FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you write The DVD Murders?
Can I buy any of the films you appeared in?
Why were you court-marshaled in the navy?
Who are your favorite authors?
Why do you write?
How do you come up with your characters?
Why did you write The DVD Murders?
My wife is a big mystery fan. In fact, she belongs to a mystery book club that reads a book a month and meets to talk about it. After writing several novels without publishing success, I decided to take a crack at a mystery. It occurred to me that there were no mystery novels with a gay protagonist, so that’s what I did. Boy was I wrong. Check out the Gay Detective Novel by Judith A. Markowitz. She not only lists tons of mystery books with gay heroes but many series as well. Unfortunately, few of them ever made it into mainstream. I’m hoping Frank Callahan and The DVD Murders will.
Can I buy any of the films you appeared in?
Probably not. Like most hopefuls in Hollywood, I was a fringe actor. That is, I did a lot of acting in stage plays and short and full-length independent films but was never able to crack the big time. The film, Friends and Enemies, for example, was released in France with English titles but not here. Others, such as Lost at Sea and Things, were released here but didn’t do very well and quickly disappeared. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it for the most part and did become a better actor. In fact, the last two stage plays I did I almost felt as if I knew what I was doing.
Why were you court-marshaled in the navy?
Well it’s a long and somewhat silly story. I was lifting weights. One day, they disappeared. I was told by a petty officer that they were put in storage because nobody was using them. I said I was using them. The petty officer and his friends laughed and said that was just too bad and a lot of other things I won’t go into. I was so angry when told to put my hat on by a master at arms (in the navy, you are not allowed to be outside uncovered) I told him to go f… himself and wound up getting court marshaled for direct disobedience of orders and received twenty one days hard labor. Like I said, it was silly but it didn’t seem to be at the time.
I like a lot of authors but I guess my favorites are Charles Dickens, Henry Miller, William Saroyan and Kirk Vonnegut. One of the things they all had in common was a sly sense of humor and a propensity for pointing out the foibles of the human condition.
Many mystery writers also write with humor, such as Sue Grafton and Joseph Wambaugh. There is nothing better than a good laugh.
Why do you write?
Well, I guess, for a lot of reasons: to express myself, because I love words, to take a mountain of information and chop, rearrange and fuss with it until it is transformed into some kind of order that makes sense and the attention and accolades that massage my ego. Most of all, however, I think I like to entertain. I like to make people laugh, open their eyes to things and make them think, nod their heads in agreement, and sometimes even shock. I believe that’s also why I became an actor, love to tell jokes, gossip, and relate stories. I simply would like people to come away thinking the time they spent reading my books was worth it.
How do you come up with your characters?
They come from many sources. From people I know or knew or a composite of them. Some characters I’ve seen on TV, in the news, or in films. I may take a basic character and give him or her characteristics that they don’t have and never will have. And, of course, I may take aspects of my own personality and expand or modify them or simply invent someone. As it says in the science-fiction novel, Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, on which the film was based, man is the biggest ape of all. Everything he does, from brain surgery to digging a ditch, he learns by copying or aping other people. For me, that’s what makes us so vulnerable and marvelous at the same time.
