Duane Swierczynski
California Bear
DOSSIER: The crime story within your latest novel, CALIFORNIA BEAR, deals with issues like guilt and revenge, but it’s the Matilda character (a teenage girl diagnosed with leukemia), based on your late daughter, Evie, who really captures the elements of being on a mission and yearning to know the truth about something. Matilda may very well steal the show. How important is Matilda to us and what can we learn from her in this story?
SWIERCZYNSKI: Not to venture too much into spoiler territory, but with CALIFORNIA BEAR I wanted to tell a story that seems like a “buddy cop” / mismatched duo kind of crime story, only to transform into something different. And Matilda is a huge part of that. She’s the real hero of the novel, and arguably the only grownup, even though she’s barely 15 years old. She’s an old soul, but has the optimism of youth, which helps her grapple with all of the horrible things life has thrown her way. Matilda sees trauma as something that can be solved, not unlike a murder case. Of course, this is not how trauma works, but we can cut her a break… after all, she’s still a kid. (This delusion of Matilda’s, by the way, comes from me, not my daughter.)
DOSSIER: Good book research not only takes a well-worked Internet browser, but it also takes getting out there and physically scouting locations. You’re notorious for your on-site research, so what’s the most precarious or oddest place you’ve found yourself having to explain your presence as “I’m just doing book research, honest!”
SWIERCZYNSKI: Ten years ago, I found myself exploring abandoned piers on the Delaware River back in Philly searching for a practical body dump site. And I found a great one! Tagging along for the ride was my friend and anesthesiologist Lou Boxer, the founder of NoirCon. We were absolutely trespassing, but somehow avoided the police. I’ve made similar explorations here in L.A., but I’m afraid I can’t talk about them until they show up in a future novel, and/or the statute of limitations runs out.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Absolute silence/music playing in the background/the back of a SoCal restaurant coming up with story ideas over a table full of appetizers?)
SWIERCZYNSKI: I almost always write during the day now (as opposed to my early career, when I could burn the midnight oil). I write in a little private eye-style office in Old Pasadena, surrounded by my crime reference library. I love being surrounded by people with actual jobs, as opposed to what I do. So far, nobody has walked in and asked me to follow their wayward wife or look into a decades-old murder, but I remain hopeful.
DOSSIER: Having written in over 250 comics, you must have one that sticks out as extra special. (Growing up, the Dossier guy may or may not have tried to use an electrical wire outside his upstairs bedroom to slide down to the garage thirty feet away.) Not that you’ve gone to that extreme, but perhaps it’s Peter Parker from Spiderman who you had an affinity for, as well? Care to explain?
SWIERCZYNSKI: Oh, I grew up wanting to be Spider-Man! Though I never tried to scale a wall or anything — I’m afraid of heights. My favorite Spidey issue was one I picked up at random when I was 10 years old. It was the second part of a two-issue battle between Spider-Man and the Juggernaut, and the fight was hilarious and brutal. This sequence almost always comes to mind when I’m writing an action scene, as a reminder to myself that it’s important for a battle to be vivid, memorable (and if possible) darkly funny. Otherwise, the reader might just skim until the dialogue kicks up again.
DOSSIER: With two Edgar nominations and nearly a dozen novels under your belt, it’s well-known that music and food play a big part in your books. Where does that come from most, living in L.A. or your roots growing up in Philadelphia rocking out in a band into your mid-20s? Most importantly, what’s your favorite meal, and what instrument did you play? I heard Stephen King’s getting the band back together. You’ve written with Patterson, why not jam with King?
SWIERCZYNSKI: Music has always been important to me — I come up with elaborate playlists for every novel I write, just to set the mood. Food is relatively new thing; someone pointed out all of the culinary references in CALIFORNIA BEAR, and I was honestly surprised. (I must have been hungry when I was working on the first draft.) And if the Rock Bottom Remainders ever need someone to sit in on the keyboards, I’m ready and willing. It’s funny how many musicians there are in the mystery community; pretty sure would could easily cobble together our own band. As for my favorite meal… well, I’ll tell that to the prison warden when they ask right before I’m strapped into Ol’ Sparky for dumping all of those bodies back in Philly.
Website: Duane Swierczynski | Amazon Page
Jeff Circle 