A Rock Drummer Amateur PI, by Jonathan Brown

One of the best things about a crime fiction convention is all the people you meet. This happens in the hallways and book signing lines and most definitely at the bar. Last week in Dallas, I ran into Shawn Reilly Simmons (who I met at a previous convention, natch), and she introduced me to Jonathan Brown. His debut novel came out on Monday. All he had to say was "rock drummer" and "amateur PI," and I was asking if he'd come over to Do Some Damage and tell us more. Take it away, Jonathan . . .

By Jonathan Brown

When I busted out of the doors of the Musician’s Institute of Technology in Hollywood I jumped into the music scene as a drummer for hire. I took any gig that would pay me 50 bucks—but it was usually considerably less than that. While mowing down shows and carving up LA’s musical landscape I took notes—actual notes—journal style.

I met characters rich with every personality trait in the rainbow, of every ethnicity and all levels of ego, from the painfully shy to the diva-for-no-damn-reason. As I laid down groove upon groove I clocked every move. I spied every tic, heard every spoken word and observed all mannerisms. If I were on the FBI’s radar at the time the Profiler Division would have considered recruiting me.

As I moved from one crappy apartment to another I took my notes with me and eventually came up with a protagonist: Lou Crasher. The “Crash” in Crasher is a nod to cymbals crashing—yeah, I’m clever like that.

When my editor read an early version of The Big Crescendo she told me I had way too many characters. I didn’t disagree with her. “But there were so many people in the bars, streets, pawnshops and liquor stores in those days,” I told her. She said that although the characters have great depth and description and come across very real most of them are “drive by” characters. She was correct yet again. I over-wrote those cats because I’ve always paid attention to the “drive bys” as well as the main cats holding down the conversation. Alas, they didn’t move my story along so I had to clip ’em. I shed no tears over those peripheral players because the story is the boss, not me.

So who is Lou? Lou is a good natured, cocktail swilling, wisecracking rock drummer turned amateur PI who far too often finds his neck beneath the bad guy’s boot heel. But Crasher won’t lie down for anybody, so while removing said boot from said neck he ultimately solves crimes. Well, for the most part anyway, which is why the word “amateur” precedes P.I. In addition to fighting crime he somehow manages to make it to his gigs on time.

While getting to know Lou he’ll take you on a rock n roll ride through the L.A. music scene; he’ll chase a dame who may not be what she seems, he’ll attempt to bust up an underground musical gear theft ring, which, unfortunately dumps him into the seedy drug world. Oh, and a heavyweight coke snorting music producer will dispatch Lou to find a vintage snare drum that may or may not have belonged to the late great Frederick Douglas. If Lou’s wisecracking doesn’t get his head split open and if he can keep his cocktails under control he might just win this thing.

The Big Crescendo dropped November 4. Word on the street is the printer is running low on toner and the books are flying off the shelves. Get it while the gettin’s hot. You don’t want to be without a chair when the music stops. The follow up Don’t Shoot The Drummer is perilously close to being done and will be spread to the masses at the end of 2020 on Down and Out Books. Ya oughtta snag that one too!

Jonathan began taking fiction writing seriously in 2010. A handful of his short stories are in Shotgun Honey Online magazine. In 2018 Brown released a noir novella titled: Moose’s Law…A Doug ‘Moose’ McCrae Story. Moose fans are demanding this be a series and knowing Brown, he’ll deliver. He’s narrated the audiobook (his first) and that will join his print book on Amazon in December 2019. Brown also wrote A Boxing Trainer’s Journey…A Novel Based On the Life of Angelo Dundee for Mentoris Books. Kirkus Reviews called it, “A journalistically rigorous depiction of both Angelo Dundee and boxing.” Mentoris has since commissioned Brown to narrate the audiobook for Dundee as well as write a novel based on the life of Vince Lombardi. Find out more at www.jonathanbrownwriter.com.

In addition to teaching drums and writing Jonathan works as a personal trainer. And although he has never laced up the gloves in a serious way like his idol Muhammad Ali, he does have a background in Hapkido karate. Currently he and his wife enjoy the good life in sunny Southern California. As a button at the close of every fitness class he imparts his favorite phrase to his clients: All of the world’s problems can be solved with love!

Find The Big Crescendo at Down & Out Books, IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iBooks.

Ain't No Party Like A Book Store Party

Switchblade Magazine is one of the coolest new crime fiction mags out there right now, and Book Show is one of the coolest indie book shops out there right now - so it only makes sense to smash them together and have a good time.

I've attended a handful of events at Book Show, and recently was part of the Just To Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction Inspired by The Songs of Johnny Cash launch there. It's a killer little shop with a ton of amazing books, cool knick knacks, and zines I haven't seen anywhere else. It's totally worth a visit, and a Switchblade reading is the best excuse I can think of.

If you're in Southern California, you should come see us and buy some stuff from Book Show!

Cleaning Up Finn: An Interview with Sarah M. Chen

by Holly West

Sarah M. Chen is a familiar name in short fiction circles, but recently, her debut novella, CLEANING UP FINN (All Due Respect) was published. It's a strong debut that introduces Finn Roose, a fun-loving, womanizing, manipulating--yet somehow, likable--restaurant manager whose exploits finally get him into more trouble than he can handle.

On to the interview!

HW: I really enjoyed CLEANING UP FINN and felt extra special because I got an advanced copy. Will you tell us, briefly, what it’s about?

SMC: Thanks, Holly! It’s about a restaurant manager, Finn Roose, who loves the booze and the babes. He takes out a woman on one of his infamous booze cruises and loses her—literally. Then she ends up missing and things go very badly for him from there.

HW: On the face of it, your protagonist, Finn Roose, is kind of a jerk. But upon digging deeper, we learn that he’s not such a bad guy and even has some heroic qualities. What is it about this character that made you want to write him?  

SMC: I’m so happy to hear you say that! There are some who didn’t like Finn and thought he was a real prick. Finn holds a special place in my heart. He’s a mash-up of the people I worked with over the years in the restaurant industry which was a fun crazy time in my life.

I wanted to explore a character who, at first glance, seems selfish and shallow, but underneath it all, there’s a reason for why he’s the way he is. People can be quick to judge a work hard/play hard lifestyle, especially if it’s someone who isn’t married or doesn’t have children. It doesn’t automatically mean they’re selfish assholes. Okay, maybe sometimes it does, but not always.

HW: Since this is, to a large extent, a blog about writing, will you talk a little bit about how you’ve approached your writing career? Where do you see yourself in a year or five years?

SMC: I knew I always wanted to be a writer but it took a long time for me to get started. It’s still taking a long time and I’ve come to accept that’s how I am. I’m not one of those disciplinarians who writes a certain amount each day. I wish I was. I value my downtime. With juggling three jobs, I fit writing in when I can but I make sure to set aside time to read and to travel. It keeps me sane.

I honestly have no idea where I’ll be in 5 years. I don’t think long-term like that, although I probably should. I can say that in 1 year I’d like to have a completed first draft of my YA novel. Then again, I said that last year.

HW: I like that you work for a private investigator. This seems like it would provide for all sorts of good ideas for stories. Is it?

SMC: Yes, it’s a fantastic job for gathering material. Maybe that’s why it’s the one job I’ve held longer than four years. My boss is an insurance adjuster with a private investigator license so almost all of our cases are from insurance companies. We deal mostly with tractor-trailer claims so most of our cases involve cargo thefts and stolen tractor-trailers.

My short story “White Devil” in DEATH AND THE DETECTIVE featured an insurance adjuster and it was a lot of fun to write. I also just completed a short story that was based on a crazy stolen cargo claim we just worked on. I’d say more but it’s an anonymous submission and you never know who’s reading what.

HW: You’ve been a part of a writing group for a while now. Tell us a little about how your group functions and how you think it’s helped you improve your writing. 

SMC: I give my writer group credit for everything that I publish. Without Travis Richardson and Stephen Buehler, I’d still be out there flailing around aimlessly. They give me a deadline which is what I need. We meet once a week and we’ve been pretty good about that schedule for the past 5 years which is mind-boggling to me. I normally don’t stick to anything for that long. We bring pages and read them aloud, then provide constructive notes to each other. If we can’t meet for whatever reason, we email each other our pages, but it doesn’t replace the read-aloud aspect which I think is crucial.

HW: I know you’re an avid reader. Who are some of your influences and what have you read lately that you’d recommend?

SMC: My love for crime fiction started with Robert B. Parker and Tony Hillerman, but when I picked up an Elmore Leonard novel, I knew I’d found my kindred writer spirit. Over the years, I’ve been inspired by Gillian Flynn’s SHARP OBJECTS, early Dennis Lehane and anything by George Pelecanos.

I split my time between crime fiction and YA. Right now, I’m reading an ARC of Stacey Lee’s fantastic YA novel, OUTRUN THE MOON which was released yesterday. It’s a story of a teenage Chinese-American girl in 1906 San Francisco. I also just finished James Ziskin’s HEART OF STONE which I absolutely loved. I’m a huge fan of his Ellie Stone series. Other novels I’d recommend for 2016 would be Lisa Lutz’s thriller THE PASSENGER and Molly Prentiss’s debut TUESDAYS IN 1980 about the art scene in 1980 Soho.

HW: Getting back to CLEANING UP FINN, it’s a novella but now that I’ve finished it, I can see it being a prequel to a full-length novel featuring him. I definitely think Finn deserves a chance to move beyond the world he currently inhabits. What do you think?

SMC: Thank you for saying that and someone else said the same thing. FINN actually started as a short story way back in 2007 and I never would have thought of expanding him into a novella so I guess it’s always possible. I do love the character and it’d be interesting to see what he does down the road, but once I’m done with a story, I’m usually done. But hey, you never know, right?

***

Sarah M. Chen juggles several jobs including indie bookseller, transcriber and insurance adjuster. Her crime fiction short stories have been accepted for publication online and in various anthologies, including All Due Respect, Plan B, Shotgun Honey, Crime Factory, Out of the Gutter, Betty Fedora and Dead Guns Press. CLEANING UP FINN is her first book and it’s available now from All Due Respect Books. www.sarahmchen.com

Criminal Activities

by Holly West

In the past year or so, I've become much more involved with both the crime fiction writing community at large and my own local community. In addition to writing weekly for the Do Some Damage blog, I now write a bi-weekly post for Prose & Cons. Locally, I'm the Vice President of Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and the newsletter editor for the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Finally, I'm involved in the planning/administration of the bi-annual California Crime Writers Conference, an event that's near and dear to my heart because it was the first writers conference I ever attended (in 2009).

Admittedly, some of these commitments result in some regular kicking and screaming on my part. For example, the monthly Sisters in Crime meetings are located in Pasadena and everyone from Southern California knows that the east/west trek from Venice to Pasadena (or really, anywhere in SoCal), is a pain in the ass, even on a Sunday afternoon.

And of course, a more serious consequence of getting more active in the writing community is the time it takes away from actual writing. This continues to be an issue for me, but one I'm determined to overcome. Why? Because becoming more involved in these circles have added far more to my life than they've taken away.

How do I benefit?

1) It's tougher to make friends as one grows older, but my activities in SoCal MWA and Sisters in Crime Los Angeles have resulted in numerous new friendships. Some are deeper than others, but on the whole I feel blessed to have so many great writers as friends.

2) Mutual Backscratching: Okay so that might sound creepy but what I mean is that by serving in your local writing organizations, you are putting cash in the "favor bank." You'd be surprised how often that pays off, both in little and big ways. Examples: Blurbs and promotional opportunities from other authors (some with much higher profiles than my own), and invitations/recommendations to speak and read at local events.

3) You've heard it said a million times that writing is a solitary craft. Leaving the house on a regular basis to socialize with other writers is sanity-enhancing.

4) Name visibility. With so much marketing responsibility on our author-plates, this is another opportunity to get your name out and sell books.

I'm fortunate to live in Southern California, where there is a vibrant crime fiction community. If yours isn't quite so active (or even non-existent), you can still join MWA and Sisters in Crime at the national level. You can pitch and write guest posts to bloggers like myself (and not just when you have a book coming out). And if you do live in a place where you have local writing organizations, I encourage you to get involved. Don't be like me and wait until your book is coming out. You just might be surprised by how much value you get for your time spent.