Q & A with Author Jeffery Deaver, Master of Psychological Suspense

 

International bestselling and global multi-award winning suspense-thriller author

Jeffery Deaver is widely hailed as the “master of psychological suspense.” A rock star of the literary galaxy, he’s author of more than 40 novels with 50 million books sold worldwide. His “Lincoln Rhyme” series novel “The Bone Collector,” named one of the best thrillers of all time, was made into a blockbuster film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie and NBC currently has a TV pilot-in-progress based on the series.

 

Those attending the upcoming Mystery Fest Key West, happening June 28-30, will have the opportunity to meet Deaver, the event’s Keynote Speaker. In the meantime, the author has agreed to answer a few questions:

 

Q: You have been writing two highly successful ongoing series for some time now – fifteen suspense thrillers featuring Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, and six novels starring Kathryn Dance. This year you released “The Never Game,” the first in a new series featuring the itinerant “reward seeker” Colter Shaw and a huge hit with readers and reviewers. From where did Shaw emerge? Can you tell us a little bit about the creation of his personality and what it was like for you to conceive and develop a new leading character?

In 2015, Jeffery Deaver, the author known for tapping out his thrillers in darkened rooms, interacts with artifacts in Ernest Hemingway’s Key West writing room. (Photo by Carol Tedesco)

 

JD: I wrote a series many years ago about a location scout for a film company who traveled the country looking for places to set films. He always got involved in a local crime. I loved the idea of a regional mystery series, but the movie angle was a bit contrived. How did he happen to be in a town when a murder occurred? I decided to update the concept and create a hero who pursues rewards—which means by definition there’s an existing crime or mystery.

 

Q: How has the book publishing industry most notably changed since your writing career launched and how have those changes impacted you and your work?

 

JD: Well, there’s a lot more competition for ways to fill our free time: streaming TV, video games, for instance. But I still believe that a book or story is the most emotionally engaging creative form on earth. That’s why I write books and will continue to. As for impacting my approach, I have recently begun writing in a style that mimics streaming TV—shorter books, shorter paragraphs, more dialogue, more accessible language. My job is to get my stories to as many readers as possible, and I think this is one way to do it. I’m takin’ on Netflix!

 

Q: You wrote an entire album of country western tunes to accompany your 2012 Kathryn Dance series novel “XO.” Did you know you were going to do that from the get-go? Can you tell us about the sparking and development of that idea?

 

JD: I want to reach as many readers as I can, and I think one way to do that is to expand the book off the page (my original recipes in “The Kill Room”; my original photography in “The October List”). I thought a music album might pick up folks who didn’t normally read mystery fiction. By the way, there are clues in the songs that can help you figure out whodunit in “XO.”

 

Q: You are known for spinning multiple sub-plots in your stories. The New York Times wrote, “Deaver’s infernal puzzle mysteries invariably inspire words like devious, diabolical, and devilish.” Are you developing the subplots from each project’s start, or do you create your main characters narrative first and then build around it?

 

JD: I spend eight months plotting out my stories before I write a single word of the prose. All the plots, subplots, twists and turns, characters, etc., are forged in that outlining and research process. It’s both an exhilarating and exasperating thing but it’s the only way to get the plotting just right. You should never write a word of your story until you know where it’s going to go.

 

Q: Your books have been translated into more than 25 languages. Do you have any tales to tell of mangled, mystifying, or amusing translation results?

 

JD: Somebody once asked me, quite seriously, what did I think of the Norwegian translation of one of my novels? My answer: I don’t know. If I could speak Norwegian, I wouldn’t have needed a translator!

 

Mystery Fest Key West 2019 is sponsored by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, the Key West Citizen Daily Newspaper, The Helmerich Trust, Centennial Bank, The Gardens Hotel, The Laureate Key West, Margaritaville Key West Resort & Marina, and Key West Art & Historical Society.

 

Event registration is $195 and includes all panels, presentations, a lunch and a brunch, and social events. For a full Fest schedule, online registration, and hotel links visit MysteryFestKeyWest.com.

 

Author Photo 2: In 2015, Jeffery Deaver, the author known for tapping out his thrillers in darkened rooms, interacts with artifacts in Ernest Hemingway’s Key West writing room. (Photo by Carol Tedesco)

 

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