Don Bruns' sixth Mick Sever novel, Bahama Burnout, will be in stores this month. I have met Don a few times, and he is as much fun and as entertaining as one might expect. Here are some questions I had for him and his answers.Your six titles relate to the locations of where your Mick Sever novels take place. I have some questions on your locale choices. How do you pick the locale of your story?
Michael...come on! You live and write about Key West. It's that simple. Pick a place you want to spend time in...visit and do your research, then write about it. Then try to deduct as much of the trip as possible. In the name of research. Jamaica Blue, Barbados Heat, South Beach Shakedown, St. Barts Breakdown, Bahama Burnout. I had to do the research. I hated it, but had to do it.
Since the music business is the background for Mick, how authentic are the problems/challenges Mick encounters in these various surroundings? (How dangerous is the music industry?)
Every story I've written about Mick Sever is based in reality. St. Barts Breakdown was (very loosely) based on the Phil Spector story. Bahama Burnout is based on a recording studio in Telluride, Colorado that burned to the ground. South Beach Shakedown was based on a mob that controlled 60s and 70s singer Jackie Wilson. Is there a criminal element in the music business? You'd better believe it. Is it dangerous? Hell yes.
Is it possible that there will be a Mick Sever novel taking place on all the Lesser Antilles? (And, if so, do you need help with the research, because I have some free time on my hands and I don't eat much?)
I've got three islands mapped out before the Lesser Antilles. But if I need an assistant, you'll be the first person I'll call. I like the cigars you carry with you.
Speaking of research, how much do you do concerning the location of your story and its music industry?
I want the reader to feel like they've visited the island. I want to offer the reader a $3,000 vacation for just $24.95. I visit the island (doing all the work for the reader) and try to give you a very romantic, factual, detailed look at the island and its inhabitants.
Now I have some questions about your writing and characters. All kidding aside, your books are well plotted and fast paced. How do you write them? Do you use an outline, index cards, or a storyboard? What is your writing schedule like?
I don't outline, I don't use index cards, and I don't know how to storyboard. I used to have a schedule, then I ran into contract deadlines. I write to deadline. I have an idea where the story is going to go. After visiting the island, I have a different idea of where the story is going to go. And half way through the book the characters have their own idea of where the story is going to go. Often times (as with most writers), I have to go back and add characters, scenes, and sometimes geography to support the tale's direction. I have yet to find one author whose process replicates another author. Everyone has their own process.
You probably get tired of this question, but where do you get your ideas? I ask because you've established a character from the Midwest who writes about music, so you have readers who might be discouraged if Mick and his ex-wife Ginny tried to get their romance back on track with a cruise to Alaska. Assuming you keep using the islands for locale, how hard/easy is it for you to come up with the ideas?
I've got so many ideas going in my head, I'm writing four books at once. ( True!) I get ideas from the newspaper, from TV, from days I spent as an entertainer on the road, from friends and people I don't even know. The other day I met a priest on a flight from Sarasota to Baltimore. I got an idea from him. A flight to Miami gave me an idea for the book out this fall...Stuff To Spy For. The ideas don't ever stop.
When you wrote Jamaica Blue, did you know it was going to lead to a series? If so, how and if not, how'd it turn into one?
I did. I wanted to write about the entertainment scene, but I couldn't have a guitar player solving crimes. So I settled on a music/entertainment journalist. He can have an endless number of dangerous encounters and I feel that an investigative reporter is a very plausible character.
Bahama Burnout is the sixth in the series, is it getting easier or more difficult to write about Mick and Ginny? Have you thought about writing a standalone novel?
Library Journal did a review on Bahama Burnout in which they concluded "Another great read from an under-appreciated mystery author." It's official...I'm under-appreciated. I've been writing Mick and Ginny Sever for almost 10 years. They are a part of my life but even though I know them intimately, they are constantly surprising me. I love them, my readers love them..., but for some reason we are all under-appreciated. I'm writing a standalone right now. It's titled Replay, and although it's fiction, it's not a mystery.
You have a background in advertising, you write songs and have played on stage, how much do you draw on this in your writing?
You know, copy writing for an agency teaches you how to edit three hundred pages of material into a thirty second spot...keeping the romance, the information, and the crispness. It's fabulous training when you're going to write a novel. I have a pretty good understanding of the entertainment industry because of my time on the road, and I rely on that time heavily.
With your background, how'd you get into writing mysteries?
I grew up on the Hardy Boys. And when I was 12, I wrote my first mystery short story. I sent it to Alfred Hitchcock Magazine. They promptly sent it back. However, the seed was sown and I was hooked.
What was the hardest thing you ran into, in the storyline, when writing Bahama Burnout?
Deciding to tie a convent of nuns (who helped me with the story) into the theme. I can't explain it, but I was a little nervous about bringing them into the novel. But it wouldn't have worked without them. They are a very small group, with a very large mission...taking care of children who have been all but abandoned. And there is a severely scarred burn victim in the story. I had a difficult time understanding how a disfigured person acts and thinks.
I really enjoy your bad guys because they come across as believable. Assuming you don't hang around with cut throats and thieves (or do you?) how hard is it for you make them believable?
In St. Barts Breakdown (a story loosely based on Phil Spector's trials and tribulations), I read the biographies of John Belushi, John Lennon, Brian Wilson and Jim Morrison. I wouldn't recommend a back-to-back reading. According to the written stories, these guys were drug addled, mind numb zombies. I wanted to capture that for the character of Danny Murtz. I have someone in mind when I describe my villains, but almost always the bad guy takes over and tells me what they are like. I end up simply being the scribe.
You've had five books before Bahama Burnout, so you've done book tours and must have a funny antidote or two about things that have happened while touring. Want to share one?
Often times a reader will start a philosophical discussion about a character or plot. When I first started engaging these folks, I would find myself saying... "No, that was not my intention at all." I could see the disappointment on the reader's face. So now, I'll say... "Very interesting observation. I'm surprised and impressed you picked up on that."
Has anyone approached you about a TV series or movie based on your novels?
Yes. A very famous actor read half of one of my novels on a flight to the east coast and is interested in pursuing it. An author friend who has written a number of screen plays (and had five movies produced) is pushing for another series that I write.
I have to ask, what is going on with Ginny? If you kill her, some fans are never going to forgive you; if she and Mick get back together, ditto. So what do you do?
Ginny is Mick Sever's ex-wife. She is a strong willed woman, who helps Mick with his cases, but also knows how to push his buttons. In Bahama Burnout, she fades from the picture, but I can't see that lasting. She will continue to be his best friend and a thorn in his side.
Didn't you just win an award at a convention in Nashville? Your books have won some other awards, too. Tell us about them.
Forward Magazine gave me the best mystery/thriller award for Stuff To Die For. I won Killer Nashville's Silver Falcion Award last year for best mystery, and won the Indy National Award for Stuff To Die For. USA Books gave me best mystery for Stuff To Die For.
In a nutshell, what can the reader expect when he/she picks up Bahama Burnout?
A friend told me this story about a recording studio in Telluride, Colorado. I moved the story to the Bahamas. He told me that this studio burned under mysterious circumstances...and when it was rebuilt, strange things started to happen. Tapes were erased, guitars were destroyed overnight, and when I asked him how it all happened he gave me a funny look and said "I don't know. You're the writer...you figure it out." So I did. The reader will hear the story...then follow along with Mick. They'll learn, just like I did, how this ghostly situation resolves itself. I think it may be the best Sever story yet. Again, based on a true story. Ripped from the headlines if you will.
I suppose that if we knew where you vacationed this winter, we'd know the locale of your next book. Is a hint out of the question?
Left Coast Crime in Hawaii. But I don't know if Sever wants to leave the Caribbean just yet.
Michael Haskins spent five years as the business editor/writer for the daily Key West Citizen and then another five years as the city's public information officer. His first book, Chasin' the Wind, has sold out of its first printing and its sequel, Free Range Institution, is at the publishers. He is currently writing the third in his Mad Mick Murphy Mystery series, Car Wash Blues.
I've got so many ideas going in my head, I'm writing four books at once. ( True!) I get ideas from the newspaper, from TV, from days I spent as an entertainer on the road, from friends and people I don't even know. The other day I met a priest on a flight from Sarasota to Baltimore. I got an idea from him. A flight to Miami gave me an idea for the book out this fall...Stuff To Spy For. The ideas don't ever stop.
When you wrote Jamaica Blue, did you know it was going to lead to a series? If so, how and if not, how'd it turn into one?
I did. I wanted to write about the entertainment scene, but I couldn't have a guitar player solving crimes. So I settled on a music/entertainment journalist. He can have an endless number of dangerous encounters and I feel that an investigative reporter is a very plausible character.Bahama Burnout is the sixth in the series, is it getting easier or more difficult to write about Mick and Ginny? Have you thought about writing a standalone novel?
Library Journal did a review on Bahama Burnout in which they concluded "Another great read from an under-appreciated mystery author." It's official...I'm under-appreciated. I've been writing Mick and Ginny Sever for almost 10 years. They are a part of my life but even though I know them intimately, they are constantly surprising me. I love them, my readers love them..., but for some reason we are all under-appreciated. I'm writing a standalone right now. It's titled Replay, and although it's fiction, it's not a mystery.
You have a background in advertising, you write songs and have played on stage, how much do you draw on this in your writing?
You know, copy writing for an agency teaches you how to edit three hundred pages of material into a thirty second spot...keeping the romance, the information, and the crispness. It's fabulous training when you're going to write a novel. I have a pretty good understanding of the entertainment industry because of my time on the road, and I rely on that time heavily.
With your background, how'd you get into writing mysteries?
I grew up on the Hardy Boys. And when I was 12, I wrote my first mystery short story. I sent it to Alfred Hitchcock Magazine. They promptly sent it back. However, the seed was sown and I was hooked.
What was the hardest thing you ran into, in the storyline, when writing Bahama Burnout?
Deciding to tie a convent of nuns (who helped me with the story) into the theme. I can't explain it, but I was a little nervous about bringing them into the novel. But it wouldn't have worked without them. They are a very small group, with a very large mission...taking care of children who have been all but abandoned. And there is a severely scarred burn victim in the story. I had a difficult time understanding how a disfigured person acts and thinks.
I really enjoy your bad guys because they come across as believable. Assuming you don't hang around with cut throats and thieves (or do you?) how hard is it for you make them believable?
In St. Barts Breakdown (a story loosely based on Phil Spector's trials and tribulations), I read the biographies of John Belushi, John Lennon, Brian Wilson and Jim Morrison. I wouldn't recommend a back-to-back reading. According to the written stories, these guys were drug addled, mind numb zombies. I wanted to capture that for the character of Danny Murtz. I have someone in mind when I describe my villains, but almost always the bad guy takes over and tells me what they are like. I end up simply being the scribe.
You've had five books before Bahama Burnout, so you've done book tours and must have a funny antidote or two about things that have happened while touring. Want to share one?
Often times a reader will start a philosophical discussion about a character or plot. When I first started engaging these folks, I would find myself saying... "No, that was not my intention at all." I could see the disappointment on the reader's face. So now, I'll say... "Very interesting observation. I'm surprised and impressed you picked up on that."
Has anyone approached you about a TV series or movie based on your novels?
Yes. A very famous actor read half of one of my novels on a flight to the east coast and is interested in pursuing it. An author friend who has written a number of screen plays (and had five movies produced) is pushing for another series that I write.
I have to ask, what is going on with Ginny? If you kill her, some fans are never going to forgive you; if she and Mick get back together, ditto. So what do you do?
Ginny is Mick Sever's ex-wife. She is a strong willed woman, who helps Mick with his cases, but also knows how to push his buttons. In Bahama Burnout, she fades from the picture, but I can't see that lasting. She will continue to be his best friend and a thorn in his side.
Didn't you just win an award at a convention in Nashville? Your books have won some other awards, too. Tell us about them.
Forward Magazine gave me the best mystery/thriller award for Stuff To Die For. I won Killer Nashville's Silver Falcion Award last year for best mystery, and won the Indy National Award for Stuff To Die For. USA Books gave me best mystery for Stuff To Die For.
In a nutshell, what can the reader expect when he/she picks up Bahama Burnout?
A friend told me this story about a recording studio in Telluride, Colorado. I moved the story to the Bahamas. He told me that this studio burned under mysterious circumstances...and when it was rebuilt, strange things started to happen. Tapes were erased, guitars were destroyed overnight, and when I asked him how it all happened he gave me a funny look and said "I don't know. You're the writer...you figure it out." So I did. The reader will hear the story...then follow along with Mick. They'll learn, just like I did, how this ghostly situation resolves itself. I think it may be the best Sever story yet. Again, based on a true story. Ripped from the headlines if you will.
I suppose that if we knew where you vacationed this winter, we'd know the locale of your next book. Is a hint out of the question?
Left Coast Crime in Hawaii. But I don't know if Sever wants to leave the Caribbean just yet.
Michael Haskins spent five years as the business editor/writer for the daily Key West Citizen and then another five years as the city's public information officer. His first book, Chasin' the Wind, has sold out of its first printing and its sequel, Free Range Institution, is at the publishers. He is currently writing the third in his Mad Mick Murphy Mystery series, Car Wash Blues.
