Featuring Cultured, Book 6 in the Jake Longly Thriller series by D.P. Lyle

 

I am honoured today to be joined by podcaster, radio host, blogger, and mystery/thriller writer D.P. Lyle! Welcome to Escape With a Writer! 

DP Lyle is the Amazon #1 Bestselling; Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Award-winning; and Edgar(2), Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, Scribe, and USA Today Best Book(2) Award-nominated author of 23 books, both non-fiction and fiction (the Samantha Cody, Dub Walker, Jake Longly, and Cain/Harper thriller series and the Royal Pains media tie-in series). Along with Jan Burke, he was the co-host of Crime and Science Radio and hosts the podcast series Criminal Mischief. He has served as story consultant to many novelists and the screenwriters of shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.

Website: http://www.dplylemd.com

Blog: https://www.dplylemd.com/blog

Criminal Mischief Podcast Series: https://www.dplylemd.com/podcasts

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/dplylemd

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dp-lyle-md-5368a816/

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4519359-dp-lyle

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-p-lyle

InstaGram: https://www.instagram.com/dplylemd/ 

How many hours a day do you write?

I don't have a set time or a number of hours each day that I devote to writing. Basically I write when I feel like it and I don't when I don't. That said, I'm usually up around four or five in the morning, and after I've had my coffee and answered a few emails and other things, I write. That may last an hour or several hours. Along the same line, I don't have a specific word count goal. I know many writers have set times and word counts, but I don’t. When I began writing 25 years ago, I promised myself it would never become a job. I had a job with my medical practice. I didn’t want another one. Writing was fun time. Not that I don’t take my writing and my career seriously, but I look at it as my time to play with my imaginary friends.

How do you choose which stories you will write?

I always have several story ideas in play at any time for my two current thriller series—the Jake Longly comedic thrillers and the Cain/Harper darker and more traditional thrillers. I try to write a book in each series each year. As for which story to choose, it's the one that wakes you up in the middle of the night and the one that you're thinking about when you're "daydreaming." It's the one that intrudes into your thoughts the most and if you don't address that one first, it will keep bugging you and interfering with the story you’re working on. That’s the one you choose for the front burner.

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

I don't particularly care for first drafts. That's the heavy lifting. Since I don't outline, that's also when I develop the story’s the plot. This means that the first draft is a lot of work, but it's also an adventure. I start with a couple of scenes in mind, begin writing, and see where it takes me. By the time I get to around 40,000 words, I have the story well hammered out and I know where it’s going and how it's going to end. I don't know any of that when I start the story. Once the first draft is done, the fun begins. I love rewriting. That's when you really make a story a story.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

I hope to still be turning out two novels a year, doing a lot of teaching, and continuing to work on my blog and my podcast series—Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction. I don't see any reason to change because what I'm doing right now is a lot of fun. And fun is what it's all about.

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

I've been fortunate in that every novel and short story I've written has been published. In May, I released my 23rd book, CULTURED, the 6th in the Jake Longly series. I’ve also completed and edited the next in the series, and it will be available next summer. Right now I'm working on my 4th Cain/Harper book and I am at that magic 40,000 words, so the story is really rolling. To answer your question, I have 23 books in print, another one completed, and another one in the works.

Was there a person who encouraged you to write?

I grew up in the south where everyone can tell a story, so storytelling has always been part of my life. My family, my friends, and virtually everyone I knew could tell a story. It's part of the culture down there. I’ve been an avid reader since I was very young and always wanted to write. I could spin a good yarn, but could I write one? They are, of course, two entirely different animals. I assumed that I’d try writing the stories in my head once I retired, but I realized I was nowhere near retirement—-and indeed still haven’t. Approximately 25 years ago, I told myself, if not now, when? I took some classes at the University of California Irvine in their extension program, joined a couple of writing groups, and began writing. I guess you would say the rest is history. As for writers that have influenced me, James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard are at the forefront. There is much to learn from each of them, and I certainly have.

 CULTURED, Jake Longly #6

 “Ray wants you to join a cult.”

So it begins. Jake Longly is yet again dragged into a private investigation he wants no part of. This time into the world of the very rich and decadent. Self-help and financial guru Jonathon Lindemann has built an empire, and a rustic, yet posh, retreat in rural Magnolia Springs, Alabama. As creator of The Lindemann Method, he is the golden goose for his investors and the Svengali to the many young and beautiful women who work for him. Money, power, sex, what could possibly go awry?

 

 SKIN IN THE GAME, Cain/Harper #1

Raised as siblings by an itinerant "gypsy" family, knife expert Bobby Cain, trained by the US military in the lethal art of covert eliminations, and Harper McCoy, nurtured by the US Navy and the CIA to run black ops and wage psychological warfare, are now civilians. Of a sort. Employing the skills learned from the "family" and their training, they now fix the unfixable. Case in point: Retired General William Kessler hires the duo to track down his missing granddaughter, a Vanderbilt University co-ed. Their search leads them to a small, bucolic, lake-side town in central Tennessee and into a world of prostitution, human trafficking, and serial murder. The question then becomes: Will their considerable skills be enough for Cain and Harper to save the young woman, and themselves, from a sociopath with "home field" advantage, a hunter's skills, and his own deeply disturbing agenda?

Terrific—truly sinister, scary, and suspenseful. Lyle never lets you down.—Lee Child, NYT Bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

SKIN IN THE GAME hums like a tuning fork in perfect thriller pitch. Heroes Bobby Cain and Harper McCoy are skilled with blade and mind, and the villain here sent chills up my spine from page one on. This is further proof that Doug Lyle is at the top of his game.--T. Jefferson Parker author of THE LAST GOOD GUY

 

For More Info and to Purchase These or Any of D.P. Lyle's Books: 

https://www.dplylemd.com/books