I’ve always been attracted to the amateur protagonist, at least partly because I was very impressed at a young age with Travis McGee, John D. McDonald’s creation, who solved crimes and helped victims without having any sort of legal or official standing.
The first entry in my Elder Darrow series is called Solo Act.
When I started planning the series, I envisioned a series of titles with the word “Solo” in each, as a way to tie the series together. Solo Act is an amateur sleuth mystery. Elder Darrow is a bartender, not a cop or any other kind of law enforcement officer and the initial mystery he solves is very personal.
As part of my checkered past, I spent a lot of time tending bar in both classy and seedy places. You can’t be a bartender for long without realizing that behind all those faces are stories you can’t even imagine. And being a bartender allows you to be a sort of voyeur of those stories. I also spent a lot of time bouncing around jazz clubs in my youth and wanted to capture some of the flavor of that music for readers. And as a native of Boston, I wanted to catch some of my love for the city, its institutions, and its inhabitants.
Elder Darrow is the son of a Boston Brahmin whose family has been in the banking business in Boston since just after the Revolutionary War. He attended prep school at Exeter and college at Harvard but he became an alcoholic before he worked out any professional path for himself. His father would have liked him to go into the banking business but until Elder can prove he can stay sober, that’s not going to be possible. And Elder himself isn’t sure that’s what he wants.
He’s bought the Esposito, a bucket of blood bar in Boston’s South End, with the idea that he will gentrify it, turn it into a jazz nightclub. His working assumption is that by being around alcohol and drinkers all the time, he’ll inoculate himself against his addiction.
Unfortunately, Five Star, the publisher of Solo Act, made a decision not to publish any more mysteries, so it looks as if the series will be temporarily halted while I look for a new publisher. Having been lucky enough to have a book published once, I’ve learned quickly that the publishing business is extremely quirky and unpredictable. No one seems to know how to create success, which is why established writers get most of the advance money and if your first two or three books don’t sell well, you’re at a disadvantage. Still, for anyone who loves books and writing, the thrill of seeing your name on a cover outweighs almost anything
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You can order the Solo Act hardcover from any independent bookstore that buys books from major national distributors like Ingram or Baker and Taylor. Solo Act is also available in e-book and hardcover formats from Amazon.com and in hardcover from BarnesandNoble.com. For five or more copies for readings, book signings, or reading groups, the publisher provides a discount code for direct ordering.
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Richard Cass began writing as a poet but slowly became enamored of the possibilities of prose: first short stories, then novels. He graduated from Colby College in Maine and earned an MA in Writing from the University of New Hampshire. His short fiction has won prizes from magazines like Redbook, Writers’ Digest, and Playboy. His first collection of stories is called Gleam of Bone. Solo Act is the first in the Elder Darrow mystery series.
He is a native of Boston and a Mainer by choice and holds an MA in Writing from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied with Thomas Williams and Joseph Monninger. He’s also studied with Molly Gloss, Ursula LeGuin, and Ernest Hebert.
How intriguing! I wonder if this “inoculation” will work? I wonder what the mystery is? Guess I’ll have to read the book to find out! I think most of us are drawn to the amateur sleuth – readers are naturally drawn to characters that let them imagine themselves in their shoes. Most of us don’t have the formal training or background, so we relate to the amateur.
And what a poignant insight into the publishing process. It takes time to birth a book, but far less time for the industry (or some key component of it, in the case of your publisher deciding not to publish any more mysteries) to change dramatically.
I feel badly for all of us who have written mysteries for Five Star/Cengage. I just want to point out that one good way to support our authors is by requesting novels like Richard’s at your local library. It doesn’t cost a dime and readers get to enjoy first-rate mystery fiction.
This is a great idea, especially if you have a very cooperative library system as we have in our area. I try not to overdo my suggestions, but I’ve had very good luck with the purchases I request.
Five Star does seem to do a pretty good job of getting titles into the libraries. I found my book in three in Maine before I started going around and asking local libraries to think about ordering . .
Good luck on your search for a new publisher, you might consider taking on that job too. It’s worked for quite a few. If you’re good at marketing, then you’ll have it made.
All the best with your series, sounds as though you’ve got a great start!
Thanks, Yolanda. I am thinking about the notion of self-publishing. My agent doesn’t hold a lot of hope for selling a series that started with another publisher, even one that isn’t publishing mysteries any more.
You’ve learned way too fast how quirky this business is. But don’t let it get you down. Persistence is a necessary quality of being a writer. Your protagonist sounds wonderful, so I’m sure he’ll find another home.
Thanks, Maris! None of this is getting me down–I’m grateful to have gotten at least one book into print! Against the odds, yes?
(I’m also grateful I’m not trying to make a living at this . . .)
What an interesting discussion, both on the amateur sleuth and on the publishing situation, particularly for first-time authors. Elder Darrow sounds like an interesting character, too, and I hope you’ll find a new publisher.
Thanks! So do I . .
I think the first-time authors got hit especially hard by the Five Star decision. It’s hard to sell an established series, but we’re all facing that challenge now. Good luck with your series, and especially with your first book.
Thanks, Susan. There were so many good books coming out of the Five Star mystery side that I’m mystified about the decision but then most of what happens in the publishing world seems contra-business sense . .
Great interview!
Sounds like a really good read.
Good luck and God’s blessings
PamT
Thanks, Pam!