Interview with Wayne Zurl, author of Pigeon River Blues (Mystery / Police Procedural)

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.

Twenty (20) of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been published as eBooks and many produced as audio books. Ten (10) of these novelettes are available in print under the titles: A Murder In Knoxville and Other Smoky Mountain Mountain Mysteries and Reenacting A Murder and Other Smoky Mountain Mysteries. Zurl has won Eric Hoffer and Indie Book Awards, and was named a finalist for a Montaigne Medal and First Horizon Book Award. His full length novels are available in print and as eBooks: A New ProspectA Leprechaun's Lament,  Heroes & Lovers, and Pigeon River Blues.

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

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About The Book


Title: Pigeon River Blues
Author: Wayne Zurl
Publisher: Iconic Publishing
Publication Date: May 31, 2014
Pages: 258
ISBN: 978-1938844027
Genre: Mystery / Police Procedural
Format: eBook / PDF / Paperback

Winter in the Smokies can be a tranquil time of year—unless Sam Jenkins sticks his thumb into the sweet potato pie. 

The retired New York detective turned Tennessee police chief is minding his own business one quiet day in February when Mayor Ronnie Shields asks him to act as a bodyguard for a famous country and western star.

C.J. Profitt’s return to her hometown of Prospect receives lots of publicity . . . and threats from a rightwing group calling themselves The Coalition for American Family Values.

The beautiful, publicity seeking Ms. Proffit never fails to capitalize on her abrasive personality by flaunting her lifestyle—a way of living the Coalition hates.

Reluctantly, Jenkins accepts the assignment of keeping C.J. safe while she performs at a charity benefit. But Sam’s job becomes more difficult when the object of his protection refuses to cooperate. 

During this misadventure, Sam hires a down-on-his-luck ex-New York detective and finds himself thrown back in time, meeting old Army acquaintances who factor into how he foils a complicated plot of attempted murder, the destruction of a Dollywood music hall, and other general insurrection on the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”


For More Information: 


Can you tell us what your book is about?

I think the summary I used to sell the publisher on reading the entire manuscript will give you the gist of what the story is about. Beyond that, I’m getting into question 2 and why I wrote the book. Here’s the summary:

                Winter in the Smokies can be a tranquil time of year—unless Sam Jenkins sticks his thumb into the sweet potato pie.

The retired New York detective turned Tennessee police chief is minding his own business one quiet day in February when Mayor Ronnie Shields asks him to act as a bodyguard for a famous country and western star.

C.J. Profitt’s return to her hometown of Prospect receives lots of publicity . . . and threats from a rightwing group calling themselves The Coalition for American Family Values.

The beautiful, publicity seeking Ms. Proffit never fails to capitalize on her abrasive personality and flaunt her lifestyle—a way of living the Coalition hates.

Reluctantly, Jenkins accepts the assignment of keeping C.J. safe while she performs at a charity benefit. But Sam’s job becomes more difficult when the object of his protection refuses to cooperate. 

During this misadventure, Sam hires a down-on-his-luck ex-New York detective and finds himself thrown back in time, meeting old Army acquaintances who factor into his plan to foil a complicated plot of premeditated murder, the destruction of a Dollywood music hall, and other general insurrection on the “peaceful side of the Smokies.”


Why did you write your book?

Most of what I write comes from personal experiences.  I have more of a memory than imagination. But I do fictionalize and embellish everything to make it more readable and not sound like a detective’s report. Real police work is not always a thrill a minute. With that in mind, I  often conjoin two or more actual incidents to build one more interesting novel. That’s the case with Pigeon River Blues.

My books and stories are character driven. Cops are in the people business and any good detective who worked in a crowded and busy area met his/her share of quirky, story-worthy characters.

In PRB, I really wanted to incorporate the three nitwits that made up the local segment of what I called The Coalition for American Family Values—Mack and Ma Collinson and their henchman, the head case, Jeremy Goins. I really met these people. And they threw me for a loop. These numbskulls were functioning in the mainstream world, but were certified whack jobs. I felt a compelling need to introduce them to the literary world.

And I’ve been looking for the appropriate place to introduce a new regular character to the cast of the Sam Jenkins mysteries and give him a job at Prospect PD. I call him John “Black Cloud” Gallagher and this outwardly goofy and malapropic guy, who speaks a language all his own, is based on someone with whom I worked for many years. Despite all the laughs he provided me and the office full of cops, when “John” dropped the class clown act, he worked like one hell of an investigator.


Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

The main character in all my mysteries is Sam Jenkins, a former New York detective lieutenant who, after years of retirement, begins a second career as police chief in Prospect, Tennessee, a small touristy city in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Sam is supported by Sergeants Bettye Lambert who Sam calls the most beautiful desk sergeant on the planet, Stan Rose, a former LAPD officer who followed his wife back to her home town and joined Prospect PD, and Sam’s wife Kate who’s spent many years acting as Sam’s Dr. Watson. Other regulars not usually associated as friends of your average policeman are FBI Special Agent Ralph Oliveri and TV reporter Rachel Williamson who often factor into Sam’s investigations.

I’ve got three pensions coming in to pay the bills and keep me out of debtor’s prison, so I don’t need royalty money to keep my happy home afloat. On the other hand, my ego (somewhat like Sam Jenkins’s) is just a bit smaller than South Dakota and I need to see stories and characters I like before I’ll put my signature on the bottom line. I try to make these regular cast members authentic to their occupation, and people readers want to know more about. If I felt ambivalent about any one, I’d lose interest in them and they would fade from the cast. So far, I even like most of the bad guys and feel sorry when they go down the tubes. Every story needs an extra spark of evil to make the good guys real heroes.


Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I write with a lot of dialogue. It makes a story read faster and it’s a better way to handle the exposition of facts in a “show don’t tell” way. And I’m compulsive and freaky about getting the dialogue to sound natural and realistic because I hate to read stilted, phony, or unnatural speech. So, if I’m not the most naturally brilliant of writers, how can I assign each character a unique voice and write their lines fluidly? I hold a casting call while I’m writing my stories. If the “real” story doesn’t have enough “real” characters to make it good fiction, I try to remember someone from my past who would lend something positive to the atmosphere—someone different, memorable, and quirky. If I can remember them, see them, hear them, I can duplicate the sound of their speech, their delivery, and write their realistic dialogue. Transposing personalities happens a lot because I transplant actual happenings from New York to Tennessee. In doing that, I can’t write a character’s dialogue with him sounding like someone from Brooklyn when my protagonist works at a police department in southern Applaachia. To have a character called Cloyd Minton and not Vito Cavitelli say, “Ey, howz it goin’?” rather than, “You doin’ aw rot t’day?” would cause me to lose credibility.


Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a novel or do you discover it as you write? 

I once read that try as anyone may, there are only eleven basic plots or storylines to choose from. They can be used simply, enhanced by combining them, made complex or convoluted by imagination, but plots are plots. I say, “Plotz, schmotz.” I start out with what really happened—something on record in the real world. But remember what I said? Reality ain’t always that interesting. Occasionally, it may be stranger than fiction, but it’s rarely more complex or exciting. It also doesn’t always contain the internal conflict and tension publishers (and some readers) demand. So, writers must embellish, add tidbits of tension, make the reader grit his/her teeth and say, “Jeez, Sam, you’re a good cop. Why are you doing that?” It’s because the story (read modern publisher) wants it.  

Am I aware of all the plot elements before I sit down with a pad and pen and attack a story? No. Writing is fun. Outlining and excessive aforethought is too much like work. I know the basics. I rough out a book or story and then go back and “flesh out” the descriptions I forgot because I was rushing to get my thoughts on paper. I add extraneous bits of conflict and tension and perhaps, toss in a red herring or two.  


Does the setting play a major part in the development of your story?

I’ve tried to do for the Smoky Mountain region of east Tennessee what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles, Tony Hillerman did for northern Arizona, and James Lee Burke does for southern Louisiana—give the places character status.

The indigenous people of the Smokies are different than those from Long Island or Manhattan or Canada, or Cedar rapids, Iowa. They are unique. Their names are different. They speak differently and in many regards, they react differently to situations. I want a local reader to say, “Boy howdy, he’s got them characters down cold.” Or an outsider to say, “I vacationed in the Smokies once and I believe he’s captured the flavor of the region.”


Have you suffered from writer’s block and what do you do to get back on track?

Sure, there are times when I can’t dream up a nifty connection or a believable red herring to save my life. To get past that, I usually uncork a better than average bottle of wine, grab two glasses, and invite my wife to help solve my problem. She’s pretty good.  


What do you like the most about being an author?

When the ideas are flowing, writing is lotsa fun. Ending up with what I consider a good finished product is very satisfying. Hearing a reader compliment one of my books or stories eloquently is truly great stuff.


What is the most pivotal point of a writer’s life?

Receiving your first signed contract. Even if you’re very good, before you’re on the books as a pro, you’ve just been trying or dabbling. Once you not only see the light at the end of the tunnel, but can touch it, you change your focus from finding someone to believe in you and take a chance on your writing to worrying if your work will sell and how you can assist in promoting it and you.

What kind of advice would you give other fiction authors?

The best practical advice about writing I’ve seen came from an interview with Robert B. Parker. When asked why so many people like his stories, he said, “Because they sound good.”

From writing so many novelettes destined for audio books, I know what he means. But even if you have no intention to produce your book in audio form, you owe it to your readers to make your stories sound good. It doesn’t matter if you’ve adhered to all the rules of good grammar and usage and all the maxims of structure if your writing doesn’t sound good when read.

When you think your story, novelette, novella, novel, or epic is finished, when you truly believe you’ve found and corrected all the typos and nits and it’s ready to sell, go back and read it aloud to yourself. Pretend you’re the star of your own audio book. Read it slowly and professionally as an actor would. Then, ask yourself, does it sound good? Do all the paragraphs smoothly transcend to the next? Does each sentence contain the right number of syllables? Does each word flow into the next without conflict?  Does it have a pleasing rhythm? Basically, does it sing to you? For a guy who doesn’t dance very well, I have a great need for rhythm in my writing. If you notice any “bumps,” go back and rewrite it. Smooth everything out. If something bothers you now, it will annoy the dickens out of you in the future and someone else will probably notice it, too. When that’s finished hand it off to an editor or proofreader, whomever you can afford, and get a second pair of eyes to read it. EVERYONE needs someone else to check their work.