We are delighted to welcome author S.K. Nicholls to Omnimystery News today.
S.K.'s new first in series mystery is Naked Alliances (Brave Blue Heron Books; September 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently caught up with her to talk a little more about it.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to your new series characters. What is it about them that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
S.K. Nicholls
S.K. Nicholls: Richard Noggin, P.I. (aka Dick Head, P.I.) is a Private Investigator. He’s a laid back, reserved loner who doesn’t get his feathers ruffled easily, and prefers to work alone. A gambling man, keeping a straight face and not showing his emotions have helped him succeed in his business for eight years, however, most of his cases have involved domestics, lovers looking for evidence partners are cheating, and fraud investigations for government officials…not very exciting. But all of that is about to change. As he transitions from gumshoe investigator to hero, he has a tendency to bumble his way through some really tough situations, but his sidekick always manages to set him on the right path.
Brandi, an exotic dancer in a gay club in Orlando, crosses paths with Richard one night while he is on his way to meet with the former mayor who has a cold case for him to resolve. Brandi, an outrageous, brassy, loud transgendered woman used to be a cop. It was a brief stint, and before that, she was an Explosives Ordinance Disposal Specialist in the U.S. Army. She’s a pretty tough cookie, and has a tendency to be at the right place at the right time, saving Richard from himself. She has some very interesting friends, as does Richard, and Brandi does well to teach Richard that he needs help from time to time. She’s a pretty good sleuth in her own right and Richard can’t help but appreciate her as a partner by book’s end.
Cara Keiu is a young Asian immigrant girl and one of the victims in the story. She’s alone, frightened, and on the run from some pretty nasty mean who are members of the Asian-American Alliance, a front for a sex-trafficking ring run by a wicked woman set on seeking revenge for what she feels were wrong-doings in her past.
Richard nearly runs over Brandi and Cara at the beginning of the book as they are being chased by men with guns. Neither Richard nor Brandi have time to deal with Cara’s dilemma, but get sucked into her situation over the course of the book as Richard is trying to complete his cold case investigations and they all end up going undercover in a nudist resort.
The characters have agency and push the plot rather than the plot pushing the characters. That is precisely what makes them, and the book, interesting. The settings add to the mystery and intrigue.
OMN: How do you expect them to develop over the course of the series?
SKN: The characters will remain generally the same over the course of the series. We will always have Richard and Brandi. Being a series, the window is open for Cara and the antagonist to re-enter the storyline at a later date, but each book has a satisfying resolution. I don’t like cliff-hangers. That’s not to say the characters don’t grow and develop over the course of each book and the series. They have their faults, and even in the first book, some of these faults become assets, while others set them up for failures. I’m certain that Cara will have gone through major changes as she matures in subsequent books, but she’s not the only one with room to grow.
OMN: How did you go about finding the right voice for these characters?
SKN: My lead character is a male, and the co-protagonist is transgendered. This gave me lots of interesting challenges as I am female. Not only was a writing a male lead (with which my husband helped me immensely), but I had a male who had become female, but remained bisexual. The co-protagonist, Brandi, was a lot of fun to write, and I’m sure she’s fun to read. I believe a good writer can get inside of the head of the characters they write, whether of the same gender or not. Being able to do that gives your characters voice regardless of your gender. I don’t think readers mind, if it is done well. Writers are actors and actresses on the page rather than the stage.
OMN: Into which genre would you place this book?
SKN: Crime romps fall into the mystery/thriller/suspense category. This a dual plot book that covers all three. Being a romp implies there is some humor to the adventure. Many authors who write similar crime fiction books use action/adventure as good rankings are easier to come by in humor and action adventure than they are for mystery/thriller/suspense. The books are of a different character and structure than most mystery/thriller/suspense books, making them difficult to place into genre. Regional Florida crime fiction has its own flavor that doesn’t fit well into genre designs to sell books. It’s a private investigator story … with that “Only in Florida” theme. The disadvantage is that it is structured differently than most Private investigator stories as it is a romp series, so people expecting a typical P.I. story may be disappointed, until they fall in love with the style. The advantage is that they will fall in love with the style. I’ve been told it’s like a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard.
OMN: When starting a new book, which comes first: the characters or the storyline?
SKN: As mentioned above, characters must have agency. Character agency is critical to either a series or a standalone. The characters must drive the plot, rather than the plot driving the characters. In the words of Chuck Wendig, “Character agency is, to me, a demonstration of the character’s ability to make decisions and affect the story. This character has motivations all her own. She is active more than she is reactive. She pushes on the plot more than the plot pushes on her. Even better, the plot exists as a direct result of the character’s actions. The story exists because of the character. The character does not exist because of the story.”
You really need to know your characters before you can tell how they will behave under any circumstances they find themselves enduring in your plot, regardless of what you may be planning for them. Your characters do more to design your plot than you do.
OMN: Create a Top Five list for us on any topic.
SKN: Many of my favorite authors write Florida crime fiction/adventure romps and comedy capers; here are five:
1. Carl Hiaasen — Just as I have professional interest in sex-trafficking d/t my professional nursing experience a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (S.A.N.E.), Hiaasen has a special interest in ecological issues and writes those into his storylines. I admire his convictions to teach without preaching.
2. Tim Dorsey — Is knee-slapping hilarious. For some of us, murder is easy, but funny is hard. For Dorsey, humor seems to come easily. Death by lobster … who woulda thunk it? Only Serge.
3. Tim Baker — From Rhode Island, Baker has a way of creating iconic characters with whom you can’t help but fall in love. These are relatable characters that you would find in any sleepy little seaside town.
4. Randy Wayne White — I’m fascinated by the history written into both Dorsey and White’s work. Those added tid-bits make reading Florida crime fiction all the more interesting, above and beyond the characters and plot. White also writes a respectable female character in Hannah, in the Doc Ford and Hannah books, as a male author.
5. Anne Rice — Regardless of genre, Rice offers both writers and readers tremendous support and encouragement. She makes herself accessible to fans, let’s us in on her personal life and relates on a personal level publically on her Facebook page and in direct emails. As a public figure, she discusses everything from ancient history to politics on her pages. She is a tireless supporter of the written word, and a loud voice against the bullies who troll authors. She also writes the most fantastic stories with eloquent words and doesn’t allow editors to alter her voice, breaks all the rules on purpose, and had decades of experience to share.
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S.K. Nicholls' family owns and operates one of the oldest and largest nudist resorts in the nation located in Central Florida, Cypress Cove. Her experience gives her a deep understanding of the lifestyle choice and how it is extremely different from the sex industry, yet harbors clandestine elements of intrigue and fascination. Social issues are at the forefront of her writing. A former sexual assault nurse examiner, she has a special interest in the subject matter of sex-trafficking. A native of Georgia, she lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband, Greg. When she's not writing, she can be found tracking down Snorlaxes, wandering city parks with the homeless, or sipping margaritas on the bow of a boat.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at SKNicholls.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Naked Alliances by S.K. Nicholls
A Richard Noggin, Naked Eye Mystery
Publisher: Brave Blue Heron Books
When a young immigrant woman and an exotic dancer are fleeing men with guns and have no place to hide, Richard Noggin, P.I., can't turn his back on them, even if helping them makes him a target.
Richard plans to impress an aspiring politician by taking on a big white-collar case with the potential of getting him off the streets and into air-conditioned offices. Instead, he's handed a cold case and quickly finds himself sucked into a shadowy world of sex, secrets and … murder.
Marked for a bullet and stretched thin by his investigations, he reluctantly teams up with the unlikely, brassy custodian of the young woman on the run. With bodies piling up, they go undercover in a nudist resort, determined to catch the killer and bring down the mastermind of the Alliance before someone else dies.
— Naked Alliances by S.K. Nicholls
