#TuesdayTalk with Reed Farrel Coleman. His latest Gulliver Dowd Mystery, Love and Fear, is on shelves now.
Tell us a bit about your book.
Love and Fear is the fourth novel in my Gulliver Dowd series. In it, Gulliver is hired to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in New York’s Five Mafia Families. Oddly, it’s the Don’s bodyguard, a man who has had past run ins with Dowd, who hires Gulliver.
What was the catalyst for your story?
There has been a subplot running through the series about the murder of Gullvier’s sister Keisha, a NYPD patrol officer. The men who have hired Gulliver for this job are precisely the people who hold the key to solving Keisha’s murder.
What are the challenges of writing for or within a series?
You never want to repeat yourself and you must always be diligent about having your protagonist act in a consistent manner.
In your opinion, what makes a compelling story?
Conflict, relatable characters, high stakes.
Do you gravitate toward a certain genre or type of writing? Why?
Mystery and crime fiction. Because it’s what I was meant to write.
Tell us a little known or interesting fact about yourself.
I drove a home heating oil delivery truck in New York for seven years.
Called a “hard-boiled poet” by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan and “the noir poet laureate” in the Huffington Post, Reed Farrel Coleman has published fifteen novels. He is a three-time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best PI Novel of the Year and is a three-time Edgar Award nominee in three different categories. He is an adjunct instructor of English at Hofstra University and lives with his family on Long Island. For more information, visit www.reedcoleman.com.