A Q&A with Renée Pawlish, author of the award-winning
Reed Ferguson Mystery Series
Q: When and how did you first consider yourself a writer?A: When I finished my first (still unpublished) novel, I thought “Wow, I’m a writer.” I did a lot of writing before that, but actually finishing a book was the milestone that made me an author.
Q: Tell us about the Reed Ferguson mystery series and the others, as you have quite the list!
A: The Reed Ferguson series starts with Reed being a wannabe private eye who loves film noir movies and detective fiction, and he decides to hang out his shingle and try the detecting business. As the series evolves, he becomes a more seasoned PI. However, I’ve tried to make him real. Not everything works out for him, and he sometimes makes mistakes. He’s got a funny group of supporting characters that readers have fallen in love with. It’s a blast writing the stories. The Dewey Webb historical mystery series came about because of the Reed Ferguson series. Dewey first appeared in the Reed book, Back Story. My fans really liked Dewey, so I decided to branch out and give him his own series. The series starts in 1949, before cell phones and computers. Dewey is an old-fashioned gumshoe. I like writing the series and researching the historical aspects for each story.
I also have a YA action adventure series, and Nephilim Genesis of Evil, which is a supernatural mystery. The premise of that story is “What if the Nephilim, who are half-man, half-fallen angels mentioned in Genesis 6 are still around today and they try to take over a small Colorado mountain tourist town.” It’s spooky, and has been compared to early Stephen King.Q: Please tell us about your current release.
A: The fourth Dewey Webb novel (tentatively titled Honor Among Thieves) will be out in April. In this story, an old war buddy asks Dewey for help. But before Dewey can find out what is going on, his friend dies, seemingly of suicide. But is there more to his death?
Q: You have been called “a promising new voice to the comic murder mystery genre”. Tell us how that came about.
A: That came from an Amazon top reviewer, and it was flattering to hear. I’ve always read mysteries, and I love a great, funny story. It seemed natural when I started writing that something funny would come about. It’s important to laugh, and hopefully my readers get some good chuckles when they read the Reed Ferguson series. The Dewey Webb series in not funny, but more hard-boiled (without the gratuitous violence), so don’t look for humor there.
Q: Tell us a bit about your writing habits. Where and when do you write?
A: Right now I have a full-time job, so I write whenever and wherever I can. When I’m working on a story, I try to write a chapter a day, but I don’t always hit that goal. I’m also between homes right now, but my ideal writing place is an office with my library of books. I hope to be in that situation again soon.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: I just finished publishing a stand-alone suspense novel, The Girl in the Window, in the vein of Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train, and it's doing well, but as for writing, I'm back to the Reed Ferguson series. Reed and all the gang are up to their usual shenanigans, and this is a more complex story than I've written before. The novel should be out in September.
Q: Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?
A: I’m a superhero. Just kidding. I like to play the guitar, and I’m a darn good baker.
Q: Where can our readers discover more of your work and interact with you?
A: Readers can go to my website, www.reneepawlish.com to see what I’ve written, and they can also sign up to get free books to sample my writing.
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