Guest Author Interview: Luke Murphy

Luke Murphy

This week we are happy to host Luke Murphy for three days!  Wednesday we'll turn this blog over to him for a guest blog and Friday we'll have an excerpt from his mystery novel, Dead Man`s Hand.  You can find Luke on Facebook and Twitter and learn more at his website.

Please welcome Luke Murphy:

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Actually my writing happened by accident. Growing up I never thought much about writing, but I was an avid reader. The only time I ever wrote was when my teachers at school made me. I wanted to be an NHL superstar…period.

It was the winter of 2000, my second year of professional hockey, and I was playing in Oklahoma City.  After sustaining a season ending eye injury (one of the scariest moments of my life), I found myself with time on his hands.

My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, was attending a French college in Montreal. She received an English assignment to write a short story, and asked me for some help.

I loved the experience—creating vivid characters and generating a wire-taut plot. So, I sat down at my roommate’s computer and began typing. I wrote a little every day, around my intense rehabilitation schedule and before I knew it I had completed my first manuscript.

I didn’t write with the intention of being published. I wrote for the love of writing.

Twelve years later, I still write for pleasure—and I still love it! The fact that I am being published is a bonus.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your novel?

DEAD MAN’S HAND is a crime-thriller set in Las Vegas. It takes readers inside the head of Calvin Watters, a sadistically violent African-American Las Vegas debt-collector, who was once a rising football star, now a murder suspect on the run.

What happens when the deck is stacked against you…

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

…and the cards don't fall your way?

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known
bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

What if you're dealt a Dead Man's Hand?

Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.

What brought you to this genre?

My first chapter books were the Hardy Boys titles, so they are the reason I love mysteries. As an adult, some of my favorite authors are Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly and Greg Iles, so naturally I write what I love to read – mystery/suspense novels. DEAD MAN`S HAND has been compared to James Patterson books, which to me is an honour. Maybe in style (short chapters, a quick read), as I have read many of his books.

What inspired you to write this particular book?

I never thought much about writing when I was growing up.

But I was always an avid reader, which I owe to my mother. She was a librarian, and although I lost her when I was young, I will always remember a stack on Danielle Steele books on her bedside table, and a lot of books lying around the house at my disposal.

Plot: I get my ideas from stories I hear about, whether through reading (newspapers, magazines, etc.), what I hear (radio) or what I see (TV, movies, internet, etc.). The plot is completely fictional. I wouldn`t say that one thing or person influences my writing, but a variety of my life experiences all have led to my passion in the written word. There is not a single moment in time when this idea came to be, but circumstances over the years that led to this story: my hockey injuries, frequent visits to Las Vegas, my love of football, crime books and movies. Dead Man’s Hand became real from mixing these events, taking advantage of experts in their field, and adding my wild imagination. The internet also provides a wealth of information, available at our fingertips with a click of the mouse.

Setting: I usually set my stories in cities I`ve visited and fell in love with. Las Vegas was the perfect backdrop for this story, glitz and glamour as well as an untapped underground.

Characters: I have never been involved in a homicide investigation, LOL. Although I am not a 6’5”, 220 pound African-American, I’ve used much of my athletic background when creating my protagonist Calvin Watters. Watters past as an athlete, and his emotional rollercoaster brought on by injuries were drawn from my experiences. His mother died of cancer when he was young, as mine was. There are certainly elements of myself in Calvin, but overall, this is a work of fiction. I did not base the characters or plot on any real people or events. Any familiarities are strictly coincidence.

I’ve always been a self-motivated person, and my harshest critic. Whether it was in school, hockey or writing, I’ve been the one to put the most pressure on myself to succeed, to be the best in everything I try.

How do you react if/when you get any negative reviews?

I have received a couple of 2-star reviews, but to be honest, they were actually pretty nice 2-star reviews. More comments like, “it wasn’t for me” or “thought it was a Western”. So I can’t complain so far.

But I don’t take the comments or reviews personally. I know that my book won’t suit everyone, because there are diverse tastes around the world.

Who is your favorite character and why?

Definitely the protagonist in my novel, Calvin Watters.

Many people have asked if I can make any real connections to the main character in my novel. The answer, as for my connection…no, I have never been involved in a homicide investigation, LOL. The plot is completely fictional. Although I am not a 6’5”, 220 pound African-American, I’ve used much of my athletic background when creating my protagonist Calvin Watters. Watters past as an athlete, and his emotional rollercoaster brought on by injuries were drawn from my experiences. His mother died of cancer when he was young, as mine was. There are certainly elements of myself in Calvin, but overall, this is a work of fiction. I did not base the characters or plot on any real people or events. Any familiarities are strictly coincidence.

As far as characterization goes, Dead Man’s Hand’s protagonist Calvin Watters faces racial prejudice with calmness similar to that of Walter Mosley’s character Easy Rawlins. But Watters’ past as an athlete and enforcer will remind other readers of (Jack) Reacher of the Lee Childs series. The Stuart Woods novel Choke, about a tennis player who, like Watters, suffered greatly from a dramatic loss that was a failure of his psyche, is also an inspiration for Dead Man’s Hand.

When thinking about creating the main character for my story, I wanted someone “REAL”. Someone readers could relate to. Although it is a work of fiction, my goal was to create a character who readers could make a real connection with.

Physically, keeping in mind Watters’ past as an NCAA football standout and his current occupation as a Vegas debt-collector, I thought “intimidating”, and put together a mix of characteristics that make Watters appear scary (dreadlocks and patchy facial hair), but also able to blend in with those of the social elite. Although he is in astounding physical condition, handsome and well-toned, he does have a physical disability that limits his capabilities.

He’s proud, confident bordering on cocky, mean and tough, but I also gave him a softer side that readers, especially women, will be more comfortable rooting for. After his humiliating downfall he is stuck at the bottom for a while, but trying hard to work his way back up.

He has weaknesses and he has made poor choices. He has regrets, but Watters has the opportunity to redeem himself. Not everyone gets a second chance in life, and he realizes how fortunate he is.

Calvin Watters is definitely worth rooting for.

Are you working on anything else at the moment?

I’m currently working on my second novel, another crime-thriller, following the career of rookie, female LAPD detective Charlene Taylor.

I would love to write another book. Right now, I have a full time job (teaching), a part-time tutoring job, and three small children (all girls, YIKES!!).

I don`t have much time to write, but when I get a chance, I do all I can. It could take some time, but eventually I would love to write a series of novels featuring Calvin Watters. But I will not limit my novels to Calvin Watters, as I would like to write a variety of novels, all in the crime-thriller genres.

Do you have any advice to other authors who would like to be published?

Get a part-time job to pay the bills (haha). Just kidding. Honestly, for anyone who wants to be a writer, you need to have three things: patience, determination and thick skin. You can`t let anyone or anything get in the way of your ultimate goal. You will hear a lot of “no's”, but it only takes one “yes”. The writing industry is a slow-moving machine, and you need to wait it out. Never quit or give up on your dreams.

Just for fun.

If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Speak to the dead. I would love to talk with my mother, who died when I was young.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Definitely potato chips.

Chocolate or Ice Cream?

I like both, but I’m more of a salt over sweet kind of guy.

What’s your favorite music?

I don’t listen to a lot of music. When I’m in the car I listen to sports talk radio. But if I had to choose, I’d say 80’s rock. Unfortunately, living with a wife and 3 daughters, I listen to a lot of One Direction, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, etc.

Who would you pick to date? The bad girl or the sweetheart? Why?

I would pick the bad girl to date, and the proper lady to marry. For obvious reasons LOL

If you had a super power what would it be? Why?

I would love to fly. I think that would be pretty cool - an easy escape when necessary.

Do you believe in ghosts? Why?

Never have, never will. I’m one of those guys who needs actual proof or facts before I can believe in something. [I'm with you there-SET]

 

Dead Man's Hand

 

 

What happens when the deck is stacked against you…

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

…and the cards don't fall your way?

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

What if you're dealt a Dead Man's Hand?

Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.

 

"You may want to give it the whole night, just to see how it turns out."
—William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Lincoln Letter

 

"Dead Man's Hand is a pleasure, a debut novel that doesn't read like one,
but still presents original characters and a fresh new voice."
—Thomas Perry, New York Times bestselling author of Poison Flower

 

"Part police procedural, part crime fiction, Dead Man's Hand is a fast, gritty ride."
—Anne Frasier, USA Today bestselling author of Hush

 

 

And you can find Dead Man's Hand at Amazon.com.

Standardization is a Good Thing

When I buy a computer, unless it is an Apple, it comes with a Windows operating system.  For better or for worse (I haven't tired Windows 8, yet), this is the standard.  I can buy a Dell and get Windows.  I can buy an HP and get Windows.  I can even by an Apple and have Windows on it.  This standardization is a good thing because it 1) fosters competition by computer makers to make better computers because consumers can be comfortable switching brands without worrying they have to learn a whole new operating system (which is one reason I have not switched to Apple) and 2) if someone hands me a PC, no matter the brand, I can probably operate it since I'll be familiar with its OS (unless it's Windows 8).

So why, when you buy a Ford, you get "Ford MyTouch" and when you buy a Chevrolet you get "Chevrolet MyLink" and when you buy a Cadillac (built by the same manufacturer as Chevrolet) you get "CUE" (a whole other system) and I could go on and on because it seems every car manufacturer has a proprietary OS for their infotainment and navigation systems.  (Interestingly, I looked at a Chrysler 300 recently and it seemed to have a Garmin navigation system, which to me is a step in the right direction.) 

An aside: My opinion is, don't buy navigation systems for cars.  They want $1,000 for them and then charge you to update them.  Buy a Garmin for $200 and you can carry it from car to car (including rental cars) and they update much cheaper (if not free).

The reasons for this have to do with both the history of the PC and the history of the car.  But I think automakers should standardize.  Yes, they want their luxury cars to have better infotainment than their base models (thus "MyLink" and "CUE") but they could have similar OSs but with more options.  Like Windows Home and Windows Professional and Windows Professional Premium.  That way when you buy a new car, you don't have to sit in the driveway with the owners manual (which they are stopping printing and putting on DVD/CD so I'm not sure how you're supposed to read them in the car) and figure out how to turn on the radio or enter a destination in the nav system.

And I've yet to have a car that understands voice commands as well as Siri does on my iPhone (and she has trouble, too).  I've pretty much given up using the nav systems in my cars because Siri works so much better (and stays up to date and doesn't want to charge me $150 for updated navigation CDs).  The only bad part is the small screen on my phone (helps a lot when a passenger can use their iPhone and give you directions).  Now if I could integrate my iPhone with my car's infotainment system . . .

So I think standardization of car infotainment systems would be a good thing.  But try to get BMW and Mercedes to agree on anything!

Isolated

I live in kind of a weird spot.  I live in the middle of Washington State (sort of) in a county bigger than the state of Delaware.  The population of the town I live just outside of is about 20,000 people but there are nearly 50,000 who share the same zip code and almost 100,000 people in the county.  Yes, I know if you live in New York City there's probably 100,000 people within a few blocks of you.

This town is geographically isolated.  It's on Interstate 90 and if you go east on the interstate, the next biggest town you hit is 100 miles (160 km) away.  In fact, there is really two other towns between here and that larger town, and they are both tiny.  If you go west on I-90, you don't hit a bigger town until you get to the suburbs of Seattle, about 160 miles (257 km) away.  Yes, there is a larger town northeast of here about 70 miles (112 km) driving distance away and the "Tri-cities" are south about 70 miles (driving) and they are all bigger.

So, my point being, this is the largest town for quite a long ways around.  But we're isolated.  To get on a commercial airplane we have to drive minimum 70 miles.  To shop somewhere other than WalMart you used to have to drive, again, minimum 70 miles (actually, I usually did the 100 because it was all freeway and took about as long as going the 70 miles to the Tri-Cities).   The nearest 4-year university is, you guessed it, 70 miles away.  This town didn't have touch tone phones until the late 1970s.  And while the retail situation is improving, it's still pretty slim selection.

What inspired this post was I was looking at the National Weather Service website and our weather reports come from 100 miles away.  Why aren't they generated locally?

I have Facebook friends who live in smaller towns (in Idaho, of all places) and they have more shopping and restaurant choices than we do.  I think, for some reason, this town is so isolated that people simply don't know it's here.  We are another Starbucks stop on the interstate, and that's it.  And it's been that way for as long as I can remember (well, after we got a Starbucks, before that we weren't even a place to stop).

Movie Review: Pacific Rim

When I first saw the ads on TV for Pacific Rim, I thought, "Oh, dear, here's a live action mecha movie that will be huge on special effects on short on story."  Then the Rotten Tomatoes score came in pretty high and my kids went and saw it and thought it was good, so I put it in my Netflix queue.

The purpose of special effects in a movie is to show the audience something it can't see in real life or, in some cases, to show something it would be to dangerous, difficult, or expensive to do in real life.  And with computer generated imagery (CGI) that is only limited to the film makers' imagination and budget.  The best special effects are those where the audience doesn't even realize there is a special effect on the screen.  But with a movie such as Pacific Rim, that's impossible.  There are no giant monsters rising up from the sea and there are no huge robots with people inside them to fight the monsters.  But still, the film makers can hope to achieve the point where the audience isn't thinking "Wow, what a cool special effect" but is thinking, "I hope the robot wins this fight."  Some film makers make the mistake of thinking the special effects are the story but good film makers know that a good story and compelling complex characters have to be there, the special effects only enhance it.  My touchstone for such movies is the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Huge amount of CGI effects throughout, yet it never, ever lets go of the story.  And yes, there are times you forget that Golum is a CGI effect.

Pacific Rim, while no LOTR, never lets go of the story.  Yes, there are times you think, "Wow, the CGI effects budget on this film must be huge" but it's hard to get away from that with huge robots fighting huge monsters.  It's not like 6,000 riders of Rohan that you can forget are a CGI effect.  But the personalities, the stories, and the pain and triumph of the characters always comes through despite the huge effects budget.  No, it's not Pride and Prejudice with robots and there's a few hoary clichés, but over all, Pacific Rim is enjoyable and fun.

Movie Review: Australia

Yes, I normally review movies quite a while after they come out because I watch most movies on Blu-ray or DVD from Netflix which means I have to wait until the DVD/Blu-ray to come out then often four weeks after that because Netflix doesn't release some new releases for four weeks after you can buy them because of a deal they made with movie studios to get streaming content.  Yes, it's very annoying.

But here I am about to review a movie from 2008: Australia.   For those of you math-challenged, that's five years old.

When this movie first came out I had no interest in it because it just looked like a western cum travelogue mishmash of a film.  But my mother was waxing rhapsodic about it a while back and wishing she could see it in high definition (she doesn't own an HDTV) so I said I'd put it on my Netflix list and when it bubbled to the top invite her over to watch it.

I put it at the bottom of my queue figuring it would be safely down there for months.

But, Netflix is being kind of weird lately (ever since, it seems, I sent back a non-working disc of Oblivion and demanded they send me a new one).  I have two movies released in 1999 and 2000, respectively, both on "long wait."  I had four released movies in my queue ahead of Australia and they sent me . . . Australia.  So I invited my mother over to watch it and we watched the 2 hour, 45 minute movie.

I think what happened is a bunch of Australian actors and producers and maybe even the director thought "hey, let's make a movie about the grand history of our country."  But what they forgot was: compelling characters and a plot that wasn't lifted from old John Wayne movies.  What we ended up with was a predictable plot, gross clichés (oh, aren't the native folk so much smarter and honorable than the white people), and cheesy special effects.  There was even about two minutes of film clipped right out of the 38-year-old movie Tora! Tora! Tora! before the Japanese attack on Darwin.

Yes, the scenery was often spectacular (looked a lot like southern Utah to me) and yes, the actors did what they could with the material they were given (oh, Nicole Kidman, you tried so hard, you did.) 

(Speaking of Nicole Kidman, remember when she looked like this:

What happened? Did she have a botched facelift?)

What you had with Australia was a movie trying so hard to be epic, it was mediocre.  Yes, Australia is an amazing country with a rich history and fascinating aboriginal culture.  But this movie seemed to just gloss over all that in favor of spectacle and barely-believable romance salted with Hollywood clichés.  Not how I want to spend 2 hours and 45 minutes.

WIP Blurb

My current (novel) WIP (Work in Progress) is called The Treasure of the Black Hole.  This weekend it goes on second edit and after that it goes to proofreaders.  Then I'll have my wife read it out loud to me (yes, the whole thing) which I found with Gods of Strife (still at my publisher) really helped find things my eyes would have missed.  Luckily, Treasure is about 68% as long as Gods.

I'm so excited about Treasure, I've even written the back cover blurb for it already.  Here it is:

The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of . . .

When private detective Rick Bailey is hired by the exotically beautiful and outrageously wealthy Princess Nora, he thinks it'll be easy money.  Escaping from her rebellion-torn kingdom, the princess has lost her handmaiden, Lores: the only person who knows how to find the hidden royal jewels.

But when his search for the equally lovely Lores turns deadly, Bailey realizes that there is more to this case than it first seemed.  When someone tries to kill him, he discovers that the roots of evil run deep.

With his own set of values and sense of honor, Bailey must keep one step ahead of murderous mobsters, secret government operatives, and a genetically enhanced Lores as he races across the galaxy in search of the truth.  The only things he knows he can trust are his eight-foot-tall ladybug-like secretary and a powerful weapon that responds to his thoughts.

Will Bailey find the treasure of the black hole in time and will he survive long enough to discover why it is something worth killing for?

Cheating at NaNoWriMo

Shhhh, don't tell anyone but I'm cheating at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Here's the problem: when November rolled around I was 40,462 words into a WIP (Work in Progress).  My goal for the WIP was about 60,000 words.  That meant for NaNoWriMo I could only write about 20,000 word and you're supposed to write 50,000.

So, I made a nefarious plan.  Instead of just counting the words in my WIP, I'd count everything I wrote, including blog posts, freelance assignments, and short stories (yes, this blog post will be counted).  I know this isn't what you're supposed to do for NaNoWriMo.  But if I only wrote 20,000 words left on my WIP, I would disappoint the local NaNoWriMo group who is counting on my word count to add to their total word count (which is right now at an amazing 527,799 words).

Oh, and I finished the first draft of the novel on November 3rd, not quite at 60,000 words (after the first edits, it was 59,985 words).

Now, it might have been a bit of a stretch to include the glossary I wrote for proofreaders and editors for my WIP and blurb I wrote (and rewrote and rewrote over and over) in my total word count.  But they were things I wrote.  Not counting this blog post, I am at 32,934 words with 1,800 of them written today (in a short story I'm writing).

So, yes, I'm cheating.  Maybe next year I'll be able to start a novel on November 1st and do NaNoWriMo the right way.  My local writers' group is big on it and I want to support the group.  But I also write on my own schedule.  If I have an idea for a novel I'm going to start writing it no matter when it is.

I just hope they don't mind I'm cheating a bit this year.