FAQ's for Blood Atonement

1.) What was the inspiration for the book?
A friend of mine who owns a small publishing company in Montana introduced me to a mystery series, actually three series, written by a Scottish author, Gerald Hammond. Hammond's mysteries revolve around blood sports: hunting, fishing, and the breeding of gun dogs. There was no comparable American series. Armed with that idea I began thinking about the central character. Dahlgren Wallace is a river keeper for Fred Lather, a media billionaire. This gives him the opportunity to travel and thus be involved in a number of adventures. I didn't want to keep killing people in the fair city of Bozeman.

2.) How long did it take you to write Blood Atonement?
I wrote the first draft in just under three months. There was about six months of research and preparation before I wrote the first word, but once that first word is down, I am fairly disciplined. Parts of the book were written in Palm Springs, Alaska, and Julian, CA. I also wrote part of it in a great deli in La Mesa, CA and on airplanes. There have, however, been nine major revisions.

3.) What was your most challenging revision?
My agent, Don Gastwirth shopped the book around the major publishing houses in New York City. We had the opportunity and the privilege to have lunch with Sara Ann Freed, an Edgar Award Winning editor. She loved everything about the book with the exception of the main character. I tried to craft Dahlgren as an "everyman" and I guess I had succeeded to my detriment. She suggested that I make Dahlgren edgier and she asked that I provide more backstory. What was remarkable about this meeting was that Sara Ann was dying of leukemia, yet she took the time to nurture and improve my book. I am grateful and humbled by her selfless contribution.

4.) How did you do that?
One of my best friends, John Lovasz, a fellow Naval Academy graduate and avid mystery reader, actually wrote a two-page analysis of the book. John was one of the early readers of my first draft. It was his idea to make Dahlgren a Gulf War veteran. This had a profound impact on the character and the book.

5.) Readers seem fascinated on how writers actually write. Can you tell us how you write?
I write the in the morning, before or after I visit the gym. I do write, longhand, on pads I buy from Levenger's. My goal is a thousand words for each day. Later in the day I will transcribe what I have written onto the computer, a first loose edit. When the chapter is completed I do an intense edit, print it out and then read it to my wife, Lynn. I listen to her comments and criticisms and then apply those to the text. In the course of writing the first draft I write seven days a week. When I wrote Blood Atonement I think I missed only a handful of days, and I completed the first draft in just under three months.

6.) You mentioned earlier that you did six months of research before you began writing. Tell us about that research.
I read about 3,000 pages on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including biographies of Joseph Smith, Orrin Porter Rockwell and John Doyle Lee. I also became fascinated with the Salt Lake City bombing murders and they play a role in the book. I was a Navy officer, so I had to do some research about our brother service, the United States Marines, and their elite Force Recon. Additionally, I read quite a bit on the Hutterites, an Anabaptist religious sect that has a presence in Montana. Then there were some fairly arcane things to discover. For example, what could bison eat that would cause the calves to die but only sicken adult animals? What are the effects of being hit with a 625,000 volt stun gun? Actually, I enjoy the research.

7.) Some of the secondary characters are quite interesting. Tell us about them.
One of my favorite characters in Sy Schwartzwald, the proprietor of The Cowboy Vey Deli. Sy is a retired professor of comparative religion who moves from New York City to Bozeman. Like Sy says in the book, his claim to fame "is introducing a decent bagel and schmear to Montana. That, and klezmer music." Then there's Mordecai Shames, the taciturn ranch boss on the Carved L. Saying seven words in an entire evening is a verbal explosion for him. He is a capable, tough ranch hand. Rusty "Tatum" O'Neill is perhaps the most intriguing character to me, because he was only a punch line in an early chapter. He was the weak-armed quarterback of the Montana State University Bobcats when Dahlgren played tight end for the team. But Tatum sort of worked his way back into the book. He makes a number of appearances and has a big role in moving the plot forward.

8.) Dahlgren Wallace, your main character, is a river keeper and fly fishing guide. Does someone have to be a fly fisher to enjoy the book?
Absolutely not! I have always enjoyed fiction where I learned something. You don't have to be a lignite miner to enjoy Zorba the Greek nor do you need to be an expert in symbols to enjoy The DaVinci Code. Both books educate the reader. My sister-in-law, Betty, who doesn't fish, thought those were some of most lyrical and best written passages in the book.

9.) Who do you read?
I read over 100 books a year and my tastes are rather eclectic. I read "serious" fiction, biographies, histories, business books, and, of course, mysteries. In terms of mystery series I really have enjoyed Ian Rankin's Inspector John Rebus series, Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder novels, the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly, and the early Dave Robichaeux novels by James Lee Burke. I'll also read anything by George Pelicanos. I have also been privileged to make some good friends in the mystery/thriller arena. You won't go wrong reading Ken Kuhlken's Tom Hickey mysteries, Richard Barre's series featuring private investigator Wil Hardesty and all of the books written by Alan Russell. Russell's works have covered the waterfront, from noir to comedic to thriller. I am also a big fan of Don Winslow and Kem Nunn.

10.) What can you tell us about the next book?
The next book is called Blood Knots and it's set at a conference in Sun Valley Idaho attended by the hundred most powerful and influential people in media. An Internet muckraker is murdered and the suspects include a rap mogul, a movie producer and even Fred Lather himself.

11.) So what's on your iPod?
Right now about 1,400 songs. I have rather eclectic tastes when it comes to music. I probably have an unhealthy number of songs from the Dave Matthews Band. Let's see, I've got The Shins, Outkast, Beausoliel (a great Cajun/Zydeco band), Nightnoise (an Irish group), a little Tupac Shakur, Gregorian chants, and the soundtrack from HBO's series, Deadwood. In my top 25 are three songs by the San Francisco area band, Birdmonster. My son plays the bass in the group and I am preparing for my life as the father of a rock star.