We are delighted to welcome author Josh K. Stevens to Omnimystery News today.
Josh introduces former gangster Deuce Walsh in the first of a thriller trilogy, Scratch the Surface (280 Steps; April 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats), and we recently had the chance to spend some time with him talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead characters of Scratch the Surface. What is it about them that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Josh K. Stevens
Josh K. Stevens: Deuce and Colm are my pulp version of The Odd Couple. They were brought together by chance (Deuce is expecting a baby with Colm's sister) and, while they have similar mindsets, they approach their problems and their lives from vastly different perspectives. I love the character of Deuce because in all actuality, he's a pretty average guy with a few skeletons in his closet. He's trying, in vain, to put those days behind him and lead a normal life but he can't seem to get away from the sultry sirens of his past life trying to call him back. He misses the adventures, the "fun", of his youth. I think that everyone can associate with that on some level. Everyone, even those who seem to have their lives figured out, can't help but sometimes look back at some previous point in their life and say, "Man, those people I was with, that life I was leading, I wish I could go back and do that again for a bit." It's a pretty natural emotion to glorify the "simple days", the "good old days." Colm, on the other hand, is the guy that is leading a sordid variation of the life that Deuce misses. The only difference is that Colm's just not good at it. He's a horrible gambler, his crew doesn't take him seriously, and he really has no real "resume" to speak of. But Colm is a likeable guy, a loyal guy, and there's something to be said for that. What appealed to me most about these two characters was that they are real people who find themselves in an extraordinary situation. I'm always curious about how "normal "people react when the chips are down.
OMN: How do you expect these characters to develop as the series progresses?
JKS: I definitely want the characters to change from book to book. I want them to evolve and grow as the situation around them does. Obviously there are threads that keep them connected to the person that they started off as because that's how real life is. No matter how much you grow, there's always something that makes you remain true to yourself.
OMN: Into which fiction genre would you place your book?
JKS: I would classify my book as a pulp novel. It's really a throwback to the classic hard-boiled thrillers of the forties and fifties but updated to have a contemporary feel. The biggest disadvantage to the voice and style that I write in is that I realize that it's a genre that is very specific. Not everybody out there is going to like reading about an anti-hero. Fortunately, I think that's the case for anyone who writes any type of genre specific story.
OMN: Tell us something about Scratch the Surface that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
JKS: Deuce Walsh is a wiseguy who was left for dead. He's leading his life as a regular Joe under an assumed identity and gets pulled back in to the life when his brother in law is in danger. The only way out is to finish one last job and hope that he makes it out alive.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
JKS: In a roundabout way, everything that I write is based on personal experience. I just add some excitement to what's happening. As for the characters in the series, every single one is based (some more loose than others) on people that I know. Some of the events are based on fact but a lot of what I write is a retelling of some capacity of the truth.
OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process.
JKS: When I'm writing, I always let the story expand. When I come up with a character, I get to know them a little bit, but I let the character tell me who he or she is. Once that's been established, the character leads the way and I follow behind, writing what I'm seeing them do. It's really the characters who develop the story, letting me know what their needs are, where they have to go in order to move the plot along. When I start, I have an idea of the cast of characters that are going to appear, but the character list expands based on necessity. They also contract... but that's mostly because it's a pulp novel. No one is ever really safe in a pulp novel.
OMN: And where do you most often find yourself writing?
JKS: My writing environment for this trilogy changed with each book. I needed to find a place that was conducive to the particular book that I was writing. I wrote the first and second books mostly in my garage at my workbench and the third book was written in my office. Generally, when I'm writing, I need to have my computer, my music, and a pack of cigarettes. A drink helps sometimes, but that's generally optional. As long as I have those items, I can write anywhere.
OMN: How did you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
JKS: For the majority of my work, fact checking was unnecessary. I try to write about places and things that I know. For the few items that needed to be checked, I spent time on the internet doing research or I reached out to friends who had the proper backgrounds (for instance, my friend Andrew Hawes worked in the medical field for several years. He was who I turned to when I needed verification about how long a stab wound in the hand would take to heal).
OMN: Tell us a little more about the setting.
JKS: While my books are set in a fictional place, they are all based on my surroundings in Midwest America. I take creative liberties regarding certain locales as necessary. I think that I base my works in this area because, when I was growing up, it seemed as though nothing exciting ever happened around here. As I got older, I started to realize that things do happen, they're just kept behind closed doors. I was fascinated.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
JKS: When I was writing the Deuce Walsh trilogy, I have always known that there was a backstory in which Deuce fled the country after his attempted murder. In my head, he was living in a small town in the back country of Ireland, trying to stay off the grid, but getting himself in trouble. I'd love to spend some time in Ireland to better prepare for this story. On a smaller scale, I have a story idea that takes place on the border of Texas and Mexico in a town called Eagle Pass, so I'll have to take a trip there at some point.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your books?
JKS: I'm a movie/television junkie, so I spend a lot of time catching up on that. Presently, I'm making my way through Californication and loving every second of it. I listen to a lot of music and, once a year I make what I call a "life mix", creating a soundtrack to the previous year. I love roller derby so I go to that when I can (this definitely found it's way into the second book in the trilogy Delving Deeper). My favorite past time though is spending time with my kids and reliving my childhood.
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author? And what might you say to aspiring writers?
JKS: The best advice that I can offer to anyone was given to me by author Marcus Sakey and it was legitimately one of the best pieces of advice that I've ever been given, "Keep your ass in the chair and your fingers on the keys." That's the only way that you're going to get anywhere as a writer. That's how you create and that's how you learn. That's where you're going to find the voice that works for you. Always be writing.
To me, the harshest criticism is going to come from yourself. When my first book came out, one of the very first reviews that I read was from a blogger who just tore me apart. His review went on for pages and it didn't really have anything in it that I could take away and learn from. Not a single sentence of his critique had anything that I could expound on and rectify. I read it and the only thing I could do was laugh it off. That's really all you can do when you see a bad review. Look it over and see if there's anything that you can learn from your critics. If there's not, then put it aside, move on, and keep writing.
Apart from that, I think the only sound advice that I can offer is to read as much as you write. Take everything in that you can. That's the only way that you're going to get better.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a crime novelist and thus I am also …".
JKS: I am a crime novelist and thus I am also completely out of my mind. I have chosen to spend my time living with criminals inside my head, following them from room to room, city to city, watching what they do and listening to what they say, all the while dictating and taking notes. These people are who I have chosen to be my invisible friends. They are bad influences and yet, I love every second of it.
OMN: How did Scratch the Surface come to be titled?
JKS: Throughout the course of writing this novel, I had no real title. The working title was "The Deuce Walsh Piece". I have always had a tendency to go overboard with the titles and it was worrying me that I hadn't come up with anything for this work. I was making a list of titles and none of them really seemed to fit properly. One night, as I was staring at the words on the page, I started to think that, if this was the first book in the trilogy, how did this correlate to what was going to happen next. In this book, as the title states, Deuce Walsh literally is just scratching the surface for what comes next.
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
JKS: The most often asked question that I've received is "When's your next book coming out?" It's such a bittersweet question. I love it because it means that people are legitimately interested (or at lease feigning interest, which I'll also accept) in reading more of my work. Yet, I also loathe this question because a lot of the time, I have no idea. My answer is usually "Soon … just keep watching Facebook/Twitter." That usually appeases them.
OMN: Suppose Scratch the Surface were to be adapted for television or film. Who do you see playing the key roles?
JKS: Every piece that I write is written as though I'm watching the story unfold on the movie screen of my mind, so I tend to think a lot about who could potentially play a character if my novel got adapted to the big screen. I would actually love to see Arthur Darvill play Deuce Walsh. I think he's a fantastic actor and I think he could play both the average Joe and the tough guy as the part needed.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
JKS: As a kid, I was really into the horror novels. I loved R.L. Stine and Alvin Schwartz, so when I first started writing, I used to dabble in horror. I never felt that I was really all that good at it. It wasn't until I got a little older (junior high/high school) and got my first taste of Mickey Spillane that I fell in love with the hard-boiled pulp.
OMN: When selecting a book to read for pleasure now, what do you look for?
JKS: I always look for a character and a plot that I can relate to on some level. I tend to find myself always gravitating towards books about books and writers, hard-boiled pulp, or post-apocalyptic futures. I basically need something that grabs me from the first page, sinks it's teeth in and refuses to let go.
OMN: What types of books do you usually pick up to read today?
JKS: I don't read series fiction regularly, but when I find one that I enjoy, I tend to go out of my way to read it through to it's entirety. My favorite characters are Joe Pitt (from Charlie Huston; a tough guy who is also a vampire written in classic pulp style) and Mike Hammer (from Mickey Spillane; in my opinion, the original tough guy). I've always loved the anti-hero and I thoroughly enjoy both of these characters because they truly just make their own rules. They do what needs to be done to finish the job and they leave a trail of wise-cracks and broken bones in their wake.
OMN: Have any specific authors influenced how and what you write today?
JKS: There are so many authors that I could point to as culprits for my writing style. Stephen King really made me want to become a story teller, but I was reading a lot of Charles Bukowski and Charlie Huston when I started to realize that I had found my voice. Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, and all of the forties and fifties pulp novelists were hugely influential.
OMN: You mentioned you are a film junkie. What do you usually watch?
JKS: I love film and will watch just about anything. I've always been a huge Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino fan. Those two guys are just absolutely brilliant. I was at a very impressionable age when Tarantino first came on the scene. I saw Pulp Fiction at the drive-in when I was in junior high and I was blown away. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I would definitely say that he left an impression on what I write these days. His use of dialogue is absolutely amazing. As far as favorite films go, best to narrow it down to the top five: True Romance, Reservoir Dogs, The Departed, Taken, and The Jerk.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
JKS: Top Five Songs that Could (and should) Be Themes for a Pulp Novel
1. Blue Jeans — Lana Del Rey
A story about a girl who is in love with a criminal and she's willing to stand by his side no matter what. Reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde. Sang in Lana's sultry, sexy, siren's voice, this is what pulp is all about.
2. Alice — Tom Waits
A story about a man who is battling demons about a lost love named Alice. Tom Waits growls through the lyrics with perfect melancholy.
3. Twilight Zone — Golden Earring
The pulp is strong in this one. A full on story about a "double crossed messenger/All alone". Smoking guns, bullets, cheating, double-crossing, this song has it all.
4. Long Cool Woman (in a black dress) — The Hollies
Another strong pulp story. A man in a bar who is working for the Feds on a sting operation, the title character singing a song, and a police raid. What's not to love?
5. Short Change Hero — The Heavy
This one may not be as cut and dried as the rest. Something about this song just screams pulp to me. A very cool beat, fantastic lyrics that sound like their coming from a smokey bar on a rainy street. I can't help but picture a man in a black suit with a skinny tie taking vengeance to the streets.
OMN: What's next for you?
JKS: As far as writing goes, while I've got several story ideas kicking around in my head at the present time (a couple of full on pulp novels, a contemporary western, and a young adult book) I think that the first project I'm going to undertake is polishing up a work that I finished about ten years ago and has been sitting in a drawer ever since. The tentative title is Smooth Beans and it's another pulp thriller that centers around a couple of twenty-somethings working at a chain coffee house. They receive a box of smuggled diamonds at their location that were supposed to sent to the corporate office. They decide that this is fate interjecting and they decide to try to fence the diamonds. A series of events unfolds that forces them to hole up in the coffee house and general chaos ensues. Ever since I started writing this, many moon ago, I kept having the tagline run through my head "What if you fell ass backwards into a life of crime?" Beyond that, I've been slowly working towards opening my own bookstore and I'd like to put some focus on that so that I can make sure that like-minded people have a place to come and discuss the written word.
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Josh K. Stevens' short stories have been published in RAGAD, Boston Literary Magazine, The Woodstock Independent, 55 Words and decomP. The author of Bullets Are My Business, he lives in the Midwest.
For more information about the author, please visit his author page on Goodreads, or find him Twitter.
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Scratch the Surface by Josh K. Stevens
A Deuce Walsh Thriller
Publisher: 280 Steps
Deuce Walsh is a former gangster trying to keep his past hidden in the middle of nowhere Midwest. Seven years ago, his colleagues — The Chianti Brothers — made a power play and left him for dead. He survived, but had to leave everything behind and start from scratch with a new identity.
But when his brother-in-law Colm, a degenerate gambler and wannabe wiseguy, gets himself into trouble, Deuce is brought back into the life of crime and finds himself helping Colm pay off a debt to the very people who tried to have him killed in the first place.
— Scratch the Surface by Josh K. Stevens
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