Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Archer Mayor.
Archer is the author of the highly acclaimed Vermont-based series featuring detective Joe Gunther, which the Chicago Tribune describes as “the best police procedurals being written in America.”
He has won the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction — which is the first time a crime fiction author has received this honor — and in 2011, his 22nd Joe Gunther novel, Tag Man, earned a place on The New York Times bestseller list.
Before trying his hand at fiction, Archer wrote history books. His most well-known is Southern Timberman: The Legacy of William Buchanan, which is all the lumber and oil business in Louisiana from the 1870s to the 1970s.
When he’s not writing, Archer is a death investigator for Vermont’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Over the past thirty years, he has also been a detective for the Windham County Sheriff’s Office, a volunteer firefighter/EMT, the publisher of his own backlist, and a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers.
In this episode Archer and I discuss:
- Using practical experience for writing research
- Using curiosity and questions for story inspiration
- The historical origins of the title Bomber’s Moon
- Keeping a character and world fresh over thirty books
- The power of treating the reader as a co-storyteller
Plus, his #1 tip for writers.
About Archer Mayor
Archer Mayor is the author of the highly acclaimed Vermont-based series featuring detective Joe Gunther, which the Chicago Tribune describes as “the best police procedurals being written in America.” He is a past winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction — the first time a writer of crime literature has been so honored. In 2011, Mayor’s 22nd Joe Gunther novel, TAG MAN, earned a place on The New York Times bestseller list for hardback fiction. Before turning his hand to fiction, Mayor wrote history books, the most notable of which, Southern Timberman: The Legacy of William Buchanan, concerned the lumber and oil business in Louisiana from the 1870s to the 1970s. This book was published in 1988 and very well received; it was republished as a trade paperback in 2009.
Archer Mayor is currently a death investigator for Vermont’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Over the past thirty years, he has also been a detective for the Windham County Sheriff’s Office, a volunteer firefighter/EMT, the publisher of his own backlist, and a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers. Find him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or at his website.
Bomber’s Moon
Two young women form the heart of this tale. One, an investigative reporter, the other a private investigator. Uneasy allies from completely different walks of life, they work together—around and sometimes against Joe Gunther and his VBI cops—in an attempt to connect the murders of a small town drug dealer, a smart, engaging, fatally flawed thief, and the tangled, political, increasingly dark goings on at a prestigious prep school.
While Gunther and the VBI set about solving the two murders, Sally Kravitz and Rachel Reiling combine their talents and resources to go where the police cannot, from working undercover at Thorndike Academy, to having clandestine meetings with criminals for their insider’s knowledge of Vermont’s unexpectedly illicit underbelly.
But there is a third element at work. A malevolent force, the common link in all this death and chaos, is hard at work sowing mayhem to protect its ancient, vicious, very dark roots.
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Link to Episode #272
(Right-click to download.)
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