Interview by Dorothy James (she's in my head again!)

Aaron Paul Lazar is the author of  three series of mysteries, the LeGarde Mysteries, Moore Mysteries, and Tall Pines Mysteries.  He lives in the Genesee Valley in upstate New York, and enjoys the countryside where, in his own words, his characters “embrace life, play with their grandkids and dogs, grow sumptuous gardens, and chase bad guys.”  He “writes to soothe his soul.”

You can follow up his work and publications at his website  www.legardemysteries.com  He has won various awards, listed below along with publishing details of his books.  I met Aaron on Twitter, and recently reviewed five of his LeGarde mysteries  in this blog.  I am glad that he has agreed to be interviewed here and also sent me some of his pictures of the Genesee Valley.


DJ. As you know, Aaron, I am exploring in this blog the phenomenon of the mystery novel. I’m reading various kinds of mysteries, detective novels, thrillers etc., and considering what their appeal to their readers is. I decided to write about your mysteries because, as far as I am concerned, they are something of a genre unto themselves. You have suggested that they might be called, “country mysteries,” and I picked this up in my recent review. Do you think this describes them adequately?

APL: Dorothy, I’ve been trying to figure this out since I started writing these books! I always just called them mysteries, because they felt like elements of the mysteries I’d read my whole life – not exactly like them, but closer than any other genre. Some folks suggested “adventure,” but I didn’t think that really fit, since they aren’t a gun-slinging or sea-diving type of book. One publisher told me they reminded her of the good old-fashioned mysteries of her youth, and I took that to be a compliment! Now, people often die or have died in the past (ala Elsbeth in Double Forté ) in my books, but there isn’t always a murder, so to speak. So they aren’t classic “murder mysteries,” and they certainly aren’t “detective mysteries.” Of course they aren’t crime novels, either, because there is no detective or PI present (except for the cops who are Gus’s friends), and so much more happens in these stories than would be acceptable in a by-the-book crime novel.

Some people have called them “literary mysteries,” and on occasion, “cozies,” but they don’t really seem to fit in those categories either. So I dubbed them “country mysteries,” because they all take place in the country, the book settings explore and showcase nature, my characters are soothed by the country (as opposed to the city or suburbs), and they are always out in their gardens, or cooking stuff from the gardens, or walking in the woods, or sledding, or riding horses… it just seemed to fit. ;o)

DJ: What do you think about the genre name “cozy mystery?”  I balk at using the term for your novels, though they do fit the bill in not being excessively bloodthirsty and in depicting sex in a distinctly romantic way –and in moderation!  When someone says of my one murder mystery, “It’s not a cozy,” I tend to regard this as a compliment. Do you feel the same way? Or do you think the term could be profitably applied to your novels?  Are they “cozies” to you?

APL:  Yes, I feel the same way about not being categorized as a cozy writer. I don’t really think they are cozies. There’s much more pathos and deep-seated emotion and pure evil that invades these books (like it does your novel!), and it’s not shown in a cozy fashion as Agatha Christie would have done. Granted, I try to keep the gratuitous violence and sex down to a bare minimum (the operative word here being gratuitious), but it’s impossible to avoid violence when you’re talking about villains like neo-Nazis or sociopaths. For example, I don’t think in a cozy one would describe the way the eyes of a dead man gelled and turned gray, as I did at the end of Double Forté with Baxter’s death. And perhaps one wouldn’t expect so many fistfights, chases, or scenes where someone has a knife or gun pushed into their ribs in a cozy. I believe that brings my books beyond the definition of cozy. That said, there are elements of these books that are comforting, and “cozy” in that manner, if you know what I mean. When I have Gus LeGarde sitting on his porch steps with his dog, patting him, with the sun beating down and flowers bending and swaying around them…it’s comforting for both Gus and the readers. It may not be critical to the plot, but it’s critical to the job of getting the readers to know and care about Gus, in my humble opinion.

DJ: You have written that you turned to writing novels after losing a number of members of your family. You were seeking solace.  Why, at such a time, would you choose to write mysteries?  In fact your novels are family stories, and the drama within the LeGarde family is by no means all dependent on the mystery plot, though the plot is often moved forward by family dynamics.  Could you have just written family novels?

APL: I've always read mysteries, Dorothy. Never much else. They call to me, so it was never even a question what genre I'd write. The scenes with family were comforting, because they reminded me of my loves ones that I'd lost, but the mystery parts of the stories were great escapes for me, too. I never really considered writing “just” about family. I’ve always been excited by the idea of secrets being overturned or mysteries being solved. Maybe I’ll have to consider this some day. ;o)

DJ: I have called your novels “romantic.” You have, it seems to me, a romantic view of love, of family relationships, of the relationship between human-beings and nature. How do you square this with the need in a mystery to introduce all sorts of quite un-romantic things, such as murder, beating and brutal men? You picked up on some comments of mine in my recent review and talked about the “operatic separation of heroes and villains.” Would you like to expand a little on that here?

APL:  I’ll never forget the summer when I took off on my horse by myself for hours. I’d find a great spot in a pasture, let the horse eat grass, and I’d read a book either turned around with my elbows on his soft hindquarters, or on the ground beside him under a tree. My father said, “He’s going through a Romantic stage now.” Heh. I guess I never outgrew it.

I think part of my difficulty accepting things not beautiful (un-romantic) has to do with the fact that I was raised in a very sheltered and almost utopian environment. No, we didn’t have much money. But we had all the basics and plenty of love. We had one very old car, one tiny B&W TV, a very cold house in the winter, etc. But we lived in the country (much like I do now) and grew big gardens, had family feasts, took in all the stray animals, and of course, found a way to keep my horse. He wasn’t anything special, but I adored him. We got him for a few hundred bucks from a local woman, but the life I had every day on his back, playing with my pals who also had horses, was so incredible, it just set my expectations for how life is supposed to be. It didn’t cost so much back then to keep a horse. Now you have to be rich, or at least prioritize your life in a different way.

I also flat-out loved opera in my teens and twenties, and went to as many performances as I could. My favorites at the time were Tosca, Carmen, Aida, Rigoletto… talk about romantic! I guess I never progressed beyond the point of showing villains for who they really were. I didn’t worry too much about humanizing them so that the reader felt sympathy. After all, they were the “bad guys.” I know many of today’s writers are quite concerned about character arcs (having their character grow and change) and also that it’s popular to have a seriously flawed hero. I remember my wife originally asked me “why don’t you make Gus an alcoholic, or something interesting like that?” I couldn’t do it! Why? Because I wouldn’t be able to use him then as the example of a good dad, good grandfather, good husband.

I never meant to use my characters as teaching models – not in my conscious brain, anyway. But it seems they have ended up doing just that with many of my readers. One reader actually told me that Gus taught him how to be a better father! Imagine that? I still treasure that comment.

DJ: In all five of the novels that I reviewed, the plot is set in the framework of developing family relationships, and in three of them there are also major subplots that only connect tangentially with the the main mystery plot (the mysterious visitor in Tremolo, the connection to the nineteenth century composer in Mazurka, and the hidden room and Underground Railroad in FireSong).  Traditionally, murder mysteries are tightly plotted, more in the style of your Upstaged, and the reader’s attention is firmly directed throughout at the detection of the culprit.  Are you deliberately subverting the genre in your subplots, or do these simply pop into your head and you cannot resist them?

APL: Dorothy, I love your questions. They are so deep and so far beyond what I’m normally asked! Okay, let’s talk about the subplots you mentioned first. In Tremolo, I thought it would be lovely to entwine the feelings and emotions of 1964 in the book in some tangible ways. You know I used Beatles songs, movies of the time (“To Kill A Mockingbird”), radio programs that hinted at the fears of the day, like bomb scares and such. But I wanted to bring closer one of the most powerful events that happened in that decade, and that was the assassination of the President. By having a mysterious visitor come to camp, as yes, a definite sub plot, I felt I could integrate the event more closely to my characters and their lives.

In Mazurka, the only way I could get Siegfried to accompany Gus and Camille on their vacation (because I could not imagine leaving him out of this story!) was to concoct a very good reason for him to have to go with them. By having this deep dark secret about Chopin that his great aunt needed to pass on to him, I created the mechanics of him coming along. But remember, there are also many strains throughout the books about Chopin. Elsbeth always adored this composer. Gus is writing a book about him. Gus’s grandson dances around the great room to the strains of Chopin mazurka’s, etc. There were already the elements planted in the series that reached way back in time to this event, making it fit.

In FireSong, there are a lot of plot lines. Maybe too many. But I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to link the criminal activities beneath the church and town to something historic, to Gus and Camille. By finding the secret room in their house with Underground Railroad relics in it, I firmly linked Gus and Camille, and the original owner of their house, Mary Hill, to the current day happenings in the town. Remember that Mary was found in a very unexpected place – and it all linked back to those criminal activities that were ongoing. How else would we have found her if there hadn’t been the original cave in at the mines? Or the forest fire? I think it all linked together in important ways, but maybe I had too much going on in this one.

DJ:  A related question: You have a leisurely approach to narration—in my review I used the word “contemplative”—and some whole sections contribute nothing to the actual plot—e.g., Gus playing with his grandson, Gus and his friends and family cooking, the minister preaching.  Do you deliberately slow down the pace of the plot in this way in order then to take your readers by surprise when you throw them into fast-paced chase scene where the narration is highly concentrated and very precise. How much planning do you do of pacing?  Or do you, as it were, follow your nose and let the characters and the story lead you?

APL: I do the latter, Dorothy. My characters lead me where they will.
But I also believe that I have always intentionally employed the device of “tension and release, tension and release.” Like a sine wave, actually, I position scenes or vignettes of Gus’s family life in between the action scenes. It’s very purposeful. I think the reason I do it is to make my readers love and care for my characters, to expose their personalities, their weaknesses, their fears. I do it to let the reader relax a little between the tense scenes, and also to make the story seem more real. If all my characters did was run around from or after villains the whole time, that would make my books probably into suspense or terror. But they aren’t, they definitely aren’t. It’s almost become second nature, but this interchanging of relaxed versus tense scenes has always been my intent. I do very little planning, except to collect a few vague ideas about subjects I’ll cover or problems my characters will develop, or new characters I’ll feature. And I don’t outline.

DJ: You are a prolific writer. You did not begin writing novels until about 2004 (if I am right) and since then you have written fifteen, with six on the market now and the rest in the publishing queue scheduled for near term release. I am in awe of this ability since it takes me several years to write one.  How do you do it? Particularly when you also hold down a full-time job as an applications engineer—and then there is your family, to say nothing of your garden, your dogs and cats . . .

APL:  It isn’t easy, Dorothy. But I budget my time very carefully. I rarely watch television, so that helps a lot. I work hard and fast on the household and garden chores, and I am forever behind. The house is never perfectly clean; the weeds are never fully pulled. There are always fifty jobs waiting for me when I come home. But I figure if we are living in a relatively clean environment, eating fresh produce and healthy meals, etc. then I can take a few hours a night (or early morning) to devote to my books. When I’m writing a book, I do about a chapter a day. Normally it takes about three months to get a draft done when I’m on a roll. After that, it may be years before the book comes out, and it goes through many editing phases. So it’s just a matter of priorities. My wife and family come first, then my writing. All the other stuff can be done whenever I can squeeze it in.

DJ: Your novels show more than a passing involvement with European culture—music, language, some European cities. Mazurka plays almost entirely in Europe, in Paris, in Vienna. And several of your characters have European roots, not only the twins, Elsbeth and Siegfried. Siegfried’s German is even scattered through the texts.  Your own life seems to be very well rooted in upstate New York. Where does your interest in Europe come in?

APL: When I worked for Kodak, one of my jobs was liaison with our German counterparts in Muelhausen, in our German factory. I loved this job, and frequently visited for a week or two at a time. In 1986 my whole family was invited to live in Germany while I worked with my counterparts there. We lived in Denkendorf, a lovely little village outside of Stuttgart. You’ll see an appearance of Denkendorf in Mazurka, as well as many of the shops and restaurants we frequented. While we lived there, my wife and I were able to take long weekend trips to various locales – Paris, Wien, Austria, the Black Forest, etc. etc. (my in-laws came along with us to Germany to help care for our three little girls, and we took turns every other weekend traveling when we could!) Most of these locales are featured in Mazurka. Now, years later, I work for a Germany company with headquarters here in Rochester, NY. I’ve been overseas twice now in the past year and am delighted to reconnect with the German people and culture.

DJ:  And now a nuts-and-bolts question:
Many people these days are trying their hand at self-publishing.  You have yourself published with small publishing companies and you have had success with e-books. Do you have any advice, based in your own experience:
a) for writers who are interested in self-publishing?
b) for writers who are interested in getting into the e-book market?
Can you make any comments on the current trend towards publishing oneself on e.g. Kindle, doing all the formatting oneself, setting the price, and simply selling.

APL: Dorothy, all I can say is the world is rapidly changing in this arena. People are completely bypassing publishers these days and becoming enormously successful. Or failing miserably. Folks are still snagging good agents and being well represented by big publishers; and others in the same boat get little in the way of promotion or sales. The market is so changeable, the opportunities so open and amazing… and there is no zero sum game here, especially with eBooks.

My eBooks have sold far more than my print books, and I’m delighted with this. My publisher does all the work on formatting, etc. I wouldn’t know where to begin! She is a master at this.
My wife and I are buying probably ten times more books in general now that she has her Kindle and I use my little iPhone to read. A year ago, I would have laughed at the idea, but it has really taken hold and grown. We are constantly downloading books for free or 99 cents that are wonderful reads. Of course, once we hit on an author we like, we gladly go back to research what they’ve written and frequently buy at full price without questioning the cost. So there’s a lesson to be learned here re. promotion.

I wish I had the magic bullet answer – but I think it’s still and always will be the same. Write the best book you can. Put it in the very best polished format. Find a way to get it to your readers, and keep on writing so they will come back for more!

DJ:  What are you writing now and where are you going?

APL: I’ve just finished polishing and rewriting my old books – the first two books I wrote, Double Forté and Upstaged. My current publisher (Twilight Times Books) has picked them up and they will come out as “author’s preferred editions” next year. So I’m free to start a new book, and I’m very excited to be in the thinking stages about a third book in my Tall Pines series. I have ten books in LeGarde, three in Moore Mysteries, and two in Tall Pines, so it makes sense to add one to the new Tall Pines series before I go on.  I intend to keep writing these three series indefinitely, God willing.

Next I’ll likely add a book to the Moore series, and then will probably either go back to spruce up one of the four remaining LeGarde books that is waiting in the wings, or I’ll write another “young Gus” book. I have two now in that sub-category of LeGarde Mysteries, and would like to continue that series within a series. ;o)

11. What kind of audience do you hope to reach?

APL: I must say that originally I never wrote for anyone but me. It was my world, my pleasure, and under my control. LOL. But now, I’ve seen that I can reach and connect with readers of all ages. I have ten year olds who have read and enjoyed Double Forté and 99 year olds who read all the books. It seems my stories span the ages. The Tall Pines series, however, is aimed a little more at women (although I think most men will like it, too). But we shall see how they are received when they come out!

DJ:  Anything you would like add?

APL: First of all, thank you so much for these brilliant questions and wish you the very best with your own book, which I loved. Secondly, I’d like to say that connecting with my readers, learning what they liked and didn’t like, seeing how the books impacted them – it’s all my favorite part of being an author. Folks can connect with me on facebook, twitter, or my many blogs. My main website is www.legardemysteries.com. You can also email me at aaron dot lazar at yahoo dot com to sign up for my quarterly newsletter.
Thank you, Dorothy, and don’t forget to write like the wind.


AWARDS:
WINNER 2011 Eric Hoffer BEST Book, COMMERCIAL FICTION * GRAND PRIZE FINALIST Eric Hoffer Book Award 2011 * 2X FINALIST Global eBook Awards 2011 * Preditors & Editors Readers Choice Award – 2^nd place 2011* Winner of Carolyn Howard Johnsons’ 9^th Annual Noble (Not Nobel!) Prize for Literature 2011 *  Finalist Allbooks Editors Choice Awards 2011 * Preditors&Editors Top 10 Finalist  *   Yolanda Renee’s Top Ten Books 2008   *  MYSHELF Top Ten Reads 2008  * Writers’ Digest Top 101 Website Award 2009 & 2010
See also: www.legardemysteries.com / www.mooremysteries.com /  www.murderby4.blogspot.com / www.aaronlazar.blogspot.com /www.aplazar.gather.com

Review of Pirate King by Laurie R. King

Title: Pirate King

Author: Laurie R. King

Publisher: Random House

ISBN-10: 0553807986

ISBN-13: 978-0553807981

Price: $13.99 hardcover; $12.99 Kindle

Author’s website: www.laurierking.com

About the series:

I have long loved Laurie R. King’s books, from my first taste of her writing in THE MOOR, to Kate Martinelli’s dark mysteries, including A GRAVE TALENT. Without fail, I preorder each new release, looking forward to the hardcover arrivals to treasure and store on my bookshelf. Lately, I’ve also ordered the Kindle versions, just to have the books close at hand when a stray chance to read presents itself.

Mary Russell, originally an apprentice to Sherlock Holmes and now his wife and partner in solving puzzles around the world, is featured in these books with her erudite and delightful husband, in a world of high culture and gentle civility. Of course, things are not quite so civil when they run across villains. When that happens, all bets are off.

The series is most appealing because of its intellect combined with delectable humor, particularly shown through the pithy dialogue of husband and wife. Mary Russell’s voice is strong – profound, most definitely British, and delightfully independent. Her relationship with Holmes, while they dash across the globe to solve mysteries and rescue innocents, is what hooked me from the beginning, particularly its dry humor and subtle eroticism.

What amazes me most about this author is her ability to set a story in the voice and time of the early 20^th century, in such a way that readers feel an integral part of that era. And yet, she also has perfected the art of writing contemporary genre crime stories, such as TO PLAY THE FOOL and the other Kate Martinelli mysteries. I’ve loved them all, including the standalones, but what astounds me the most is King’s ability to switch between these distinct and very different writing styles so effortlessly. Both series have garnered high awards in the literary world, and both have found space on my bookshelf.

About the new book:

In THE PIRATE KING, the eleventh Mary Russell book, Russell is challenged to uncover secrets in a nest of villainous characters spanning the misty shores of Lisbon to the heady-scented harems of Morocco.

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard convinces Russell to go undercover in the film company, posing as an assistant to the director. What happened to the missing secretary? Why were her shoes found near a ledge, but no suicide note? And what about these rumrunners, cocaine dealers, and arms sellers who seem to be linked with every silent Fflytte film that’s ever been produced?

With Holmes unavailable, Russell is rushed undercover in this colorful, crazy world of silent filmmaking, where she is immediately put in charge of a bevy of blonde actresses and is the primary peacekeeper and runner of errands.

A band of real pirates is hired in Lisbon to act in “the film about a film about pirates” loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. (Although quite complex, the story within a story didn’t bother me, since one of my own books involves a deeply layered story with multiple actors, their roles in a musical, and the story behind the story that inspired the musical. I was used to thinking in these convoluted terms!)

Vibrant characters, subtle hints, questions that layer one upon the other, they weave a tight and fascinating tapestry. Suffice it to say that a complete plot description would take up too much room here. You can read more details in the product description on Amazon, or on King’s website at http://www.laurierking.com.

As an aside, I did have one minor complaint about PIRATE KING. I missed Sherlock Holmes in the first two-thirds of this book. Mary writes letters to him, but he doesn’t write back, so we don’t hear his voice or see him for much of the story, and I yearned for their witty repartee. He does finally show up, however, and it’s at that point where the suspense and action really pick up. Yes, PIRATE KING has a different feel from the previous novels, but is enjoyable in its own right.

Mary Russell’s voice is distinct and unique; it’s what stamps the eleven books with King’s signature, book after book. As an example, see the following excerpt from a letter penned to Holmes.

“It may not have escaped your notice that this missive contains a dearth of data concerning the true reason for my presence, namely, a missing secretary and the illicit selling of cocaine and firearms. Perhaps that is due to the circumstances of my employment, which is rather that of a person attempting delicate surgery whilst standing in a hurricane.

I shall persist.”

It is Russell’s sardonic wit exemplified in lines like this that always make me laugh out loud.

Some of the lovelier aspects of PIRATE KING—aside from the fun of meeting all of the actors, pirates, and staff—are the delicious descriptions of Lisbon and Morocco. Exotic and intriguing, the sights, sounds, and aromas tantalize. It’s clear that the author has been in these locales (you can read about it on her Mutterings blog at www.laurierking.com).

In addition to the intricately woven plot, King paints delightful portraits of her featured characters, such as Mr. Pessoa, based on a real Portuguese poet from the same time in history.

“All this talk about pirates had made Mr. Pessoa’s gaze go far away. Two lengths of ash had dropped unnoticed as his monologue unfurled. Then he looked at me as if in expectation of an answer, to a question I could not begin to recall. I felt an absurd urge to lay my head down on the table and go to sleep. Or to weep.”

One aspect of King’s writing that thrills me is the use of certain verbs, such as “…his monologue unfurled.” How appropriate (since we’re reading about sailing and sails unfurling), and what pure poetry. I love the thought of words unfurling from a poet’s lips.

Russell’s humor continues, never failing, even in the most dire situation.

“It was getting on to eleven o’clock; I had not slept a full night since leaving London; I had not eaten a full meal in that same time. I was exhausted and cold and so hungry that the plate of fly-specked objects on a shelf (pies? Boiled eggs? Bundled stockings, perhaps?) made my mouth water.”

I still laugh when I picture whatever it was on that shelf. Eggs, pies, or stockings?

My favorite line in this entire story, however, again comes from one of Russell’s letters to Holmes.

“Holmes, I am awash in a sea of megalomaniacs.”

And indeed, she was. Surrounded by film directors, actors, pirates, poets, and spies, this staunch and feisty young woman took on more than her share and made Holmes and her readers very proud.

If you begin to read the book and wonder where the threats are, where the mystery is, when the action will start, don’t despair. Although the first section is a bit different from other Mary Russell books (albeit enjoyable in its own right), the last pages will woo you with dazzling tension, heart pounding action, and wonderful imagery. I’ll never forget the image of Russell hanging outside a Moroccan jail cell on a silk rope thirty feet above the cobblestones below, having in-depth conversations with the prisoner inside; it was sheer delight.

If you haven’t read a book by Laurie King, please check them out now. Whether you’re a modern day crime aficionado or a British mystery fan, both genres will fill your days and nights with superb writing and entertainment. You can find all the books on her website.

 - reviewed by Aaron Paul Lazar

Setting: Your Own Back Yard

Setting: Your Own Back Yard

copyright 2011 aaron paul lazar

Enroute to my booksigning yesterday in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York, I had the weirdest experience. For a good fifteen minutes, a burning scent filled the car. Acrid. Disgusting. But I couldn't see any source of it - either on the roadside or ahead of me. I kept checking my temperature gauge, concerned that somehow something was going wrong beneath the hood of my one year old Camry. But no smoke rose nor did any weird noises or flames erupt.

Puzzled, I zoomed south on Route 390, driving over the undulating hills with isolated touches of red or bronze flashing in the woods and fields. Fall hasn't come to our region yet, although we've had a few cold mornings lately. It was gorgeous, as always, but I still smelled that strong odor. Could there be a forest fire? Why didn't I see smoke?

I was really getting worried until I flew around a curve and saw the culprit. There, before me, was a giant truck spewing an acrid plume - and I mean PLUME - of gray smoke, so thick that when I approached I could barely see the road.

Fear gripped me, and A headline popped into my head. AUTHOR DIES IN EXPLOSION PASSING BURNING TRUCK. With renewed determination, I carefully passed him, wondering why he wasn't stopping. It was at that point that I saw flames leaping out of the open topped trailer.

How could he not know something was wrong?

I flashed my lights, beeped my horn, got by him, and promptly called 911. He didn't slow down, kept chugging along. With a prayer for his safety, I kept going after the police promised to track him down.

I have no idea what happened and whether or not the cops were able to locate him and stop him before his vehicle blew up, but man, was it scary.

Fortunately, it wasn't an omen of my day to come. On the way to the event, I started to relax again, loving the way the heavy pinot noir grapes hung on the vines in fields by the road, rejoicing in the sparkling aquamarine water of the narrow lake and the quaint cottages dotting the shore.

The booksigning at Heron Hill Winery overlooking Keuka Lake was lovely, especially after the sun came out just in time for us to witness the annual parade of the seaplanes flying low over the lake. I love this place, and I love the people who run it. They are so welcoming, it's like greeting old friends each time I visit.

The pictures above were taken outside the tent where I signed books - also where an annual Harvest Wine Tour took place. The winery is perched high on the western bluff overlooking the lake.

I had lovely conversations with wine and book lovers from all parts of the country, connecting with them in the way only readers and writers can - sharing the love of favorite authors, talking about plots and characters in the sun while sipping wine. It was pure joy.

But one resounding theme kept coming back to me. So many folks love reading about a specific setting or locale. Whether they'd attended school at Geneseo in the Genesee Valley, lived in Rochester, summer camped on the lake, or simply adored this part of the country, they all perked up when they discovered my books were based in the Finger Lakes and Genesee Valley region of New York. 

Of course, how can I blame them? There's so much beauty here, it stuns me time and time again, in spite of the fact that I live here!

A friend who suprised me with a visit yesterday said it best, actually. Paul had moved from our region a year ago to the Albany area, headed for a super job, but had to leave his home of many years. He popped into the signing with a big smile. Of course, he had to endure several bear hugs from me.

While we drank the new 2009 dry Riesling and looked over the vineyards and lake below, he mused about someday moving here. On the drive down, he said he was so overtaken by the beauty of the area, it took his breath away and made his heart swell.

I loved hearing him speak about it, because it mirrored my own passion for the area.

My characters do have excursions to Maine and Europe, and will probably tour new parts of the world in the future, but I'm glad I chose to base my books right here in my own back yard. I'm blessed to live here, and thank God every day for the beauty that surrounds me.

Where do your characters live? What settings have you chosen for your scenes? Share below in the comments section, and remember to write like the wind!

Aaron Paul Lazar
www.legardemysteries.com

P.S. We had my daughter's wedding last month in the same region, overlooking Keuka Lake. So beautiful! Above is a family photo.

I'm honored to welcome Dorothy James today. I met this fine lady on Twitter, of all places, where her book - A Place to Die - caught my eye. We began exchanging emails, and I discovered she was quite the international writer, with her current novel set in Vienna, one of my favorite places. You may remember I reviewed her book here. Dorothy was born in Wales and grew up in the South Wales Valleys. Writer, editor, translator, educator, college chairwoman, expert in the German language, and more, she has published short stories as well as books and articles on German and Austrian literature. She makes her home now in Brooklyn, but travels frequently to Berlin, to Vienna, and to her native Wales. She blogs here - about mysteries, what else?

To my surprise and delight, Dorothy picked up the first of my LeGarde Mysteries, read them, and performed an in-depth scholarly review to the start of the (ultimately) ten book series, analyzing the content and style with incredible insight. She really "got" me, probably more than any reviewer has in the past. She even discovered my inability to integrate good and evil, my operatic separation of heroes and villains, and she touched on some really interesting psychological discoveries that even I hadn't faced. Very cool. Thank you, Dorothy.

The Country Mysteries of Aaron Paul Lazar, by Dorothy James
copyright 2011, Dorothy James

Aaron Paul Lazar is an all-American writer of popular mysteries. He sometimes calls them country mysteries, and this goes some way towards describing them. Because I come from Britain and have many connections with Europe, I might wish to call them “American country mysteries.” Certainly they are a far cry from the formulaic English country-house mysteries, and they do not in the least resemble the many English murder mysteries set (with notable lack of verisimilitude) in the charming little villages of the South of England. Lazar’s country mysteries are unique, at least in the context of my own reading. And they are very American. Why do I say that? Because I cannot imagine finding anywhere but in the USA Lazar’s particular blend of romance, family affection, church-going warmth, appetizing home cooking, enthusiastic gardening, breath-stopping suspense, villainous behavior with murderous intent, all put together with intelligence, good humor, story-telling skill and a bubbling-over of imagery, more than a touch of naïve and lovable optimism and an overpowering sense that although particularly nasty and violent men keep cropping up, East Goodland (well-named) in the Genesee Valley in upstate New York is still the best of all possible worlds.

Lazar is a prolific writer, and I am going to confine my discussion here to the first five of his Gus LeGarde mysteries. These are the novels that set him on the road to becoming a writer of mystery novels, and while he may have refined his writing skills in his later novels, these are the novels that drew me into his world, and I would like work out why, what is their attraction? Why do I keep coming back to see what is going on in East Goodland?

In order of their appearance they are:

Double Forté and Upstaged, first published by Publish America in 2004 and 2005, and soon to be re-issued by Twilight Times Books.

Tremolo: Cry of the Loon, published by Twilight Times Books in 2007

Mazurka, published by Paladin Timeless Books (a Twilight Times Imprint) in 2009

FireSong, published by Paladin Timeless Books (a Twilight Times Imprint) in 2011

All these novels are also available on Kindle and in numerous other e-reader formats, and since Aaron has agreed to be interviewed on this blog, I will be asking him more about the ways in which he wrote and published these novels, but today I want to concentrate on some aspects of the novels themselves.

The hero of this series of novels is Gus LeGarde—not a detective, not a policeman, but a professor. Not by any means a stereotypical professor. He is a professor of music in a local upstate New York college but we see a lot more of him in his house, his garden, his kitchen, his church, than in his college. These are no typical college mysteries with a cast of faculty members as suspects. They are mysteries in which Gus himself is at the center, often not so much in a detecting role as in the role of potential victim of a dastardly character or characters who pursue him and his loved ones, often in hair-raising chases. Professor he may be, but he is an outdoors type, who skis, rides horses, runs, swims and when necessary packs a mighty punch. He himself is the recipient of so many blows to the head that one would fear for his sanity if he did not have an amazing ability to get back on his feet and fight another day. 

And yet Gus is not a violent man. On the contrary, he is a loving, sensitive and of course musical soul who tends to get involved in crime only because he is concerned about his fellow men, and particularly about children, women—and animals too. It is this concern and the compulsion to step in and help those in trouble that usually makes him, and often his wife, the direct target of various villains’ wrath.

When we first meet him in Double Forté, he is a widower, a middle-aged grandfather, who has already known tragedy in his personal life through the illness and death of his beloved wife, Elsbeth. read more here...

Hi, all!

As you may know, we've had wonderful success over the past few years with our blog, Murderby4. It's a blog by writers for writers and also readers - and we feature pieces all week long about writing skills, the publishing industry, writer's life stuff, and so much more. We have agents who guest blog, publishers who stop by, publicists, and of course, many writers.

We've been blessed with some great guests in the past, including our beloved Warren Adler, but today we welcome Laurie R. King, author of 21 best sellers, including a fantastic series that features Mary Russell, who just happens to be married to Sherlock Holmes!



Oh, I love these books, they're like gifts when they are released. They take place in the early 20th century and although they're anchored in England, Mary and Sherlock get to travel all over the world, from Asia to San Francisco.

In her new book, PIRATE KING, the 11th in the Mary Russell series, Ms. King brings us to Lisbon and Morocco, places she's recently visited herself. I'm reading it now and loving it.



Would you accept my invitation and come on over to welcome Laurie King to our blog today? Here's the link. (if this doesn't work, just go to www.murderby4.blogspot.com!)

Remember, if you love to write, write like the wind!!


Aaron Lazar
www.legardemysteries.com