Ask the Author: Tony Gleeson
Answered Questions (4)
Tony Gleeson
I've always been a storyteller, coming from a long line of them, and I've found a lot of ways to tell the stories. I've been an illustrator for several decades, and I came to writing in the 1980s when I approached the editor of a magazine for whom I was doing a lot of artwork and asked if I could submit a few features and articles as well. He was skeptical and left the first manuscript sitting on his desk for a few weeks before he finally looked at it and called to tell me, "This is pretty good. I'm going to run it." I subsequently did a lot of features, reviews, criticism, and so forth, mostly in the popular culture vein, but I kept writing fiction as well until a piece finally landed on the right person's desk and they bought it. It's all about doing what you like and persisting at it until something you throw at the wall sticks.
Tony Gleeson
Since my "Personal Crimes" series continues to be well-received, I've almost finished the tenth book in the series. The cast of characters have become like old friends to me, and they continue to surprise me by revealing sides (and histories) I didn't know about. The eighth is scheduled to be released this November and the ninth has been acquired for release in early 2020.
I've also completed a couple of short stories that might best be described as in the science fiction vein.
I've also completed a couple of short stories that might best be described as in the science fiction vein.
Tony Gleeson
My latest book, "The Pieman's Last Song," was born out of a joke. I came up with the craziest, most outrageously elaborate solution to a murder mystery I could imagine. It was just supposed to be throw-away banter with some other writers and mystery fans, kind of a ridiculous parody of the impossible finale to a murder mystery. Then I got to thinking: would it be possible to actually make this work? So I scrubbed all evidence of ever having talked about it from my emails and social media, and set about making it work. I had been thinking about doing a stand-alone story featuring an incidental character from one of my earlier Personal Crimes stories, a small-town police chief named Wilma Acosta. The combination was counter-intuitive enough to appeal to me. She in fact winds up joking in the book that she feels like she's been thrown into a crazy, complicated mystery novel. It was a weird mix but, to my mind, it all worked quite well.
Tony Gleeson
Constant forward motion. Write through it, work through it. Duke Ellington said, "Don't give me inspiration, give me a deadline." That has always worked for me.
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