1. When and why did you begin writing?

I became interested in writing as a teenager, at a time when I was reading a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels: J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov. Back then, when I thought about writing, I thought I would end up writing fantasy, since that was my favorite genre. But as a teenager I never really got beyond the idea stage. The first actual short stories I completed were written in college at Colgate University. At Colgate, I helped edit a literary magazine that published science fiction and fantasy, and my first stories were strange hybrids of fantasy and mystery. They were essentially mystery plots wrapped up in the trappings of fantasy, with swords and wizards, and all the rest.

2. What was the inspiration behind your debut novel BAD THINGS HAPPEN?

By the time I started writing BAD THINGS HAPPEN, I had already completed an earlier novel that remains unpublished. That first book was part crime novel, part romance, part coming-of age story, and it wound up being very long, over 800 pages in manuscript. So when I set out to write BAD THINGS HAPPEN, I wanted to do something more streamlined, more of a straightforward crime novel. The books I most like to read are fast-paced mystery/suspense novels that are driven by a lot of sharp dialogue, so that’s the kind of book I wanted to write. I had the idea for the central character, David Loogan, a man with a dark past that’s hinted at throughout the book, but only fully revealed near the end. And I had a background as a editor to draw on, although my work as an editor bears only the most superficial resemblance to Loogan’s job editing Gray Streets, the mystery magazine featured in the book. But those basic elements were what got the story going, and it grew from there.

3. How long did it take you to write BAD THINGS HAPPEN?

The actual writing took about fourteen or fifteen months, but I had been thinking about the book for several months before that – working on the characters and the storyline.

4. Tell us a little bit about your writing schedule.

I was working as a freelance editor when I wrote BAD THINGS HAPPEN, and I still do some freelance work now, although I’ve been able to cut back quite a bit. So typically I get whatever freelance work I have to do out of the way in the morning, and then devote the rest of the day to the business of writing. I tend to write five days a week, in the afternoon and evening. And usually I revise and rewrite as I go along, so that I write slowly but I produce a strong first draft. Which is not to say that I don’t go back and edit at the end of the process – in some cases quite extensively. 

5. David Loogan is an interesting character. He is very mysterious, but very loyal and kind. He also has a violent past that he is trying to forget. He is one of my most favorite characters that I’ve read in quite some time. Tell us a little bit about “the man who calls himself David Loogan”. Is he purely fictionalized or does he take after you or anyone you know? How did you create such a multi-dimensional character?

David Loogan is 38 years old, which is how old I was when I started writing BAD THINGS HAPPEN, and he works as an editor, which is a job I’ve done for most of my adult life. But that’s about the extent of his resemblance to me or to any actual person. As you mention, he has a violent past – specifically, there’s a violent incident in his past that I describe late in the book. And it’s clear that that incident has shaped his character. It has left him at a certain remove from other people. But at the same time, he’s someone who longs for human contact, for friendship. And in fact the friendship that develops between Loogan and Tom Kristoll, the publisher of Gray Streets, is what drives the plot of the novel.

6. BAD THINGS HAPPEN has so many twists and turns in the plot. Did you have to prepare a full outline before you started writing or did you write where your muse took you each day?

I had a fairly detailed outline before I wrote even the first sentence of the book. And by that I mean I had the major plot twists worked out. But of course that leaves plenty of room for day-to-day inspiration. So I was discovering new things every day as I wrote, and the specific scenes came to me gradually. That is, I certainly didn’t know in advance where any particular scene was going to take me.

7. What was the hardest part of writing BAD THINGS HAPPEN? Did you find any part of it particularly challenging?

I find that writing dialogue comes easiest for me, and I sometimes have to labor more over description or exposition. And of course it’s a challenge to keep all the details straight sometimes, especially when you’re dealing with multiple characters and storylines, but that’s where a detailed timeline comes in handy.

8. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about BAD THINGS HAPPEN?

When I wrote the book, I envisioned it as a stand-alone novel, rather than as part of a series. But several people who read the novel early on thought that David Loogan would make a good series character, and I’ve come around to that point of view. If I could change one thing, I might have given more thought at the outset to how the character might develop through a series of books. I could have planted certain ideas in BAD THINGS HAPPEN that might be developed in later books. 

9. If you could pick any actor and actress, dead or alive, to play David Loogan and Detective Elizabeth Waishkey in a BAD THINGS HAPPEN movie, who would you pick and why?

I’m terrible at answering this sort of question, but if I had to pick … maybe Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts? I think they’d be good at the kind of sly humor that the roles require.

10. Can you tell us what writing projects you are currently working on?

I’ve just finished writing a sequel to BAD THINGS HAPPEN that features David Loogan, Elizabeth Waishkey, and several minor characters from the first book. I’ve gotten comments from my editor and I’m working on revising the manuscript. The title is VERY BAD MEN.

11. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I read a lot, of course, and I also enjoy hiking and photography.

12. What boo
k are you currently reading?

The King of Lies, by John Hart. I discovered Hart earlier this year, when he won the Edgar award for best novel (for his book The Last Child). 

13. Who are your favorite authors?

Some of them are Lawrence Block, Gregory Mcdonald, Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, and Harlan Coben. I also really like Tana French, someone I’ve recently discovered. And of course, I like classic mystery writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

14. If you had to interview yourself, what question would you ask and how would you answer it?

I might ask, “How do you hope to get away with writing a mystery series where all the books have the word ‘Bad’ in the title? Won’t that be an irresistible temptation for hostile critics?” Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer for this question.

15. Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Just that I’m very grateful to all the readers who have taken the time to drop me a note to let me know that they enjoyed BAD THINGS HAPPEN. Writing is a solitary occupation, so it’s always a pleasure to get feedback from readers.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions! I am anxiously awaiting your next novel, which I hear features my favorite character again!! I’m so thrilled! When might we expect to see Mr. Loogan again?

Look for VERY BAD MEN in the summer of 2011.

Thanks Mr. Dolan! And congratulations on the success of your novel! It is well deserved!

Thank you.

The man who calls himself David Loogan is hoping to escape a violent past by living a quiet, anonymous life in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  But when he’s hired as an editor at a mystery magazine, he is drawn into an affair with the sleek blond wife of the publisher, Tom Kristoll – a man who soon turns up dead.

Elizabeth Waishkey is the most talented detective in the Ann Arbor Police Department, but even she doesn’t know if Loogan is a killer or an ally who might help her find the truth.  As more deaths start mounting up – some of them echoing stories published in the magazine – it’s up to Elizabeth to solve both the murders and the mystery of Loogan himself.  (back cover blurb)

Click here to purchase a copy of BAD THINGS HAPPEN from Amazon! 

If you are reading this anywhere other than a feed reader, then this is not original content and was taken without permission from Crazy-for-Books.