Interview Ben Douglas

by

Leanne Karella

1) Congratulations on your September release of Deadly Passion from Wings ePress! It sounds like an exciting, intriguing premise. Can you tell us a bit about it and Lanny Boone?

Detective Lanny Boone, a small town police officer, faces powerful political and moneyed forces when he sets about to solve the murder of a prominent local socialite. It’s a real David and Goliath story.

2) Can you tell us what inspired this story?

I wondered how a young law enforcement officer would fare against members of a gambling cartel that would commit murder in order to achieve their objectives.

3) Can you tell us about the location and the time and setting of the story?

This modern-day story is set in the springtime, in a small town in central Mississippi.

4) What kind of research did you do for this book?

I had to learn more about guns and silencers, and about modern surveillance techniques.

5) Do you have plans for more books in this series?

Yes. I’ve signed contracts with Wings for two more: Shadow of Malice, and The Stalker. They are scheduled for release in ’07. I’m about to start the rewrite on another.

6) Could you tell us a bit about you as a person and your writing background?

My three children having flown the nest, I live with my wife, three cats and a hound dog in Madison, MS. I’m professor emeritus of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I’m the author of four books of nonfiction, more than 200 scientific articles and two books of fiction.

7) How has being published changed your life in any way?

Yes. I’ve made new friends, and I’ve met other writers, among them Mississippians Shelby Foote, Eudora Welty, Willie Morris, Thomas Harris, John Grisham, Greg Iles, and Richard Ford.

8) How much time in a day/week do you spend writing? What kind of routine do you have, if any?

I get up around 6:30 a.m.; eat breakfast, shave, shower and go straight to the word processor. I write one to two pages a day, five days a week. That takes an hour or two.

9) If you could do it all over again, what one thing would you change about your writing career?

I’d start sooner. I’d also read more and write more.

10) Are you currently working on another book? If so, could you tell us a bit about it?

I’m working on another Lanny Boone mystery. Lanny is forced to face a narcissistic Louisiana crime boss and his sociopathic hit man in order to keep them from moving their operation into his community.

11) When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do?

I like to read, travel, sail and spend time with my family.

12) What is the most rewarding aspect of being a published author?

Hearing a fan say he or she enjoyed reading something I’d written.

13) What advice can you give to aspiring authors?

Read a lot. Write a lot. Keep a sense of humor. There is a simple secret to writing a book: Write a page a day and you’ll turn out a book a year.