An Interview With...

Pat Brown

Pat Brown, writing as P.A. Brown, has written the L.A books featuring LAPD homicide detective David Eric Laine and his lover, computer wizard Christopher Bellamere. These books are first and foremost crime novels as David investigates and solves crimes that are often dark and troubling.

First, thanks for talking to me. It's always fun to talk about writing and my books.

I like to explore how he deals with the ugliness and how Chris deals with what David does. This creates a lot of opportunity for conflict.

I was born in Canada but my heart is in L.A. I still dream of walking her mean streets again and shining a light on the underbelly of the city of Angels. Just the name alone inspires – I mean the City of Angels? I met a lot of people while I lived there, I don't think any of them ever qualified as angels. L.A is many things. It is brightness and darkness. Beauty and corruption and evil. But it is never boring. It's always fun to show it to people who have never been there. It's even more fun to have people who do know the city believe in the way I've shown it.

I have plans in the works to return there in 2010 for a mystery conference which will be built around the whole L.A noir theme. I think Left Coast Crime next year is going to be exciting and a lot of fun. With luck I'll meet a lot of people there and trade stories.

Mark Richard Zubro said this about L.A. Heat, “A first rate thriller with heart stopping action. I was cheering on the budding romance between the two lead characters from the outset...”

So if you can take the heat, come along for the ride.

Q: What made you choose LA as a setting for your novels?

A: Can you think of a better place for gritty, dark stories?

Q: Are you happy you chose LA or, if you had it to do over, would you choose some other setting?

A: I lived in L.A for 8 years. In those 8 years I had more experiences and met more interesting people than in the years before or since, so choosing it as the setting for my first mystery was easy. There were, and still are, tons of source material right there, in my head. I could write a book on what I saw and did while I was there – some of those experiences get into my books, others I have never told anyone about.

I arrived in L.A in the middle of the night after 3 days on a Greyhound bus not knowing anyone or anything. The next 3 weeks are a blur of sight seeing, finding a place to live and trying to get my bearings. I managed the first 2 in short time – though the apartment I ended up getting on Hollywood and Western was a major mistake. It turned out it was a violent corner where the police visited every weekend for stabbings and shootings. So that was my first introduction to L.A – watch where you live. Where I came from that wasn't much of an issue. As to why I choose L.A I was attracted to the myth, the excitement of a big, dramatic city after the vanilla world I came from. I can't imagine any place else in the world being home to my mysteries.

It's a cliché – I love L.A. I even like that song!

Q: What about a setting more close to home for you? What would be the advantages, disadvantages, pros and cons?

A: I have done some basic playing around with an idea for a local book with London cops. But until I get to the Citizen's Academy this fall that's on the back burner. It might be fun though, and different – plus imagine how easy the research could be.

Q: The characters in your book seem quite real – are they based on people you know?

A: No, not in any conscious way.

Q: How do you approach character creation? What is most important?

A: My characters come to me in all different ways – sometimes full blown – that was David. I saw him and heard his gruff, no nonsense voice. He was stolid and totally trustworthy and loyal to a fault. In fact the reason he always introduces himself as David Eric Laine points to that stuffiness. He's never Dave, or Davie, always David. Chris came about as his opposite. He grew more slowly. I didn't want him to be a stereotypical queen, but he had to be flightier, more emotional than David. And he had to be beyond gorgeous. A walking wet dream. The kind of person that David could never believe could ever love him.

Q: When you create characters, what is the first thing that comes to you about them – a physical look, a “type,” a name, or something else?

A: This varies. Some come to me whole, others are types – Chris, for instance. He was rich, proudly out, handsome and sure of his own charms.

Q: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

A: I never have knowingly. I'm sure as I absorb characteristics from observing people that those observations make their way into my people, but never deliberately and I couldn't point to any character and say that's so and so.

Q: What made you choose to write about gay men?

A: I like gay men more than I like most straight men.

Q: What is it about a gay relationship that appeals to you as a writer that a heterosexual relationship doesn't provide?

A: I've always had more in common with men than women. I never enjoyed the dynamics of female relationships. Fashion and gossip and shopping bore me. I tried wearing stilettos exactly once in my life and hated them. Sitting in a bar with a bunch of guys with a pitcher of beer and a couple of shots is my idea of fun. But I wasn't there to get laid, so gay bars were better for me. I could be an atmosphere where there were no games played, no teasing or sexual innuendo that had to be responded to or ignored. I could be drunk and stupid and not worry about waking up with someone whose name I didn't remember. And face it, gay men are a lot more fun than uptight straights. I don't know why it is, but it is.

Q: How did you research gay men and the lives they lead?

A: Having a lot of gay friends. Reading a lot of fiction written by gay men. I've been known to watch gay porn to make sure I get the sexual mechanics right. And I have one hell of an imagination.

Q: Since your description of this couple and their lives is so well drawn and convincing, are your fans surprised to learn you are a woman?

A: They were in the beginning. I wanted it that way because when I started writing these types of stories I had no idea there were women who wrote them let alone read them. I thought I would be rejected if readers thought I was female. I really treasure this review I got recently which said in part ' I'm amazed she does it so well, without the heavy-handed approach many female writers seem to have in writing gay male erotica) ' That was cool and is exactly what I want to achieve.

Q: What audience are you aiming for when you write?

A: I just want people who like good mysteries to read my books without regard to who the characters are. I know that's not realistic since there are some people who will never be able to get past the sexuality but I have had some readers who say they don't usually read gay books. So I like that. But I also love it when gay men read my books and believe in my characters. So if I had to write for one audience alone, it would be gay men. If I can't get it right for them, I want to know.

Q: Which segments of your audience have responded to what you have to say in your books? Do gay men or women respond more to your work?

A: I can't really say one sex or the other has responded more than another. I've had great email from both sexes who love Chris or David or both.

Q: You have written several novels with this couple at the center of the stories. What has been easiest about continuing these characters?

A: It's easier in the sense that I know these people, so I know how they will react in any given situation. And their dynamics with each other and their friends suggest story lines and new conflicts.

Q: What has been the most difficult part of continuing these characters?

A: Finding new stories to give them that aren't just rehashes of previous stories. Book one started with David in the closet, then he was out, but he was still conflicted. Each book has been a process for him, sometimes aided by Chris other times hindered by him. Chris doesn't always understand where David is going through. One thing I decided to do from the beginning was not make the crimes in the stories that David is trying to solve be specifically gay crimes with gay perpetrators or victims. Most gay mysteries I read do this – there's always a gay element in the mystery. I want David to be a cop first. The crimes he investigates are across the board and he meets and deals with a wide range of Angeleno characters. So in L.A. Boneyard the crime is human trafficking, gun running and baby brokering. There are Ukrainians, gang bangers and ex-Marines, but no gays. Same with L.A. Bytes, due out in 2010. That deals with a cyber attack on L.A and terrorism. Geography of Murder is about pedophiles.

Q: Do you ever get bored by these characters? And if you do, or if you think you will – how will you solve that problem?

A: It hasn't happened so far. I'm not sure what I would do – but since I'm not tied to only them, I can take a break from Chris and David and come back to them renewed.

Q: Does this couple ever do anything unexpected?

A: In book 3, L.A. Boneyard, David surprised me by being attracted to another man. He's always been a rock. Very stable and loyal, even a little stolid and stuffy. He adores Chris and still can't understand what Chris sees in him. So for him to let his mind wander to a pretty face startled me a bit. Imagine what it did to Chris.

Q: Is there anything you regret about these characters or their appearances in your novels?

A: Originally I wanted David to be less attractive than he turned out. The idea was he was plain and not something any man would look at twice and this gorgeous but very shallow movie-star-sexiest-man-alive hunk falls in love with him. There were supposed to be comments about how David must have a huge dick to attract the shallow Chris. But as the story evolved David became sexier, albeit in a big bearish way and Chris was less shallow, though he does become more of that in L.A. Mischief where he reverts to this old slutty ways. It might have been fun to have kept the dynamics of beauty and the beast but it didn't work out that way.

Q: What is your approach to writing a novel: that is, do you outline or not? Do you keep files and piles of note.

A: I outline only minimally in most cases, unless I hit a real snag then I sometimes do it to jumpstart a stalled story. I will often know the ending of a story, and one or two key scenes leading up to it, but most of the writing is done on the fly. I do write tons of notes, but not on character so much as on research into things like gang activity and computer things for Chris.

Q: What are the pitfalls you watch for as you write your novels?

A: All the usual stuff: cliches, clunky writing, melodrama, which I can be prone to in my climaxes.

Q: How many revisions do you normally go through when writing a novel?

A: On average I do two, but I keep fiddling and picking at a manuscript until my editor pries it out of my hands. Even then I'm reaching for it... hold on, one more thing. Just let me look at that line...

Q: What started you in writing? (Was it always a dream of yours?)

A: I pretty well always wanted to write. For a while I was also an artist – drawing, painting with acrylics and water colors. I wanted to be the next Robert Bateman, but I got sidetracked by writing and besides I wasn't good enough to compete with Bateman. I wrote my first novel at seventeen, wrote several screenplays in my twenty's before switching back to novels. I wrote at least eight books before L.A. Heat which took me about two years, the longest period ever to write a novel. It also went through more rewrites than any others.

Q: What keeps you writing? What inspires you?

A: I simply can't imagine not writing. I don't have an addictive personality, I mean I used to drink a lot, I quit, I smoked and quit twenty-two yeas ago, I did drugs like coke, crack and acid and quit without issues, but I couldn't quit writing for anything or anyone.

Q: When you see your writing in print, do you have the urge to revise?

A: Always. LOL. See above.

Q: Is there one work in particular that you wish you had the opportunity to redo entirely? (If so, what is it and how would you change it?)

A: I wouldn't mind a chance to do some revision on L.A. Mischief. I think I could give it more depth and turn it into a longer novel with more growth in the characters. I just think it was too short.

Q: How have you grown as a writer? What about your writing has gotten better?

A: I think I know how to write better, with more economy and less rewrites. My writing is a lot cleaner these days.

Q: What things have you dropped along the way?

A: My insecurity – I used to be afraid of whether or not I could plot, or would my endings be strong enough. Now I trust myself to fix anything that might not be right on the second or third draft if necessary. I don't have to get it right the first time, so I give myself the luxury of a bad first draft.

Q: What helped most in your growth as a writer?

A: Maturity – hey age has to be worth something, right? I also credit my continued voracious appetite for reading. It keeps my mind fresh and rejuvenates it. I can and do read anything that's put in front of me.

Q: Is there anything you regret in the writing choices you've made?

A: No. I like what I write.

Q: Who are the authors who you admire most, who inspire you, whose writing you think is most beautiful, moving, exciting?

A: Too many, but here are a few: Josh Lanyon. A damn good writer who didn't give up. He self-published when he felt he had to – something I would never do, although my reasons are mercenary, I couldn't afford to. He now sells to many publishers and always seems to have new stories coming out.

Michael Connolly. I love his terse style and dark novels. He writes about L.A the way I want to.

Christopher Rice. I love the way he's grown in such a short time. Each one of his novels is visibly better than his last. I only dream of his kind of success.

Neil Plakcy. I've known him longer than any other writer. He's a great writer, a great guy and very encouraging to others. Besides, I'm kind of in love with Kimo.

John Morgan Wilson. One of the first gay writers who seemed to me to go beyond the gay ghetto. He 'broke out' and his writing rocks. Another one I would love to emulate.

Anthony Bidulka. Another Canadian writer who has made it outside that gay ghetto. I envy his ability to travel and promote and wish I could do half of what he does. Plus whenever we get together it's always entertaining. The guy is one of the funniest men I know. And his husband is gorgeous.

Q: How do you approach plotting a mystery or a thriller – what stymies you most, what do you find easiest?

A: I'm not all that great at creating complex, twisting plots. Most of mine are straightforward. I don't really do whodunits, though I try not to reveal who the bad guy is, I've heard some readers say they figured it out early on. I'd rather you read my books for the characters.

Q: What advice can you give on plotting a mystery?

A: Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time around. That's what second and third drafts are for. All my plots are built up in layers, I also have some great beta readers who offer ideas that I use.

Q:Does the world you create in your novels continue to live in your mind after you've completed the novel? What implications does that have in terms of wanting to do a series in the same setting?

A: I'm always thinking of my characters and their world. I've gone so far as to dream about them. Or when I take a break – go to a movie or visit family – I still think about the world of my story people. I'm pretty lousy company when I'm in the throws of creation.

Q: Of all your works, which is the setting that you find yourself unable to forget? Why?

A: A new book I'm working on, the sequel to Geography of Murder, the book coming out in June. It's called Forest of Corpses and it's taking me back to a time when I visited the mountains around Big Bear and spent a couple of days in a little community called Frasier Park. The book is about a disastrous hike my cop from Geography and his lover take up into the Wilderness area of the Los Padres National Forest. My cop in that, always so in control in his life, is totally lost in the woods so there's a certain amount of humor in it as he bumbles through the woods trying not to get attacked by mad squirrels and other assorted wildlife. I used to camp and bird watch a lot, so it brought back pleasant memories.

Q: Which setting would you most like to transport yourself into and stay for a while? Why?

A: Again, L.A. I find it endlessly fascinating and beyond comprehension.

Q: What were and are your goals as a writer?

A: First to be published. So many writers never even make that goal so that was a real ego booster. Now my goal (or dream) would be to actually make some money at it.

Q: What piece of advice is given to beginning writers that you feel is total hogwash?

A: Write what you know. The single stupidest piece of advice ever given. If we all wrote only what we know, most of the books out there would be boring and unreadable. There'd be no murder mysteries unless they were written by Ted Bundy or Paul Bernardo, no fantasy or science fiction at all. I mean, come on, none of us 'writes what we know' We use our imaginations to write about what we like. Even when people use their skills – like doctors who write medical thrillers, they're still writing about things they haven't done – unless these medical people have cloned someone lately or created a cure for cancer that turns out to be something else or are nefariously harvesting organs to sell on the black market. And does anyone seriously believe that Dan Brown has gone around the world uncovering hidden secrets of powerful religious orders?

Q: What is the one piece of advice beginning writers should heed?

A: Read. Read voraciously. Anyone who tells me they want to be a writer but doesn't have time to read or has no interest in it, is wasting their time. You can't do one without loving the other. Every good writer I've ever met read dozens of books a year, at least. Did I mention you should read? Then write, write, write.

Q: And finish what you write. There are a lot of unfinished books in bottom drawers that started out all on fire, but fizzled out after a hundred pages or so. If you want to write you must persist and finish that first draft. It doesn't matter if it's crap. Crap can be fixed. A blank page can't. And real writers realize that writing is like anything else in life, to be good you have to practice. I wrote at least 8 books before I wrote the one some wanted to publish. That doesn't include the screenplays I wrote or the bad poetry. That's several thousand words and I haven't stopped learning. I hope I never do.

A: If you could invite any five authors (living or not) to dinner (all together or one at a time) who would they be? And why?

A: Michael Connolly, Jonathan Kellerman, Josh Lanyon, Michael Nava and John Morgan Wilson – all experienced writers I've never met, who all write novels I love. I probably wouldn't even eat I'd be listening and talking so much. Mostly listening.

Q: If you had to cast your books as movies – who would you choose top play your characters, especially your lead characters?

A: This is always fun.

Michael Chiklis (with hair) as David - he's Mackie on The Shield.

Zac Efron as Chris. (he'd have to go blond)

Tyrese Gibson as Des

Paul Rodriguez as Martinez, as long as he's willing to dress really badly.

Q: Talk about your most recent book and what it means to you.

A: Geography of Murder is my latest, due out in June. I'm really excited about it. It's my first full length non-Chris and David book. It was a book that literally flew off my keyboard. I could hardly write it fast enough. I had no plot, no characters, no killer and the only crime was a body with no history. I had nothing but an image in my head of a young man on the wrong side of the law who wakes up from a drunken or drugged stupor to find himself in bed with a dead stranger. And there was a cop who was into BDSM who arrests him then wants more from him. I wrote that book in 3 weeks and fell madly in love with the characters in it.

Q: What sparked the idea? How long had you had this idea before starting to write?

A: The BDSM angle just came to me. One of those out of the blue moments.

Q: Did you feel compelled to write this book? About this subject?

A: I had flirted with some bondage in a few short stories I'd written – 2 with Chris and David where David finds he likes tying Chris up so maybe this book was a natural progression.

Q: How did you approach the planning and writing? Did you prepare an outline? Would you share your outlining and preparation processes?

A: Zero outline on this one. I barely had names for the 2 main characters. I hadn't a clue who the dead guy was or why he was dead, let alone who had killed him and why. All that came as I wrote.

Q: How long did it take to complete it? What was your least favorite part in the writing of the book?

A: It took me 3 weeks to finish the first draft. The hardest part was the rewrite of the sea rescue – I had it all wrong and had to do a lot of research on the Coast Guard and rewrite it completely

Q: What do you like best about it? Which are your favorite characters and why? Which are your favorite moments in the story?

A: My favorite character has to be Alexander Spider, the cop. He's so complex with a dark streak that was fun to test. My favorite moment in the story was when the murder victim's son tells the cops he has something that was sent to his father before he was killed and comes back with a stuffed raven. I didn't see that coming at all. He surprised me with it as much as he surprised the cops. The whole story took a turn there and the raven ended up being integral to the plot, though he wasn't there when I started writing.

Q: Is the publication of each book as thrilling as that first one?

A: Every time a book gets accepted and I get sent a contract it's a thrill. I'm afraid I still worry each time I sub a new book that no one will like it. That it will be rejected. When it's not and later when I actually get that book in my hands it's an incredible feeling, each and every time.

Q: How many projects do you work on at the same time?

A: I've worked on as many as 2 novels at a time, not counting proofing or going over line edits for my editor. Sometimes I write a short story in there too, though I don't do many of them.

Q: What kinds of fan reactions do you get and how do you handle that?

A: Mostly I love my fan reactions. I love answering questions and talking about writing in general.

Only once did I get a reaction that really startled me – someone read the blurb for L.A. Boneyard and took strong exception to the notion that David would be attracted to another man. The person emailed me twice and was very upset over it, and the book isn't even out yet, so no one knows what actually happens with these lustful thoughts.

I also had a review once where the person complained that there was too much mystery in L.A. Heat and not enough romance. I thought that was funny, since the book (I thought) was billed as a mystery. It was never sold as a romance book.

Q: Are you happy about the rise of the e-book?

A: I love e-books. I see it as opening up a whole new place to get new readers. It's good for the environment, it's less expensive so people can buy more books. I still want my books in paperback too if for no other reason than I like holding my novels in my hands.