MYSTERY WRITERS UNITE is THRILLED to be starting off 2012 supporting the work of R.S. Guthrie, author of BLACK BEAST and his NEW RELEASE LOST (see below).
Rob lives in Colorado with his wife and two Australian Shepherds, and a Chihuahua who believes she is also an Aussie. He hopes to retire to the remote mountains of Wyoming and continue to write.
As a special thank you to all our readers, MWU will be giving one lucky commenter an eBook version of both of Rob’s books – as a reader of his work, I can tell you that you won’t be disappointed!!
--- Interview
MWU: Great to be interviewing you again! Being that we’ve talked before, I had to dig a little deeper to come up with great questions…lol With that, here is the first one – if your wife was approached on the street and was asked what your writing quirk(s) is/are what would she say?
R.S. Guthrie: Well the first thing she would say is “thank you for knowing who my husband is---you’re the one!” Then she would probably say that my biggest writing quirk is that when I want to read what I’ve created I will send it to my Kindle and then draw a hot bath to read my writing. Oh, did I mention it’s a bubble bath? TMI, right? It’s okay, I’m comfortable in my manhood…
MWU: If you could be a character in the CLAN of MACAULAY SERIES, and you can’t pick Bobby Mac, which one would you want to be and why?
R.S. Guthrie: Great question, now that you took the cool, manly hero out of the running! I’d say Gunnery Sergeant Montgomery McBride. He’s a fairly minor character in the series, but he’s one of those memorable guys—a Senior Drill Instructor in the Marine Corps who at sixty can still do more pushups than his charges. Just a tough son of a gun who takes life by the, uh, horns.
MWU: What do you think readers will most enjoy about the MACAULAY CLAN SERIES?
R.S. Guthrie: This one is pretty easy. I chose to write a series because I feel very strongly about memorable characters with whom a reader can relate and for whom they can cheer. I tried to do that with Detective Bobby Mac and I get a lot of really positive feedback on that protagonist. I think readers will find they connect with Mac. He’s an everyman hero.
MWU: If your main character in the MACAULAY CLAN SERIES (Bobby Macaulay) could say something to you, what do you think he would say?
R.S. Guthrie: He’d probably tell me to stop getting him in these dangerous situations all the time. Maybe write him on to a nice private beach in Bali with Agent Amanda Byrne. And no bad guys. (I’d like to think he’d also thank me for making him so cool.)
MWU: If you had less than a minute to tell a perspective reader what they could expect from BLACK BEAST AND LOST (you are at a trade show and someone has stopped by your booth) what would you tell them? Go….
BLACK BEAST: Action. Not a lot of filler. A fast-paced read with human, likable characters that you will care about. An interesting villain.
LOST: More horror than the first book. An adventure element and some creepy twists. The good, bad, and ugly in family relationships.
MWU: If you were approached to make the MACAULAY CLAN SERIES for TV, who would you think could do the best job in the role of Bobby Mac? Father Rule?
R.S. Guthrie: The funny thing is I was tasked a few months ago with coming up with a Bobby Mac image for an online promotion. I ended up choosing a fairly familiar face—a current television actor, who also plays a tough, ex-military cop: Australian Alex O’Loughlin, who currently plays Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-0. I guess we’d just have to offer him more money.
MWU: How did you develop and differentiate your characters and how do you “stay in character” when your writing?
R.S. Guthrie: My characters are a combination of protagonists and antagonists I have read over the years. As a writer, much of my style comes from subconsciously emulating the writers I love. I say ‘subconsciously’ because I fuel my imagination by reading the authors I love and then the writing just comes. When I am writing, I read almost exclusively in my genre. That keeps my mind in the game.
MWU: Who do you see as your “ideal” reader?
R.S. Guthrie: I am still trying to build my readership, but one of the things I have noticed is that I get the majority of positive feedback from women readers. I think the ideal reader for what I write is someone who enjoys dialogue and a writing style that gets to the point. I don’t enjoy reading long, overwritten books, so I don’t write ten pages of landscape development. If a reader likes a “good read” book that they don’t want to put down, that’s my reader.
MWU: What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
R.S. Guthrie: Listen to all criticism—there is almost always something useful in comments from someone who has taken the time to read and critique your work. And never argue with a critic. Ever.
MWU: What are your thoughts on the ever-changing publishing industry? What do you see for the future, as a writer?
R.S. Guthrie: The price point of books scares me. It’s incredibly low—many readers are becoming accustomed to spending anywhere from 99 cents to a couple of dollars for a novel-length work (and 99 cents seems to be more and more the de facto price for an indie book). I think the “established” authors’ books are going to keep coming down and pretty soon writers are going to have a hard time making a living. You can’t support your writing on 12 cents net per book.
MWU: Is there anything you would like to say to new writers, new readers or current fans of your work?
R.S. Guthrie: To new writers I would say take pride in your work; make it the best it can be. To all readers I would say support your favorite writers by posting reviews, buying their work, and passing the word. To current fans of my series I would say don’t worry, Bobby Mac isn’t going anywhere!
Synopsis for BLACK BEAST:
Decorated Denver Detective Bobby Macaulay has faced down a truckload of tragedy over recent years. The death of his partner; the loss of his own leg in the line of duty; the companionship of his beloved wife to cancer; his faith in God to his inner demons.
After the man who ruined his leg and killed his first partner is executed, Macaulay becomes the lead detective investigating the Sloan’s Lake murders. The method of killing in this double-homicide is so heinous it leads Macaulay and his partner down an ever-darkening path—one that must be traversed if they are to discover the evil forces behind the slaughter.
Just when Bobby Macaulay is questioning the very career that has been his salvation, he will discover a heroic history buried within his own family roots: The Clan MacAulay—a deep family lineage of protectors at the very core of a millenniums-long war against unimaginable evil.
Synopsis for LOST:
L O S T is the sequel to Black Beast, the 5-Star debut novel in the Clan of MacAulay series.Denver Detective Bobby Mac returns in this intense horror/thriller, set in the northern panhandle wilderness of Idaho. After receiving a phone call from his brother, the Chief of Police in Rocky Gap, Idaho, Bobby Mac travels north to assist in the investigation surrounding two gruesome murders and the abduction of an eleven-year-old girl.
These two seasoned cops---estranged brothers reunited---will bring all of their experience to bear in a case that threatens not only the safety of a small town, but also the sacred lineage of a family of heroes.
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