Author S. T. SANCHEZ: Interview with Gary Corbin author of the Lying Injustice Thrillers

Welcome Gary, thanks for joining us today, tell us a little about yourself.

I’m the seventh of nine baby boom children (six sisters, two brothers), all born within eleven years from first to last. After spending the first sixteen years of my life in a small mill town with a funny name (Agawam) in Massachusetts, my family moved to the New Orleans, Louisiana area, and I graduated from a Catholic school, having gone there only one year. I earned a B.A. in political science and economics from LSU, then a Ph.D. from Indiana University. After nine years in Washington, DC, I moved to the Pacific Northwest. I share dog-raising duties for a rambunctious Golden Retriever with my girlfriend and partner, Renee in another small mill town – Camas, Washington – and I love it here.

Wow eight siblings, that must have been fun growing up. I have five. I am so thankful for growing up in a big family. What got you into writing?

My family, particularly my parents, inspired me to write at an early age. My parents’ generation and their parents were great storytellers, be it at the dinner table, around a campfire, or just hanging around playing cards, and we learned early to value the ability to tell a good story. My mother in particular praised and encouraged my writing and made me believe in and develop my writing talents.

Isn't it wonderful what a great influence our parents and family can be. They really help shape us into the adult we become. Will you share a short excerpt from your novel with us?

Peter Robertson bolted upright in his darkened bedroom, awakened by Santana blasting “Black Magic Woman” on scratchy, poorly-amplified speakers. Why, he wondered in his melatonin-aided stupor, would an aging seventies band break into his ninety-year-old Portland bungalow and wake him at this hour? And why on such awful sound equipment?

Something lit his bedside table with a flickering glare. His stupid cell phone. Dammit. This meant bad news. He rolled across the queen-size mattress, found the phone, and held it to his ear. “Christine?” he said. It kept playing music. Dammit! He pushed the answer button, and the music stopped.

“Well, good morning, Sunshine,” she said, all chipper and happy. She sounded like she’d been up for hours, probably drinking double espressos and scheduling Twitter messages to promote her various clients’ brands. “Have you missed me?”

“Do you know what time it is?” He propped two pillows up against the headboard and sagged into them. Closing his eyes didn’t help. He only imagined every detail of her pretty face in front of him, from the thin, black eyebrows and long lashes to her brilliant smile, bright red lipstick and perfect sun-bronzed skin. He opened them again and stared into the blackness. A faint glow seeped in through the edges of blackout curtains covering the window across the room. Beautiful or not, he did not welcome this call from her, regardless of the hour.

“It’s breakfast time in New York,” she said. “Which means it’s mid-morning for you. About nine-fifteen, right?”

“Try three-fifteen.” Peter rubbed his temples with his free hand. “You got the time change backwards.”

“Oh, silly me,” she said. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t sound the slightest bit sorry. He even thought he heard her laugh. Typical Christine. She loved making his life miserable, in so many ways. Like making sleep next to impossible. She managed that even without three a.m. phone calls.

“Well, now that you’re up, let’s get that dinner planned that we talked about—what was it, a month ago now?”

“Two months.”

“You’re so right. Time does fly when we’re busy, doesn’t it?”

Peter scowled and turned onto his side. Monday morning was earning its awful reputation. “Christine, what do you want?”

“I just told you. I want you to buy me dinner.”

“I’ll mail you a gift certificate to Arby’s tomorrow. Good night.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me!”

Peter’s finger paused an inch above the end call button. Even with the phone held a foot in front of his face, he heard her throaty warning with perfect, chilling clarity. He sighed and returned the phone to his ear. “I’m still here.”

“Good.” Amazing how her voice could transform from dark and dangerous to soft and sexy without missing a beat. “I thought we could go back to Pazzo’s, for old times’ sake. Remember our first date there? You were so nervous.”

“It wasn’t a date. We had lunch. And it wasn’t our first anything. We’d had lunch together before.” He adjusted the pillows behind him. Suddenly he couldn’t get comfortable.

“Yes, but at Pazzo’s, you paid, like a gentleman, courting the object of his desire.”

“I was not–” He stopped himself. To be honest, he had been courting her—at the time. And he had to admit, he’d enjoyed her company. Maybe he was judging her too quickly. Maybe she really did want to date him after all. “How about someplace new?”

After a beat, she countered, “A place we’ve never been…? Say, perhaps, Florentino’s?”

His blood froze in his veins. He’d known, deep down, as soon as he gave her the opening, she’d remind him of the restaurant where, eight months before, he’d followed Marcia, now his ex-wife, and her lover. That foolish decision triggered events that changed—ruined!—his whole life. The scene of, if not the crime per se, at least where it all had been set in motion. The fancy restaurant where the victim of the crime worked, a man named Alvin Dark—a man whom Peter had never met before that terrible night. The victim whom Peter had later mistaken for his wife’s secret lover. The man he’d confronted, beaten , and—

“S’matter? Cat got your tongue?”

He shook himself out of the foul memory. “No. Not there. Not Florentino’s.” His hoarse voice took him aback, increasing the chill spreading across his naked body despite the summer heat. “I’m never going back there.”

“Fine. I tell you what. Surprise me. I’ll be back in town later this week. Pick me up at my office Thursday at six.”

“Thursday I have plans.”

Her voice grew hard. “Make new plans.”

She hung up without saying goodbye.

Thanks so much! Sounds intriguing. Have you been given any helpful advice?

Read, read, read, and write, write, write! Challenge yourself with your reading and writing. Read everything in your genre and as much as you can in other genres, even ones you think you hate. Write for the sake of writing; write (and read) in styles and genres out of your comfort zone. If you're a novelist, write plays, or poems, or screenplays sometimes. Try writing your novel as a play or poem or song. Keep refilling the well with as much diversity as you can.

That's great advice. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

I’ve been to 49 of the 50 United States, so I guess I need to go to that 50^th state, Arkansas! I’d also love to go back to Italy, because the food is incredible, the art and architecture are inspiring, and the people are so warm and engaging.

Arkansas! I thought you were going to say Hawaii or Alaska. That's interesting that you have been everywhere but there. Arkansas has some beautiful state parks. Currently, what are you working on?

I’m about 1/3 done with my next novel, The Mountain Man’s Badge, the third book in my Mountain Man Mysteries series. In this story, the main character, Lehigh, has gotten drafted to serve as sheriff, leading a law enforcement agency that has been trying to put him in jail repeatedly over the past year. Right out of the gate, he has to investigate a murder — and a lot of people want to see him fail…including some surprising people responsible for the murder.

I’m also working on a full-length stage play called Voodoo Snowball, a comedy about an estranged son coming to terms with the impending loss of his crusty old father to cancer. Yes, I said comedy!

That's great that you are able to write in more than one genre. That is my goal, to branch out a little, but I haven't yet. Tell us a little bit about your main characters.

Peter Robertson, 33, is a loyal, principled husband, son, and friend, who has a dark secret: he once beat a man and left him to die, a man that he followed and confronted thinking he was stealing away his wife – but Peter had followed the wrong man. He then served on the jury trying a man for murder – his murder! Peter leads the jury in acquitting the defendant, but keeps his own guilt a secret.

Christine Nielsen, 34, is a smart, observant fellow juror who catches on to his secret – and uses it to her advantage. She’s being stalked by an abusive ex-boyfriend, and realizes the only way to eliminate that threat is to have him killed. And she knows just the guy to do it.

Is this a stand-alone novel or part of a series?

Lying in Vengeance is the sequel to Lying in Judgment, which was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel. But many of my readers kept asking “what happens to them next?” – particularly about Christine, who is a very strong female character. The more they asked, the more I thought about it, and the story for the sequel just kind of came to me.

How did you decide on what to title each book?

Lying in Judgment came to me only after having completed the book. I wanted to hint at the story without giving anything away, and loved the pun of sorts on “lying in wait” and “sitting in judgment.” I’m big into branding, so I wanted the sequel’s title to tie back to it. Since it’s about deception and revenge, Lying in Vengeance seemed a good fit.

Share something with us not a lot of people know about you.

Here’s a few things: I have a Ph.D. in political science and a double-major B.A. in political science and economics. I’ve lived in six states, including in the northeast, south, and western U.S. And the first time I got paid for a published article was a short piece in PC Magazine – a “tips and tricks” bit about a Wordperfect 4.2 macro!

What is the easiest part of the writing process? What is the hardest?

The easiest part for me is character dialog. Because I’m also a playwright, actor, and improviser, character voice comes very easily to me. I can “hear” their voices in my head as I’m writing, and their quirks become quickly evident.

The hardest part? Since I’m writing mysteries and crime fiction without legal or criminology training, keeping all of the clues, forensics, and procedural elements (police, legal) technically correct and consistent. I have to plan all of that out very carefully so I don’t trip myself up.

Research isn't my favorite part of the writing process, but it is essential. Do you have people read your drafts before you publish? How do you select beta readers?

I participate in a writing critique group, which is invaluable, and I also recruit beta readers for feedback after I’ve integrated my crit group’s work. I ask fellow writers, avid readers, fans, and also search online (Goodreads, etc.) for people willing to give feedback in exchange for a free book. So far, so good.

I rely heavily on my beta readers, they offer invaluable advice. Who designed the artwork for your cover? Or did you design it yourself?

A fellow author suggested Steven Novak, and I’m thrilled with his work. He’s done all four of my fiction covers, and I’ve recommended him to others. He’s also great to work with.

What is your writing process like? Do you have a routine?

I write longhand first — always. Sometimes a story begins as a morning freewrite that I'll later flag for development; other times it comes to me as I'm doing something else, and I'll jot down a quick note to return to later. I develop the main premise and principal conflicts first, then develop detailed character outlines — even biographies — so that I know everything about them before I immerse them into scenes. I know what they look like, what car they drive, where they went to school, how many siblings, their fears, their obsessions, their quirks. I sketch the story outline in a "top down" manner, with the major "acts" and plot points first, then develop scene structures and beats. Despite all that, the story can take on a life of its own as I write, usually because the characters begin to take over a bit. New characters emerge unbidden at times — but only in novels, never in plays.