with Daniel O'Neil
We are delighted to welcome novelist Daniel O'Neil to Omnimystery News today.
Dan's debut thriller is Bodies on the Potomac (Open Road; July 2014 ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about the book.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead characters of Bodies on the Potomac.
Photo provided courtesy of
Daniel O'Neil
Daniel O'Neil: Taylor Clark is a former chief of staff to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Now he lives a cushy life in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, but it's not enough. He's driven to help keep his country safe from terrorists, and his arrangement with Loraine Sinatra suits him perfectly.
Loraine heads up a black unit deep within one of America's most visible but misunderstood law enforcement organizations, and Clark is her go-to guy. His arrangement with Loraine is free-lance, creating even more running room than is typical for a black operator. But it's his internal moral compass that keeps Clark within boundaries that he considers acceptable, even if others in Washington might not. While Loraine is a lifer, having clawed her way to the top in Federal law enforcement, she too is willing to turn a blind eye to certain actions if it means capturing or killing those who wish to harm the USA.
Clark and Loraine work well together, enjoy light moments even under the crush of pressure, and both possess an indomitable spirit along with a fierce will to eradicate the bad guys. In the next book, more backstory will emerge about Clark. That manuscript is in the early stages of rewrite.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
DO: Bodies on the Potomac is about the characters. For instance, Alice Estero and Calloway Ridge are members of the US House of Representatives. Both are enormously corrupt, memorable, and difficult not to love.
Clark's love for his fiancée and his yellow lab paint him with a softer brush than might be expected, and Rasey Campbell is a complex woman whose role in the story has many facets.
OMN: How did you go about researching the plot points of the story?
DO: The Internet is a bonanza for writers. But everything isn't in Dr. Google's brain, and that means sometimes relying on old-fashioned methods such as actually talking with those who would have an answer or valid opinion. Maybe the owner of a restaurant, or a current car dealer, or a firearms manufacturer, a government contractor. Interesting tidbits come from sources such as those, things that would never be found in a written account. And it's an on-going pleasure that nearly every stranger I called out of the clear blue sky was willing to offer time and input. Plus I can never thank friends and colleagues enough for putting up with my pestering.
OMN: How true are you to the settings in Bodies on the Potomac?
DO: The locations portrayed are real, and while literary license was certainly available, it was used sparingly. I believe readers enjoy a taste of travelogue in their fiction, and so I stay pretty true to the locations where I set the action. The choice of locales is obviously subjective, an author's prerogative, and so I used regions that I love personally and with which I'm familiar. I did use a totally fabricated automobile manufacturer, however, as that gave me considerably more flexibility in story construction.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
DO: I believe it was the author Michael Connelly who wrote that if you want to be a writer, then write something every day. I always remember that, even if it's a day off. Just a line, just a paragraph. Or a note for a later scene. But something. It keeps me in the game.
OMN: What have you learned, or can others learn, from advice and criticism?
DO: When someone tells you that rejection isn't personal, they're wrong. It is very personal and hurts like hell. But you need to go on.
OMN: What might you say to aspiring writers?
DO: The short answer is, don't take "no" for an answer. That doesn't mean, in my opinion, being obstinate or resisting sound advice from professionals, but if a writer caves at the first sign of resistance, the chances of ever completing the process is quite small. Again, in my opinion.
OMN: Tell us a little more about the book's title and cover.
DO: My publisher/distributor, Open Road Integrated Media, is to be commended for the cover. Once I had the title, the basic concept of the cover was simple: a cool photo across the Potomac with the Lincoln Memorial the focal point (you'll need to read the book to understand the significance of the looming Lincoln Memorial). Once the photo was selected, cropping, intensity, and coloring would make or break the cover. The first effort they sent blew me away. No changes were ever made. One swing, a home run. The title wasn't as quick and easy. I went through a number of working titles, but during one of the rewrites a passage in a certain scene captured my attention. From the mind of the villain I fashioned the title, Bodies on the Potomac .
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
DO: Early in my life I discovered Ian Fleming. Well, better said, I discovered James Bond. And what teenage boy could resist addiction to fast cars, speeding bullets, hot women and high stakes gambling — all in the name of saving the world from ingenious bad guys who hung around with women named Pussy Galore, spoke with deep foreign accents, and were protected by bodyguards they called Oddjob. Heck, the Cold War was at its zenith, yet along comes a book titled From Russia With Love. What would you expect me to do?
OMN: Create a Top Five list for us on any subject.
DO: Top Five place to visit: Santorini; Portofino; Venice; Capri; and San Francisco.
OMN: What's next for you?
DO: More Clark and Sinatra is on the way. It's a chilling story that could easily be tomorrow's headline. Clark is left chasing his tail after a hotel explosion kills or maims hundreds of people. If he doesn't get out ahead of events, the slaughter of innocents will continue …
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Daniel O'Neil is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a former sports broadcaster and current insurance consultant. His personal collection of fiction is extensive and serves as his inspiration to introduce readers to Bodies on the Potomac, his debut novel. O'Neil, the father of two sons, has lived in a variety of locations, including Wisconsin, California, Indiana, Kentucky, and South Carolina. He currently resides in Florida where he is at work on his next book.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at DanielOneilBooks.com or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Bodies on the Potomac
Daniel O'Neil
A Thriller
Karl Blumenthal's Bluffton, South Carolina automobile dealership is being terminated by Universal Motors. He believes it's because he's failed to financially back the reelection efforts of the sitting US president.
For guidance, Blumenthal calls on good friend and former Washington power broker Taylor Clark. But Clark is skeptical. However, when a live round fired from a silenced pistol narrowly misses him, Clark begins to fear the worst — that the country could be on the edge of the messiest national scandal since Watergate.
Clark immediately engages his boss, Loraine Sinatra, a feared Washington operator who secretly controls a black unit buried deep within one of America's least understood but most powerful and autonomous law enforcement organizations. Clark and Sinatra search desperately for footing in the investigation, tapping sources they haven't called on for years. When they arrive seconds too late to prevent a firearms confrontation on Blumenthal's front lot, it becomes clear that a national catastrophe looms. It isn't long before they discover that Bluffton is nothing more than a single speck in a bold scheme masterminded by Russian billionaire Mikael Azarov to bend the president of the United States to Moscow's will by seizing control of Universal Motors for himself.
Azarov's daring plot places his $25 billion fortune at risk — but he has killed before, and he's willing to kill again if that's what it takes to win. It's up to Clark to stop him.
From the Lowcountry of South Carolina to the halls of power in the nation's capital, from the skyscrapers of San Francisco's famed financial district to the stormy streets of flooded Savannah, Clark's resourcefulness and nerve fuel his pursuit of the truth — a pursuit that ultimately ends in violent public death.
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