We are delighted to welcome author Adam Mitzner to Omnimystery News today.
Adam's new legal thriller is Losing Faith (Gallery Books; April 2015 hardcover, audiobook and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to talk more about the book with him.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead character in Losing Faith. What is it about him that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Adam Mitzner
Adam Mitzner: The protagonist of my newest novel, Losing Faith, is Aaron Littman. Aaron had appeared in my first book, A Conflict of Interest, as the head of the most powerful law firm in New York City, the venerable Cromwell Altman Rosenthal and White.
All my protagonists are flawed people attempting to figure out how to be the best version of themselves. In other words, they're just like everyone else. Aaron Littman's situation was particularly appealing because he seemingly has it all — a good marriage, professional success, wealth — and yet when it at comes crashing down around him, he realizes what is truly important in life, and the lengths he's willing to go to protect it.
OMN: Though Aaron Littman isn't a new character, you consider your books to be stand-alones, right?
AM: Yes. I envision each book as a narrative arc of the main character and those around him. If it works well, the transition is complete at the end of the book, and therefore it seems unfair to make the protagonist go through another life-altering adventure so soon. However, I do fill my books with characters from past books as a reward for loyal readers and to emphasize that these people all live in the same world. For example, as I said above, Aaron Littman was a minor character in A Conflict of Interest and is the protagonist of Losing Faith, and the protagonist of A Conflict of Interest, Alex Miller, appears in a supporting role in the book I'm working on right now.
OMN: How do you go about finding the right voice for your characters?
AM: In my first three books the lead character has always been male, although there are strong supporting female characters in each. I don't think it would be problematic for me to write from a female perspective; nor do I think readers would mind. I certainly don't mind reading a female author writing from a male perspective or visa versa. And, I'm strongly considering that my next book will feature two female leads.
OMN: Into which genre would you place your books?
AM: I find the labeling to be both helpful and constricting. It's helpful because the reader gets a shorthand view before reading the first word of what's to come. In my case, Losing Faith is designated as a thriller on the cover. On the other hand, while I hope readers find it "thrilling" I also hope that they appreciate the character development and the themes explored beyond the protagonist's close calls.
OMN: How much of your own professional experience have you included in your books?
AM: I am a full-time practicing lawyer in New York City and I write about lawyers in New York City, and so there is a fair amount of overlap between my day job and my writing. That being said, I rarely write about real events, and the borrowing I do mostly has to do with personality types that I've known and encountered, although all the characters are mixtures to some degree, and so there is no one truly based on a real-life person. Of course, the personality that I borrow most from is my own, and so all the characters have a little bit of me in them.
OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process. And where do you most often find yourself writing?
AM: I write the way I read — which is to say I begin with a premise that interests me and then I think about what is going to happen next, and then go from there. Sometimes I have a vague idea of how it's going to end when I begin to write, but more often than not the story takes me in a different direction.
I write all the time, everywhere. The bulk of my actual writing is on the weekend mornings in my apartment, but the book comes alive in the editing, and that I do any time I have a free moment.
OMN: How do you visualize the characters of your books?
AM: Sometimes I have someone's physical appearance in mind, be it a movie star or a friend, but more often I try to get away from that because I think it impedes the reader's enjoyment. For example, if you write that a character is handsome in a George-Clooney way, everyone imagines it being George Clooney. I find it more interesting to describe what makes the person handsome in a George Clooney way, and yet not be George Clooney's twin.
OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?
AM: I research my books the same way I research my legal cases. In the first instance, I do computer research the same way I would for a client. If that does not yield the answer, I seek out experts. The law issues that most readers find the most interesting are not of as great interest to me because I've experienced them before. I'm more interested in some of the medical issues that arise. I often joke with my wife that our computer is filled with searches about murder, so she needs to take very good care of herself or the police would arrest me in 5 minutes.
OMN: How true are you to the setting?
AM: My books are set in New York City, and I try to be as true to the city as possible. That means that places are real, and I describe them as honestly as I can. I'd like readers who later visit the places I write about to feel as if they had already been there.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
AM: I have fantasized about setting a book in some exotic location (especially with all expenses paid), but I don't think I could ever write about a place that I didn't know intimately. The book I'm writing now (the one coming out after Losing Faith) is set in my home town of East Brunswick, New Jersey, and I've enjoyed going back to visit there.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your books?
AM: I have two daughters and two stepsons, and so they take up most of my time aside from my day job (being a lawyer) and my writing. My experiences as a parent — while certainly not a hobby by any means — does form the backbone of my books.
On the more frivolous side, I'm a big Batman fan, and some of my musings about the Dark Knight have made it into my book. I also collect Pez, but I haven't yet found a way to weave that into any of my books.
OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?
AM: The best advice I've ever received was from my daughter, who was about ten at the time she offered it. I was unpublished and telling her about my thoughts for a book, which involved a female lawyer. She said that the lawyer should be a man because the book would be about me. I dutifully explained that it was a fiction book, and she said, "Just because it's fiction doesn't mean it shouldn't be true."
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a writer and therefore …".
AM: I am a writer and therefore a keen observer of people.
I'm always looking at people — those I know, and those I see in the crowd. Trying to figure out their story and what motivates them to be the way they are. I truly believe that a talented writer could make anyone's life story a thriller.
OMN: How involved were you with the cover design of Losing Faith?
AM: I have very little input in the cover design, but that's largely because I think the people who do it have always been spot on. They send me what they're thinking about and I say, "Yes, that's exactly right!"
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
AM: All feedback is greatly appreciated. There's nothing more fun about being a writer than hearing from people who have taken the time not only to read your work, but also then to reach out to tell you about their feelings. Obviously, I really like it when they tell me how much they liked the book, but it's even more touching when they relate some part of the book that rang particularly true to them.
The part that is most difficult for me is when they ask questions that are outside the text. What happened to the character after the book? My view is that a reader has as much to say about extra-text material as the author.
OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching?
AM: I enjoy watching all types of movies, but am particularly interested television shows that have a novel-like feel to them. Breaking Bad. Mad Men. Homeland. True Detective. House of Cards. In some ways I model my writing more on that type of storytelling. I particularly like it when people tell me that my books are cinematic, because I'm consciously going for that.
OMN: When you select a book to read for pleasure, what do you look for?
AM: I look for a book that works on two levels for me. One that it's about something I have some interest in, even if I'm not expert about it. That might be that it's set in a place I'd like to visit, or it involves a profession that I'd like to learn more about. The second is that, in addition to a story that pulls me in right away, I like character studies, so I'm looking for a book that will make me feel like I've learned something about myself when I'm done.
I realize that is a tall order for reading a book, but it's even a taller order for writing a book — and yet that's my objective each time out.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
AM: Top 5 cold cereals …
1. Cap'n Crunch
2. Count Chocula
3. Frosted Flakes
4. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
5. Cookie Crisp
OMN: What's next for you?
AM: More writing — hopefully a lot more.
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Adam Mitzner grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. and M.A. in politics, and from there went directly on to law school at the University of Virginia. After law school, he joined the litigation department of a large New York City law firm, and after a few more stops, is currently the head of the litigation department of Pavia & Harcourt LLP. He lives in New York City.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at AdamMitzner.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook.
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Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner
A Legal Thriller
Publisher: Gallery Books
Aaron Littman is the premier lawyer of his generation and the chairman of Cromwell Altman, the most powerful law firm in New York City, when a high-profile new client threatens all that he's achieved — and more. Nicolai Garkov is currently the most reviled figure in America, accused of laundering funds for the Russian Mafia and financing a terrorist bombing in Red Square that killed twenty-six people, including three American students.
Garkov is completely unrepentant, admitting his guilt to Aaron, but with a plan for exoneration that includes blackmailing the presiding judge, the Honorable Faith Nichols. If the judge won't do his bidding, Garkov promises to go public with irrefutable evidence of an affair between Aaron and Faith — the consequences of which would not only destroy their reputations but quite possibly end their careers.
Garkov has made his move. Now it's Aaron and Faith's turn. And in an ever-shocking psychological game of power, ethics, lies, and justice, they could never have predicted where those moves will take them — or what they are prepared to do to protect the truth.
— Losing Faith by Adam Mitzner
