Today’s guest is mystery author David Finkle to chat with me about his debut novel, The Great Gatsby Murder Case.
Bio:
David Finkleis a New York-based writer who concentrates on politics and the arts. He writes regularly on theater for New York Stage Review. He’s contributed to scores of publications, including The New York Times, The Village Voice, The New York Post, The Nation, The New Yorker, New York, Vogue, Mirabella, Harper’s Bazaar, Psychology Today, Saturday Review and American Theatre. He is on the weekly podcast, The Hour of Lateral Thinking. He is the author of People Tell Me Things, a story collection, The Man With the Overcoat, a novel, Humpty Trumpty Hit a Brick Wall: Donald J. Trump’s First Year in Verse, Great Dates With Some Late Greats, a story collection, and Keys to an Empty House, a novel.
Welcome, David. Please tell us about your current release.
It’s my first mystery, which I’ve titled The Great Gatsby Murder Case. A novelist between books becomes aware of a murder that occurred in a building a few doors down from him. Or if the murder didn’t take place there, it was at least where the murderer lived. He realizes he must solve the mystery and does so with the help of a former, hard-nosed police detective—as well as a magical copy of The Great Gatsby, which sends him messages about the murder through its pages. Together, they complete the caper in a week, and each chapter follows one day in that week.
What inspired you to write this book?
Try as I might, I cannot remember. All I know is I was walking down my street in Manhattan one balmy day, and an idea popped into my head, completely unsummoned: I’ve got to write a mystery about a guy like me walking down a street like mine who has to solve a mystery.
This, by the way, is why I usually don’t carry my cell phone with me. If I did, it would distract me from ideas that come to me when I’m not attempting to think them up. They just come to me on streets. Some of them I dismiss after a few minutes or just seconds. This one I didn’t. I had a whale of a time developing it, instilling it with any number of surreal incidents having to do with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of careless people, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, and narrator Nick Carraway, who’s renting a small Long Island estate next to the intriguing Jay Gatsby. And isn’t intrigue at the core of any good book?
What exciting project are you working on next?
Since I don’t like to repeat myself—although there’s my writing style, which I have no choice but to maintain—I’m now finishing a romance that takes place in an abandoned house. That is all I’ll say about it.
Okay, I’ll also say it’s an enigmatic love story that doesn’t and does work out.
And, okay, perhaps I might repeat myself. I’m thinking about a sequel mystery to my latest book, prompted by another classic (out of copyright) novel.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’m still not certain I do, but I waited until my mid-life crisis to decide I could possibly resolve it by doing what I’d long put off. I thought, why write when I wouldn’t come anywhere near my favorite authors: Marcel Proust, Saul Bellow, John Cheever, Philip Roth, and Brontë. Today, as it transpires, I actually believe I’ve written a few pieces that reach–or almost reach–their levels. Also, I had not too recently ended a phase in my motley life that I suddenly realized could be turned into autobiographical fiction.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I write many days but not every day. Since I am a theater reviewer (currently for New York Stage Review, a website) and Tony voter, much time is taken with that pursuit. In addition, I procrastinate by reading the works of others. At the moment, I’m often rifling through Daniel Silva’s 27 thrillers, a long but highly rewarding task.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Is sense of humor a quirk? If so, that’s my quirk.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I read all the time, except for Catcher in the Rye, which my mother forbade me to read. As a reader, I always figured the next step was becoming a writer (logic had never been my strong suit). Mostly, though, I wanted to become an adult. That could still happen, although André Malraux has suggested he’s never known many—or is it any?—genuine adults.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Yes, my several books—with more to come.
Links:
Website | Amazon Author page