We are delighted to welcome author Gary Gusick to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of TLC Book 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.
Gary's new murder mystery Officer Elvis (Alibi; April 2015 ebook formats) is published today, and introduces Mississippi detective Darla Cavannah, a Yankee transplant making her name in the Deep South. We recently had the chance to talk with Gary more about the book.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to Darla Cavannah.
Photo provided courtesy of
Gary Gusick
Gary Gusick: Darla is a no-nonsense Philadelphia detective who follows her husband, Hugh, a retired football player back to his hometown, Jackson, Mississippi, following his retirement. Darla joins the county sheriff's department as a hate crimes specialist. Hugh subsequently dies in auto accident and Darla elects to remain in Jackson, a Yankee cop working in a small Southern city. That where the series begins.
OMN: What prompted you to write a series featuring this character?
GG: I wanted to work in the murder mystery genre. I live in Jackson so it made sense to use Mississippi as a setting for my books. However, since I'd spent most of my life in large Northern cities (Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco) I had a very different perspective on Southern life than people who were born and raised here. The Darla Cavannah character provides the opportunity for me to write about the South from an outsider's perspective.
OMN: Why a female detective? Wouldn't it have been easier to write from a male perspective?
GG: Perhaps. However, while I wanted to use my main character as a means to express my take on life in the South, I didn't want the character to slide into the autobiographical arena, which is frequently a tendency with fiction writers.
OMN: Tell us more about the titular character.
GG: Officer Elvis is Detective Tommy Reylander, Darla's one-time partner and nemesis, a preening mule-headed detective in the sheriff's department. Tommy is an Elvis impersonator on the side, albeit not a very good one. He was introduced in the first Darla Cavannah murder mystery. The book Officer Elvis begins as Tommy's pink Caddy is fire-boomed following one of his performances. Without giving away the plot, the book is a fictional romp through the world of Elvis impersonators — "tribute artists" they call themselves.
OMN: Tribute artists?
GG: I read somewhere — I think it was the Wall Street Journal — that there were over 85,000 people in the world who claim to make all or part of their living impersonating Elvis. This was a staggering number to me. I mean 85,000? Suffice to say this sub-culture was rich with satirical possibilities. I try to spice my books with social satire.
OMN: While writing Officer Elvis, did you meet any of these tribute artists?
GG: I meet and watched a number of them perform. It fascinated me that although many of them bore little physical resemblance to the king of rock and roll — some of them didn't sound anything like him — most of them felt that they more or less were channeling the spirit of Elvis when they performed.
OMN: The tribute artists in Officer Elvis come from diverse backgrounds. One of them is a cowboy, one is minister. How close to reality is this?
GG: This is a work of fiction so there's plenty of exaggeration. On the other hand, the leading Democratic candidate in the race for lieutenant governor of Mississippi is an Elvis tribute artist. He looks a bit like Elvis and sounds like him too.
OMN: Are there any other recurring characters in this book?
GG: Quite a few. There's Shelby Mitchell, Darla's boss who is forever worried about the political ramifications of his decisions, IT specialist Uther Pendragon Johnson, Kendall and Lulu, Darla's gossip-loving gal pals, FBI Agent Henry Jendlin, strip club owner Conway Bourdeaux, and Dr. Stephen Nicoletti, Darla's love interest.
OMN: Darla has a new partner in Officer Elvis. Who is she?
GG: Detective Rita Gibbons, who Shelby Mitchell describes as a half a licorice stick short in the manners department. Rita is a red-necked Elvis groupie, but absolutely fearless.
OMN: Do you intend to keep the action in the series set in Jackson?
GG: The next three will be set in Mississippi, mostly in and around Jackson, but also covering the delta, the red hills area, the Ole Miss campus, and in the case of Officer Elvis, parts of Memphis. We'll see what happens to Darla after that.
OMN: Tell us where you do most of your writing.
GG: There's nothing romantic about it. I write at a small desk in my living room. I write Monday through Friday, with one session in the morning, one in the afternoon, about an hour and a half each. I try for at least 400 words a day. It takes me about six months to write the first draft and another three for rewrites. Another two to respond to my editor's various suggestions.
OMN: Do you ever get writer's block?
GG: Yes. It happens everyday, before every writing session. I'm always afraid I won't be able to fill the page, or if I do, whatever I write will be total crap. Sometimes it is, but usually some of what I write is useable.
OMN: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
GG: Yes. If you think you've got a book in you, write it. Don't bring the first few chapters to a writer's clinic, or workshop. Don't read or talk about your book to anyone until you've finished the first draft. Be prepared for a half dozen rewrites, before you get it where you want it. And in the end you may come to regard this practice book for your real first read book.
OMN: That sounds challenging.
GG: It is. In fact, the only thing worse than writing is not writing.
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Gary Gusick, a former advertising executive with more than thirty years experience as a copywriter and creative director, has won numerous national and international awards for creative excellence in advertising.
For more information about the author, please visit his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Officer Elvis by Gary Gusick
A Darla Cavannah Mystery
Publisher: Alias
After performing at a local old-folks home, off-duty police officer and part-time Elvis impersonator Tommy Reylander smoothes out his pompadour, climbs into his pink Caddy, and gets all shook up — fatally so, when a bomb explodes. Whether he was killed for his police work or bad singing is a mystery that detective Darla Cavannah is determined to solve.
Though it's been several years since Darla (reluctantly) partnered up with Tommy, she convinces her boss to let her lead the murder investigation. As the new regional director of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Shelby Mitchell can think of better uses for his star detective's time, but not even the most hardened good ole boy can resist Darla's smart, savvy persuasions. She soon embarks on a roller coaster ride through the world of Elvis tribute artists while tracking down one of the most bizarre serial killers in the history of the Magnolia State. Aiding her pursuit of the killer is recently reprimanded officer Rita Gibbons, fresh from the trailer park and described by Shelby as "half a licorice stick short in the manners department." But Rita's plenty smart, even when this case takes their suspicious minds in an entirely unexpected direction.
— Officer Elvis by Gary Gusick
