Author’s Choice with Jeff Tanner

Please welcome Jeff to Author’s Choice.

Dear readers, here’s where you get to play along. The author will tell us two truths and one lie (ed comment –I randomized the order). At the end of the questions, we’ll reveal what really happened. Remember, we write crime fiction, so lying is in our nature . . .

Two Truths, One Lie

Truth or Lie? I owned a race horse named Four Emily.

Truth or Lie? My wife is a bigger sports fan than I, so I write while she watches sports on TV.

Truth or Lie? I have four daughters/daughters-in-law named Emily.

Eight Quick Questions

Now for some fun insight into today’s author. Here are eight forced choice questions. 

1.          First draft: longhand, keyboard, or dictation? Strictly keyboard. I took typing back in high school – great advantage.

2.          Plotter, pantser, or plantser (that chaotic middle ground)? Pantser. If I can’t surprise myself, I get bored and so would the reader. I don’t know how the plotters do it, but I can’t tell the difference when I read someone else’s work!

3.          Editing as you go, or vomit draft first and fix it later? Edit as I go, and still fix a lot later!

4.          Writing snack: sweet, salty, or "I forget to eat"? I never forget to eat. Salty as a writing snack, but I have a sweet tooth.

5.          Character names: meticulously researched, stolen from real life, or whatever sounds right? For one book, I used names of men and women killed in action in WWI or WWII, but for The King’s Collar, whatever sounds right. Of course, for the historical characters like Joseph Kennedy, Charles Solomon, and Fred Allen, they already had names!

6.          Writing space: coffee shop chaos, library quiet, or home sweet home? Anywhere I am. Mostly at home, but I’ve written in hotel lobbies, in my car, on planes, in coffee shops, and anywhere I have my laptop and time.

7.          Writer's block: push through, step away, or "it's not real"? I’ve been lucky – I have so many things to work on, when I get stuck on one, I move to another until I’m unstuck. Like writing these responses is keeping me from forcing my way through a problem in a story and giving me the time I need to let it marinate. The right solution will come; I’m sure of it.

8.          Deadline approaching: calm and prepared, thriving on adrenaline, or full panic mode? Despite being a pantser, deadlines don’t scare me. I have a schedule, and keep to it so I’m generally calm and prepared.

About the Book

Enough about you, let’s turn to three questions about your book.

Q: If your main character in this novel showed up at your door right now, what would be the first thing they'd say to you (and would it be a complaint)?

A. “Thanks for not giving up on me.” There was one point in this journey when I was ready to give up on Charlie and his series. Every time I thought about it, his sad face appeared before me, eyes pleading with me not to quit. A big shout-out to Clair Lamb, an editor, who read through it and said to keep going, because Charlie is such “good company.”

Q: What's one thing you hope readers take away from this book?

A. That, with good friends and being a good friend, there’s always hope.

Q: What question did you want me to ask, and what is your answer? 

A. What is your motivation to write? It varies, but at the base, it’s because I have something I want to say.

     Whether it is a scientific journal article, a textbook, a book for practitioners, or a radio or podcast script, there’s someone I want to influence. Sometimes, I want to influence a specific group of people, other times I have a general reader in mind. Occasionally, I write for myself; for example, I have several murder mystery plays that I wrote just for fun. We get friends together and put them on for an audience, and everyone has a good time.

     I wrote “The Dame in the Doorway,” a short story for Celluloid Crime (Level Best), just to prove to myself I could publish fiction. I said at the outset that I’m a pantser (just for fiction – for non-fiction, I tend to rely on outlines) because I like not knowing what comes next but overarching themes, such as the importance of friendship that I mentioned earlier, are determined ahead of time (Jacqueline Winspear was my model for how to build themes into a murder mystery).

The Big Reveal

Now let’s see how good a sleuth (or guesser) our readers are. Please reveal all.

The lie is that I have four daughters/daughters-in-law named Emily. Our daughter is Emily, and our two oldest sons married Emilies so I have 3, but the youngest son is marrying an Erika next spring.

Four Emily, the racehorse, was named for our daughter, our two daughters-in-law, and my grandmother. And yes, my wife is the bigger sports fan. We have a family fantasy football league and she’s a fanatic. While she’s switching from game to game, I’ve got the headphones on and sit with her while working on my laptop. Her favorite team for all sports is Baylor University, where our oldest son played football and I taught for 27 years.

Here’s a blurb for and some links where you can find Jeff's latest:

Book Blurb forThe King's Collar

Boston, May 1929. Expelled from Harvard and disowned by his father, Charlie Bohannon is down to his last nickel when he stumbles across a chance at salvation: a priceless Egyptian statuette is hiding in the smoky recesses of a speakeasy. Learning it was stolen from a long ago expedition led by his college dean, he sees returning it as his only shot at redemption – but the plan shatters when the artifact goes missing and the man responsible is murdered.

From the corrupt halls of power where Joseph Kennedy pulls the strings to the seedy docks of the Atlantic, Charlie suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs of several dangerous men. They don’t want just the statue; they want its legendary counterpart, the jewel-encrusted King’s Collar. They think Charlie can find it. And they’ll happily kill for it.

Aided in his quest to find the King’s Collar by daring socialite Olivia and salty ex-sailor Punchy, Charlie plunges into a shadow game where killers hide in plain sight. When his friends are kidnapped, the hunt for the Collar becomes a race against time. In the cutthroat world of the Prohibition era, Charlie must find the treasure – or pay for it with their lives.

[Amazon]       Bookshop.org (Indy Bookstores)]       [Barnes & Noble]

Want to know more?

For more information about Jeff Turner https://authorjefftanner.com