This story is an eye opening and deeply disturbing look into
the evil world of drugs and the occult. It begins at the Battle of Flowers
Parade when a drug crazed teen wielding a gun carries out a massacre. Cindi
Neff is protected by a classmate who dies and after he is buried his gravesite
is desecrated. Her mother, Deputy Sheriff Nancy Neff, is subsequently put in
charge of the investigation due to her expertise in Afro-Caribbean religions.
The storyline is mesmerizing and the characters are
extremely well developed and complex.
Each character plays a deeply intricate part in this story as they bring
you to the depths of evil and despair. It is very apparent that a tremendous
amount of research went into the understanding of the Palo Mayombe and Santeria
religions, religious traditions of African origin developed in Cuba and spread
throughout Latin America and the United States. The religious aspects coupled
with the extraordinary characters and plot twists will pull you into the story
and hold you hostage.
Bob Stewart is a
masterful storyteller as he pulls you into the deeply ominous depths of drugs
and the occult to plunge you in the classic battle between good and evil. I
recommend this book to all readers who love mystery/suspense and drama that
will hold you spellbound until the end.
It is my absolute pleasure to share with you my interview with Frederick Lee Brooke Author of Doing Max Vinyl.
How would you describe yourself and
how does your description translate into the way you work? I guess I'm a bit of a chameleon, able to
adapt pretty well to circumstances around me.
My wife and I have three boys and they are not quiet types. Doing Max Vinyl was written entirely during a
time when I had a full-time job and also tried to be fully active in the
family. I can do certain kinds of
revision with significant background noise.
Only when I'm writing a first draft or doing some serious planning work
do I need peace and quiet. But then I'll
often take a walk in the forest anyway.
It helps a lot to be adaptable.
For me it's been the key to being able to finish a big project.
Did you always want to be a writer? I was an early reader and this led to
curiosity about writing stories. My
sister and I wrote stories during long car trips. In high school and then in college I dreamed
of writing novels, but I only started writing short stories after graduating
from college. That writing phase lasted
about five years, and I learned a lot about writing, but life got in the way,
with marriage and job and career and kids.
Only when my kids were halfway grown and my career reached a certain
level of success did I find a way to return to writing. Now I'm fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Doing Max Vinyl is a book I truly
loved reading, where did your inspiration come from for this story? Thank you! I guess I loved writing it as much as you
loved reading it. The inspiration came
from a flight of fancy I had while gazing at Lake Michigan one day. The lake is so enormous, and so little
trafficked, I thought it would be entirely feasible for a scoundrel like Max
Vinyl to dump computer trash three or four nights a week. Recycling is still in its infancy in the
United States. But there is a long
tradition of scoundrels and cheats, and I thought if I could create a somewhat
likeable person in his line of business, it would make a good story. So on the one hand I had an image of Max
Vinyl in my mind, and that's what I started with. But I also had this image of a female Iraq
War vet who comes home unscathed physically, while mentally and emotionally
she's a bit of a wreck. Not so far gone
that she really needs professional help, like so many of our soldiers do when
they come back, but not completely healthy, either. And certainly taken aback at what she finds
once she comes home, messy situations like Max Vinyl dumping old computers out
in our beautiful Lake Michigan. It
doesn't take much to set Annie off and get her feeling provoked. It was a lot of fun constructing a web of
deceits centering on Max Vinyl which all come back to haunt him, and at the
same time exploring Annie Ogden's psyche.
Will we have the pleasure of seeing
Annie Ogden again? Actually, yes. One thing I felt
was unfinished in Doing Max Vinyl was that exploration of Annie's mind. Max Vinyl takes place over a period of just
five days, so I was limited in the discoveries Annie could make about
herself. That's why I planned a series
of three Annie Ogden mysteries--to really get to the bottom of Annie. The second Annie Ogden mystery is now
finished and will appear in early June 2012.
In a few weeks I will announce the title and the reveal the cover. I'm very excited about how much further I
could develop Annie Ogden's character in the second book in the series. That being said, her character still feels
incomplete to me. I guess she's a real
person to me, and there will always be more to plumb and to discover. Which makes life interesting. Anyway, the third book in the series, due in
2013, will wrap it all up.
What process do you go through to
define your characters?
I start with an image of someone basically
good or basically evil, and put them into a context or a situation, and then
just basically make sure there is plenty of conflict. Not that characters are perfectly white and
black. I found it really interesting
allowing Max Vinyl his "good" moments, when he does the right thing. Annie would be boring, and unreal, if she
were flawless. We're drawn to characters
and their weaknesses. Of course,
sometimes all the planning goes out the window.
It's a cliche to say that characters surprise you with their actions and
reactions, but it's a fact. They do. I did some acting in high school and have
always loved the theater, and knowing what it means to be in character helps me
be in character when I'm writing dialogue.
My books have a lot of dialogue and are fairly dialogue-driven. What the characters say defines them and
reveals what they are thinking, and most importantly what they are feeling.
What do you hope readers will
experience while reading your books?
I like to feel the passions of the characters
when I read books, so this is what I hope will happen when people read my
books. Reading "Girl With The Pearl
Earring" by Tracy Chevalier I enjoy the descriptions of life in the 1600s
and imagining how hard it was to live then, but what really keeps me turning
the pages is to vicariously feel exactly what that girl is feeling. I think the strength of feeling is what makes
people read novels, whether it's romance, or horror, or vampires (romance +
horror) etc.
Do book reviews have an influence
on your writing?
The
only reviews I've ever experienced were written concerning Doing Max Vinyl, my
first book. They have not influenced my
writing at all. First of all, most
reviews are quite superficial, I find.
People will give a few impressions and maybe a blanket judgement, and
leave it at that. This isn't necessarily
a bad thing, it's just the way it is.
And the main purpose of reviews is to help clue other potential readers
to whether a book is worth reading or not, so they don't have to go very deep. Also, books are inherently subjective. So some people will love my book while others
will intensely dislike it. I like to
review books myself, and recently I gave one book one star and another one only
two stars. And both books also had a lot
of four- and five-star reviews. For these
reasons, I think it would be folly for any author to feel influenced by
reviews.
What advice did you receive that
was most beneficial to you?
It's hard to pick out any one piece of advice, and nowadays there is so
much advice being dispensed I feel bombarded with it. And much of it is conflicting advice. Some say you should define your market and
write for your market, while others say you should just write what you feel and
know. There was a time when I needed to
hear that writing is a matter of 90% discipline and just plain sitting down and
writing. That was one thing. Another piece of advice came from a writing
teacher, who said you had to shatter some glass. He meant I should stop avoiding conflict. The conflict is the story. The conflict shows the true colors of your
characters. I grew up in the suburbs,
and I grew up avoiding conflict. So
embracing conflict has been something I had to learn.
Are you currently working on
another book?
Yes, I'm just putting the finishing touches on the second Annie Ogden
mystery. Annie and also her sister Alison
return in this book, but all the other characters are new. It's a completely new story, and I'm really
excited about it.
This is your chance to speak directly to
readers who haven’t discovered your books.
What would you like to say to them?Thank you for trying out one of my
books!I became a writer because I love
reading so much, so if you like reading good books, you and I have that in
common.I also like to laugh once in a
while reading a book. I like to think my
books tell a good story, they might make you laugh, but they will also make you
think.And in the second book in the
Annie Ogden series, there are some delicious recipes as a special bonus.
Nimpentoad is a wonderful children’s book that will inspire both
children and adults. Niblings are the smallest creatures in the Grunwald Forest
and are often ridiculed and poked fun at. Nimpentoad, the bravest of the
niblings, decides to make a deal with Goofus the Giant to help him out with
certain tasks in return for his protection. He leads the niblings on a 5 day
journey thru the Grunwald Forest to meet Goofus. The group encounters some
obstacles along the way but they trust Nimpentoad their leader and he leads
them on to meet with Goofus.
This charming book is one of that children will read and never tire of. With some charming and not so charming characters it will teach
children a valuable lesson as they enjoy the story. The characters are totally relatable
for children and the illustrations are magnificent.
I feel that this is a great book for children and I would recommend it wholeheartedly. It is an exciting and well written book that children will love. They will feel like they are part of the adventure. I will be purchasing a copy to read and give to my Granddaughter!
