed a perfect place for a summer job. The summer job turned out to be a four and a half year stint. I always thought a place like Fairyland would be a great setting for a book. When I decided to try writing a romance, everything clicked…what a perfect place for a love story to unfold–a place where stories like Cinderella and Snow White are brought to life. A happily-ever-after story set in a land of happily-ever-afters!

I’m hoping that storybook parks like Fairyland will experience a renaissance. Theme parks, of course, are multi-billion dollar behemoths that are all about making money and offering cheap thrills. By contrast, storybook parks are sweet and innocent oases in a crazy, fast-paced world.

WCP: Without giving it away, what is it about Rebecca’s personality that keeps her so determined to keep her park?

Carol: She believes in Storytown for the reasons I mentioned above. Storytown was an escape for her when she was a child, and she wants other children to have the same experience. She’s determined, she’s driven…and she’s stubborn.

WCP: At times, I’m not a fan of Jonathan, the hero. I know he’s hot, but what exactly does Rebecca see in him?

Carol: She isn’t thrilled with him at the beginning. First of all, he reminds her a lot of her ex, not the most sensitive guy on the planet. She also has a preexisting prejudice against theme parks, and this translates into a prejudice against Jonathan. She believes he’s all about making money and to hell with anyone who gets in his way. But he slowly but surely shows her that he’s not the bad guy she thinks he is, starting with the gentle way he treats Mittens, Storytown’s resident cat. She also finds out early on that he used to work for the Boys & Girls Club, and this helps change her opinion of him–or at least makes her realize there might be something more to him than she previously thought.

Storybook Love by Carol Ayer

WCP: Do you share any of Rebecca’s traits? Or, does she share any of yours?

Carol: I think that when something really matters to me, I can be just as determined (and stubborn!). Rebecca isn’t a particularly worldly character, and neither am I. We’re both “squares.” We also aren’t into clothes and makeup–we must have missed those classes that the other girls took! I’m not nearly as pretty, nor have as great a figure, as Rebecca. Sigh.

WCP: What did you find to be the trickiest part of writing this story?

Carol: This was the longest piece I’ve ever written. I tend to write short because I was trained in journalism and I’m used to giving the facts and nothing else. I’m still learning how best to build a scene, from the dialog to invoking all the senses to best showing the characters’ emotions. So..the hardest part was making the story long enough! I also went back and forth with whether or not to include Jonathan’s POV. The original versions of the book had short passages of his POV, but the feedback I was getting convinced me it wasn’t enough. I would have had to put in more of his POV, and I was reluctant to do that…I think that not including his POV, and not giving away his motivations, helped build the tension in the book.

WCP: Would Rebecca or Jonathan like to add anything?

Carol: They would like to invite everyone to their wedding on June 20th of next year! More information is available at www.seaaircarol.com.

WCP: Is there anything you would like the readers to take away from the story?

Carol: I hope that my readers come away with the feeling that they don’t have to give up the things they loved as children just because they’re adults. Too often we’re so busy going to work and washing dishes and doing laundry, that we forget to have fun! I loved baseball as a child and I still love it now (Jonathan does, too!). I still favor the foods I did when I was little, just like Rebecca and Jonathan do.

I also hope, of course, that my readers take away the idea that love is the most important thing in life. Not just the love one has for one’s partner, but the love of friends, family, and ideals.

WCP: Do you have anything else in the works?

Carol: I’m usually always working on a short story or an essay. But I’m also pursuing longer works that feature a storybook park as a setting, just like Storybook Love. I started a mystery last November for NaNoWriMo, and I need to do a lot of revision on that.

WCP: What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

Carol: There is a lot of waiting! Wild Child was wonderfully efficient when it came to accepting the book and publishing it, but other places aren’t so quick. I waited almost two years to receive a rejection for a children’s book. Magazines can also take a long time to respond.

I’ve got to tell you, though, that I love being an author. It’s been my dream since I first learned to read. I feel so fortunate to be able to follow my passion. I wish everyone were able to do that–I think the world would be a happier place.

Now for some fun questions:

WCP: What one modern technology do you think you could live without? (Not that you’d like it, but you could if you had to.)

Carol: Actually, this isn’t that hard for me. I don’t like planned obsolescence. So I don’t have a DVD player nor a CD player other than what came with my computer. I still have a turntable! My laptop is refurbished and runs Windows 2000. As long as it doesn’t break down, I’m going to use it for as long as possible.

WCP: If you could be any man, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?

Carol: This is a hard one. My true nature is to be rather introverted and shy, so I tend to be drawn to people who are the opposite, especially people who are able to go out into the world and effect change. So maybe someone like Gandhi or Martin Luther King.

WCP: Maserati, Mercedes, Pacer, or Prius? Which car do you share the most characteristics with? And what are those characteristics?

Carol: I asked a friend about this because I couldn’t decide. I probably would have chosen a Prius because it’s practical and environmentally-conscious (I hope I am, too!) But my friend said a Mercedes because he thinks I’m elegant and classy and not ostentatious (yes, I’ll pay him later).

WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Carol: If I could give advice to an aspiring writer, it would be to not give up. I remember early on receiving comments on a rejection letter from Woman’s World. I gave up at that point rather than try to revise the story. I later learned that editors don’t give comments unless they see potential. Fortunately, I was eventually published by Woman’s World, and I gradually built up a list of credits after that. My advice is to learn as much as you can (and keep learning), stay humble, and don’t give up.

To find out more about Carol, you can visit her website.

Wild Child books by Carol Ayer:

Storybook Love by Carol Ayer

Maggi Coleman

This week’s author interview spotlights Maggi Coleman. Author of the romantic suspense, Casey’s Luck, Maggi has joined us all the way from Down Under. We are very grateful she has.

Thanks for joining us, Maggi.

Thanks for the invitation, Marci.

WCP: What was the inspiration for Casey’s Luck?

Maggi: A news item on television years ago set me thinking about the evil that manifests below the radar of most people’s lives. I wanted to write a murder mystery that encompassed a bigger picture than something that affected only a handful of people.

WCP: This is a romantic suspense with the heroine, Casey, solving a murder that happens in Devon, but whose trail leads to seedy side of the London art scene. Being in Australia, how did you do research for this book? (Tell me it was on location, and I’ll be jealous. LOL Er, not about the seedy side, of course.)

Maggi: I did go to England for research. *Grin* I have a friend who very kindly put me up in Richmond, Surrey, a lovely part of the world. I set part of Casey’s Luck there. I bought Indian take-away, traveled on the tube and roamed the streets just as she did. I also spent time in the theatres, cafés and bars. A writer has to take a break now and then, lol.

WCP: Without giving it away, what is it about Casey’s personality that compels her to solve this case?

Maggi: Her journalistic talents helped her to work through the facts at hand. She was single-minded, refusing to give up when more sensible people might have. She was also loyal and very hurt to discover her friends kept secrets from her.

Casey’s Luck by Maggi Coleman

WCP: Carlisle seems the beleaguered hero. What draws him to Casey?

Maggi: Her long legs? They share a sad past, both having lost a friend in tragic and violent circumstances. Both had reached a stage where they wanted to settle down, if they could only iron out those distractions and differences of opinion that made their relationship volatile. Both are ex-pats without family in England. Carlisle’s blue eyes may have helped.

WCP: Do you share any of Casey’s traits? Or, does she share any of yours?

Maggi: I wanted to make Casey different to me, but found it impossible. I think some characteristics of the writer must always sneak into the work. We share a determination not to give up easily, a necessary quality for a writer to have. A certain impulsiveness perhaps, but we won’t go there. And a love of fast cars, although I’ve learned to temper that somewhat as I grow older. We both find Carlisle attractive, lol. An interest in art too. My mother was an award winning painter, and she nurtured my love of art. I went on to study Fine Arts at university, so art does appear often in my books.

Casey is an American living in England, and suffers the ex-pat’s problem of having a foot in two countries. John Steinbeck, I believe, felt the pull of his genes, and traveled extensively in his life time. It’s an interesting concept, one I like to write about because I suffer from it myself. My mother’s family were English, my dad’s Danish.

WCP: What did you find to be the trickiest part of writing this story?

Maggi: Setting the book in another country was difficult even with a few forays over to England. One doesn’t have to write what one knows, but it takes a lot of work to do it well. Cultural issues, apart from the more prosaic ones like the time it takes to travel between places, the smells, sounds and the look of a place are tricky to capture from books or the internet. Writer’s such as Minette Walters travel to the places in their books and research thoroughly. It does help to add authenticity to a work, although I appreciate not everyone can do it. Creating a complex and interesting villain was a challenge also, particularly one unlike anyone I’ve ever known.

WCP: Would Casey or Carlisle like to add anything?

Maggi: Casey would like to say she will go with Carlisle wherever in the world his career takes him. Carlisle would like to add that he isn’t confident Casey will settle down and stay out of trouble.

WCP: Do you have anything else in the works?

Maggi: I’m writing a romantic suspense set in America this time. I shall have to come over and research it! It’s about twin sisters, and trust, and the courage to love again after being badly hurt. Art features in this story also, and of course, there’s another cute cop.

WCP: Please come and visit. If you are in the Los Angeles area, let me know. I’d love to have lunch/dinner with you. Now, what about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

Maggi: The amount of promotion one has to do for each book. A writer can’t just hide away in their study anymore.

Now for some fun questions:

WCP: What one modern technology do you think you could live without? (Not that you’d like it, but you could if you had to.)

Maggi: I have a love hate relationship with my mobile phone. Having to charge it and take it with me everywhere. In the middle of a concert/movie, when you can hear a pin drop, I suddenly remember I haven’t turned it off. I know they’re great in an emergency, but when does one get time to just think any more?

WCP: If you could be any man, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?

Maggi: Picasso. He lived a long, fascinating, and passionate life, and left an incredible body of work for posterity. It was not without its tragedies, the bombing of his beloved Guernica for instance. They say when we get old we regret the things we didn’t do. I doubt he had many regrets.

WCP: Toaster, microwave, iron, or washing machine? Which appliance do you share the most characteristics with? And what are those characteristics?

Maggi: Mm. Toaster’s are unpredictable and can flare up. Irons run hot and cold and can burn you. I wish I could say microwave, which is relatively young and flashy. I fear I’m a washing machine, strong and reliable, and hopefully good for quite a few years before burn out.

WCP: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Maggi: Writers never grow tired of talking about their books. Thanks for the opportunity, Marci.

WCP: My pleasure, Maggi.

To find out more about Maggi Coleman and her work, you can visit her website.

Wild Child books by Maggi Coleman:

Casey’s Luck by Maggi Coleman