Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview.
Today’s guest for the WHAT is Charles Salzberg, author of Man on the Run, which releases on April 18
Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?
I do. Three years ago, I wrote a novel called Second Story Man, about a master burglar, Francis Hoyt, and the two lawmen, a recently retired Connecticut State investigator and a recently suspended Cuban-American Miami cop, who aim to bring him to justice. Without giving too much of a spoiler, at the end of the novel Hoyt “walks away” from any consequences which essential turns him into a fugitive. I had no intention of ever writing another novel with Hoyt in it and, in fact, my next novel, Canary in the Coal Mine, had nothing to do with Hoyt or breaking and entering. When I finished Canary, I was looking for my next novel, but the more I thought about it the more I began to wonder what would happen to a guy like Hoyt when he’s on the run? He'd have to abandon the East Coast, where he was arrested, but where would he go and what would he do. The question haunted me until I finally figured out that by writing my next novel about him, I could answer that question. Hence, the inspiration for Man on the Run came from Second Story Man.
Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?
I’m one of those writers who never outlines his books. In fact, not only do I not know what’s going to happen in the next chapter, I don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next paragraph. So, I usually start with the what if question. First, I decided where he’d wind up: the West Coast. The rest of the plot came directly from the pandemic. Not writing about the pandemic, or even mentioning it, but rather relating to what I did during the lock-down, which was listen to dozens and dozens of true crime podcasts. Finally, it got to the point where I decided that one of my main characters would be a female former journalist who has a true crime podcast. And then, what if that podcaster happened to be doing a series on master burglar Francis Hoyt? And what if Hoyt found out about it? What would he do? And at the same time, what if Hoyt was approached by someone to pull a job—a big one? And so, with those elements of the story, I was able to weave a plot, as I wrote.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
That sounds like a bit of a nightmare and no, that’s never happened to me—probably because I don’t have the whole story when I start. But I have had characters “run away from me.” By that I mean the characters begin to take on a life of their own and they refuse to do or say something I might want them to. When it gets to that point, if it gets to that point, it’s a good thing because it means I’ve created real, flesh and blood characters with a mind of their own. I stop manipulating them and they start manipulating themselves.
Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?
I’m not really very much of a “story” guy. I usually start with a character of a situation and then, if I have something to say about it, the plot will start to develop. So, I’d have to say that story ideas don’t come to me too often, but thank goodness characters do.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
It’s more like the story choosing me rather than me choosing the story. I can sometimes decide I want to write something on a certain subject—like writing a novel that takes place in the world or rare books, or Hollywood movies, or even based on stories people have told me. For instance, in one of the classes I teach I had a student named Julia Scully, who led a fascinating life—mostly in the world of photography. Her life story was so amazing that I asked her if I could use part of it for the Swann novel I was working on, and she said yes. By the way, she’s 94 now (she lives across the street from me) and I highly recommend her amazing memoir, Outside Passage, about growing up in Alaska during the Depression.
I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
Unless you count my alter-ego, who’s usually too lazy to sit with me in front of the computer, I work alone. Which is probably a good thing, since I get distracted very easily and will jump at any opportunity not to write.
After a successful career as a magazine journalist for New York Magazine, Esquire, GQ, Redbook, New York Times etc., book reviewer, nonfiction book writer, Charles Salzberg made a move to fulfilling that dream of becoming a novelist when his first novel, Swann’s Last Song, was published and wound up being nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel. After losing, he swore he’d keep writing crime novels until he won something. After four more novels in the Henry Swann series, he wrote two successful stand-alone novels, Devil in the Hole (named one of the best crime novels of 2013 by Suspense Magazine) and Second Story Man (nominated for another Shamus and a David Award, both of which, true to form, he lost). He finally broke the losing streak when Second Story Man was named winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award. He’s also published three novellas, to be found in the collections Triple Shot, Three Strikes and Third Degree. He teaches writing in New York City, is a Founding Member of New York Writers Workshop, and is on the boards of PrisonWrites and Mystery Writers of America-NY.
