Mystery author Mark L. Dressler is chatting with me about his detective mystery novel, Dying for Fame.
Bio:
I am from Hartford Ct and did not start writing until 2014, three years into retirement. To date 5 of my books are published and available on Amazon and from any book venue. My first series of three books feature a Hartford Detective, Dan Shields (The detective who breaks all the rules.) Dead and Gone, Dead Right, and Dead Wrong.
My second series features a female tenacious detective named Lex Stall. The stories take place in Manhattan. Dying for Fame and Write to the End.
Please tell us about Dying for Fame.
Dying for Fame sets the stage for Lex Stall.
What inspired you to write this book?
Dying for Fame was inspired by my visits to many art museums in New York, Boston, Hartford and many other towns. Seeing all of the original masterpieces set off a bizarre question in my mind. Just because the paintings are tagged as real, how do I know that they are real? Just because they say so, does that make it true? This inspired me to involve New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and a fictional retired curator named Fredrike Cambourd.
The other interesting aspect of this manuscript involves the creation of Female detective, Lex Stall. The 39-year-old sleuth has been through a nasty divorce, She is raising a teenaged daughter and Lex has several skeletons in her closet that she tries hard to keep from her spitting image daughter. Also writing a female character posed many more challenges that I had imagined and ex could not have been believable without the help of my wife.
Excerpt from Dying for Fame:
Fredrike Cambourd was dead Dying wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to him.
What exciting project are you working on next?
My sixth book, Sudden Death will be released in the first quarter of 2025. This is the 4th novel in the Hartford Detective, Dan Shields series.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Not until after retiring
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 find that I can’t take too much time away from writing, but I have no set routine. When writing a book starts, then I have to write every day. That does not mean all day or even several hours. In general, it takes me about 20 weeks to complete my first draft and then begins at least four self-edits. Then the manuscript goes to my editor, on to my proofreader and then to my cover designer. My total time is about a year because I do not like to publish 2 books in the same year.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
It’s fascinating to me that I just come up with names. I don’t even know them until I need a character and the name just appears.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A baseball player
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
You may google me and find out more information than you might expect. I have appeared on major Connecticut TV shows. CT Style with Teresa Dufour (WTNH -Ch 8 in New Haven) as well as Real People with Stan Simpson. (Fox 61 in Hartford). The Hartford Courant named me a Most Notable Writer. I donate proceeds from all my books to The Boston Children’s Hospital and have been recognized by them for my charitable contributions.
You can also find lengthy interviews on You Tube with John Valeri on Central Booking and with Elsa Kurt on The Writer’s Club.
I am a member of Mystery Writer’s of America as well as The Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association.
Links:
Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads
Thanks for joining us today!