Interview with Author Wayne Zurl

Today I have a real treat instore for you, an interview with Melange author- Wayne Zurl. Creator of the amazing Sam Jenkins mystery series and winner of the Eric Hoffer and Indie Book Awards. As well as the finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. 

The interview

“So Wayne, what made you want to become a writer?”

“After I retired from the PD and moved from New York to Tennessee, I took a volunteer job at a state park and ended up writing publicity for their living history program. It may be interesting to folks outside the US that the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area was home of Britain’s westernmost military outpost in North America during the 18^th century French & Indian war. After doing that for ten years I felt burned out and couldn’t think of any new and thrilling things to say about the F&I War in Tennessee, so I passed the torch to another volunteer. That left me with nothing to do and in need of a creative outlet. I didn’t have house room to make and keep model airplanes or oil paintings, so at the suggestion of my wife, I decided to attempt writing fiction based on the cases I investigated, supervised or just know a lot about. The transition from those non-fiction magazine articles to police procedural mysteries was not as smooth as I had hoped for. But here I am nine novels and twenty-seven novelettes later.”

“Are your characters, in the Sam Jenkins mystery series, based off real people from your days in the Suffolk County Police Department, or do they all come entirely from your imagination?”

“I never intended to make my stories autobiographical, but in order to give each character a unique voice I did base almost everyone on someone I knew in either a positive or negative relationship. By that I mean they were either good guys or bad guys. Remembering those people allowed me to recreate their manner of speaking and verbal delivery. This seems to have worked out well because many reviewers have said I write realistic dialogue. In some cases regular characters are composites of two or more people.

The protagonist in the series, Sam Jenkins, shares many similarities in his background with me. That was another feature that made writing the character easy. He speaks a lot like me, although some of his behavior is his alone.”

“Which leads nicely onto my next question. Of all the characters you have created, which is your favourite and why?”

“Originally, I wanted Sam Jenkins’ coworker, Sergeant Stan Rose to be the undisputed number two character in the series. The late Robert B. Parker has influenced me a lot and I saw Sam and Stanley being a sort of a new version of Spenser and Hawk. But for some unknown reason that didn’t happen. Two other characters took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. One is Sam’s wife Kate who suffers most of Sam’s shenanigans with a smile (or is it a smirk?) and is never at a loss for some quality smartass remarks or common sense advice on a case. The other is Sergeant Bettye Lambert, who in actuality has become the real second in command of little Prospect PD. Both these ladies evolved to prominent roles because I’m a real schlep when it comes to women and it turned out that the majority of my readers are women over fifty years of age. Everyone, the characters and the readers, seem to relate to each other nicely.”

“Earlier you said, Sam Jenkins, shares many similarities in his background with you. What would Sam, the main character of your books have to say about you?”

“Undoubtedly he’d say, “Look at this guy Zurl. He’s been in step with me since high school. He followed me into the Army, took a job at the same police department, just happened to get promoted at the same times and, damn, but he got into the same lines of work, too. Go figure!”

“Looking back to when you first started writing, and the testing transition, of adapting fact into fiction. What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?

“In addition to the realistic dialogue I strive for, I insist on making all the details of real police work true to life. That’s important to me and I go wild when I read something (or watch a film) that blatantly gets the authenticity totally wrong. While I’m ranting and raving over these transgressions, my wife (and I think she took a lesson from Kate Jenkins here) pokes me in the ribs and says, “This is not a documentary.” Doesn’t matter. I’d rather not write than provide readers with fantasy police dribble. Too many mystery writers, even best sellers, do that. With that in mind, I thought my target audience would be cops, retired cops and genuine sticklers for authentic police procedurals. I was totally wrong. I found out that many cops don’t read. They can, of course, but they would prefer to stick with newspapers or copies of Guns & Ammo. To my surprise, and as I mentioned before, my big audience is made up of women. I guess they like real police stories…or maybe they just like Sam Jenkins.”

“Oh the later, most certainly. The Sam Jenkins in my head…but I digress. Moving on.”

Wayne laughs.

“Okay, some quick fire questions now.”

“Great. I love easy.”

“Pen or type writer or computer?”

“Pen and legal pad. After I get a first draft, and because no one on the planet but me can read my handwriting, I transcribe everything to a Word document.” 

“Do you write alone or in public?”

“As alone as possible.”

“Music or silence?”

“Silence. If music was playing, I’d want to sing along.” 

“Favourite author?”

“Tough question, but since you want me to take a stand, how about James Lee Burke? I am in awe of his ability to describe people, places, objects and situations in an almost hard-boiled poetic way.” 

“Favourite book?”

“I should pick a “feel-good” book, but I’ll go with something that really blew me away. Burke’s Tin Roof Blowdown, a story of New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. It’s difficult to describe how I felt after reading this book. I did not feel good.”

“Just a couple more questions, if that’s ok?”

“Fine, shoot.” 

“Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book, Sins of Eden and why it is a must-read?” 

“This book was something about a case I didn’t transplant from New York to Tennessee. It is however, based on a real incident that took place close to my home in Blount County. And I just happened to know the cousin of the character who is the basis for the young man who goes missing in the book, and someone else who also knew him. They provided me with invaluable information on this old, unsolved case. From there, I conjured up how I thought it may have played out and had Sam Jenkins and his team resolve the situation in their typical seat-of-the-pants manner. If you like the premise of a cold case coming to life, lies from people who should be telling the truth, possible big conspiracies with rogue government agents and little to go on until a crucial clue appears, this could be the mystery for you.”

“The Million dollar question, I am sure your fans want to know and so do I. Are you working on another Sam Jenkins Mystery?”

Yes, but not diligently. My wife and I have taken a couple of BIG trips (retracing the old search for the Northwest Passage thru the Canadian Arctic to Greenland and three weeks in Alaska on a small boat and in a smaller airplane and now something for next year in Europe) that took lots of preparation time and our full attention. Pretty soon, I’ll get back to it. If any Sam Jenkins fans are listening, it’s about a possible murder or suicide that was called an accident. Sam and his partners have to figure out why an experienced detective would do that and establish the truth.

 But, I’ve got a new anthology of Sam Jenkins mysteries scheduled for release in February of 2020. FESTIVAL OF FELONIES will contain one novella, three novelettes and one long short story. Here are the summaries:

Have You Considered Voodoo?

New York Detective Sam Jenkins is handed a bizarre case that develops into the serial killing of animals. It doesn’t take long to find a prime suspect, but he’s a juvenile headed to no good end, and the system doesn’t make life easy for our tenacious squad dick. 

Reenacting a Murder

When local antique dealer, G. Nobel Whitehead, is savagely killed at a historical reenactment, Police Chief Sam Jenkins wades through a cadre of quirky local characters to learn how the victim’s shady dealings led to his demise.

Paper Trail

A lone, mentally disturbed young gunman murdered his mother, two adults, and six small children at the elementary school in Prospect, Tennessee before ending his own life.

The man carried three guns; one pistol had been legally purchased by his mother for her protection. The origins of the other pistol and the fully automatic Russian assault rifle were anyone’s guess.

After Police Chief Sam Jenkins conducts an investigation to track down the past ownership of those guns, he confirms a few suspicions and uncovers more interesting facts.

The Fergusson Shooting

Jamal Ferguson’s mistake costs him his life and forever changes Police Officer Billy Puckett’s.

         On a cool, damp evening in Prospect, Tennessee, seventeen-year-old Jamal tries to buy beer from a convenience store. When asked for ID, the boy decides to steal the beer and assaults a store employee.

         All this was witnessed by Officer Puckett who attempts to arrest Jamal for robbery. Only the big teenager has other ideas. While resisting arrest, Ferguson violently attacks Puckett and tries to take his handgun.

Moments later, unarmed Jamal Ferguson lies dead in the parking lot. The next day, the community expresses their outrage and a famous activist descends on East Tennessee, declaring that he will help the Ferguson family seek justice for their murdered son.

Not much stands between the angry citizens and Puckett except Police Chief Sam Jenkins.

A Fire and Old Ice

Prospect, Tennessee’s mayor, Ronnie Shields, walks into Sam Jenkins’ office with his hat in his hand. Ronnie’s wife wants to sponsor a benefit fashion show to raise money for an animal shelter. They need the chief for two things: Convince his friend, TV reporter, Rachel Williamson, to emcee the show and find amateur models to wear the outfits.

The show begins perfectly, until someone sets fire to the spring collection of a flamboyant Knoxville designer named Mr. Alex. Jenkins’ arson investigation puts him up against a trio of redneck troublemakers and takes him back seventy years to Europe and a closely guarded family secret.

         Think of this one as an episode of NYPD BLUE written by Woody Allen

“Can’t wait to read it Wayne. Well, I think I have taken enough of your time. Just to say, thank you for sharing. It has been a pleasure talking to you.”

“Like wise Joanne. Thank you for asking.”

Biography

Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara. Zurl has had nine Sam Jenkins mystery novels traditionally published.

Twenty-seven of his Sam Jenkins novelette mysteries have been published individually as eBooks and many produced as audio books. Four anthologies are currently available putting twenty-three of these novelettes in print or as collections in all the usual eBook formats. A FESTIVAL OF FELONIES, a fifth anthology, is scheduled for release in February of 2020.

He has won Eric Hoffer and Indie Book Awards, and was named a finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. He is a regular member of the International Thriller Writer’s Organization.

For more information on Wayne’s Sam Jenkins mystery series see www.waynezurlbooks.net. You can read excerpts, reviews and endorsements, interviews, coming events, and see photos of the area where the stories take place.