BooksChatter: ℚ Good Cop Bad Cop: Sam Marlowe [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Sallie Moppert to talk about Good Cop Bad Cop (19 December 2017, Zimbell House Publishing, 486 pages), a Mystery.

"Good Cop, Bad Cop is incredibly captivating thanks to its incredible suspense and mystery laced throughout the book as well as the author’s, Sallie Moppert’s stellar writing that compelled me to read from the very beginning.

Moppert can only be described as a literary talent as she knows how to captivate her readers from the start. Moppert is a writer who does not hold back, she thrusts his [sic] reader into the thick of the drama very early on and she keeps them turning the pages thanks to her impeccable descriptive powers." ~Aimee Ann, Red Headed Book Lover

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

A very warm welcome to Sallie Moppert; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

What was the inspiration for Good Cop Bad Cop?

"I was playing around with a contest prompt and started envisioning a snarky, kind of jaded but with a desire to see justice done buried deep down type of detective. He’d be the last person you’d want chasing after you as a criminal, but the first person you’d want on your side if you were a victim.

I fell in love with my protagonist, Sam Marlowe, pretty quickly and knew that I wanted to write him again. His dialogue is fun to come up with and, despite being kind of a cynical veteran detective who tends to ignore the rules, he still cares (secretly, of course) and tries to do what’s right, even if it’s not exactly done in the most legal way.

The first story I wrote with Sam is the penultimate chapter in the collection, Good Cop Bad Cop (“GCBC”). I was happy with how it turned out and decided to give Sam and his partner, Dahlia Bennett, another shot in another story. The second one featuring Sam and Dahlia was called The Gray Area. This one happened to end up in the middle of the book.

For a separate contest, I wrote a third story featuring Sam, which became the first story in GCBC, Second Chances. After composing three stories with Sam, I knew I couldn’t stop; I had found my guy.

That being said, since the stories I had written so far were very much out of sequence, the fun and the challenge was to then figure out how Sam in Second Chances ended up as Sam in Good Cop Bad Cop and the experiences and events that served as a catalyst for his change. Of course, by this time, I had already grown attached to Sam and felt bad for all the stuff I was putting him through in order to get to that point in Good Cop Bad Cop!"

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

"There’s definitely a mixture of my professional experience as well as my personality in the book. I have a Master’s in Criminal Justice and tried to sculpt my stories with a certain amount of realism when it came to crime solving, investigating and the issues that law enforcement may deal with over the course of an investigation.

On a more fun note, GCBC is also littered with little references to things that I like or that are important to me.

In Victims of Circumstance, for example, the opening scene takes place in a restaurant called Quincy’s - it was named after my dog, Quincy.

The cabin that the after-prom party is held at in Monster is based on a real cabin that my Aunt used to take me to every summer when I was younger; I loved my summers there, even to this day.

Sam having played hockey as a kid is because I’m a big hockey fan :)"

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

"The lovely art department at Zimbell House Publishing created the book cover. There were a couple of different designs initially but when I saw this one, I was sold.

There is a police badge in the center and it is surrounded by several faded images, pills, alcohol, handcuffs. I wanted to show Sam’s struggles and the various obstacles that he faces while trying to remain a top notch detective in the pursuit of justice.

It’s not always that easy and Sam’s internal conflict starts to bleed through and leak into his professional life as a cop. He has to learn to overcome these vices or else he will be forced to choose between his work or his life. While it may seem a no-brainer kind of decision, the choice comes with a lot of consequences either way, making Sam’s options that much more difficult (poor guy)."

Why should we read Good Cop Bad Cop and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"I think that what makes GCBC so unique is that it’s not just one mystery; each chapter is an individual story that has its own crime to solve, ranging from murder to kidnapping to human trafficking, but all of the stories connect together to tell Sam’s journey as he walks the line between being a good cop or a bad cop. So, it’s like you get two mysteries (sometimes more) for the price of one!"

Can you tell us something quirky about Good Cop Bad Cop, its story and characters?

"Sam’s last name, Marlowe, is a reference to the famous detective created by Raymond Chandler, Philip Marlowe.

Dahlia’s last name was originally Hammett, a nod to Dashiell Hammett, the mystery writer, before it ended up being changed to Bennett early on in GCBC’s development. Instead, I named one of the town’s colleges Hammett College as a reference to Dahlia’s original surname.

The other major character name change was Nina; her original name was Nora.

On a more fun note, there’s also a cameo from a character from a short story that was published in a short story collection [The Mountain Pass], For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls; it’s Sheriff Lucy Chandler in Fight or Flight."

Who would you recommend Good Cop Bad Cop to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I would recommend this to all of my fellow mystery lovers. There is a good deal of old fashioned police work, not just magically speedy and definitive results from high tech forensics. This gives you the opportunity to solve the crimes along with Sam.

Beyond the crimes, there’s also the drama of the events that impact Sam throughout his life, such as the loss of his mother at the hands of his stepfather or the loss of his mentor and foster father during a shooting.

I also make sure to include a lot of comedy or funny moments because it helps lighten the mood from becoming too dark and depressing (and I just love comedy). There is no over the top gore/violence or explicit content. There is some swearing, but it’s not gratuitous, as I tried to make it situation-based for the most part (I can’t imagine someone shouting “oh, shucks!” during a shootout, for example - that deserves a hearty swear word)."

If you could / wished to turn Good Cop Bad Cop into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"A movie would certainly be an interesting spin on the book! I could see it as a television show, with each story as its own episode.

I remember when I started to write the first story in GCBC, the image of Sam that came to mind was Peter Scanavino, who plays Detective Carisi in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He would be my first choice to play Sam. "

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

"For professional writing, I am all about mystery and suspense. That is my love and a genre I greatly enjoy to both write and read.

For writing fan-fiction, something I do frequently, I write whatever interests me. I’ve written for mystery games/shows, but also for historical fiction and fantasy games [visit my profile]. Within these, I’ve tried some mystery (of course), but also romance, comedy and drama. I do find it fun to experiment with different genres in my writing. Mystery is still my favorite, but it never hurts to branch out and to try your hand at different styles and genres since you can learn a lot from them.

That goes for reading too; there is so much that can be learned from reading. I am working my way through the classics, stories that have stood the test of time and are still relevant and popular today; I want to see firsthand what it is that has helped these works thrive in the world of literature, decades or even centuries later.

For mysteries, my hero is Agatha Christie. I simply adore her works. And Poirot. Definitely Poirot. (My betta fish is actually named Hastings in reference to Captain Hastings, Poirot’s partner and friend.)"

What is your writing process?

"I don’t have a real process, per se. I write when I can and where I can. I especially love the summer when I can grab a blanket, notebook and my radio and spend the day outside writing in the sun.

I usually start my stories with some prompt or basic idea and then develop a very flexible outline. I give myself a brief sequence of events, such as “I want A to happen, followed by B, then C, and then D...” and then let the plot bunnies take the wheel (or pen, in this case).

I enjoy watching stories develop in unexpected ways as I write them instead of trying to stick to a rigid outline. It’s fun to figure out how to get from plot point A to plot point D and what obstacles I can throw at my characters to make things interesting or more mysterious."

What is in store next?

"Sam and Dahlia are much too fun to stop writing, so I have several more stories planned for them. I would like to do a collection of case files of Sam investigating with his different partners over the course of GCBC, including a couple stories that almost made it into the book, but didn’t quite make the final cut.

After that, I think a sequel will be in order; Sam’s story is definitely not over yet and there’s still a lot of things he has to deal with at the end of the book. I’ll leave it at that ;)"

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?

"I am a huge animal lover and practically have a zoo at home - my furry/scaly family members outnumber my human family members. Between all of us, we have two dogs, two guinea pigs, a leopard gecko, two dwarf hamsters, two betta fish and an aquarium with corydora catfish. "

Fantastic! A big 'hello' to all of your animals, and thank you for sharing Quincy, Stevie, Dimples, Noire and Garnet with us!

We hope you are having a great tour!