Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Victor DiGenti, whose latest crime novel Matanzas Bay (Windrusher Hall Press, May 2011 Trade Paperback and ebook editions), the first in a new series, was published under the pen name Parker Francis.
Today Vic answers the question, "Where do ideas come from?" And he's giving you the opportunity to win an autographed copy of his book. Details below.
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As an author who wrote an adventure/fantasy series with a cat as the main character, I was accustomed to readers asking me questions like, "Where do you come up with those wild ideas for your stories?" I learned to look behind the innocent enough sounding questions and read their skeptical expressions and body language that seemed to suggest I must have stepped off the morning train from Bizarro Land. In response, I'd sometimes quote Stephen King who once said there was a section on eBay that sold ideas. Other times I'd tell them it was a result of the weird medications I was taking back in the 60s.
Photo provided courtesy of
Victor DiGenti
But the truth is, ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. From stories our friends tell us. From items in the newspaper. Even from dreams. Matanzas Bay is my first mystery, and it's set in the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida. When we first meet my protagonist, private detective Quint Mitchell, he's working as a volunteer on an archaeological survey in the heart of the historic district. There's no doubt Matanzas Bay is a mystery with all the conventions of a mystery. It starts with the discovery of a body. There's no shortage of suspects, with lots of clues and red herrings. Yet this mystery emerged from an idea that came to me while I was writing the second book in the "Windrusher" trilogy.
In that book, Windrusher and the Cave of Tho-hoth, my feline character has been catnapped from the backyard of his Florida home and taken to southern California for some inexplicable reason. The family hires a private detective to track him down. Of course the detective is the same Quint Mitchell who now stars in his own series. An image of Quint unearthing a body came to me while writing a scene where the detective is detecting (what else?). Although I'd given Quint an interest in archaeology when I wrote his biography, it played no part in this story. I tried to delete the picture of Quint and the body from my mental hard drive, but it kept returning. So when I completed Cave of Tho-hoth, I began plotting ideas for what became Matanzas Bay.
After outlining plot points, I typically flesh out the characters, working to create the most memorable storybook people I can. Quint is a complex character, a former Navy Master-at-Arms and DEA agent. He has hard edges and an anguished past. In the very first paragraph, he's musing about the fickleness of life and death.
People who grumble about life being unfair have it all wrong. It's life's alter ego, death, that isn't fair. Pick up the paper. Turn on any of the twenty-four hour news channels. See what I mean?
As chapter one unfolds, Quint indeed digs up a body and not just any body, but that of St. Augustine's vice mayor. When his friend the city archaeologist is arrested for the crime, Quint is hired to find the real killer. The plot takes major twists and turns along the way, touching on some of St. Augustine's ancient and more recent history, uncovering long buried secrets, intriguing questions, and more violence — some of it aimed at Quint.
All of this grew from that one bizarre image I had of Quint finding a body. Of course, mystery writers are a strange lot. You wouldn't know it by looking at us (well, there are exceptions to every rule), but when we sit down at the computer it's more likely we're communing with the dark side rather than with the better angels of our nature. Still, the act of dispatching fictional people can be cathartic and I recommend it to anyone harboring resentments against old bosses or former spouses. It's just an idea. And, as we know, ideas can come from anywhere. Now, let me tell you where I found the idea for that cat book …
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After a career in broadcasting working as a public affairs and documentary producer, reporter, fundraiser, and producer of the Jacksonville Jazz Festival for eight years, Victor DiGenti turned to his first love — writing. He found inspiration in his household of feline critters and wrote three adventure/fantasies with a feline protagonist. His novels — Windrusher, Windrusher and the Cave of Tho-hoth, and Windrusher and the Trail of Fire — have won multiple awards and attracted readers of all ages.
Vic made a leap into the hard-boiled mystery/suspense field with his newest novel, Matanzas Bay. It won the 2007 Josiah W. Bancroft Sr. Award, and was named a Book of the Year in the 2009 Royal Palm Literary Awards Competition before it was published under the pen name Parker Francis. His second Quint Mitchell Mystery, Bring Down the Furies, will be released in late spring of 2012.
You can learn more about the author and his books at Windrusher.com or at ParkerFrancis.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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About Matanzas Bay:
When PI Quint Mitchell volunteered to help with an archaeological survey in St. Augustine, he didn't count on digging up a murder victim. In the nation's oldest city, Mitchell discovers links to ancient sins, comes face to face with his own past, and unleashes powerful forces that will do anything to keep their secrets — even if it means taking his life.
When Mitchell's friend, the City Archaeologist, is charged with a brutal murder, he must find the true killer while fighting inner demons and the corrosive residue of racial violence dating back to the Civil Rights Movement. As he learns, St. Augustine was birthed in blood-Matanzas means "place of slaughter" in Spanish — and violence is never far from the surface.
For a chance to win an autographed copy of Matanzas Bay, visit Mystery Book Contests, click on the Parker Francis: Matanzas Bay contest link, enter your name, e-mail address, and this code (3955) for a chance to win! (One entry per person; contest ends March 15th, 2012.)
Crime novels by Cara Black reviewed by 
