Ask the Author: Lance Carney
Answered Questions (14)
Lance Carney
Hello Keli! Yes, I am working on a new Oak Island series book which will take place in 1981, post-disco, the start of new wave, a dark-haired Ronny Reagan in charge of the country (did he or did he not dye his hair...we may never know!) It is about a boy named Licorice, sea turtles, high school, a broken-down rock n' roller, a humongous terrifying butler named Bob, and a bicycle. All new characters (but with a couple of the usual suspects from my other Oak Island books popping up). I have a couple of titles I'm throwing back and forth, nothing concrete yet, but it will be Oak Island Series Book Zero. Thank you for the question and for reading and reviewing, Keli. (By the way, I like how short your first name is; no wasted keystrokes there! I may have to put you into the book as a character...wink, wink.)
Lance Carney
Congratulations on winning Ripped Current, Cathy! Yes, I did have fun writing it. If I smile when I write a passage, I know it may go over well with my readers. If I laugh out loud, my hope is some of my readers may do the same. There are serious undertones in the book (as in my others), and it was a bit cathartic for me (and I didn’t even have to take a laxative!) But humor wins out in the end. As Reader’s Digest proclaimed decades ago, “Laughter is the Best Medicine”.
Lance Carney
Hello Richard! For some reason, my mind chooses to break your simple question into parts. How is the weather - does he mean at my home in West Virginia (it snowed on Monday) or my home away from home on Oak Island, North Carolina where my novels are set (always beautiful, especially when I have my toes in the water, keister in the sand). Out there? Often my mind is "out there" where the weather is either fuzzy with a chance of meltdown, or Doppler radar shows intense jocularity approaching. Stand back, he's gonna blow!
Lance Carney
Non-fiction: I need to finish reading “The Lobotomist” so I can move on to John Cleese’s “So Anyway…” which I hope is funnier than an ice pick to the eye socket.
Fiction: once I finish the very funny “Lie of the Tiger” by John Martin, I am going to read “Black Dahlia (L.A. Quartet #1)” by James Ellroy, because my daughter just moved to the Los Angeles area (I know, a west coast crime story is a strange thing to read when your daughter moves alone across the country—color me stupid).
My insomnia series: after I finished “War and Peace”, I have been reading “Don Quixote” at night when I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. Better than a sleeping pill! (Go ahead and laugh, all you Goodreaders less than 50. Someday you’ll know what I’m talking about.)
Fiction: once I finish the very funny “Lie of the Tiger” by John Martin, I am going to read “Black Dahlia (L.A. Quartet #1)” by James Ellroy, because my daughter just moved to the Los Angeles area (I know, a west coast crime story is a strange thing to read when your daughter moves alone across the country—color me stupid).
My insomnia series: after I finished “War and Peace”, I have been reading “Don Quixote” at night when I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. Better than a sleeping pill! (Go ahead and laugh, all you Goodreaders less than 50. Someday you’ll know what I’m talking about.)
Lance Carney
And therein lies the reason I write mysteries and adventures. Going out for the morning paper…do de do de do. Going to work here, boss. (Arrives back home.) Mowing the grass, scooping the cat litter, (real) boss. Filling up the bird feeders…do de do de do.
My daughter is graduating college with over a hundred thousand in school loans in two weeks, so I guess the real mystery in my life is will she get a job? (Scary stuff indeed.) Happy Mystery Week everyone!
My daughter is graduating college with over a hundred thousand in school loans in two weeks, so I guess the real mystery in my life is will she get a job? (Scary stuff indeed.) Happy Mystery Week everyone!
Lance Carney
My favorite fictional couple is Nick and Nora Charles from "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammett. I had read the book many years ago and within the last two years I saw the movie on TCM. I had wanted to develop an unorthodox husband and wife team to solve a mystery, so I came up with "No Egrets: A Glenn and Glenda Oak Island Mystery". I originally planned to write it with my wife, but she ended up editing it (and adding some humorous parts). In preparation, we listened to the audio book of "The Thin Man" on a long trip and we laughed because, while Nick and Nora did trade humorous barbs, Nick was always drinking or asking for a drink. That's why Glenn and Glenda own the bar No Egrets--they dispense the drinks instead of imbibing themselves. And the repartee between Glenn and Glenda is less Nick and Nora and more Lance and Kathy. Pretty much just everyday conversation in my house!
Lance Carney
Wow! The questions just keep getting harder (I feel like I'm on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire). Goofy is forever optimistic and cheerful, no matter what predicaments or scrapes he is forced to endure. He just picks himself up, dusts off his little black vest, chuckles ("ah-hyuck") and moves on. Therein lies the key to life. So, unless Goofy has a genetic predisposition to mental disease (somebody check Walt), I think Goofy's mental hygiene will be just swell.
Lance Carney
Pluto is a dog but I don't think he speaks. Goofy is sort of a dog and does speak so I looked to see what Goofy had to say about love. All I could find were "I'm a-gonna wash Dolores. She's a-gonna look ga-lorious" and "Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" which may be some sort of love-call. So I would have to say I agree with Pluto (in a roundabout goofy kind of way).
Lance Carney
After "Ripped Tide", about a pharmacist who quits his job and escapes to Oak Island, North Carolina, I wanted to write a mystery involving new characters. Meet Glenn and Glenda, husband and wife, who run a bar named No Egrets. Glenn is a surgeon who quit his job and moved to Oak Island. (Of course there are cross-over characters from "Ripped Tide"-Oak Island is only about 20 square mlles.) The story is a humorous medical mystery that evolved from a true story I read about a greedy, toxic physician. Unfortunately, some things you just can't make up.
Lance Carney
What’s with all the questions about “spiring”? Lately I’ve been inspired by both my children going out of state to college. Suddenly, after fifteen years, I find myself with that most rare of beasts, free time.
Lance Carney
A new Oak Island, North Carolina novel, "No Egrets". It is a humorous medical mystery involving husband and wife, Glenn and Glenda, and the colorful locals that frequent their bar, No Egrets. I hope to have it out August 2016.
Lance Carney
Write inside in the air conditioning!
Lance Carney
All the silent adoration and getting to toil at my “other” job for 30 years. Okay, getting the chance to escape my other job for a while.
Lance Carney
First, I make myself go outside. Then I pull up one foot and place it in front of the other. I repeat the process until finally locomotion occurs. Wait . . . oh, I thought it was runner’s block. I get that all the time.
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