with Dana King
We are delighted to welcome crime novelist Dana King to Omnimystery News today.
Dana's new novel is Grind Joint (Stark House Press; November 2013 trade paperback) and we recently had a chance to catch up with the author to talk about it.
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Omnimystery News: Is Grind Joint the first in a series, or is it linked in some way to any of your previous novels?
Photo provided courtesy of
Dana King
Dana King: I realized partway into my first book set in Penns River that the setting and ensemble cast had potential to tell a lot of different stories. Ben Dougherty was the prime character in that book (Worst Enemies). He'd grown up there, left for nine years in the army, and came back, so he had a perspective life-long residents — as well as newcomers — lacked that could give readers insight into the town no one else could.
He will evolve over time. As with most series crime fiction, he goes through a lot. Not only would it be unrealistic for him not to change, his evolution should help to keep the series fresh.
OMN: We categorized Grind Joint as a crime thriller. Is that how you think of it?
DK: Grind Joint sort of a hybrid hard-boiled police procedural suspense story. The writing style is hard-boiled, and much of the story has to do with how the police deal with the situations presented to them. That said, there's no real mystery to be solved; the suspense is in seeing how things play out.
There are both advantages and disadvantages with genre labels. A disadvantage — at least for someone like me — is that Grind Joint is something of a tweener, neither fish nor fowl, with elements of both. I call it "crime fiction" and leave it at that, figuring, A) it's about crime, and B) I made it up. On the other hand, given the sheer volume of books, readers need something to help them to at least look in the right aisle of the store. I guess genre labels are like anything else: good when used properly, but let's not make too much of them.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the synopsis.
DK: The summary doesn't mention Detective Dougherty's cousin, Nick Forte, a PI from Chicago. He's a character I've worked with for years in a series I've only now started to release. I drop him into Grind Joint as a guest star, and he's kind of the wild card. Neither side is quite sure what he's up to.
OMN: Have you included any of your own personal or professional experiences into the book?
DK: Anyone who knows my parents well will recognize Tom and Ellen Dougherty. Beyond that, it's mostly the attitudes of Penns River residents in general. I've tried to draw on my experience of what it's like to live in that area and hope it seeps in between the lines, without being too overt about it.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a crime novelist and thus I am also …".
DK: I am a crime novelist and thus I am also thinking of five ways I could kill you and get away with it if you cut me off in traffic again.
OMN: Describe your writing process.
DK: It's a bit of a hybrid of outlining and a detailed synopsis. I've found no two stories come together the same way, so it's best to be flexible. Some have straight outlines; others an expanded synopsis. I'm much more creative when describing things that, to me, have already happened, than making things up as I go along, so I need to know where I'm going before I start.
I used to worry about this; wonder if I was doing it "right". Then I read a nifty little book, edited by Tim Hallinan, Making Story: Twenty Writers on How They Plot. Everyone did it differently. Many writers changed book to book. So I quit worrying about it. (Any writers out there, I highly recommend the book.)
As for my characters, I like to let them unfold for me, as well as for the reader. We don't meet people and know all about them right away. It should be the same for characters. The size of the cast varies throughout the process. People come and go, get amalgamated. It's not pretty.
OMN: And where might we find you while you're writing?
DK: An extra bedroom converted to an office. Crammed with books, of course. The most important feature is the view onto a small wooded area that allows me to forget I live in a highly populated neighborhood. I'm a country boy, and like to be able to feel like I'm still there.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author? And what might you say to aspiring writers?
DK: The best advice, without question, came from Declan Burke, quoting William Golding, after Golding had been asked if he wrote every day: "Yes, when I'm writing." I used to write every day, period, and almost quit when I burned out. Now I make sure to pick a couple of times a year for research and outlining, or, in the summer, just relaxing. It keeps me fresh, and makes it easier to concentrate every day when I am working.
It seems odd to give advice to aspiring authors, since I still think of myself as one, but I'd say, the above comments notwithstanding, write something every day until it becomes part of your daily routine. It can be a paragraph; if that's all you have time for that day. A sentence. But something, at least until it becomes so ingrained you're able to take breaks without wondering how it's going to be to start up again.
OMN: How did you come up with the title? And did you have any input into the book's cover?
DK: The cover is the work of Mark Shepherd, the designer for Stark House. I'll confess to fussing about it until they finally wore me down. Since then, every comment made about the cover has come from people telling me how much they like it. So I guess I'll focus on the inside of future books and let the outside be handled by those who know what they're doing.
I usually suffer over titles, but this one was easy. The story is about a run-down town that welcomes a cheap casino for low-rollers. The industry term for such a place is a grind joint. I liked the sound of it, and no one ever tried to talk me out of it.
OMN: What kind of research went into the storyline of Grind Joint? Anything particularly exciting or challenging?
DK: I've read a lot of crime non-fiction over the years, and most story ideas come to me from things I've picked up along the way. My books aren't technical, and I deliberately shy away from a lot of CSI stuff, so it's mostly double checking via books or the web how cops might handle a specific situation. That's also a benefit of creating my own town: I don't have to match up with any real department policies, though I have had to check to see what Pennsylvania calls certain crimes, and what the penalties are.
I can't think of research that was particularly challenging. My story ideas came in large part from my "research" reading, so there's rarely much to dig for later, except for a key detail or two. Most exciting was definitely when I researched how psychologists could plant false memories and ended up on a personal phone call with Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, the foremost authority in the field.
OMN: You mentioned you created the town of Penns River. Did you base it on any existing city?
DK: Grind Joint is set in a fictionalized version of a real place, not unlike what Ed McBain did with his 87th Precinct stories. (If you're going to steal an idea, steal from the best.) Penns River is fictional, but the geography is that of three small cities in southwestern Pennsylvania. This allows me to use Google Maps instead having to remember where streets and such are, but also to make up anything I need at the time.
OMN: What kinds of questions do you most enjoy receiving from readers?
DK: I haven't been around long enough to get much feedback. Right now I'll happily take whatever I can get, so long as it doesn't involve physical abuse.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
DK: I read all kinds of stuff when I was a kid. Sherlock Holmes, Encyclopedia Brown, The Thinking Machine, but also Jack London and Tarzan and non-fiction about baseball and history and organized crime. My interest in crime-related reading may stem from the fact I was unaware of any crime at all in the town where I grew up. I'm sure there was some — we had cops — but not that I was familiar with. Almost like reading science fiction: it was so foreign, it fascinated me.
OMN: And what do you read today for pleasure?
DK: Mostly crime fiction, but I'll read just about anything. Right now I'm about to finish a re-reading of Bruce Catton's history of the Civil War. Standouts from earlier this year include Charles Portis's Masters of Atlantis and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. (Yes, it took me 57 years to get around to Fear and Loathing. Well worth the wait.)
OMN: Have any specific books or authors influenced what and/or how you write today?
DK: Hard to pick a specific book, though The Friends of Eddie Coyle comes close. Authors, definitely Raymond Chandler, Ed McBain, and Elmore Leonard. Recently I find myself paying more attention to how George V. Higgins and James Ellroy do things, and how that can help me not just tell my stories, but to do it in a relatively distinctive manner. Chandler once said, "The most durable thing in writing is style, and style is the single most valuable investment a writer can make with his time." A writer's style is what is most likely to make me want to read more, so that's where I spend my time, thinking how best to say this and not sound like a hundred other guys.
OMN: Do you have any favorite fictional characters? And more specifically, crime fiction characters?
DK: Chili Palmer (Get Shorty) pops to mind right away, as well as Raylan Givens (both in the Leonard stories and in Justified, though they're not really the same guy). Gus McRae (Lonesome Dove); Rooster Cogburn (True Grit); Ralph (from John McNally's The Book of Ralph, a little gem of a book).
Holmes and Watson (duh), Elvis Cole, Junior Bender (from Tim Hallinan's series); Sean Duffy (from Adrian McKinty's "Troubles" novels); Steve Carella.
OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching?
DK: Pretty much crime films and comedies. As for inspiration, I can safely say the single greatest influence on me as a storyteller has been The Wire, bar none.
OMN: Imagine Grind Joint has been optioned for film and you're casting the parts. Who's agents are you calling?
DK: The Beloved Spouse and I love to play this game. We both think Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) would be a great Ben Dougherty. He has some size on him, and Doc has a bit of Castle's quirks as well some of Mal Reynolds's hard edge.
George Dzundza (Law & Order, No Way Out, The Deer Hunter, Crimson Tide, Basic Instinct) would be perfect as Stush.
OMN: What are some of your hobbies and outside interests? Have any of these made their way into your books?
DK: I'm a classically trained musician; my PI character from another series — who makes a guest appearance in Grind Joint — is, as well. His books always have at least one musical experience in them. Other than that, I'm a true seam head, watch well over a hundred Pittsburgh Pirates games every year. I'd like to work that — or hockey — into a story sometime, but haven't found a way that doesn't seem forced.
OMN: Create a Top Five list of us on any topic.
DK: Top Five Writers Whose Sales Shamefully Underrate Their Talent (Alphabetically):
1. Declan Burke
2. John McFetridge
3. Adrian McKinty
4. Scott Phillips
5. Charlie Stella
All of these guys are appreciated by their peers, but under recognized by the book buying public.
OMN: What's next for you?
DK: The plan is to go back to the PI series I started several years ago. He makes a guest appearance in Grind Joint, and I want to see if he still appeals to me enough to spend a whole year with him.
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By day Dana King works at an undisclosed location. It's not classified; he's just not going to tell you. He has lived in and around Atlanta, Boston, the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC, Chicago, Northern Virginia, and back to the DC suburbs again. He served three years in the Army, and has worked as a musician, teacher, computer network engineer, pre-sales software consultant, general manager of a coin-operated laundry company, and as a systems administrator. Steady, gainful, employment has long been an issue.
For more information about the author, check out his blog, One Bite at a Time, or find him on Facebook.
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Grind Joint
Dana King
A Crime Thriller
A new casino is opening in the rural town of Penns River, Pennsylvania but just where the money is coming from no one really knows. Is it Daniel Hecker, bringing hope to a mill town after years of plant closings? Or is the town's salvation really an opening for Mike "The Hook" Mannarino's Pittsburgh mob to move part of their action down state? Or could it be someone even worse?
When the body of a drug dealer is dumped on the casino steps shortly before its grand opening, Detectives Ben "Doc" Dougherty and Willie Grabek have to survive their department's own inner turmoil and figure out not only who s behind the murder, but what it means to whoever is behind the operation itself. Between the cops, the mob, and the ex-spook in charge of casino security Daniel Rollison, a man with more secrets than anyone will ever know, this is a mesmerizing mix of betrayal, police action, small town politics, sudden violence and the lives of the people of a town just trying to look after itself.
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