I have a lawyer friend who reads (and reviews) just about every legal thriller there is. I once asked him for his top five of all time, and on that list was Compelling Evidence by Steve Martini. 
Indeed, Martini is one of the recognized masters of the legal thriller. Since his first novel, The Simeon Chamber, appeared in 1987, Martini has continued to write critically acclaimed novels, most of which feature criminal defense attorney Paul Madriani.But it took a few years after Martini's debut for Madriani to make his.
"I had a contract in hand for a second novel," Martini says, "and that tends to provide confidence, since an editor and publisher have shown they believe in you, and that's contagious. I knew I could produce marketable fiction, but my problem was that I was writing on the side and held a day-job (practicing law) to pay the bills. It was the success of Compelling Evidence that allowed me to write full time and made it possible for me to become a professional author."
Being free to write full time, however, did mean Martini thought he knew all there was about page-turning fiction.
"The fact is that I am always learning, and continue to learn with each manuscript I write. To date I have written thirteen novels, an unlucky number to retire on, so I will keep going. Of this number, three books have been non-series, stand-alone thrillers and ten have been part of the Paul Madriani series.
"One of the things I learned over the years was that the voice (first person active) that I had used in the Madriani series was becoming far too confining as the series progressed. I learned that I enjoyed the freedom of the omniscient point of view that I used in the non-series stories. So Revelation, the most recent Madriani book, incorporates first person active voice in Madriani scenes, and omniscient third person point of view in those scenes in which Madriani is not present. It worked wonderfully and readers will have a chance to see the result in my forthcoming novel Guardian of Lies."
I asked Martini how extensively he pre-planned Paul Madriani's personal evolution over the course of the series. And how does he keep the character fresh from book to book?
"Paul has gotten older. His daughter has grown up within the stories. I'm not sure that I ever planned this or even thought about it, but the span and arc of his life seemed to mirror my own pretty closely. Perhaps the greatest attempt to freshen his life comes in the most recent work Guardian of Lies in which Madriani leaves the courtroom for a substantial portion of the story. There is much more action, and suspense due to the change of voice and point of view. It is one thing to surprise people with a twist in court or some form of legal jeopardy for Paul or his client. It is another to put his life at risk or the lives of other characters wherein the reader actually witnesses the consequence of violence as is the case in Guardian."
So what is a typical writing day in the life of Steve Martini?
"I tend to do a great deal of research for all of my books and then write the actual manuscript in a very compressed period of time. My manuscripts, which are fairly long (130,000 to 150,000 words) are produced in final form in a period of between four and five months. For this reason my writing day is very long and often stretches from late morning until late into the night and as the deadline approaches often into the wee hours of the morning. It can be very intense, but I find that plots that are intricate and involved with numerous twists are often best crafted in a more compressed time frame. It's easier to retain mastery over all of the complex story elements."
Martini's Guardian of Lies is due out in hardcover on July 8, 2009.
James Scott Bell is the
author of Deceived (Zondervan), Try Dying and Try Darkness
(Hachette/Center Street), as well as two bestselling books on the craft
of fiction. His website is www.jamesscottbell.com
I asked Martini how extensively he pre-planned Paul Madriani's personal evolution over the course of the series. And how does he keep the character fresh from book to book?"Paul has gotten older. His daughter has grown up within the stories. I'm not sure that I ever planned this or even thought about it, but the span and arc of his life seemed to mirror my own pretty closely. Perhaps the greatest attempt to freshen his life comes in the most recent work Guardian of Lies in which Madriani leaves the courtroom for a substantial portion of the story. There is much more action, and suspense due to the change of voice and point of view. It is one thing to surprise people with a twist in court or some form of legal jeopardy for Paul or his client. It is another to put his life at risk or the lives of other characters wherein the reader actually witnesses the consequence of violence as is the case in Guardian."
So what is a typical writing day in the life of Steve Martini?
"I tend to do a great deal of research for all of my books and then write the actual manuscript in a very compressed period of time. My manuscripts, which are fairly long (130,000 to 150,000 words) are produced in final form in a period of between four and five months. For this reason my writing day is very long and often stretches from late morning until late into the night and as the deadline approaches often into the wee hours of the morning. It can be very intense, but I find that plots that are intricate and involved with numerous twists are often best crafted in a more compressed time frame. It's easier to retain mastery over all of the complex story elements."
Martini's Guardian of Lies is due out in hardcover on July 8, 2009.
James Scott Bell is the
author of Deceived (Zondervan), Try Dying and Try Darkness
(Hachette/Center Street), as well as two bestselling books on the craft
of fiction. His website is www.jamesscottbell.com
