Tell me a bit about yourself, your writing, and the scoop on your sensational debut novel. Yep, it‘s an elevator talk!
I’m a freelance writer who works for magazines, newspapers, and will write for food. Seriously. Have you got a snack on you? It Happened One Knife, the second in the Double Feature series (I previously wrote the Aaron Tucker series) finds Elliot Freed, owner of New Jersey’s only all-comedy movie theater, trying to find out why one of his octogenarian comedy idols murdered the other one. Is that short enough, or does this elevator go to the penthouse?
Where can readers see you this year? Will you be attending Team Jordan’s October soiree, oops, I mean Bouchercon in Baltimore?
I will indeed be at Bouchercon, as I’m thrilled it’s in a city that’s drivable for me! I’ll also be at various bookstores, libraries, and Dairy Queens around the New Jersey area. But the Dairy Queens are just for fun. Check my web site http://jeffcohenbooks.com for more info on where I’ll be, and when. Because I don’t remember, either.
How would you define the kind of fiction you write, and what in your life influenced you to write it?
I consider it comedy with a mystery thrown in to keep the plot moving. What influenced me to write funny books? The Marx Brothers, Bill Cosby, the late and missed George Carlin, Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Monty Python’s Flying Circus... how much time have you got?
Tell us about some writers, or books, you’d like to introduce folks to...
Not enough people are reading David Skibbins. I’m a fan of Joe Adamson, who writes non-fiction. Robert Fate, Chris Grabenstein, Jack Getze. I like people who write stories about real people, but don’t believe they’re writing something that will change Society as We Know It just by existing. A sense of humor, as in your books, Julia, goes a long way with me.
You’ve said in the past that authors of humorous mysteries and humor in general “are the Rodney Dangerfields of the literary world.” Care to expand on that?
Thanks for saying “you’ve said,” and not “you’re constantly bitching about.” I believe that people don’t realize how hard comedy is to write, because when it works well, it’s meant to seem effortless, so it seems easy. It’s not easy. And I’m not talking about my own work when I say that people who write comedy well are the ones who keep us sane during insane times. If it were not for Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, would I have made it through my twenties? Probably, but I would have much darker memories. Groucho said, “because we make them laugh, I don’t think people realize how important (comedians) are to their sanity.” I realize, and I think that deserves some, you should pardon the expression, respect. More...
