Meet Mike Martin, Author of The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series: Beneath the Surface, The Body on the T, and The Walker on the Cape
Mike is a longtime freelance writer. The Walker on the Cape is the first book in the Winston Windflower mystery series.
BBB: What inspired you to become an author?
MM: I have always wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I just didn’t know how to go about doing that. It didn’t seem a viable career option when I was young so I tried to find jobs that had an element of writing. That included correspondence and policy writing and later led to both speechwriting and editorial positions. But none of that satisfied my writing itch. Finally, one day I told my partner that I wanted to be a writer. In fact I told her I had decided that I was a writer.
Then I wrote a short piece that got picked up by a magazine for $25.00 and the rest they say is history. Except for nearly starving to death as I tried to carve out a career as a freelance writer. But I kept at it and over a period of time I did manage to eke out an existence. I have published thousands of articles in print and online since that time but I also remember the early days when I wrote for nearly nothing and got 10 rejections for every acceptance.
BBB: What inspired you to become an author?
MM: I have always wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I just didn’t know how to go about doing that. It didn’t seem a viable career option when I was young so I tried to find jobs that had an element of writing. That included correspondence and policy writing and later led to both speechwriting and editorial positions. But none of that satisfied my writing itch. Finally, one day I told my partner that I wanted to be a writer. In fact I told her I had decided that I was a writer.
Then I wrote a short piece that got picked up by a magazine for $25.00 and the rest they say is history. Except for nearly starving to death as I tried to carve out a career as a freelance writer. But I kept at it and over a period of time I did manage to eke out an existence. I have published thousands of articles in print and online since that time but I also remember the early days when I wrote for nearly nothing and got 10 rejections for every acceptance.
BBB: What books have you written?
MM: says have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. I am the author of a self-help book: "Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People” and I have written a number of short stories that have published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.
Now I write fiction, the Windflower Mystery Series. It is a traditional mystery series, close to but not really a cozy mystery, and almost a police procedural, except that I do not know enough about policing to write that way. So I write about Windflower's adventures in discovering and enjoying the food and culture of small town Newfoundland.
There are three books in the series: The Walker on the Cape, The Body on the T, and the latest book is Beneath the Surface.
MM: says have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. I am the author of a self-help book: "Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People” and I have written a number of short stories that have published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.
Now I write fiction, the Windflower Mystery Series. It is a traditional mystery series, close to but not really a cozy mystery, and almost a police procedural, except that I do not know enough about policing to write that way. So I write about Windflower's adventures in discovering and enjoying the food and culture of small town Newfoundland.
There are three books in the series: The Walker on the Cape, The Body on the T, and the latest book is Beneath the Surface.
BBB: Tell us about your character, Sgt. Windflower
MM: Sgt. Winston Windflower is the ultimate outsider, an RCMP officer and a Cree from northern Alberta, who ends up stationed in small communities on the eastern tip of Canada. Yet somehow he feels right at home with the rich culture, food and history of this part of the world. Windflower may be a long way from home but he has been adopted by the locals as almost one of their own. He has a good life, good work with the RCMP, and a good woman that he has grown closer too in his years on the southeast coast of Newfoundland.
Windflower has to deal with an emerging crime wave in the region but also some challenges in his own life. He has to go back to his Aboriginal roots to find the answers to some very deep and disturbing questions. Along the way he is forced to not only fight the bad guys but also his own people and corruption at the highest levels of the police force and society.
MM: Sgt. Winston Windflower is the ultimate outsider, an RCMP officer and a Cree from northern Alberta, who ends up stationed in small communities on the eastern tip of Canada. Yet somehow he feels right at home with the rich culture, food and history of this part of the world. Windflower may be a long way from home but he has been adopted by the locals as almost one of their own. He has a good life, good work with the RCMP, and a good woman that he has grown closer too in his years on the southeast coast of Newfoundland.
Windflower has to deal with an emerging crime wave in the region but also some challenges in his own life. He has to go back to his Aboriginal roots to find the answers to some very deep and disturbing questions. Along the way he is forced to not only fight the bad guys but also his own people and corruption at the highest levels of the police force and society.
BBB: Do you ever get writer's block?
MM: I seldom get stuck from writing completely. Maybe that’s because I always have several projects underway at the same time. I still write freelance for a number of blogs and publications and I have 6 of my own blogs to occupy my time. Social media writing is also taking up a lot of time and space and while the pieces are generally shorter for Facebook and certainly for Twitter they still take time and energy.
When I am in my book-writing mode it tends to be very intense and focused. I can’t seem to write down the words fast enough to keep up with the creative flow. It’s kind of lie a tap gets opened and everything just comes bursting out. So writing block is not my issue, slowing down the flow is more of a challenge and I am very grateful to have that problem.
MM: I seldom get stuck from writing completely. Maybe that’s because I always have several projects underway at the same time. I still write freelance for a number of blogs and publications and I have 6 of my own blogs to occupy my time. Social media writing is also taking up a lot of time and space and while the pieces are generally shorter for Facebook and certainly for Twitter they still take time and energy.
When I am in my book-writing mode it tends to be very intense and focused. I can’t seem to write down the words fast enough to keep up with the creative flow. It’s kind of lie a tap gets opened and everything just comes bursting out. So writing block is not my issue, slowing down the flow is more of a challenge and I am very grateful to have that problem.
BBB: What are you currently working on?
MM: I write something every day. I have six blogs that I try and maintain, although only two are active at one time. Given that I have a new book out that means writing guest blogs and articles for distribution and publication to promote Beneath the Surface, the latest installment in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series. I am also thinking and probably writing a few notes for the next book although I try not to get formally engaged in that writing process until the latest book has been given its due and proper christening.
I am also discovering the frantic and fast-paced world of Twitter. Yes, I am a virtual virgin in the Twitterverse so that is keeping me both occupied and entertained.
BBB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
MM: My books are available in Canada through Chapters/Indigo stores and Chapters.ca and all over the world through Amazon.com and Booklocker.com.
Readers can also connect with Mike Martin, Author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series
via email: mike54martin@yahoo.ca
Twitter: @mike54martin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore?ref=hl.
MM: I write something every day. I have six blogs that I try and maintain, although only two are active at one time. Given that I have a new book out that means writing guest blogs and articles for distribution and publication to promote Beneath the Surface, the latest installment in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series. I am also thinking and probably writing a few notes for the next book although I try not to get formally engaged in that writing process until the latest book has been given its due and proper christening.
I am also discovering the frantic and fast-paced world of Twitter. Yes, I am a virtual virgin in the Twitterverse so that is keeping me both occupied and entertained.
BBB: How can readers discover more about you and your work?
MM: My books are available in Canada through Chapters/Indigo stores and Chapters.ca and all over the world through Amazon.com and Booklocker.com.
Readers can also connect with Mike Martin, Author of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series
via email: mike54martin@yahoo.ca
Twitter: @mike54martin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore?ref=hl.
