Q: How did you get started as a writer?

A: I got started as a writer thanks to the encouragement of elementary school teachers who told me I was pretty good at it. I wrote for the school papers in Junior High School, High School and College, where I studied Communications and learned how to write and write and write. I moved to New York City where I did improv comedy, wrote a couple plays, a made for TV movie and then landed a job in Advertising writing copy for some of the biggest agencies on Madison Avenue. After 17 years of selling soft drinks, beer, and fast food I quit my Executive Vice President-Group Creative Director job and set up shop in the spare bedroom to write screenplays and books. Four years later, my first novel TILT A WHIRL was published and won the Anthony award for best first mystery.

Q: Why have you selected the genres you have thus far--mysteries/thrillers and now children books?

A: I write mysteries and thrillers (for adults and now younger readers) because those were and are the kind of books I like to read. Page turners! As a reader, I like the interactivity with mysteries -- you get to be a participant in the story, trying to solve the puzzle before the sleuth does.

Q: Who or what inspired you to create John Ceepak for a mystery series? Why make Ceepak this unique character of such high moral character? (He does tell lies or tolerates them, for instance.)

A: When dreaming up a protagonist for my first mystery, I wanted to create a character that hadn't been done before. I figured the world had enough bitter ex-cops who were alcoholics and divorced and lived by no code but their own. I imagined John Ceepak as the polar opposite: an overgrown Eagle Boy Scout, a Dudley Do-Right with a dark past that made him live his life in strict accordance to the West Point cadet honor code: He will not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do. He is a composite of several guys I have met and marveled at. A nephew who served in the first Gulf war. An FDNY captain. Several MPs I met at a wedding, one of whom was actually named John Ceepak! The fun of writing the books is putting Ceepak and his code to the test. It's pretty hard to get by in life (and police work) without telling a few white lies...Ceepak, however, won't fib about anything.

Q: Why did you decide to place your Ceepak mysteries at a New Jersey resort setting?

A: I chose the "down the Jersey shore" for my setting for a couple reasons. I've always been fascinated with tacky tourist towns, ever since I was a kid vacationing on Treasure Island in Florida and, later, doing summer stock theatre in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The tourist town also gives me an excuse for a transient population -- troublemakers can come and go. I also filmed a Dr Pepper commercial in Seaside Heights and just fell in love with the cheesiness of it all. Also, a tourist town is a bit of Potemkin Village, a collection of illusions, as fantastic as an elaborate pirate themed putt putt golf course. I thought that would be a good place to put Ceepak's code to the test. Also, a tourist town on the New Jersey shore makes all of its money in ten weeks over the summer...so, as in JAWS, the stakes are raised if there is trouble over the summer.

Q: Your Ceepak mysteries are told from the point of view of Ceepak's young partner, why do that and how does it benefit the reader?

A: I adopted the Watson-Sherlock approach. I think if Holmes were Conan-Doyle's narrator, we would not like the stories. The same is true for straight arrow Ceepak. By adding Danny, we get to see this interesting character through eyes more similar to our own. Danny, much like Archie Goodwin in the Nero Wolfe books, also adds a degree of humor and delight to the proceedings. And since Danny is not yet the crack investigator that Ceepak is, his narration allows the reader the chance of solving the crime before he or Ceepak do.

Q: How do you push yourself creatively with mystery series and do you have any future writing goals?

A: I push myself with the mystery series by making sure the stories all say something besides "whodunit?" So, as much fun as the books are to read, they will touch on dark thought-provoking materials. In the Ceepak stories, I also push myself by allowing the characters to grow and change as the series progresses. I also try to avoid formulaic repetitions. My future writing goals include launching a second YA series with touches of fantasy. I am also working on some stand alone thrillers (where everything is resolved in one book!)

Q: Which writers do you enjoy reading these days?

A: When I'm reading for fun, I find myself reading people like Sarah Vowell, non-fiction, and history. I also read a lot of my fellow mystery authors' books. I love Jeff Cohen, Laura Lippman, Jonathan Santlofer, Lee Child, Stephen King, Dean Koontz -- the list goes on and on!

Q: Is there anything about yourself you like to share that most of us don't know about you?

A: That my dog has better credits than me! Fred was one of the canine stars of Chitty Chity Bang Bang on Broadway!

Interview Date: September 2009
Profile and questions compiled by Lawrence T., South County Regional