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Monday 9 May 2011

Sean Patrick Reardon interview: Mindjacker

Mindjacker by Sean Patrick Reardon
71p/99c


Sean Patrick Reardon lives in Pepperell, Massachusetts and is the author of the crime thriller "Mindjacker". He's blogging at http://seanpatrickreardon.blogspot.com/

Can you sum up Mindjacker in no more than 25 words?

Fast paced, character driven, crime caper story with lots of plot twists that reads like a movie with a kick-ass rock-n-roll soundtrack.

What's the best piece of craft advice you've been given?

Stephen King’s "On Writing” is what put it all together for me. There is so much great advice in it, but in the end the most important thing I took a way from it was to find an isolated place to write, sit your ass in the chair, and things will start to happen. Very simple stuff and it works, for me at least.

What was the last good eBook you read?

Baby Huey: A Cautionary Tale of Addiction” by James Henderson. This was a great read and I found out about it on an eBook review site. It was only .99 cents, self-published, and even though I finished it over a month ago, I am still thinking of it. Before that it was Julie Morrigan’s excellent crime collection “Gone Bad”.

What are you reading now?

I just finished Adrian McKinty’s tremendous new novel "Falling Glass”. I’m in the middle of Kevin Michaels’ “Lost Exit” and doing a beta read of a crime novel one of my blog followers (who prefers to remain anonymous) sent me.


Who's your favourite living writer?

I have to go with Stephen King in the lifetime achievement category. I’ll also read anything by Elmore Leonard, Declan Burke, Adrian McKinty, John McFetridge, Allan Guthrie, and dare I say, Bret Easton Ellis. These writers all bring something to the table that I had been searching for and have been hugely influential to me for both story and style. They write novels that read like Guy Ritchie and Martin Scorsese movies and that is what I aspire to do.

What's the best collection of short stories you've read?

For crime themed collections, "Dead Boys: Stories” by L.A. based author Richard Lange. For horror, it’s “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” by Stephen King, and literary is “The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

What was your favourite book as a child?

It was the Little Golden Book, "Rootie  Kazootie Detective". My grandmother would read it to me and ask me to point to certain things as she said certain words. It was a very basic system of word to picture recognition. I also got my first exposure to characters and their role in a story. It had all the ingredients of the classic crime story: hero, villain, femme fetale, loyal friend, cop, and informer. A family friend actually found it on e-bay seven years ago and gave it to me. My children and I enjoyed it just as much when they were young.

What crime book are you most looking forward to reading?

Collusion” by Stuart Neville sounds like a great one. His debut novel “The Ghosts of Belfast” was awesome and was a real game changer for me. It opened the doors to all the great crime writers I have not only read, but have actually got to virtually know, correspond with, and most importantly, learn from.

Do you have any other projects on the go?

I'm working on a standalone crime thriller, which I'm now calling "The Dead and Dying". It’s about an Irish American writer, pothead, and pacifist (write what you know) who is befriended by an IRA-connected ex-patriot who recruits him to get revenge on Loyalist criminals on the lam in Boston (research and learn what you don’t know).  Also, the editor of the Flash Fiction Offensive, Dave Barber, has been kind enough to invite me to submit something so that is in progress right now.


Mindjacker by Sean Patrick Reardon
71p/99c

10 comments:

  1. Allan- Thank you for having me and entertaining the shit out of me with you novels!

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  2. Sean, the wider world awaits your words. Great interview.

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  3. Enjoyed learning more about a top writer and all-round good guy, I class as a good friend.

    And that new novel sounds like a kick-ass read.

    Thanks, chaps.

    Regards,
    Col

    Ps. Cool site, Allan.

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  4. Smashing interview, Sean. I enjoyed Mindjacker and the new one sounds interesting, too - in the meantime, I'm looking forward to your FFO story. Great stuff! (And thank you for the mention!)

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  5. My pleasure, Sean. And thanks for the shout-out!

    And thanks, Col. Glad you like it.

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  6. A great an interesting interview guys. Sean is a great writer and all round good guy. I've got Mindjacker and from what I've read, I have to say I'm impressed!

    Good luck with everything you do, Sean, and thanks for the mention. I'm looking forward to what you send over to me!

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  7. Hey SPR,
    I got your MindJacker in my lineup on Kindle. Looking forward to it. Enjoyed learning about your reading tastes. You've mentioned some of my favorite reads here as well as some I haven't read. Great interview, bud.

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  8. Thanks everyone for taking the time to give it a read. I consider everyone of you to be not only talented writers, but good friends. I hope someday we can all meet up with each other!

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  9. Cor! Lumped in with McKinty, McFetridge, Guthrie and some Leonard guy. My cup runneth over ...

    Much obliged, Patrick. You made my day.

    Cheers, Dec

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