Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

Hi Fiona, Thank you for taking the time to interview me.

My name is Mike Faricy and despite my lifestyle I’ve made it to 67. I write crime fiction.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota in the US. We’re located in the middle of the US, up against Canada. Other than time in the US Army I’ve lived in Saint Paul all my life.

 Fiona: A little about yourself (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

 I come from a family of five kids, four boys and one girl. My sister was in the middle. I made it through grade school and high school and amazingly earned a Bachelors Degree in History. I’m the least educated person in my family. I grew up in a baby boomer neighborhood. It was just after WWII and with only five kids we were one of the smaller families in the neighborhood. When I grew up there were tons of kids around and always someone to get into trouble with. It was like something out of a movie, drove my folks nuts,  and I’ve very fond memories of it all. I have four adult children.

 Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

 I literally just had the latest book in my Corridor Man series, Corridor Man 9: Boss Man, go into preorder. Obviously it’s the ninth book in the series and it will be live March 22, 2019. I’m finishing up the third book in my Hotshot series in the next couple of weeks then I’m writing the next work of genius in my Dev Haskell series.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

Probably the first thing I wrote was on a wall with a color crayon and I was sent to my room. My mom was trained as a librarian and when we were kids we would be taken weekly to our local library where we could each pick out a book. My folks would read to us before we went to bed and it instilled a love of books in me from a very early age. I wrote for the school newspaper in high school and believe it or not, I frequented the library in college.

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Once I finished my second book and it was published and actually available for purchase.

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

 I had written an uncountable number of, in my opinion, award winning first chapters. I should add they were all written in long hand on a yellow legal tablet. After about forty of these things piled up I had the brain storm to either fish or cut bait. Finish the story or stop wasting time. So I wrote my first book, Candy Cane.

 Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

 Cleverly, the chief protagonist was a woman named Candy. I should add at this point that I worked up the courage to contact a local, nationally renowned crime fiction author and asked to meet him. This was thirty years ago. He graciously invited me to lunch in a small restaurant that only served breakfast and lunch. It turned out that after they closed every day at two, he stayed there and wrote until six in the evening. At the end of our lunch I proudly pulled out my two inch thick manuscript and asked him if he would like to read it. He smiled and politely said no. He told me every writer has a work they keep under the bed that shouldn’t see the light of day. I went home, reread the manuscript and decided Candy Cane belonged under my bed. I then got on the computer and wrote and published my second book. I haven’t looked back.

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style? Is there anything about your style or genre that you find particularly challenging?

 I write four series, Dev Haskell Private Eye, Corridor Man, Jack Dillon Dublin Tales, and Hotshots. I try to make the books easy to read and enjoyable. The Dev Haskell and Hotshots series have a good deal of humor injected. The Corridor Man series is a lot more violent and gritty. The Jack Dillon Dublin Tales series has some violence and is fairly straight forward. I’ve been writing these series long enough that I have a ton of ideas for the next book in the series, but I want everything to be accurate. If there is a particular weapon, a car, a building or maybe an injury, I want to be correct in my description. I don’t want to write the weapon holds nine rounds when it really holds twelve or the car has a particular characteristic that it really doesn’t. I spend a lot of time doing research, largely online. The end result might only be a sentence, but it’s accurate. If it’s wrong I’ll undoubtedly hear from a reader with more information than I could ever hope to come up with.

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic and are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

 Most of the experiences are based on someone I have known or some incident I know about. I have a number of situations where I’ll hear from a reader who tells me they really enjoyed the read but this one part was simply impossible to believe. Invariably, that one situation was the only real thing I didn’t embellish or make up. I wrote it based simply on the facts. Just goes to show truth is stranger than fiction. If you’re looking for a tale of someone saving the nation from a terroristic act or parachuting onto the roof of the White House my books aren’t for you. All my books deal with average or below average individuals who make bad decisions. But then bad decisions can make for interesting reading.

Fiona: To craft your works, do you have to travel? Before or during the process?

 My work is all set largely in Saint Paul, Minnesota or Dublin, Ireland. I live about six months per year in both locations and I want to be exact about the things I describe. Is the door really oak? Were there three or five steps up to the entrance? Is the street one way or is there a stop light, or just a stop sign? All of that, without being too overwhelming in detail is important, in my opinion. I want the reader to feel like they’re right there. They can smell the food, feel the heat and hear the noise on the street.

Fiona: Who designed the covers?

All my cover work is done by a gentleman named Roy Migabon. He’s created a particular ‘look’ for each one of my series. I send him a couple of ideas, maybe an image or two and he presents me with a variety of options. He does wonderful work for me and I highly recommend him.

 Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

 No. My books are strictly for entertainment purposes. I want people to enjoy the reads and look forward to my next book in whatever series they’re reading. I attempt not to give a message other than don’t shoot people and don’t drink too much and go home with someone you don’t know.

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?  Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

 I’m constantly discovering new authors, at least new to me. When I find an author I enjoy I usually read just about everything they have. Most of my reading is, broadly stated, in the crime fiction genre. I don’t have a specific favorite, but Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, Laurence Shames, Julie Smith, Tony Dunbar, Carmen Amato, Mike Pettit, Robert B. Parker, Owen Parr are writers I currently enjoy. I could go on and on. I read every evening and my TV can be off for days or weeks at a time. I enjoy works with unexpected yet believable twists and turns.

Fiona: Outside of family members, name one entity that supported your commitment to become a published author.

 I’m an indie author. I publish and promote my own works. From my first book until as recently as this morning I’m amazed at the support, encouragement and advice I receive from people who in any other business would be considered competitors, but in the writing biz they’re friends. They encourage, tell me the latest and greatest marketing idea or what didn’t work for them. It’s really great. Hopefully, I’ve been able to do the same for established writers as well as those just beginning.

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?

 Most definitely. I work at it full time, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Living in both Saint Paul and Dublin that makes me the dullest guy in two towns.Thankfully I’m married to a very patient woman.

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

 No. Although having said that, about a year from now someone will very kindly contact me and tell me about a typo they came across. This after 100,000 people, including myself, never caught it. The beauty of e-publishing is I can change that and upload the correction in about three minutes making the book just that much better for the next 100,000 people.

Fiona: Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?

 Yes. Alligators commonly bellow and roar. I included this in a chapter in Corridor Man 9 where disbarred attorney Bobby Custer is disposing of individuals down in the Florida everglades. This is unusual because as I mentioned my books are set in either Saint Paul or Dublin, Ireland. I did travel to Florida and was able to provide an accurate description of the scene as well as the sounds the gators made. I already knew how the individuals would scream.

Fiona: Any advice for other writers?

 Yeah, keep at it. It’s hard work. I’m blessed to be able to work at something I love to do. It’s sort of like a pyramid, at the base are all the people who say they’d like to write a book. Halfway up are the folks who start a book. Two thirds of the way up are the folks who are going to get back to it, right after they handle a work problem, paint the house, or whatever. At the very top are the small amount of people who start, keep at it and actually finish. In my opinion, you have to write everyday, even if it’s just a page. That’s specially tough if you have kids. Kids take precedence.

Fiona: Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

 Yes. Thank you for your continued support and thank you for reading my books. Check out Corridor Man 9, Boss Man on Amazon.

 Fiona: What book are you reading now?

 I’m about halfway through Michael Connelly’s Dark Sacred Night. The first book in the Ballard and Bosch series.

 Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

 Yes. It was a child’s book, George the Pig. George doesn’t share his birthday cake and eats it all himself. On the last page of the book he explodes. Actually, I probably had the pages memorized because it had been read to me so many times, but I felt like I was reading. The next book I remember was Snow Treasure, by Marie Swigan. I read it in the fourth grade, age nine. The Nazi’s parachute into a Norwegian village and the children of the village sneak 9 million dollars worth of gold bars out of the village on their sleds. Coming from a snowy part of the US and all our fathers veterans of the Second World War that ended just fifteen years earlier, it felt to me like I was there helping. I had a copy of the book from the school library and my fourth grade teacher read the book to us out loud in class each day. After school we would go sliding on a hill nearby. We had a brick (not gold) we would hide on our sleds and all slide down the hill. It was a simpler time.

 Fiona: What makes you laugh/cry?

 I love jokes. I love seeing people do kind things. Whether it’s helping children or elderly or just being nice. I really believe if we all laughed at ourselves a little more it would make the world a better place.

 Fiona: Is there one person, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

 There’s a long list of people I would love to meet. Start with all the authors I’ve enjoyed and go on from there.

 Fiona: Do you have any hobbies?

 Yes, I play the bagpipes in the Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band. The band has been in existence since 1962 and I’ve played in it for 30 plus years. We’re the band that when people are finished playing in competition bands they join us. We’ve got about 30 members and have a lot of fun. When I first joined I was one of the younger guys and now I’m one of the old guys. It’s allowed me to have friends my kids age and they’ll call and say, “Hey come on down to this pub, we’re playing. I’ll go down, we play and have a great time. Only now I can’t stay up as late as they do…

 Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?

 I watch crime movies and now some of the Netflix shows that are seasons. My experience has been that the season shows can be good for a while, but they seem to go on one or two seasons too long before they should be canceled. Like I said earlier, my TV can be off for days or weeks at a time.

 Fiona: Favorite foods, colors,  music?

 Favorite food; I love anything I don’t have to cook. Colors; Anything except pale greens. Music; Obviously bagpipes, 50s-70s rock, country, blue grass, and Irish session music.

 Fiona: Imagine a future where you no longer write. What would you do?

 I think I would go back to painting images on canvas. I did that as a hobby for a few years, but got drawn away by writing and haven’t looked back.

 Fiona: You only have 24 hours to live how would you spend that time?

 I would get my wife, family and friends gathered around and we’d have one hell of a party.

 Fiona: What do you want written on your head stone?

 Michael Joseph Faricy, dates, and my wife’s name. Then below that, “If you’re reading this things didn’t go the way I planned.”

 Fiona: Do you have a blog or website readers can visit for updates, events and special offers?

 Yes I do. If people click on the link below they end up on my website. I’ll send them two free books, Dollhouse and Twinkle Toes. I send alerts when a book is in preorder or has gone live. I do not send daily, weekly or monthly posts or newsletters. Thanks for the interview, Fiona, wishing all the best to you and all you’re followers. Here’s that email address;

http://www.mikefaricybooks.com/free-gift/

Amazon Authors Page UK   https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mike-Faricy/e/B004DBU1QA/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1551171400&sr=1-2-fkmr0

USA  https://www.amazon.com/Mike-Faricy/e/B004DBU1QA?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_fkmr0_1&qid=1551171402&sr=1-1-fkmr0

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