Quantum Leap, Perry Mason, and Baseball

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Okay, we LOVE having new guests on Jungle Red. And sometimes we introduce them, with much fanfare and admiration. Sometimes we simply say: take it away, new guest!

But today--something completely different. I was researching Scott Shepherd, whose amazing thriller THE LAST COMMANDMENT is out right now, and I found an article where he was interviewed.

So, then, Reds and Readers, my jaw hit the floor. And I thought--you know? I’ll let my pals here on JRW have the fun of meeting him the same way. (And then read his wonderful post, and see an amazing photo.)

So lean in toward your screen, and read this. Whoa.

“Q. Hollywood can be tough but you’ve had a very successful career running hit shows like The Dead Zone, The Equalizer, Miami Vice and Quantum Leap. How did you end up in the entertainment industry to begin with?

SCOTT SHEPHERD: Like I mentioned, I was raised in a Hollywood family – going back three generations to the 1920’s. My father, Richard Shepherd was a producer (films like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Hunger”), an agent (he started CMA), and ran a couple of studios (Warners and MGM). My maternal grandfather, William Goetz started 20th Century Fox, ran Universal and was a prolific producer of films including “Sayonara”.

And his father-in-law, my grandmother’s father, was Louis B. Mayer who made more hits than one could count – so I grew up seeing those kind of stories. With all of them being producers, I wanted to distinguish myself for my own work—thus became a writer.

For my first decade in the business, I didn’t really talk about my family, wanting to be accepted on my own terms. Two dozen TV shows later and four times as many scripts, well, it’s a legacy I’m still trying to embrace but certainly willing to talk about because there are a ton of interesting stories. "

HANK: I know this is NOT the most amazing thing about the above, not by any means, but may I just say--QUANTUM LEAP? One of my favorite shows of all time. Oh. Thank you, Scott.

And now, Reds and readers, here’s more from our amazing guest.

And I’ll give a copy of THE LAST COMMANDMENT to one lucky commenter!


IT’S NOT A RADIO SHOW

by Scott Shepherd

I’ve always loved mystery books and thrillers. It started with my paternal grandmother bringing me a couple of Hardy Boy books on her twice-a-year visits to California from Kansas City. I gobbled them up and always loved the last page which teed up their next adventure – “Frank and Joe didn’t know it but soon they’d be caught up in The Mystery of the Old Mill.”

Scott's actual books!

This led to reading Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason books and then Ross MacDonald where I completely embraced this art form. Decades later I’ve collected close to ten thousand of them, always intending to write a series of my own.

But you might say I got derailed by television.

No real complaints. In three decades plus, I’ve worked on over two dozen series and been the show-runner on half of them. But it didn’t stop me reading the books I adored. And nothing compared to getting to work with writers I admired over the years – Stephen King, Karin Slaughter, and Harlan Coben to name a few—and adapting their tales for television.

As a result, a funny thing happened. Being someone who really never outlined much, as structure was something that came fairly easily (thank you reading tons of detective fiction and plotting out TV dramas), I was suddenly writing thirty to forty page outlines in prose, basically novellas that turned into the scripts we shot.

So, a few years back, encouraged by my novelist friends, I rolled up my sleeves and took a stab at finally writing a book. Two of them actually, that both sold—but neither in my beloved mystery/thriller field. Looking back, I think I was wondering if I could make that transition from television to mainstream fiction before attempting it.

I got enough positive feedback that I finally decided to try my hand at an idea that had been a movie in my head for close to thirty years. And thus, The Last Commandment was born – the first in a series of mystery novels.

Now, with the book being released this July, and its sequel (Till Death) in the pipeline for the summer of 2022, I realize I’ve reached a logical moment in my career—embracing the type of books I’ve read my entire life by learning my craft working on television shows with characters we invited into our homes each week. Much like our favorite authors serve up an annual dish featuring their beloved protagonists to avid readers like myself.

Except there were distinctive differences between the two mediums.

Photo courtesy: Brad Mitchell Cohen

I’ve often said, that if I were to write my autobiography about writing for television, it would be entitled It’s Not a Radio Show.

The first thing I realized about writing a novel was that it is a radio show. Description was suddenly my ally—and part of my job was to utilize all five senses for the reader, not just relying on sight and sound.

Then, there’s football versus baseball. Why suddenly bring up sports, you ask? Because I came to think of writing for television as an NFL game—there’s a timed structure to it. Four quarters, sixty minutes, the game plays out under those strict parameters—much like how a television show is under a similar constraint of time. Your characters have to do something that feels genuine but fits in between commercials or a given limit of minutes.

Novels, on the other hand, resemble a baseball game. It starts when it starts, and ends when it ends.It might be a tight pitcher’s duel that is over before you know it. A slugfest that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Or it might go into extra innings, with a slew of additional pages that keep you wondering when an unexpected denouement will finally occur. Time is actually your friend.

Luckily, I’m a fan of both sports—so there’s room in my life for both.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret. As a lifelong ardent Dodger fan, I’ve been hooked on baseball ever since I was a toddler and saw my idol Sandy Koufax pitch a perfect game. And I’ve had a love affair with the mystery novel for just as long.

It’s always nice when things come full circle.

I know I’d be more than happy if it was baseball season on the radio all year long.


HANK: Oh, you ALL! SO much in here! The Hardy Boys--did you read those? And I grew up watching Perry Mason on TV--my lawyer-dad would not let us say a word while Perry was on. Baseball! Love baseball. (I’m in Boston, after all.)

And so much to learn from television--I would not be an author without having written TV news stories for the past forty years.

And did I mention how much I love Quantum Leap?

So, Reds and Readers, what was your favorite element of his blog? And what should we ask Scott? (Sounds like he knows about exactly the stuff we care about, right?) Pssst: Ask him about Bruce Springsteen.

And a copy of The Last Commandment to one lucky commenter!

***************

Here’s where we usually put a bit about the book and a bio. But instead, I really want you to hear it from Scott himself. So here’s more of that interview. 

Q. How did the idea to write a mystery based on the Ten Commandments (now titled THE LAST COMMANDMENT) come about?

SCOTT: Strangely enough, I’ve had this particular idea in my head for close to thirty years – where it started out as a movie –with two cops (Scotland Yard and NYPD) being fish out water with a really cool girl in between them. I wanted something to drive the story, a puzzle of some sort, and at some point, someone the two of them would go after together – and the Ten Commandments appeared in my head. By the time I decided to turn it into a novel, I didn’t have much more – just the first murder in the book – and well, the last.

Q. Do you base your characters on people you know or are they entirely fictional?

SCOTT: The three characters in this book series are pretty much fictional, but have some aspects that I’ve drawn on from my life. Grant, at 60, has the perspective that I do now at that age – so a lot of what he thinks and feels comes from there.

Also, one of the first TV series I did was “The Equalizer” and the lead in that show, the late Edward Woodward was wonderful and I have to admit that Grant is easy to write for me, because I could so see Edward, god rest his soul, doing it such justice.

Rachel and Frankel on the other hand are a sort of representation of me and my wife’s courtship and relationship back thirty years ago – although neither one of us is a journalist or a cop. But I’ve stolen (or paid homage) from us for sure.

What's Your Soundtrack?

HANK  PHILLIPPI RYAN:  The writer world is divided, relentlessly and immutably, into two camps. Not the first person/third person camp. Not the outline/no outline camp. Not even the prologue/no prologue camp.

I mean the music/no music camp.

Those writers who listen to music are fanatics about it. They make playlists, they compile musical emotional journeys, they pick and choose songs and orchestrations that propel them into inspired wordsmithery.

There are others (raising my hand here) who cannot do it.  

I love music, of course, all kinds, and as you all know, I was vice-president of the Midwest chapter of the National Beatles Fan Club.  (It doesn’t get better than that, unless you were Debbie Snively, who was president.)  I can work  perfectly in a boisterous chaotic newsroom all good, but if I listen to music while writing my books, I get distracted. If there are words to the music, forget about it. Those are the only words my brain will handle.

But for the amazing J.D. Allen, (the chair of the Bouchercon board) this wasn’t even a choice. For her, music not only propels her, it inspires her.  And reading her essay? She’s even got me singing.

WORDS AND MUSIC

  By J. D. Allen

Music is a huge part of life. I love music and can appreciate almost any genre, pop, country, rock, classical, etc.. Except the one my husband blasts. The Brit, as I call him, loves the liquid metal. Or Death metal as I call it. The killing bunnies and screaming your head off kind of metal.

Having such musical differences is usually not an issue. He listens to his. I listen to mine. All is good in the world until we travel. Then we typically settle on audio books. Because, you know, books. We both love books.

But on those long road trips, we have to resort back to music occasionally, and we switch off. I have to listen to xxx for a little while, and on my turn, we settle on classic rock. He can tolerate that with only a few muttered 'bloody awfuls' under his breath.

Music usually has a spot in or an influence on my writing. Sometimes a song can inspire an entire book or a character. 19 SOULS was one of those stories. My villain, Sophie Ryan Evers, was born of a song. An old Cher song. As I was plotting the book, someone posted the 1960’s video of it on Facebook. The pain in her voice nailed how Sophie had taken her pain and twisted it into an obsession.

Nancy Sinatra first recorded Bang Bang in 1966. It’s the tale of a young girl in love with an older teenage boy who just isn't that into her. We’ve all been there. Infatuated with someone who doesn’t return our affection. Happens every day.

In this case, it’s an adolescent girl who thinks there’s more of a relationship than the boy does. And she doesn’t get over it when he moves on, as high school boys are apt to do. In the song, Cher relives playing good guy-bad guy. In the end, Cher used the metaphor of the good guy shooting her down as the loss of his love.  A love she hasn’t gotten over.

Bang. Bang. My Baby shot me down.

In 19 SOULS, Sophie relives that hurt and desertion every day of her life. Churning in her head, creating an alternate reality. Holding onto the hope that her man will come back and she spends her life figuring out how to make that happen—by any means necessary.

Cher rerecorded the song a second time in 1979 with a modern update and continues to include it on the playlists for her live shows. I played the two versions over and over as I worked on the villain of this book. After all, it would take a crafty villain to outsmart a smart PI Like Jim Bean.

  

HANK: SO how about you, reds and readers? Do you crave a soundtrack for your activities? Do you make a soundtrack? What do you listen to? And why?

And a copy of 19 SOULS to one lucky commenter!

About 19 SOULS

Private Investigator Jim Bean is a straightforward, to-the-point man. He likes his cases to follow suit. But when his latest client asks him to find her missing brother Daniel, Jim has no idea how complicated his life is about to become.

As he falls deep into a manipulative game of cat and mouse, Jim uncovers the horrible truth about his client. Now he must set things right before her plans leads to the loss of innocent souls…even more than it already has.

About J.D. Allen

J.D Allen’s a Mystery Writers of America Freddie Award-winner. Her Sin City Investigations series launches with 19 Souls February 8th. She has a short story, in the ANTHONY AWARD WINNING anthology, Murder under the Oaks as well as Carolina Crimes. She’s the chair of the Bouchercon National Board, a member of MWA, PI Writer’s of America, and president of her local Sisters in Crime chapter. She’s an Ohio State Univ. Alum with a degree in forensic anthropology and a creative writing minor.

Buy Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/19-Souls-Sin-City-Investigation/dp/073875403X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516313047&sr=1-1&keywords=19+souls

Midnight Ink: https://www.midnightinkbooks.com/cart.php?action=add&ean=9780738754031&qty=1&submit=Add+to+Cart

Reader, I Could Not Resist

"A wicked debut thriller!"
         People Magazine BEST NEW BOOKS

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  I will fully confess. I walked into the book room at Bouchercon, VOWING I would not pick up a single book unless  I was fully committed to reading it. It was one of those moments—probably not the best time for it to 

happen—when I thought: I have too many books. And I cannot fit anything more into my suitcase. So—I’ll just breeze in, say hello to everyone, and go.

Then I saw the cover of The Last Mrs. Parrish. I stopped dead in my racks. I will admit (again) I had not heard of this book.  My brain said: Keep WALKING, Hank. Do not stop, even for a beautiful thing. Go A–WAY.

I took maybe two steps forward. Then two steps back. I needed that book. I NEEDED it.  It looked SO good.

Reader, I picked it up.

Little did I know that once I opened it, I would be so riveted, so engrossed, turning the pages so fast I didn’t know what hit me. Manipulative. Glitzy. Escapist. What's not to love?

Little did I know this would turn out to be one of the most buzzed-about debut thrillers of the year.

 And readers: Liv Constantine is  generously giving away a copy of THE LAST MRS. PARRISH to five lucky commenters.  Five! ‘Nuff said.

And here’s the scoop: “Liv Constantine” turns out to be two sisters! Who write together. And I had to know—how on earth do they do it?

LIV CONSTANTINE :  Oh, Hank, as co-authors, we’re often asked the “how” of writing together. People are curious about our process. Fortunately, both of us are solidly in the middle of the pantser/plotter road. We begin by talking about the central idea of our book then narrow that down into a solid premise.

Before we type the first word, we build the story world. Who lives there? Where does it take place? What happened to the characters before they appeared in those first chapters? We spend about a month talking, thinking, and developing our characters and their stories. We come to the first draft with a broad overview of the plot, usually knowing the beginning and the likely ending, but allowing the rest to develop as we write.

Once the writing starts, we assign each other scenes and email them to each other daily. Late afternoons are reserved for Facetime where we discuss what we’ve written and give feedback to each other. The first draft is akin to play time.

We place no constraints on each other and allow the characters to lead the way.  

Valerie may tell Lynne, “I didn’t know Julia’s mother was murdered.” and Lynne will answer, sadly, “I know, it’s tragic.”

In our current work in progress, Lynne was surprised to open Valerie’s email and discover a new character they’d never discussed. “Where did she come from?” Lynne asked, and Valerie answered, “She just showed up on the page.” And then there was the time while writing The Last Mrs. Parrish that a gun suddenly appeared, hidden in a box on the back shelf of an armoire. We had no idea if it would remain there or not, but as the story progressed, the reason for its presence very clearly unfolded before us.

We love having the freedom to let the story take on a life of its own, and encourage each other to go with whatever feels organic and authentic.

Knowing that we are going to be revising several times before we finish gives us the ability to write without worrying about our scenes conflicting. We often write out of sequence and later sync up chapters where necessary.

When we were writing The Last Mrs. Parrish there were several scenes that were written from each protagonist’s point of view. They were often written without prior knowledge of the other’s chapter. For example, when we compared the two boat scenes, one of us had given Jackson a 60’ Hatteras and the other a 55’ Bertram, and the port of call was also different in each chapter. We discussed it, agreed on which was better, and changed the conflicting chapter so that they agreed. That’s the way we handled any details that didn’t match.

When we’ve finished the first draft, it’s time for revision, revision, and more revision. We edit each other’s chapters and fill in any missing pieces. If either of us feels stuck for a word, a metaphor, additional dialogue – we send those pages to the other to enhance. It’s not unusual to look at a portion of writing and puzzle for a moment at whose work it is. By the time the book is finished, every page has both of our handprints on it, regardless of who originally wrote it.

Plotter or Pantser? We like to think of our collaboration as pure…plantser. Which style best describes you?

HANK: I love plantser!  But readers, if you love glitzy twisty psychological thrillers, you will adore this book. It’s juicy and surprising and chic and set in the big money world of—well, I’ll let you find out.  Someone it reminded me—in the BEST of ways—of  The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon. (And if you asked me now exactly what that was about, I have no idea.) But it’s like…Gone Girl meets Dynasty. Again, in the best of ways.

So yes, writers, have you evolved in your plotter/pantser choice? Have you ever written with a partner?

Readers: Do you like domestic suspense? Do you mind if the characters are very wealthy? Do you need to love the main character instantly?  How good are you at figuring out a twist? 

And--have you ever bought a book because of its cover?

-->

And remember, “Liv” is giving away THE LAST MRS. PARRISH book to five lucky commenters!


**************

Liv Constantine is the pen name of sisters Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine. Separated by three states, they spend hours plotting via FaceTime and burning up each other’s emails. They attribute their ability to concoct dark storylines to the hours they spent listening to tales handed down by their Greek grandmother. THE LAST MRS. PARRISH is their debut thriller. Rights for THE LAST MRS. PARRISH have been sold in 19 other territories, including Spain, Brazil, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Korea, the UK, China, and Russia. 

Visit their website at www.livconstantine.com