I've been a long time admirer of Carmen Amato's intelligently written novels. I'm delighted to have a Q&A with the successful novelist today as she celebrates the release of yet another Detective Emilia Cruz novel, Pacific Reaper. Pick up your copy today for the introductory price of only 99p/99c.
Take it away Carmen...
What genre do you write and what genre do you prefer to read?
Melanie, thank you so much for hosting me. I love talking to fellow
mystery authors; I always learn something new.
I write romantic thrillers and the Detective Emilia Cruz police
procedural series. When I’m not writing, I love reading mysteries. I think it
started way back when, with Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series, but lately I’m
drawn to series in more exotic places including Michael Stanley’s Inspector
Kubu series in Botswana and Colin Cotterill’s Dr. Siri Paiboun series set in
Laos. But I’ll drop everything for a new Jo Nesbo; in addition to great
writing, Oslo is one of my favorite cities.
During your childhood who was your biggest influence?
I’m lucky enough to have
grown up in New York living next to my maternal grandparents. My grandmother
was the family matriarch and I loved spending time at her house. I have great
memories of watching The A Team and Riptide with her. No doubt, this is what
launched my love of the mystery and action//adventure genres.
Are you fortunate enough to write full-time?
Yes, I’m a full time
writer. I thought that when that happened, I’d glide through life in a
sparkling home, wearing dresses and pearls, having oodles of time to get my
nails done and taking a yoga class every day.
Instead, the house is as
cluttered as it ever was, the dog complains that he doesn’t get enough
attention (an endless task), and I’m wearing jeans while yelling at my computer
screen. I’ve become addicted to sticky notes, plotting how to kill hapless
characters, and Starbucks’ Italiano blend.
I usually take an afternoon
break at 3:00 pm when my local television station airs an episode of the BBC
classic As Time Goes By. The series is on an endless loop; as soon as Judy
and Alistair get married we go back to episode 1. I can quote swaths of
dialogue.
If Hollywood came knocking who would you want to play your main
character?
Hollywood did come
knocking, much to my mingled trepidation and excitement. Last year a major US
network bought the option to produce a television series based on the Detective
Emilia Cruz mystery series.
Emilia is the first female
police detective in Acapulco, taking on Mexico’s drug cartels and culture of
machismo, which also trying to have a personal life that includes Kurt Rucker,
an American hotel manager.
I don’t know who might play
the main character, but a strong Latina like Jennifer Lopez, Michelle
Rodriguez, or America Ferrera could carry it off. Kurt is a tall, blonde,
former US Marine, and triathlete. Any actors to suggest?
What one piece of advice have you found the most important in your
writing career?
Ahhh, the infamous piece of
advice every newbie author dreams will pave the writing road to success. Here’s
how mine went:
FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHOR:
“But the novel is set in Mexico. All the characters are Mexican.”
ME: “That’s right. Lives of
the people fighting the drug cartels. And Mexico’s class structure.”
FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHOR:
“New York will never touch it And a New York agent is the only kind worth
having. New York agents are looking for the next Sex and the City. Glossy. High
heels. New York.”
ME: “This is a romantic
political thriller. Makes the real Mexico accessible to the American audience
the way Martin Cruz Smith’s Arkady Renko series did for Russia.”
FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHOR: *sniff*
“New York won’t buy a book with all Mexican characters. And your main character
is a maid. At least couldn’t you make her American? You know, a college girl
from Pittsburgh named Susan or Tess who goes to Mexico on a cultural exchange
program to work as a maid for a semester.”
This was about 5 years ago
and the conversation was about potential agents for my first novel, the
romantic thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY.
I could have tossed off a
barbed remark about how it would cost an American in Pittsburgh more to get to
Mexico than they would earn as a maid in three months, but I was too busy being
appalled.
This was a book about
Mexico’s drug war, the people fighting it, and their chances of survival. It
was also a Cinderella story taking on Mexico’s unspoken caste system. Sue and
Tess were not part of that narrative.
I decided to ignore the
FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHOR. I published without an agent, and in the long run have
found it much more important to know a good intellectual property rights
attorney!
What are your plans for the coming year?
For starters, I’m leaving
the house clutter where it is. My family doesn’t care and the dog hasn’t done
anything constructive since we got him.
With PACIFIC REAPER, the
fifth book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series just out, I’m already outlining
43 MISSING, which will be next in the series. Three Emilia Cruz short stories
are also in the works, all of which take place before the events in CLIFF
DIVER, the first novel.
The audiobooks of the first
4 novels in the series will be released by Tantor Media in 2017. Johanna
Parker, who was the voice talent for the Sookie Stackhouse series, will
narrate.
I’m also editing the
forthcoming nonfiction INSIDER’S GUIDE TO THE BEST OF MEXICO and working on a fun
memoir of my college days in Paris entitled GIRL MEETS PARIS.
Plus, I have the Mystery Ahead newsletter to keep me busy every month. Readership has been growing
like crazy and I’m really committed to putting out a quality product. Every
edition has something for both mystery readers and writers: writing protips,
books reviews, author interviews, etc.
Thanks so much for hosting
me. Readers are invited to join me at any of the links below:
