We are delighted to welcome author Robert Downs to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of Partners in Crime Tours, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.
Robert's new mystery is LaCour's Destiny (Oak Tree Press; August 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we had the pleasure of spending some time with him talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about Sam LaCour, the lead character of your new book.
Photo provided courtesy of
Robert Downs
Robert Downs: Even though she's female, Sam LaCour is more like me than any character I've ever created. She's awkward and optimistic and curious, and she's a forensic accountant who starts digging into the disappearance of a colleague. Her string of bad dates provides a bit of entertainment, but it's her drive that pushes her toward success.
OMN: How did you go about finding the right voice for Sam?
RD: I like challenging myself. I'd written two novels with a strong male lead and a hard-boiled voice, and I figured I should balance out the world by writing from a female perspective. In many ways, she ended up being a female version of myself, and I'm okay with that, because she was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully some of that fun transferred to the page. I love voices, and I especially enjoy ones that don't sound like everyone else. Believe it or not, the voice came to me right away, and I had the opening line before I had any real idea where I was headed. From that point on, it was just a matter of letting her express herself, and tell her story the way she needed to tell it. I hope not, otherwise I'm in a lot of trouble, since my name and picture are plastered all over the book.
OMN: Into which genre would you place LaCour's Destiny?
RD: I don't do a great job of categorizing my own books. When I finished LaCour's Destiny, I really thought I had a written a cozy, since I'd checked a few of those boxes. It turns out, though, my novel is an amateur sleuth mystery, and as one publisher put it, it's more of a hard-boiled voice. I tried to clamp down on the hard-boiled tone, but I guess I couldn't get completely away from it. I like labels, since readers know what to expect, and it places my novel on a particular shelf. My problem is I like to jump off of shelves and discover new ones, and because of who I am and the way I write, I'll never fit comfortably in one particular category. I've discovered this does turn some readers off, but when I write, I don't want to follow a formula, otherwise I'd get bored in about two weeks. I'm organized, but I'm also a bit scatterbrained.
OMN: When starting a new book, how do you decide if it will be a stand-alone or one of a series?
RD: Somehow I've figured out going into a novel whether it'll be a series or standalone. I'm a bit of a planner, and I like having it all figured out before I start writing. What helps with this decision process is if it's a character I want to return to again, or I feel as though there's a bigger story to tell, or I start coming up with a list of ideas for additional stories before I've even started the first one. I'd say the last one is a good first sign indicator that there's more work to be done here, if I'm willing to put in the time. I've written one outline thus far for a novel I wrote during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Otherwise, I'm a pantser, and I figure if I can surprise myself, then hopefully I can surprise a few readers as well. It's not a perfect theory, but it works for me.
OMN: How does that work, being a pantser (seat of your pants writer)?
RD: I like letting the story develop as I go along. I'll have a beginning and an ending in mind, and the fun part is the journey. I may have an idea on the next few chapters once I get going, since I'm prepared, but otherwise it's fun to figure out where I'm going at the same pace as my characters and readers. I let the story develop. This is a world I'm entering, and if I started telling my characters what to do, I'd upset the balance of the universe, and I'd also end up with some ticked off personalities. My cast of characters definitely expands as I write, because I may only have insights into a few folks before I begin. Once I start writing, I discover other individuals I need to move the story along. Creating brief character bio sheets are a huge help in the writing process.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
RD: I take John Grisham's approach to research: I do as little as possible. As long as I sound like I know what I'm talking about and it sounds reasonable to the reader, then I'm good to go. I'll leave it to smarter people to delve more deeply into the details. With that said, though, I love to learn, and I feel like I'm constantly filling my head with random tidbits of information. I have no idea when I'll actually use most of them, but I file them away, and call upon them every now and then. When I need to, I'll fact check using the Internet, the occasional trusted individual, or through first-hand experience.
OMN: How did LaCour's Destiny come to be titled?
RD: I really respected and appreciated Lawrence Sanders' Archie McNally series. His main character and titles captured my attention, and I liked the idea of having Sam's last name as part of the title to delineate away from the other books I write and plan to write. For some reason, I truly enjoy two word titles, and I knew I wanted to have a few of my own out there circulating in the world. I tend to shy away from using "the" in the title, although it appears I may break this rule with book four.
OMN: Have any specific authors influenced how and what you write today?
RD: I'd say my biggest influences were James Patterson and John Grisham for their pacing, Lawrence Sanders for his quirky lead Archie McNally, Gregory Mcdonald for his wonderful use of dialogue, and Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. While I had never read Mickey Spillane before I started my own hard-boiled mystery series, I've been told I write along the same vein. I suppose you could call that one an unexpected influence.
OMN: What kinds of books do you enjoy reading?
RD: I'll read just about anything that grabs my attention. I gravitate toward mysteries and thrillers, and I enjoy a good series within these genres as much as the next guy or gal, but I'll also read humor, literary fiction, romance, and horror. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I have been known to read the occasional erotica novel as well. Along with Archie McNally, Spenser, and Fletch, I'm a fan of Jack Reacher, Charley Davidson, and Walt Longmire. I like the tough guys and gals and the witty ones. I don't discriminate when it comes to great characters.
OMN: When selecting a new book to read, what do you look for?
RD: Voice. If the book has a great voice, I'll tend to forgive a few faults, and turn pages with reckless abandon. It's important enough to me that it tends to drive my own writing.
OMN: And how about films? What do you enjoy watching?
RD: I enjoy rom-coms as much as the latest action movie, and just about anything in between. I also tend to have a big soft spot for inspirational sports movies, and I have jumped on the superhero band wagon, and eagerly anticipate the next Marvel cinematic release. I'm glad you said films as opposed to film, because there's no way I could limit it to just one, and even still, my tastes change a bit with time. A few that come to mind at the moment are Wedding Crashers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Love Actually, Invincible, Old School, and The Girl Next Door. None of them have inspired any of my books thus far, but I find movies are a great resource for dialogue.
OMN: What's next for you?
RD: I have my first thriller tentatively titled The Convenient Escape coming out next year with Black Opal Books. I'm thrilled because it's my first thriller, and I discovered a new publisher that wants to publish my work. It's a chase novel that revolves around a duo thrown together, and both of them have a few secrets that they don't want to share. Assuming I can talk Oak Tree Press into publishing some more of my work, I have a rough draft of the second in the Sam LaCour series tentatively titled LaCour's Dilemma. Sam will have another bad first date or two, because well … she's had a bit of bad luck when it comes to first dates, and she gets roped into helping a friend out of a bit of a jam when a dead body turns up. I also have the third in the Casey Holden series tentatively titled Financial Immortality, where he's trying to find out what happened to a dead millionaire.
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Robert aspired to be a writer before he realized how difficult the writing process was. Fortunately, he'd already fallen in love with the craft, otherwise Sam and Casey might never have seen print. Originally from West Virginia, he has lived in Virginia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and now resides in California. When he's not writing, Robert can be found reviewing, blogging, or smiling.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at RobertDowns.net and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook.
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LaCour's Destiny by Robert Downs
A Sam LaCour Mystery
Publisher: Oak Tree Press
Sam LaCour hasn't given up on men, even if they've given up on her, and she doesn't give up on her colleagues either, even when a dead body turns up, and she faints in front of the cameras, her family, and a television audience.
— LaCour's Destiny by Robert Downs
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