What can you tell us about your new release, Nothing But The Blood?
Nothing but the Blood is the second book in my Milo Porter mystery series. The series is about a private eye who battles the bad guys while battling his own personal demons. After years of fighting in Iraq, Milo relocated to Tampa, Florida to seek treatment for PTSD. He usually runs routine investigations in the Bay Area, but he can’t turn down the tough cases. In the second book, Milo goes undercover to investigate a pro football draft prospect who ends up dying in a suspicious weight lifting accident. The police dismiss the death as an accident, but the more Milo learns about the victim, the more he suspects murder. On the one hand, the book is a straightforward murder mystery in the vein of John D. MacDonald and Robert B. Parker. But the series also has a psychological/religious element that may take some readers by surprise.
What’s on the top 5 list for books you’ve ever read?
I’m sure everyone says this is a tough question. Yes, indeed. I’m going to limit this to books near my genre that have influenced my writing. 1) Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald (or really anything in this series). 2) The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald. 3) GK Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday. 4) Tie between Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island and Gone, Baby, Gone. 5) Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) by Lee Child. Honorable mention: Stephen King’s Duma Key.
Say you’re hosting a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask them?
I’ve seen and read dozens of interviews with him, but I still have more questions for Stephen King about his writing process and the source for his material.
What’s your favorite thing about writing?
Definitely being surprised by my characters and where they take the story. It’s no secret now that book 1 in the Milo series, A Mighty Fortress, ends with a twist. The twist surprised me as much as anyone once I got there. But the story had been heading in that direction, due to the characters’ decisions, and the “twist” turned out to be inevitable for the story.
If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?
With my wife and daughter, and all devices and computers powered off.
What scene in Nothing But The Blood was your favorite to write?
I like writing resolution scenes. It feels like the hard work is done, and now you’re bringing everything together. They are often the easiest scenes to write. The final scene in Nothing But the Blood is by far my favorite scene I’ve ever written, but it was not nearly as effortless as the final scenes in my previous novels and stories. It takes place in a park not far from my office. I’ve walked through that park countless times. It was a great setting to make some magic happen.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
I wouldn’t necessarily say I live by it, but the following quote from Tim Keller sums up a lot about my writing: “Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts… It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them.”
S.D. Thames is the author of the new book Nothing But The Blood.
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