A Conversation with Crime Novelist Charles Salzberg

with Charles Salzberg

We are delighted to welcome back Charles Salzberg to Omnimystery News today. He last visited with us in September, when he wrote about his transition from literary novelist to crime novelist.

Charle's second mystery featuring Henry Swann is Swann Dives In (Five Star hardcover; now available as an ebook) and follows the author's Shamus Award-nominated debut, Swann's Last Song. The third book in the series will be published in Fall 2014.

We recently had a chance to catch up with Charles to talk about his books.

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Omnimystery News: You've written both series mysteries and a stand-alone title. When you start a new book, how do you decide if it will be one of a series?

Photo provided courtesy of
Charles Salzberg

Charles Salzberg: I didn't actually choose to write a recurring character, Henry Swann, he kind of chose me. In fact, the first Henry Swann book, Swann's Last Song, was written as a stand-alone. So much, in fact, that at the end of the book Swann, a skip-tracer who gets drawn into a baffling, challenging case that he winds up not solving, is so frustrated and disillusioned that he quits the business. That ending was changed, but it didn't change my mind about resurrecting Swann until … until Swann's Last Song was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel. I lost, of course, but I was pissed off enough to think, "hell, if this one came so close to winning something, someone must have liked the character enough to nominate it, so maybe I should just keep writing them until I do win something." And so, at the beginning of Swann Dives In, Swann has, indeed, quit the business and he's working as a cable TV installer.

And now the third installment of the series, Swann's Lake of Despair, will be published in the fall, and I'm working on the fourth in the series, Swann's Way Out. And I figure I'll keep writing them till I either get tired of the character, run out of story ideas, or even worse, run out of catchy titles.

OMN: How would you characterize your books?

CS: I hate labeling, especially since I started out as a writer of "literary" novels, where not all that much happens and the characters think about things a lot. But now that I am, for the most part, a crime writer — my characters do still think a lot but at least stuff happens, I like to think of the genre I'm in as "literary crime fiction". I'm not even sure if that's a category, and I guess I wouldn't be averse to being thought of as noirish, and there is suspense (I hope) and a hard-boiledness in my books, but I'll go with that one for the moment. At least until someone comes up with something better. But in the long run, I am what I am and that's all that I am, so you can categorize me anyway you like.

OMN: Tell us something about Swann Dives In that isn't mentioned in the synopsis.

CS: Hemingway and Fitzgerald may or may not have had a homosexual relationship and there may or may not be proof of said relationship in Swann Dives In.

OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in your books?

CS: When asked who he based Madam Bovary on, Flaubert replied, "Madam Bovary, c'est moi." Well, I'm definitely not Madam Bovary (nor am I Flaubert, not even close) but I guess there's a part of me in Henry Swann. Wait, let me amend that. Henry Swann is who I'd like to be.

But otherwise, I do use friends of mine in my books. Not them exactly, but their names. So many of the characters that are in Swann Dives In are, in fact, real people. Goldblatt, is named after my good friend, Mark Goldblatt. Richard Dubin, a Syracuse University professor in the book and in real life, is a good friend. But I should have a disclaimer that the names may be real, but they don't necessarily reflect the real person. Not necessarily. Enough said.

And I do use real events, often. In Swann Dives In I researched the world of rare books, which is the world Swann is drawn into during his search for a missing young woman.

OMN: Describe your writing process for us.

CS: I wish I had a real process. I'm a "lazy" writer. I don't dedicate x number of hours to writing every day. Days, even weeks can go by without my writing anything in terms of working on novels. But I have a saving grace. When I do sit down to work I can focus enormously well. And, most important, I am a very, very fast typist — about 90 words a minute (not always accurate, I must admit.)

I don't plot out my novels at all. In fact, often I don't know what's going to happen on the next page, or in the next paragraph, or even sentence. I might have a general idea of what I'm going to write about when I sit down, but then I just focus on the blank, white page and try to come up with something. I figure if I'm surprised so will the reader be. It's worked for me so far, but who knows for how much longer.

And I definitely do not know the end of a story. Sometimes, not even until I get to the last chapter or two. I've found that somehow by that point the end is going to be obvious to me and it kind of writes itself, though I still do the typing.

OMN: Where do you do most of your writing?

CS:  I work at a desk facing big, open windows, and to my back and to my right are bookshelves that I can reach without leaving my chair; and to my left there is a wall covered with art. I always write on my computer and I can't sit at my desk for more than twenty or thirty minutes straight. Actually, I've been at my computer now answering these questions longer than I usually spend writing at one time.

OMN: You mentioned exploring the world of rare books for Swann Dives In. How do you go about researching the plot points of your story? Has anything been particularly challenging for you?

CS: I'm lazy, but I do like learning new things and for my Swann series I always try to put him in a world that I know little about but want to know more. In the first one, it was art and antiques. In the second, it was the world of rare books. In the upcoming book, it's the world of photography. And in the one I'm working on now, it's the world of Hollywood.

I'm a former magazine journalist and so I love interviewing people. I do use the internet, as well, but when I can actually talk to someone about something I don't know about, I actually much prefer that.

I haven't had a challenging topic to research yet, because I only choose things I'm truly interested in. I supposed the most challenging has been place. In Swann's Last Song I wrote about three places I'd never been: Berlin, L.A. (I've since been there many, many times,) and the wilds of Mexico. I researched them by watching movies and TV and talking to people who'd been there, and then just using my imagination. The biggest compliment I had came from my best friend who read the book and then said to me, "when did you go to L.A.? " I had to admit to him that I'd never been there — but that was easy, because all I needed was a map and a knowledge of watching L.A. as depicted in the movies and TV.

Everything is exciting if I don't already know about it.

OMN: What kinds of questions or feedback have you received from readers?

CS: I like any and all questions. I don't think I've ever had a question I didn't enjoy getting from readers. I'm just happy they think enough of me and/or my books to bother to ask a question. The worst feeling is utter silence. That would make me cry.

OMN: What kinds of books do you read for pleasure?

CS: I read literary fiction, crime fiction and lots of non-fiction — one of my latest books was Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. I felt so smart while reading that and then as soon as I finished it I thought I was the dumbest person on the planet.

OMN: Suppose Henry Swann is featured in a film adaptation of one of your books. Who do you see playing the part?

CS: Swann might be played by a number of actors including Alec Baldwin, Robert Downey, Jr., and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But it's actually hard for me to picture him precisely as he would be.

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Charles Salzberg is a freelance writer who also teaches writing at the Writer's Voice and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding Member. He has written, co-written or ghostwritten nearly 25 books. His three novels are Swann's Last Song, Swann Dives In, and Devil in the Hole, which was chosen as one of the best crime novels of the year by Suspense magazine. His fourth, Swann's Lake of Despair, will be out in the fall.

For more information about the author and his work, please visit his website at CharlesSalzberg.com or find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Swann Dives In
Charles Salzberg
A Henry Swann Mystery

A millionaire, a missing heiress, evasive college professors, rare book dealers, and ten thousand dollars a week draw a retired Henry Swann back into the detective game …

When last seen Swann was wiped out and done with skip tracing — finding missing deadbeats and losers for a few bucks. Working as a cable service guy was a bit on the dull side, but for Swann not risking life and limb was a welcome relief. Swann finds having an excellent reputation for finding people is a blessing and a curse as his services are sought out once again and the money and the case are just too intriguing to turn down.

Millionaire lawyer Carlton Phillips has lost track of his daughter Marcy. Her last known whereabouts were at her school, Syracuse University. While trying to track down Marcy and/or her geeky boyfriend Sean Loomis on a quick trip upstate, Swann follows the clues to a sorority house, a pizza joint, and the office of a literature professor who is clearly hiding something.

Armed with more questions than leads Swann flies up to Boston where he narrowly avoids the arms of a seductive and secretive librarian. Finally back in New York City, Swann tries to sort out the details of the case. Is Marcy Phillips a victim? What is the nature of her relationship to the sexy and cagey Elizabeth Lawson? Is Carlton Phillips somehow involved in this story? How are all of these people connected to the rare book world, and who is really trying to get away with something?