Recently I sat down with Thomas Kaufman to talk about his debut novel, Drink the Tea.
Your book, Drink the Tea, won the PWA's Best First Private Eye Novel Competition. What's that all about?
Each year, the Private Eye Writers of America and St Martin's Press choose one previously unpublished private eye writer who stands out from the rest. A person who has written a mystery so ground-breaking, so sensational, that they can't help but succeed.
Unfortunately, they couldn't find anyone like that, so they settled for me.
Can you give us a sneak preview of Drink the Tea?
Growing up without parents or a home, Willis Gidney is a born liar and rip-off artist, an expert at the scam. By age twelve Gidney is a successful young man, running his own small empire, until he meets Shadrack Davies. That's Captain Shadrack Davies, of the Washington, D.C. Police. Davies wants to reform Gidney and becomes his foster father. Though he tries not to, Gidney learns a small amount of ethics from Shad--just enough to bother a kid from the streets for the rest of his life.
Now Gidney's a PI, walking those same streets. So it's no surprise that when Gidney's closest friend, jazz saxophonist Steps Jackson, asks him to find Jackson's missing daughter, Gidney is compelled to say yes--even though she's been missing for twenty-five years. He finds a woman who may be the girl's mother--and within hours she is killed by persons unknown. The police accuse Gidney of the murder and throw him in jail.
Maybe Gidney should quit while he's behind. But when his investigation puts him up against a ruthless multi-national corporation, a two-faced congressman, and a young woman desperate to conceal her past, Gidney has no time left for second thoughts. In fact, he may have no time left at all.
Given my addiction to the beverage, I'd probably buy any book called Drink the Tea. Was that the idea behind the title of the book â€" to appeal to nonstop tea drinkers like me? If not, where did the title come from?
It began with a hefty bribe from Lipton's.
Actually, it began when two friends of mine had a Zen tea ceremony at their wedding. I enjoyed it, then later began reading the poetry of Rikyu. I used some of his poetry as a unifying thread in the book. Drinking the tea becomes, for Gidney, something more than enjoying a beverage.
What kind of research did you do for the book?
Research? People research their books?
I suppose some of it was done before I started writing. There's a lot about the homeless in Drink the Tea, and I had shot an Academy Award-nominated feature documentary about the homeless, and spent time with folks who lived their lives on the street. I filmed with Mitch Snyder, an advocate for the homeless who went on a hunger strike to force Congress to find funds for a shelter in DC. I've also shot with homeless veterans. What I've learned is that anyone can wind up on the streets. The distance between where you are right now and living on the street is shorter than you might imagine.
Another component was a good friend of mine who went through the DC juvenile justice system. Her stories fascinated me, and became the inspiration for some of the events in the book. She also introduced me to a former cop who now works for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. He gave me a lot of great information. And I got to talk at length with Washington Post reporters Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham. Their series on Brianna Blackmond was a real eye-opener.
Steve Hamilton says Drink the Tea is "fast and funny." How do you write funny?
You start by writing something really sad, then just reverse the words.
Willis Gidney's sense of humor helped him survive the childhood from hell. It's a coping mechanism. At the spur of the moment, he comes up with these quips -- I wish I could do that.
Two series that I love to read are Donald Westlake's books about John Dortmunder, and Lawrence Block's about Bernie Rhodenbarr. So maybe, just possibly, from reading these great books, some of it has rubbed off on me. I'd like to think so.
Why does a nice cinematographer like you want to get into the dirty business of writing books?
Beats me. I thought when I first got into this racket it would be easy, but I've never worked harder in my life.
As a cinematographer, I spend a lot of time in airplanes and hotel rooms. It really began to get to me, I felt like I was wasting large chunks of my life. I decided I wanted to find a constructive use for that time.
Also, I've shot and directed films for Discovery and National Geographic, many of them about cops, FBI, and DEA agents. Most of these guys are born story-tellers. All the time I was shooting, I heard great stories. This helped me as a crime writer.
Any similarities between filming and writing?
Absolutely. Story-telling lies at the root of both. Whether a person writes a mystery novel or shoots a documentary, it's all about story. Our love of story is something that's hard-wired into our DNA. Always has been.
My experience as a writer sharpens my sense of story. This is one of the most valuable assets I bring to a film set. When I'm shooting something, I know to look for the important details. This is especially important in documentary, when events are unfolding in real time.
Because I spend lots of time seeing things through a viewfinder, I tend to think in pictures. And when I write a scene, I try to visualize it, what's happening, what are the revealing details. How is this character moving, what's their body language? What are they saying, and more importantly, what are they not saying?
If you write about a private eye in D.C., you'll inevitably be compared to George Pelecanos. So let's hear it directly from you. How do you compare?
Well, let's start with full disclosure: George has been a tremendous help to me, giving me advice and encouragement all the way through. He's a great guy, in addition to being a great writer.
As to comparisons, I'd say George is a Camaro 396 with a four-on-the-floor Hurst shifter. I'm a VW. One of the old ones.
Is there anything you want a reader to take away from the book beyond a few hours entertainment (which, of course, is plenty)?
I'm happy if someone enjoys my writing. All books need to entertain, in the sense that entertaining someone means that you're able to hold their attention. If you can't do that, you better start over.
I can't say with any certainty what a reader might take away with them after they finish Drink the Tea. Sometimes I'll read a book, and days later I'm still thinking about the characters. Somehow the writer has made them come alive in my mind. I hope people respond that way to Drink the Tea.
I noticed you are kicking off your tour at Foul Play Books in Westerville, Ohio, the same place I kicked off mine last October and a great store. (Say hi to John and Toni.) For me the reason was that my brother lives in nearby Columbus. Why are you starting there?
It's my mom's fault. She lives in Cleveland, so I have to sign there. I met John and Toni at Bouchercon, and we hit it off. They were interested in having me sign at Foul Play, and since I was in the neighborhood, why not? Also, my brother lives in Cincinnati, so it's a chance to get together and complain about the Cincinnati Reds.
What's next for you? Is there another adventure for Willis Gidney coming?
Well, for those folks who can't seem to learn their lesson, I've recently finished the next Gidney story. The working title is Son of An Elephant. It deals with three impossible Hollywood types moving into DC and making Gidney's life miserable. I lived in L.A. for years, so I enjoyed using some of that in this new book. I hope other people enjoy it too.
Keith Raffel has held a top secret clearance to watch over CIA activities and has founded an award-winning Internet software company. Steve Berry called Keith's latest book, Smasher: A Silicon Valley Thriller, "taut, tight, and suspenseful" and said it "skillfully carries the reader triumphantly from one climax to the next."
