1. You’ve
talked about shoving 50 pages of a manuscript into a drawer and leaving them
there until you were encouraged to finish your first crime novel. What would
you say to all the other would-be authors who have 50 pages lying in wait? What
did you learn from that experience? What challenges did you overcome to write
your first book?
I’d tell them to go for it...but only when they’re
ready. I think all writers, especially with a first novel, have an internal
clock that goes off when it’s time. They’ve thought about the story, maybe
written a few chapters, and thought about it some more. Then one day it’s just
time. The idea has ripened and is ready to be plucked. All the writer has to do
is open the drawer, pull out those fifty pages and go for it. Once one does
that, there’s no looking back. Don’t worry about what other people say. Don’t
worry about how crowded the bookshelves might already be. Your voice is your
voice. And it’s important. But only if you believe.
2. Your
work on Cold Case Files has informed your writing by giving you a lot of
material and ideas. How is your work on that documentary significantly
different from the work you do when writing? What skills from your TV work help
you write better—and what holds you back?
Television is, by its nature, collaborative. You’re
working closely with a group of people, each of whom has a part to play in
telling the story. As a novelist, it’s just you and you’re responsible for
everything. A huge amount of creative energy goes into creating plot, dialogue,
character development, etc. Even simple things like getting a character from
Point A to Point B. The novelist has to make it all happen and make
it seem natural... almost inevitable.
I think my work in television has allowed me to write
in a very tight, cinematic style. In TV, we’re always fighting the remote,
trying to make sure our audience doesn’t click over to one of the 800 other
shows on at any given time. There is a premium on grabbing the audience by the
throat in the first minute of the show. It doesn’t have to be action per se, but
that first minute or two has to be intriguing... something that will force your
viewers to hang around. My books probably reflect that sort of thinking. I try
to make the novels accessible and engage readers early on so they hang on for
the ride. Also, when you write for TV, you’re working with pictures so your
language tends to be tight, concrete and physical. I think I’ve probably adapted
that sort of writing style in my books as well. As for drawbacks...probably too
much of a good thing. Sometimes, I need to slow down the pacing.. and allow the
story to draw a breath.
3. Your
first book was about vigilante justice. The NRA has just called for more guns
in more places, and more armed citizens. What’s your take on this? Do you think
the result will be safer communities or will we have more George Zimmermans prowling our neighborhoods?
I don’t think arming our citizens is a good idea.
I’ve seen a lot of violence and interviewed a lot of bad guys. Most of them
will tell you one simple truth. Upon encountering an armed citizen, the
criminal fully expects...and often does....disarm the citizen. The bad guy then
either uses the gun on the citizen or just put it in his pocket and walks away.
Leave the guns, especially handguns, in the hands of law enforcement
professionals who are trained in using them and in apprehending criminals.
4. You’re
a guy with a Boston accent writing about Chicago. Why? And yes, you’re now
writing about Boston, but why did you choose Chicago as the first setting for
your first book?
I’ve spent most of my adult life in Chicago. As an
investigative reporter, I covered Chicago, from the west side ghettos to city
hall. The Kelly books are about this world – a grown-up place where nothing is
as it seems, the waters run deep and there are sharks everywhere. My childhood
was spent in Boston. That book will reflect the neighborhoods of my youth. There
will still be a lot of danger and a lot of bad guys... but it’s seen through a
dramatically different lens.
5. You’ve
made a conscious decision to include social issues in your work. But you’re
careful not to let them slow down your storytelling. Can you give us some tips
about including social issues without sounding preachy or slowing down the pace
of a book?
I try to let the social issues bubble just below the
surface. What I want to avoid is stopping the story in its tracks so I can hop
up on a soapbox and pop off for a page and a half about some issue. It’s
annoying to the reader and bad writing. Not sure how well I succeed, but I’m
trying.
6. The
process of writing your first book sounded very “seat-of-the-pants.” Since
then, have you stuck with that process or have you done more advance planning?
Not much advance planning. I just start somewhere and
see where the characters and the story takes me. I’ve tried to some “planning”,
but I always wind up writing chapter instead of outlines!!
7. You
mentioned the backlog of rape kits found in Boston. A similar situation
happened in St. Louis, but the police made a conscious decision NOT to process
kits collected from women they deemed to be prostitutes. Can you explain why
this is such a bad idea? Have you seen similar examples of prejudiced decisions
by law enforcement officers? What can we do as a society to help keep our law
enforcement officers from becoming jaded or letting their personal prejudices
determine their commitment to justice?
It’s an absurd decision... unless as a society we
somehow believe that a case where a prostitute has been raped is not as
important as others in the system. I don’t believe that. As a practical matter,
however, that is the de facto decision made by a lot of communities. And it’s
not just prostitutes. Chicago is in the
middle of a horrific run of murders, but do we see a lot of outrage? In the
newspapers? From the mayor? City council? We see some gestures of concern, but
little in the way of concrete action. Why? Because most of the victims are
black, poor and live in areas that barely exist in the minds of most affluent
or even middle-class Chicagoans. Is this attitude unusual or unique to Chicago?
No. It just is what it is.
8. Please
tell us about your newest work and any work in progress.
My next novel, THE INNOCENCE GAME, will be released
this May. It’s about three Northwestern students who get involved in a death
penalty case the Chicago PD would prefer be left alone. It’s not a Kelly
book...but he might make a cameo!
The next Kelly book, THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE, is written
as well. No release date yet, but we’re thinking either the end of 2013 or
early 2014. The book is about an Illinois governor who’s sentenced to thirty
years in jail for corruption (can you believe it!!). He disappears from the
Dirksen building on the day of his sentencing. A manhunt ensues, but this guy
is just gone... a la Whitey Bulger. The book opens three years later. Kelly
gets an anonymous email hiring him to find the guy. Kelly starts off by talking
to the governor’s bitter, angry and generally pissed-off wife. This is probably
my favorite Kelly novel. A lot of fun to write.
I am currently writing a book set in Boston. Also
playing around with another Chicago book set inside 26th and Cal... as
well as a screenplay that has nothing to do with crime!!
