Ask the Author: David M. Hamlin
Answered Questions (4)
David M. Hamlin
Good question! I like most of my characters, but I also enjoy creating "villains" who are somewhat unlikeable and I enjoy working with them as well. It's hard for me to pick a favorite -- I'm very fond of Emily Winter, the journalist/protagonist in three of my mysteries. I genuinely liked just about everyone in Murder in Tolland, but I hold a special place for Jeff Conrad, the town's uber-New Englander; he played a minor role but he sang to me every time he appeared. I draw characters from just about everywhere -- people I've met and admired, people I've observed in day-to-day encounters, people I've worked for or with. I usually start with a rough idea of each character's role (reporter, lawyer, doctor, cop, writer, etc.) but to the extent I can, I try to let the characters themselves tell me who they are as I write about them. On at least a couple of occasions, a character I've created has surprised me - when that happens, it's extremely satisfying.
David M. Hamlin
The first Emily Winter mystery is loosely based on an actual confrontation between an aggressive prosecutor and a naive -- if not entirely innocent -- young woman. I was briefly involved in that confrontation and, eventually, developed it into the plot for Winter in Chicago.
David M. Hamlin
I don't "block." I do have moments when I'm not sure what to explore next and when I confront those moments I find there's only one way to deal with them -- write. Drafting something, anything, clears one's mind, sharpens one's focus and (sometimes) takes you in new and unexpected directions. Drafting can also produce material which just doesn't work, but learning to recognize and understand why it doesn't work is almost as valuable as getting it just right.
David M. Hamlin
All of my Emily Winter mysteries draw on two critical elements, the trials, tribulations and successes of women breaking glass ceilings in the 1970s and fundamental civil liberties issues, abuse of power, police infiltration of activist organizations and Roe v. Wade, the basis for the most recent Winter book, Killer Cocktail.
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