We are delighted to welcome author Don Bruns to Omnimystery News today.
Don introduces New Orleans homicide detective Quentin Archer in Casting Bones (Severn House; October 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about his new book.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about Quentin Archer.
Photo provided courtesy of
Don Bruns
Don Bruns: Quentin Archer is a homicide detective from Detroit. He is forced off of the DPD and ends up in New Orleans where he teams up with a voodoo practitioner, Solange Cordray, to solve a murder.
OMN: As the author of several series mysteries, how do you develop the lead characters over the course of a series?
DB: I want to advance the maturity of my characters, but keep them as familiar as possible so a reader won't have to always start at the beginning of a series. I want you to feel comfortable with each character but to feel like each book could be a standalone.
OMN: Suppose Quentin Archer were to interview you. What would be his first question … and what would be your response?
DB: "Do you have some of the same flaws and insecurities that you've given me?"
"Yes."
OMN: Into which genre would you generally place your books?
DB: I've been reviewed as Thriller, Comedy, Police Procedural. I think if it's a good mystery, that should be enough. I've never had a reader say "I only read Police Procedurals." A mystery reader crosses genres. However I have had readers say "I only read nonfiction." I tell them to read my book and pretend it really happened.
OMN: Tell us something about Casting Bones that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
DB: I got to see an interrogation of a murder suspect and spent two hours with the lieutenant in charge of the homicide department. I did a cop ride-along and talked to a number of street cops. While I took some liberties with the story, I think I captured the flavor of the city and the underbelly of crime very well.
OMN: When starting a new book, which comes first: the characters or the storyline?
DB: The idea of a plot immediately invites new characters. I think they come together very quickly.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in your books?
DB: Every character is a part of me. And I use real people. I actually have raised over $8000 for charities and non-profits by selling characters in my books. Don't ever piss off a writer. You may end up as some bad guy in their book.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
DB: The characters develop as the story develops. I have a vague idea of who they are but I have never outlined a story or a character. After selling 15 novels, I can say that the cast may expand but I've never deleted a character.
OMN: You mentioned your ride-along with the cops earlier. How else do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
DB: I visit and revisit everyplace I write about. Of course I Google and use news sources. I'll pick up a phone and call a business, organization or even the cops to make sure I get it right. Writing a book called St. Bart's Breakdown I found that there has never been a murder on the island. After interviewing a lot of people … it turns out they only have tourism to offer and if people got spooked because of a killing, they wouldn't come to the tropical paradise. So if you are shot, it was an accident. Knifed, the same. If you drown … you couldn't swim. Never a murder on St. Bart's.
OMN: How true are you to the settings of your books?
DB: I pick my locals simply by wanting to visit there myself. Jamaica, Barbados, South Beach, Bahamas, Miami, the Florida Keys, St. Bart's and now New Orleans. I try to be as accurate as possible, and as in the case of Quentin Archer in New Orleans, I have him as just arriving from Detroit, so he does not know the city as a native. Neither does his creator.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
DB: I always wanted to do a book about drug cartels. As evil as they are, I've been fascinated by their secrecy, untold wealth, the levels of security and their distribution. I don't know if I really want to meet these guys and do interviews … but Mexico, Columbia … it would a great story.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any found their way into your books/
DB: I paint, I play guitar, write songs and love to cook. I don't use any of those hobbies in a book. They are more my private pleasure. I DO take the guitar to book signings and I sing some funny songs about being on the road. I was a standup comic and musician for five years right out of college.
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author?
DB: The best advice is given to me was read. Read and read some more. You cannot write if you don't read … all the time. The harshest criticism? Sue Grafton, who basically sold my first book for me, read the first manuscript and said … "Have you ever READ a book before?" Advice? Go to conferences. Meet writers, editors, agents. As many as you can afford. The networking is what this business is all about.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a mystery author and thus I am also …".
DB: I'm a voyeur. Plain and simple. I watch from the shadows, I listen, I walk into situations and sit in the corner, capturing dialogue, facial expressions and physical characteristics. And I'm a thief. Because I read and steal. Ideas, plot twists, thoughts. There is nothing under the sun that is original.
OMN: How did Casting Bones come to be titled?
DB: Casting Bones involves a voodoo practitioner who throws bones on a canvas map to help tell the future. She casts the bones toward the end of the book, and that's when I knew what the title should be called.
OMN: Was it also your working title?
DB: No, the working title was New Orleans Spirit.
OMN: How involved were you in creating the cover for your book?
DB: Severn House does not often include dust jacket blurbs. When Lee Child wrote "If you love the crime genre, this is not just highly recommended, but mandatory," they decided to use the blurb. They don't normally use author photos. They agreed to use one for Casting Bones.
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
DB: I've received a number of comments over 14 books. Once in a great while a reader will take issue with a location and once a gun-guy set me straight on a choice of weapon. Most of the time I get great comments thanking me for a story. I have often had people ask if I patterned a character after them or someone they know.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
DB: I read Ken Holt mysteries, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Robert Lewis Stevenson. I never wanted to be a character in the books, I wanted to WRITE the books.
I think Treasure Island is one of the most important books I read. Even as a kid, I was taken with his ability to weave the good and bad in people through the story. Just when you thought you could trust someone … poof, they were double crossing you. I loved the suspense and tension, never knowing who was going to be the hero or the villain.
OMN: And what do you enjoy reading today?
DB: I like biographies. Great reading to build ideas for characters. And I love mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction. James Lee Burk, Reed Coleman, Lee Child, Mike Connelly, Daniel Silva.
OMN: What kind of television shows do you enjoy watching?
DB: I hate to admit it but I love sitcoms. The Big Bang Theory, The Middle, The Office.
OMN: Suppose Casting Bones were to be adapted for television or film. Any thoughts on who you might cast as the lead?
DB: John Krasinski from The Office would be perfect for the homicide detective Quentin Archer, Q. He's got his own production company and I think he should buy the series and star in it. Just my opinion, but if anyone knows him …
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
DB: Films … I loved Elmore Leonard who became a good friend of mine. I would put Get Shorty, the book and movie at the top of the list. Movies? #2 Rio Bravo; #3 North by Northwest; #4 Rear Window; and #5 Midnight Cowboy.
OMN: What's next for you?
DB: I just turned in Thrill Kill, next year's Quentin Archer/New Orleans book. I'm working on a series of short stories that are sort of Twilight Zone meets Antiques Road Show. It's been a slight departure.
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Don Bruns, an advertising executive, has a lot of irons in the fire. He and three friends converted an old 1905 neighborhood grocery store into a very cozy, nostolgic used book store, Bookends Used and Rare Books. Living in Ohio, the author travels to Florida and the Caribbean on a regular basis.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at DonBrunsBooks.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Casting Bones by Don Bruns
A Quentin Archer Mystery
Publisher: Severn House
When a prominent New Orleans judge is brutally murdered, former Detroit cop Quentin Archer is handed the case. His enquiries will lead him into a world of darkness and mysticism which underpins the carefree atmosphere of the Big Easy. Interrogating crooked police officers, a pickpocket, a bartender with underground contacts and a swamp dweller, Archer uncovers some troubling facts about the late judge's past. But it's only when he encounters a beautiful young voodoo practitioner that he starts to make headway in the investigation.
Voodoo queen Solange Cordray volunteers at the dementia centre where her mother lives. When she starts reading the mind of one of her patients, she learns that a secretive organization known as Krewe Charbonerrie may be behind the murder of the judge. And the second murder. And the third …
— Casting Bones by Don Bruns
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