Welcome, Wayne
Zurl, to my first ‘Author 2 Author’ Blog Chat. Thank you for stopping by,
please make yourself at home and we’ll begin.
A little about
Wayne….
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.
Fifteen (15) of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been produced as audio books and simultaneously published as eBooks. Ten (10) of these novelettes are now available in print under the titles of A MURDER IN KNOXVILLE and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries and REENACTING A MURDER and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries. Zurl’s first full-length novel, A NEW PROSPECT, was named best mystery at the 2011 Indie Book Awards, chosen as 1st Runner-Up from all Commercial Fiction at the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, and was a finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. His other novels are: A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT and HEROES & LOVERS.
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Publisher Iconic Publishing, LLC (11 Sep 2012)
ISBN-10:0985138890 ISBN-13:978-0985138899
Book Blurb:
During the early stages of a fraud
investigation, Sam elicits the aid of Katherine and Rachel in a sting operation
that goes totally wrong. Sam develops several promising leads, but as they
begin to fizzle, his prime suspect drops off the planet and all the resources
of the FBI aren't helping. After a lucky break and a little old-fashioned
pressure on an infor-mant produce an important clue, the chief leads his team
deep into the Smoky Mountains to rescue his friend. But after Rachel is once
again safe at home, he finds their problems are far from over.
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| Cover |
Publisher: Iconic Publishing (22 April 2012)
ISBN-10:098513884X ISBN-13:978-0985138844
Book Blurb:
A stipulation of the Patriot Act gave
Chief Sam Jenkins an easy job; investigate all the civilians working for the
Prospect Police Department. But what looked routine to the gritty ex-New York
detective, turned into a nightmare. Preliminary inquiries reveal a middle-aged
employee didn't exist prior to 1975. Murray McGuire spent the second half of
his life repairing office equipment for the small city of Prospect, Tennessee,
but the police can't find a trace of the first half. After uncovering nothing
but dead ends during the background investigation and frustrations running at
flood level, Jenkins finds his subject lying face down in a Smoky Mountain
creek bed. By calling in favors from old friends and new acquaintances, the
chief enlists help from a local FBI agent, a deputy director of the CIA,
British Intelligence, and the Irish Garda to learn the man's real identity and
uncover the trail of an international killer seeking revenge in the Great Smoky
Mountains.
Publisher: Black Rose Writing (20 Jan 2011)
ISBN-10:1935605720 ISBN-13:978-1935605720
Book Blurb:
Sam Jenkins never thought about being a
fish out of water during the twenty years he spent solving crimes in New York.
But things change, and after retiring to Tennessee, he gets that feeling.
Jenkins becomes a cop again and is thrown headlong into a murder investigation
and a steaming kettle of fish, down-home style. The victim, Cecil Lovejoy,
couldn't have deserved it more. His death was the inexorable result of years
misspent and appears to be no great loss, except the prime suspect is Sam's
personal friend. Jenkins' abilities are attacked when Lovejoy's influential
widow urges politicians to reassign the case to state investigators. Feeling
like "a pork chop at a bar mitzvah" in his new workplace, Sam
suspects something isn't kosher when the family tries to force him out of the
picture. In true Jenkins style, Sam turns common police practice on its ear to
insure an innocent man doesn't fall prey to an imperfect system and the guilty
party receives appropriate justice. A NEW PROSPECT takes the reader through a
New South resolutely clinging to its past and traditional way of keeping family
business strictly within the family.
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So right we have a few questions to get through and
I’ll let ya go ;)
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. I graduated from SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Twenty years ago, I left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with my wife, Barbara.
Fifteen (16) of my Sam Jenkins mysteries have been produced as audio books and simultaneously published as eBooks. Ten (10) of these novelettes are now available in print under the titles of A MURDER IN KNOXVILLE and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries and REENACTING A MURDER and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries. My first full-length novel, A NEW PROSPECT, was named best mystery at the 2011 Indie Book Awards, chosen as 1st Runner-Up from all Commercial Fiction at the 2012 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, and was a finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. The novels are: A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT and HEROES & LOVERS.
For more information on the Sam Jenkins mystery
series see www.waynezurlbooks.net.
You can read excerpts, reviews and endorsements, interviews, coming events, and
see photos of the area where the stories take place.
How would you describe 'your book (s)'?
A few years ago, I heard the term Geezer Lit. I guess my books fit into the genre. But my protagonist Sam Jenkins, a retired detective lieutenant from a large New York police department, who’s taken a job as police chief in a small city in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee is no Miss Marple . . . or Hercule Poirot, either. Sometimes I think middle-aged Sam is in his second childhood. And if you believe what I write, you’ll think Sleepy little Prospect, Tennessee has a higher homicide rate than Detroit.
What Genre is your work mainly? Do you tend to stay
in the same vein or are you hoping (if not already) to explore new ventures?
I’ve adhered to the maxim of “write what you know” and have stuck with police mysteries. But I keep getting the inspiration to do a western. I could easily transplant the entire cast back into the 19th century, somewhere west of the Mississippi, and go with it. My police stories and the classic old west tales have a lot in common.
What inspired you to write 'your book (s)’?
I’d been writing non-fiction magazine articles for ten years before I got that burned out feeling. I just couldn’t conjure up any new and thrilling things to say about the French & Indian War in Tennessee. So, rather than making model airplanes or oil paintings to occupy my time (they require lots of storage room) I decided to try fiction. I’ll go into more detail on this when answering another question further down the page.
Who was the easiest character to write and why?
Hardest and why?
The main character, Sam Jenkins, out of necessity has a lot of my personality in him. I always say I have more memory than imagination so, taking a guy with similar experiences and giving him things to do and see that I’ve done and seen would allow me to give him a literary voice that sounds somewhat like me. That makes it easy to write dialogue—and I use lots of it. These aren’t autobiographical installments, but most of what I write is based on actual incidents.
The most difficult to write recurring character is Sergeant Bettye Lambert, Sam’s administrative officer and occasional partner in the field. Bettye is my ideal modern policewoman. Putting aside being a beautiful blonde, she’s smart, efficient, not particularly a tough street cop, but a natural investigator, and Sam’s workplace spouse. That last one presents the toughest challenge because there is a real connection between these two. But I have to know just how far to take it and still remain as proper and professional as I know they would be. Of course, I remember several very successful TV shows that capitalized on unrequited sexual tension for a long time; I figured borrowing the idea couldn’t hurt. They’re married, but not to each other, and have lots of books and stories to walk through together as co-workers, not lovers.
Are your characters based on real people? People
you may know or TV/Movie stars?
With stories based on real incidents, modeling my characters after real people makes my writing life easier. A little change here, a little tweak there, and I’m in business. Remember I mentioned lots of dialogue? If I can see and “hear” a character’s delivery, I can give each fictional person that unique voice necessary in literature. If I think a particular actor would do a better job playing the real person and I like their way of speaking, I envision them in the part and write the dialogue accordingly.
Without giving anything away, what is/are your
favorite scene(s) in 'your book'?
My most recent novel, HEROES & LOVERS, centers on a TV reporter getting kidnapped. I like the two chapters dealing with Sam and his cops surrounding a little cabin and how he “negotiates” a satisfactory conclusion. I think he did a great job for an old guy. And the procedure was technically sound and should please the sticklers in the crowd.
If 'your book (s)' had a theme song, what would it
be and why?
Because of the common locale in all the stories, I’d pick good ol’ Smoky Mountain hammered dulcimer music for a theme song and the background soundtrack. There are lots of sad moments when the cops deal with victims or people made pathetic by circumstances. Some of the melancholy 19th century traditional tunes would work nicely. When the action speeds up, the Gaelic inspired, faster paced pieces would fit nicely.
Do you listen to music while you write your book
(s)? If so ... what songs?
I could never listen to music when I write. I’d want to sing along and I’d lose my train of thought. I need uninterrupted quiet.
What’s up next for you?
I just started a novelette about Chinese / Malaysian organized crime in the south. I’ve gotten some dynamite information from a good source for this one, but I experiencing motivational problems finishing it. Cabin fever, suppose.And I just sent the fourth novel to my publisher for consideration. I hope the editor likes it. Here’s my proposed jacket summary:Winter in the Smokies can be a tranquil time of year—unless Sam Jenkins sticks his thumb into the sweet potato pie.
The retired New York detective turned Tennessee police chief is minding his own business one quiet day in February when Mayor Ronnie Shields asks him to act as a bodyguard for a famous country and western star.
C.J. Profitt’s return to her hometown of Prospect receives lots of publicity . . . and threats from a rightwing group calling themselves The Coalition for American Family Values.The beautiful, publicity seeking Ms. Proffit never fails to capitalize on her abrasive personality by flaunting her alternative lifestyle—a way of living the Coalition hates.Reluctantly, Jenkins accepts the assignment of keeping C.J. safe while she performs at a charity benefit. But Sam’s job becomes more difficult when the object of his protection refuses to cooperate.During this misadventure, Sam hires a down-on-his-luck ex-New York detective and finds himself thrown back in time, meeting old Army acquaintances who factor into a complicated plot of attempted murder, the destruction of a Dollywood music hall, and other general insurrection on the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”
A little background into your writing: when did you
start?
What was your first piece? First published piece, tell us about your general history…Let me answer the last three questions with a short essay I wrote for someone’s blog. Unfortunately, he disappeared, it never got published, and it’s been sitting in my computer waiting for a moment such as this.What Does a Soldier Out of Uniform, a Cop Out of a Job,and a Fish Out of Water Have in Common?By Wayne ZurlThe jacket summary for my first mystery novel, A NEW PROSPECT, begins with: Sam Jenkins never thought about being a fish out of water…
Unlike my protagonist, I certainly have. In 1972, I returned to the United States an unemployed soldier. After two years wandering around East Asia at the pleasure of the US Army, I found myself a civilian again—in a world drastically different from the one I left almost five years earlier. I had little patience for anything. I related to no one except contemporaries who had done what I did and seen what I saw.
Because I pursued soldierly things for so long, The New York Employment Service told me I possessed no marketable civilian skills and suggested learning a trade. My college had been interrupted by a pesky thing called the Vietnam War. I’d continue again, but now I needed money to keep my wife supplied with the necessities of life. So, while collecting my unemployment benefits, I looked for employment in a field which might take me closer to the military atmosphere I had come to know and almost love.
When young men from New York are floundering in the job market, family members often suggest a career in the civil service. Typically these are as fire fighters, garbage men, or police officers. Smoke has always given me headaches. My nose is too delicate to ride the back of a refuse truck, so that left me with being a cop. And it made sense. Police departments operate as paramilitary organizations. I applied to take entrance exams for all the larger departments in the metro New York area. But the timing had to be right. The major tests were only given once every four years.In 1972, I was appointed to the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in the USA.By September of that year I felt like a beached mackerel again, this time walking a foot post in a Long Island village. As with any police assignment, there was work to be done, but I couldn’t equate my current position with the excitement I remembered while in the army. But things changed. I learned the job, got promoted, and spent many years doing some pretty interesting stuff.Then I retired. Our home in New York sold quickly and we headed to the pension friendly mountains of East Tennessee. We’d been there several times. Retirement guides touted the area as one of the best relocation venues. The scenery was lovely. But the culture shock was massive. I related to the people as much as a Laplander could relate to someone from Papua New Guinea. That fish was slapping his tail on the deck of a boat again.For years I bummed around. I tended a vegetable garden that looked like something out of a magazine. I spent hours planting, cultivating, and organically fertilizing. Based on my former hourly wage at one of the highest paid police departments on the planet, I calculated that every miserable pepper, tomato, and zucchini cost me $36.50 each.To give some meaning to my existence, I volunteered at a state park and wrote publicity for their living history program. It was fun learning the story of Fort Loudoun, Britain’s western most outpost in North America during the 18th century French & Indian War. That job led me to write and publish twenty-six magazine articles on Colonial American history.In 2006 my life changed again. I did something I never did as a working cop. I read a police mystery. Specifically, James Lee Burke’s BLACK CHERRY BLUES. I loved it. I became hooked—that fish thing again. So, I looked for other mystery writers. Slowly, my interest in Early American history took a back seat. I was in the saddle again, thinking about being a street-cop. But I was still just a big town boy living in southern Appalachia. Walland, Tennessee has a grammar school, a post office, a combination gas station / convenience store, and when someone wants to open it, a welding shop—not even a stop light.My thoughts travelled back to traffic jams on the Long Island Expressway, the times I worked a case in Manhattan and drove like a madman through mid-town traffic, and the three million people crowded into the small stretch of the Island where I most often found myself.Then I found a new book, Robert B. Parker’s first Jesse Stone novel, NIGHT PASSAGE. Stone was an ex-LAPD detective who took a job as chief in a small Massachusetts department. I loved the story and the premise. I said to myself, “Parker was never a cop and I was. If he can write like this, why can’t I have a retired New York detective find a job with a small department in Tennessee?” I could fictionalize the cases I worked or supervised. I’d satisfy the old author’s maxim of write what you know. Easy. I was a published author. I’d been paid as much as $245.00 for a magazine article. I was famous—in certain small circles. How difficult could fiction be? I had practice; some defense attorneys called my prosecution worksheets pure fantasy.So, with paper, pen, and glass of Glenfiddich in hand, I sat down one summer day to begin writing what eventually became A NEW PROSPECT. Once finished, the publishing world didn’t exactly treat me like the second Robert B. Parker. I queried agents—lots of them. Forget agents—those megalomaniacal powerbrokers. I turned my focus on publishers who would accept direct submissions from a writer. It took me four years to find a small independent press who would take a chance on me and Sam Jenkins, the former detective lieutenant who shares a remarkable similarity to me.In May of 2011, A NEW PROSPECT was named best mystery at the Indie Book Awards. I wanted to send follow-up letters to all the agents who rejected my idea without reading one page of manuscript.
Aww ain’t he awesome look at that, I can#t get over
how amazing you are! I mean seriously can you be more accomplished
Thanks so much for that,Wayne :D x
One last question now sir if I may;
Do you have any favorite books or authors?
I follow a few authors more than I have a favorite book or two. My wife reads the same two or three novels annually. I don’t do that, but here are a few guys I like:I’ve read everything from Robert B. Parker and like his minimalist style, snappy dialogue, and how his heroes don’t take themselves too seriously. I like that other guy from Long Island who writes mysteries, too, Nelson DeMille. His Detective John Corey novels are chock full of quality smart-ass dialogue. Sometimes I wonder how he can keep coming up with such good fresh stuff. I’ve just discovered Scottish writer Philip Kerr and his Bernard Günter books. Bernie is like the pre-WW2 German Philip Marlowe. And then there’s James Lee Burke. His Dave Robicheaux police novels are exquisite. Burke can describe people, places, and events like few others; his stuff is poetic. But his books are dark, full of damaged individuals—train wrecks chugging down the tracks in south Louisiana looking for places and people to devastate. I’m amazed at how his mind works. Bernard Cornwell satisfies my need for historical fiction. Few people can write action scenes like him. I generally need a drink after a few pages of his battles.
And could you give us a few words, mainly to people
who haven’t yet read your books.
Sell your work ;)
When I began writing, I never thought about an actual target audience. I figured if I got the details right, (something very important to me) told a good story, and littered the pages with quirky, memorable characters, the true fans of police procedurals would follow. I’m a pain in the neck when it comes to reality and detail. I don’t write over-the-top James Bond-like stories where Sam Jenkins shoots a cable out of his wristwatch and does the “slide for life” across two skyscrapers to chase a fleeing felon. But my Smoky Mountain mysteries ain’t no cozies. They’re gritty, realistic, humorous (an important factor in a cop’s life) and frustrating stories that won’t always have an ending you’d expect.
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Ellie,Thanks very much for inviting me to your blog for an Author-2-Author chat with you and your fans and followers. I’ve had a great time and hope everyone else has too.
Aww no thank you for coming on Mr Zurl, Sir. It’s
been a massive pleasure, your work is absolutely amazing and I’m really
honoured to have you here today. I wanna just quickly remind peeps of all the
places we can find you and your work with the list below…
So go and click on the links and get reading!
So that’s all I have time for today, Wayne
Happy World Book Day and to you guys too. Thanks for joining us here you’re all
awesome luvs ya! <3 span="" xxx="">
Great to see a blog for real writers....thank you... DW
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