Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these post, free of charge, from the author, via Partners in Crime Book Blog Tours for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post.
We reviewed this book earlier today,
and I wanted to share this wonderful guest post from Marc!
Question: How has policing helped in your writing? Did it give you the foundation for your characters?
Response:
During my police career, I had the distinct honor of meeting some very memorable characters. Rarely did these experiences occur in a positive way. Most of the time, these interesting citizens were being dragged out of house, car or store in handcuffs. In reality, any police department’s interactions with the public are mostly negative. No one ever calls the police to report something good. “Hey, Officer Smith, we just had a baby, come on over and celebrate.” This doesn't happen, ever. What does happen at three a.m. is a 911 call to the police department to report that baby has stopped breathing.These are the consistent stresses of the job. There is always some sort of problem that needs to be resolved by police officers.
For me, I always treated people with respect and dignity. Even if they didn’t feel the same about me. Cops have to remember that people are reacting to the uniform and badge. Never take anything personal. Most people you react with don’t even know who you are. They just see what is right in front of them; Someone with the ability to limit their freedom at that precise moment or to take it away indefinitely if the crime is severe enough.
There are many benefits of being a writer for me. I find it easy to pull material from my experiences. There are so many people that come to mind when I am writing. It makes for lots of research that needs to be digested for the story line at hand. Obviously, names and characteristics had to be changed around a bit but many of my characters are loosely based on people I know. It is always best to get their permission if you’re to use their likeness in your novel; Some may find it flattering while others might not. In fact, Det. Franny Longo is totally based on my little brother. Luckily, because we are
family, he jumped at the opportunity for me to glorify him in ink. Since publishing ‘In a Small Town,’ Christopher has been extra nice to me, I am assuming this is because he wants to stay around for the sequel. Well that’s one way to keep family in check, lol. My brother, Christopher, fits the profile of what people assume a police officer is like. Franny was by far the easiest character to write because I know him so well. As for the others, well I ‘ll just say, many of them were connected either professionally or personally to me throughout my life. I have such a vast array of people and scenarios
to write about because of my profession and life experiences. I don’t think I would have been able to write this novel had I’d not been a police officer. I really believe in writing what you know.There is a chapter in this book called “Animal.” A lot of readers have emailed me to ask if any part of that chapter is real. The answer to that question is yes and if you like reading the unusual than this is the book for you. There are other chapters in this book that have lots of stories that have actually occurred on my job intertwined with real life tragedies that are tucked inside the plot as well.
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All in all, this has been a life changing experience for me. Right now, I am putting together the final re-writes for book two in this series ( YIPPEEE!!!!) and plan on having it out by the Summer 2013. The next novel will continue where ‘In a Small Town’ ends. Thank you Nicole for the opportunity to be here and for introducing my novel to all your friends.
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Author Bio:
The
author is a retired and highly decorated police detective who worked
for an affluent community within the State of New York. He has worked
with numerous police agencies at the local, county, state and federal
levels on various investigative assignments. He currently resides in New
York with his wife and three children. For more check out his webpage, Facebook page and Twitter!
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