KM Rockwood: The Jesse Damon Mysteries

We are delighted to welcome crime novelist KM Rockwood as our guest today.

KM is the author of the a new mystery series featuring ex-con Jesse Damon, the first title of which is Steeled for Murder (Musa Publishing, April 2012 ebook formats). And she is giving one of our readers a chance to win a copy; more details below.

KM provided us with an exclusive interview with Jesse Damon, his first since being released from prison.

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Reporter: Thank you for coming to talk with us today, Jesse. Is there anything you'd care to tell us about yourself?

Jesse Damon: Nope.

Reporter: No? Then why did you come?

Jesse: Mr. Ramirez, my parole officer, told me he thought it would be a good idea. Community service kind of thing. When your parole officer tells you he thinks doing something is a good idea, you do it if you're smart.

Reporter: I see. How long have you been on parole?

Jesse: Just a couple of months. It sure beats being locked up.

Reporter: And before that?

Jesse: Well, I was locked up for close to twenty years. Since I was sixteen.

Reporter: Do you mind me asking what the conviction was?

Jesse: Nah. It's pretty common knowledge. I copped a plea. Murder. Possession of a handgun during commission of a felony. Conspiracy.

Reporter: Are you guilty?

Jesse: Well, yeah. I mean, I was convicted.

Reporter: Who did you kill?

Jesse: I didn't really kill anybody. It's complicated. But I'm technically guilty. The dead guy was a drug dealer. I think my older brother killed him. I was outside, lookout.

Reporter: And now?

Jesse: Now I'm on parole. But you know, it's kind of tough to make it out here on the street. I mean, I got a basement apartment—more like a room—and I really lucked out on the job. Midnight shift at a steel fabrication plant. Laborer. Pretty good money, especially for a convict.

Reporter: How are you getting along?

Jesse: I was doing pretty good. But then Mitch, the forklift driver, got himself killed back in the warehouse. You know, once you got one murder conviction, every time somebody gets killed, they come looking for you.

Reporter: Have you got anything you'd like to tell us about that?

Jesse: Nope. Read the book if you want to know.

Reporter: Why do you think KM Rockwood decided to tell your story?

Jesse: Probably because people like me don't get to be in books too much, so our stories never really get out there.

Reporter: Will we be seeing more of you?

Jesse: Yeah. I think there's another book, Fostering Death, coming out in August or something. It's about my old foster mother getting killed. They think I did it. Then around Christmas, there'll be The Buried Biker. My girlfriend's dad is a biker, and this guy in his club gets killed. He's been hitting on my girlfriend, then he raped her, so they think I did that, too. Couple more, maybe, after that.

Reporter: Do you have anything else you'd like to tell us?

Jesse: No. I just want to be left alone.

Breaking News!

This just in: The cover for the next Jesse Damon mystery has just been released, and we have an exclusive preview. Look for it in August from your favorite ebook retailer, or through Musa Publishing.

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KM Rockwood draws on a varied background for stories, among them working as a laborer in a steel fabrication plant, operating glass melters and related equipment in a fiberglass manufacturing facility, and supervising an inmate work crew in a large medium security state prison. These jobs, as well as work as a special education teacher in an alternative high school and a GED teacher in county detention facilities, provide most of the background for novels and short stories.

In addition to her Jesse Damon mysteries, she is the author of a new supernatural romantic thriller, Halfbreed Werewolf.

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About Steeled for Murder:

After nearly twenty years in prison on a murder conviction, Jesse Damon has been released, a home detention monitor strapped to his ankle. Determined to make it and mindful of his parole restrictions, he struggles with life outside prison. He finds a basement apartment, a job on the overnight shift at a steel fabrication plant and a few people who treat him like anybody else. Especially Kelly, a woman who works in the shipping department. He seems to be making it.

Until Mitch, forklift driver on the shift, is found murdered in the warehouse.

The investigating detective doesn't want to look any further than Jesse to close the case He's not fussy about the methods he uses to gather evidence. If Jesse isn't going down for this, he will have to be the one to figure out who killed Mitch and why.

For a chance to win an ebook of Steeled for Murder, courtesy of the author, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the "KM Rockwood: Jesse Damon Mysteries" contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code — 3536 — for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends July 24th, 2012.)