We are delighted to welcome author Joel Fox to Omnimystery News today.
Joel is the author of the Zane Rigby mysteries, but his new book is a standalone, The Mark on Eve (Bronze Circle Press; April 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats). We recently had the opportunity to spend some time talking about it with him.
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Omnimystery News: The Mark on Eve features a lead female character, a contemporary woman who has experienced life over a span of centuries. How difficult was it to find the right voice for her?
Photo provided courtesy of
Joel Fox
Joel Fox: Eve Hale is a woman bewitched in colonial America and still alive today. Not only was it challenging to capture the voice of a female character but also I had to do so as the role and status of women changed in America over the centuries. Indeed, that is a major theme of the book. I think if I get the voice right, it does not matter to readers the author's gender. However, I am wary about how readers might react. In fact, I even waved a cautionary flag in my book when a male character says he is going to write a novel about Eve. His female friend suggests he write it using a female pseudonym if he expects the book to be published. To which the male character wonders: "Has it come to that?"
OMN: Into which fiction genre would you place this book?
JF: I have specifically been told that my book doesn't easily fall into a category. That particularly becomes frustrating when talking to booksellers who have a desire to classify books. In my case, because the book has a three-hundred-year-old character, which is beyond normal, and the outcome of the character's journeys and goals is full of suspense, I believe my book can be called a "paranormal suspense."
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
JF: A few characters in my books are broadly based on people I know. One in particular I am thinking of I doubt would recognize himself — if he were still with us. I would say that character is simply a caricature of the person he is modeled after. However, the main characters are created out of whole cloth. Because of my background I have drawn from experience on some of the political events, the messages on political buttons, for example, and some locations in the book.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
JF: I start my writing process with a loose outline. The only thing I am usually sure of is where I will end up but I am not always clear about the path that will take me there. In my first mystery novel I realized how I was going to solve the mystery after discovering a one-hundred year old book during my research. As I am writing, some characters become more prominent than originally intended. They demand to have a bigger role in the story. I welcome these take-charge characters because, inevitably, they create a more interesting story than the one that was drawn in the original outline.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
JF: When I wrote my first mystery, which takes place for the most part around Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Illinois, I took a trip there for a few days and spent time in the area and at historical sites. In other instances I have relied on Google Earth. So it depends on the circumstance. Still, writing about traveling through the landscape of a lush island is a little challenging when you rely on videos and text online. I would say the same is true when I had to write about describing a sunken American warship. Still, it is a lot easier then it used to be before the Internet flourished. I rely heavily on the Internet for my research, but as I mentioned earlier, it was a trip to Springfield, hours in the local library, and an old book to help me put my first mystery story together.
OMN: How true are you to the settings of your books?
JF: I use the actual settings to an extent when they are part of the story such as Springfield in Lincoln's Hand. However, I feel free to add an establishment that may not exist if I need it to. In The Mark on Eve, I created a town on Cape Cod and created some of the local topography. This became crucial when my main character, Eve, uses the knowledge of the local land to execute a plan to confront an attack — a pivotal point in her character and story development.
OMN: How do you visualize the characters of your books?
JF: I may have an image of my character in mind but I choose not to share it on the page beyond some general description. Why? Because I want to leave it loose enough so that the reader can create his or her own image of the character. Let the reader's imagination discover what the character looks like for and claim the character as their own.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a suspense novelist and thus …".
JF: "I am a suspense novelist because they are inherent in the human experience." Since Cain killed Abel murders have been with us since the beginning of mankind. Mysteries lend themselves to seriously look at human nature. If a murder has occurred, quite often, that means emotions that grip a character have reached a boiling point. Beyond that, strong mysteries and suspense rely on good plots, which I enjoy. Mysteries present a puzzle. Readers like to be carried along by the plot (and puzzle), which keeps them involved with the story.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
JF: Okay, so I'm a bit old fashioned. I like the story telling techniques in old movies, suspense for the most part. My 5 (6 really):
• Casablanca;
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance;
• The Maltese Falcon;
• Robin Hood (the Errol Flynn version);
• Tie: Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark and National Treasure.
OMN: What's next for you?
JF: A minor but important character in my book, The Mark on Eve, is a pirate. Perhaps a loose connection, but I am soon off to Australia where I'll be visiting my son who is working on the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie for Disney. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum (and a very long airplane ride.)
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Joel Fox has spent over 35 years in California politics, serving on numerous state commissions appointed by governors and assembly speakers from both major political parties, working on many ballot issue campaigns, and advising candidates. He is an adjunct professor at the School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University.
Fox grew up in Massachusetts. He says he got his love for history breathing the air in the Boston area, often driving past the homes of the presidents Adams and visiting many historical sites.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at JoelFox.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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The Mark on Eve by Joel Fox
A Novel of Suspense
Publisher: Bronze Circle Press
A young woman dives in front of an assassin's bullet and saves the life of a female presidential candidate. The young woman, Eve, miraculously survives; miraculous to witnesses, perhaps, but, quite expected by Eve.
Jealousy over the love of an 18th century New England pirate caused a powerful witch to cast a spell on Eve Hale. While not aging, Eve is condemned to an endless life; cursed to remain on earth until she kisses the lips of her pirate-lover who went down with his ship in the waters off Cape Cod in 1717. Meticulously guarding her past by not residing anywhere too long or forming lasting friendships, Eve has reached present time, her secret intact.
Now Eve has found purpose for her long, often unbearable existence. After watching women improve their position in society throughout American history, she is helping a woman run for President of the United States.
However, her instinctive act protecting the California governor from an assassin's bullet puts Eve where she never wanted to be — in the spotlight. After centuries of keeping her secret, her life could unravel while dooming the presidential campaign because of the efforts of a persistent reporter.
— The Mark on Eve by Joel Fox
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