BooksChatter: ℚ♫ LaCour's Destiny: Sam LaCour [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Robert Downs to talk about LaCour's Destiny (25 August 2015, Oak Tree Press, 240 pages) a mystery.

Author Q&A | Synopsis | Teaser | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Hello Robert, thank you for joining us on BooksChatter.

Do you have a music playlist that you used in LaCour's Destiny, or which inspired you whilst you were writing it, and that we can share?

"I love music, and I do have a playlist for my main character Sam."

Great! Thank you - I enjoyed that!

What was the inspiration for LaCour's Destiny?

"I’d say the inspiration for LaCour’s Destiny was a need to balance out the universe and a requirement to challenge myself. I’d written two novels with a strong male character and in the voice of a hard-boiled novel. What I wanted to create was a strong female character that I could root for, and possibly others as well. I knew it would be a challenge, but I wanted to see if I could make it work and make it believable. I’ll leave it up to my readers whether or not I succeeded."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"Quite a bit actually. I’d say Sam LaCour (my main character) is in many ways a female version of me. She’s more like me than any character I’ve created thus far. She’s awkward and optimistic and a romantic heart, filled with curiosity, and has a general interest in human nature. She has a strong mathematical background, and she’s a forensic accountant, which I find absolutely fascinating."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for LaCour's Destiny - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"My publisher, Oak Tree Press, really did a great job with the cover. They offered me four choices, and I liked this one the best. It really captures the essence of Sam, and the way her mind works. Like me, her brain is going in multiple directions at once, and she’s thinking two or three steps ahead. I believe it was a stock photo that the publisher found online, and then purchased the rights to obtain the image."

Why should we read LaCour's Destiny and what sets it apart from the rest?

"Sam reminds me of Monk or Columbo with her quirky, OCD-like tendencies. She has some interesting friends, and she has a string of not-so-fantastic first dates that I like to think bring a little humor to the series. There’s also a bit more atmosphere and background than your typical mystery, so if that’s your thing, then you may enjoy giving this series a shot."

Can you tell us something quirky about LaCour's Destiny, its story and characters?

"Sam LaCour is probably the quirkiest thing about LaCour’s Destiny. Her OCD and introverted tendencies shine through, and she also has quite the knack for numbers and finding trouble."

Who would you recommend LaCour's Destiny to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I’d say mystery readers who like a bit more atmosphere and background, and I’d say those mystery readers who lean towards hard-boiled voices. While I tried to shut it down during the writing process, the hard boiled voice kept popping back up to the surface."

If you could / wished to turn LaCour's Destiny into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"I haven’t given this question any thought until now, mainly because I know how tricky it can be to make a movie, and plenty of promising projects never get the greenlight for one reason or another. I’d really be more curious what my readers have to say on this one. But I will say my dream team would involve a crew that understands LaCour’s Destiny and connects with the work. If that happens, everything that comes after is pumpkin pie and applesauce."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"My favorite stories to read are mysteries and thrillers, and that’s what I gravitate toward with most of my writing. However, my reading tastes border on eclectic, and I have a feeling my writing tastes will follow suit. Should that pan out, I’ll write the majority of my stories under the mystery/thriller umbrella, but I’ll also explore general fiction and possibly humor. I’ll leave it to other authors to write historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, and horror."

What is your writing process?

"I look at this as a two-part question: When do I write, and how do I approach the craft of writing.

The simple answer is I write when I can and as often as I can. I’ve been known to write in the mornings (if I’m doing National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)), or the evenings, as well as the weekends. My best mornings often start with writing, and looking back on it now, the weekends where I wrote the whole time were absolutely fantastic. I can’t do that too often these days, but when I do occasionally get the opportunity, it’s a tremendously wonderful experience.

As far as my writing approach goes, I don’t normally outline, although I have done it before for NaNoWriMo. My only outline thus far was just over four pages long and consisted of a paragraph for each chapter. In the outlining world, I believe this is on the lower end of the spectrum. When I sit down to write, it’s a character or a voice or a jumping off point that’s driving me. Normally I’ll have an ending in mind, and not much else, and I’m generally working through the story at the same rate as my characters and readers, although I do tend to think a few chapters ahead, so I have an idea on where I’m going."

What is in store next?

"I have my first thriller tentatively titled The Convenient Escape coming out next year with Black Opal Books. I’m thrilled because it’s my first thriller, and I discovered a new publisher that wants to publish my work. It’s a chase novel that revolves around a duo thrown together, and both of them have a few secrets that they don’t want to share.

Assuming I can talk Oak Tree Press into publishing some more of my work, I have a rough draft of the second in the Sam LaCour series tentatively titled LaCour’s Dilemma. Sam will have another bad first date or two, because well…she’s had a bit of bad luck when it comes to first dates, and she gets roped into helping a friend out of a bit of a jam when a dead body turns up.

I also have the third in the Casey Holden series tentatively titled Financial Immortality, where he’s trying to find out what happened to a dead millionaire."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?