Meet Jerold Last, Author of The Surreal Killer, Empanada Affair and other stories
What inspired you to become an author?
I've been a fan of mystery novels in the hard-boiled P.I. genre I write in pretty much all my life. It seemed like the thing to do before I get too old to read the screen on my computer. I also wanted to share this part of South America that I know very well with readers who might never get that far as tourists, and the locale works well as the backdrop for mystery novels.
How did you come up with the idea for your Roger Bowman - Suzanne Foster series?
My wife and I lived in South America (Salta, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay) for 7 months during a sabbatical leave I took from my work as a professor at the University of California’s Davis campus several years ago. The first book in this series is set in Salta, and the second and fourth entries are set mainly in Montevideo. I've been back to these countries, Chile, and Peru several times since then to do collaborative research and to teach classes at the local public universities there. Suzanne and I share a common scientific background, which allows me to inject a lot of my own real-life experiences in fictionalized form into these books.
How many books are available in the series?
Currently there are three, The Empanada Affair, The Ambivalent Corpse, and The Surreal Killer. All three novels are available in Kindle format from Amazon, and the first two books are also available from Apple, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony, Kobo, and just about any other format from Smashwords. Book #4 should be completed and published on Amazon some time in summer or early autumn of this year.
What do you think readers will enjoy most about your books?
My goal is to write a fast-paced page turning plot and to set the books in an exotic locale that I try to help the reader envision. Hopefully, both the plot and the setting are what make these books most enjoyable. I’d say from the reviews of The Surreal Killer (at least the top 10 reviews) that I’ve succeeded with this book, which is my purest whodunit thus far. And even the single less positive review suggests that the local Chambers of Commerce should be distributing this novel to make the region attractive to would-be tourists.
What advice would you give to a new author trying to get their book published?
I’d give the aspiring author two pieces of advice: (1) Be prepared to spend as much time promoting your book as you spent writing it, maybe even more time. The downside of Indie publishing is that no one is going to do this for you. (2) Don’t quit your day job! And maybe a third piece of advice: (3) give it a try. It’s a great feeling when you read that first review, and can say to yourself that you actually created something that someone else enjoyed.
Are you currently working on other books?
Yes. I intend to stay in the current series format for at least the next two or three novels, but we might bring our detectives back home to the USA for a bit to solve a few local murders in one of these future entries.
I've been a fan of mystery novels in the hard-boiled P.I. genre I write in pretty much all my life. It seemed like the thing to do before I get too old to read the screen on my computer. I also wanted to share this part of South America that I know very well with readers who might never get that far as tourists, and the locale works well as the backdrop for mystery novels.
How did you come up with the idea for your Roger Bowman - Suzanne Foster series?
My wife and I lived in South America (Salta, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay) for 7 months during a sabbatical leave I took from my work as a professor at the University of California’s Davis campus several years ago. The first book in this series is set in Salta, and the second and fourth entries are set mainly in Montevideo. I've been back to these countries, Chile, and Peru several times since then to do collaborative research and to teach classes at the local public universities there. Suzanne and I share a common scientific background, which allows me to inject a lot of my own real-life experiences in fictionalized form into these books.
How many books are available in the series?
Currently there are three, The Empanada Affair, The Ambivalent Corpse, and The Surreal Killer. All three novels are available in Kindle format from Amazon, and the first two books are also available from Apple, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony, Kobo, and just about any other format from Smashwords. Book #4 should be completed and published on Amazon some time in summer or early autumn of this year.
What do you think readers will enjoy most about your books?
My goal is to write a fast-paced page turning plot and to set the books in an exotic locale that I try to help the reader envision. Hopefully, both the plot and the setting are what make these books most enjoyable. I’d say from the reviews of The Surreal Killer (at least the top 10 reviews) that I’ve succeeded with this book, which is my purest whodunit thus far. And even the single less positive review suggests that the local Chambers of Commerce should be distributing this novel to make the region attractive to would-be tourists.
What advice would you give to a new author trying to get their book published?
I’d give the aspiring author two pieces of advice: (1) Be prepared to spend as much time promoting your book as you spent writing it, maybe even more time. The downside of Indie publishing is that no one is going to do this for you. (2) Don’t quit your day job! And maybe a third piece of advice: (3) give it a try. It’s a great feeling when you read that first review, and can say to yourself that you actually created something that someone else enjoyed.
Are you currently working on other books?
Yes. I intend to stay in the current series format for at least the next two or three novels, but we might bring our detectives back home to the USA for a bit to solve a few local murders in one of these future entries.
Stacie Theis / beachboundbooks@yahoo.com / copyright 2012