Pump Up Your Book Chats with Laurel Dewey

Laurel Dewey’s writing career has been anything but predictable. Born and raised in Glendale, California, Dewey began her career working in public relations. Her writing talents quickly took her into other entertainment avenues. Dewey was an assistant editor at BOP Magazine, helping launch the blockbuster career of teen pop groups like The New Kids on The Block. During this time, she wrote a string of successful mystery radio plays for Los Angeles radio networks. The plays won Dewey awards and caused one reviewer to write, “Dewey’s flair for creating memorable characters and great stories is a welcome change these days.” Not satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and producing radio ads and promos.In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and editor of children’s books. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative medicine. During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on over 300 national radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States and Canada. In 2007, Dewey released her first fiction novel, Protector, a gritty, mystical crime thriller that follows the rocky life of Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research, interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on “ride-a-longs” with street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is powerful, compelling and utterly original.The hardcover sequel to Protector, Redemption, was released in June of 2009. She has completed writing the third book in the Jane Perry series, titled Revelations, due to be released July 5th, 2011. She lives with her husband in rural Colorado.

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Laurel’s author website is filled with great articles, a sneak peak of chapters from her books, and a very cool BOOK TRAILER for Protector that you can’t miss! www.laureldewey.com

Thank you for this interview, (Laurel Dewey). Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later? Do you remember your first published piece?

A: I absolutely do! I always say that true writers write because it’s all they really know how to do. I remember being asked at six years old what I wanted to be when I grew up. I responded, “A writer,” and everyone thought it was cute. But I was dead serious. As an only child, I spent hours alone in my room writing plays and stories. I even faked a fever once when I was about nine by putting the thermometer under the hot water faucet so I could finish Act Three of my play. It was serious business to me! Around that same time, I really got into Colonial History and decided to write “a book” on the life of a Colonial child. My parents encouraged me to continue so I never stopped writing. When I was in junior high school, I started penning my own monologues for drama class. My first published work was a short story that appeared in my college literary journal. I still remember the thrill of opening that magazine and seeing my name.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

A: I suppose the most frustrating part is believing in what you are writing but not having anyone else acknowledge it. As a writer, you have to have a healthy perspective about what you are creating and really feel in your gut that you have something of worth to put out into the public. But that perspective must also involve the ability to see where that work needs adjustments and edits. You have to be brutal with your own work and continually tweak it to make it tighter, better and more engaging. More than ever, the most frustrating part for me was dealing with rejection after rejection and still carrying on with purpose.

The most rewarding part is absolutely dealing one-on-one with readers. You write initially for yourself (at least I think you should.) But then to share that creation with the public and have them respond with such incredible words of encouragement is the proverbial icing on the literary cake. After I wrote my debut novel, Protector, my wish was that I would be able to write books that really connected with people’s hearts and minds and made them think about life and characters in a different way. I didn’t just want to write a book or character and have it be forgotten. I wanted to create a character that readers could really support, care about and root for. Detective Jane Perry is certainly that character. To read the emails and postings on Facebook from fans about how much they love Jane Perry is an incredible blessing to me.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life? Do you have support?

A: I’ve been married for nearly eight years and we were together a year prior to that. He knew going into this relationship that my writing was a primary focus for me and he has been beyond supportive throughout our marriage. Since cooking is not a priority for me, he does all the cooking (and he’s an excellent gourmet cook, by the way.) When I was single, I kept insane hours where I’d start writing at 3pm each afternoon, stop for dinner at 11pm and then finish writing at 3:00am. I’d get up at 10am, take care of business and start the whole process over again that afternoon. That was the schedule I kept seven days a week when I wrote Protector. But since I wanted to actually spend time with my husband and he is not a night person, I shifted my creativity to daylight hours and began writing between 10am to 6pm five days a week. I learned to “turn off the book” after 6pm because I wanted to focus on him and our time together. It takes me approximately six to seven months to write a Jane Perry book. But to get to that point, I research for as long as two years. (I’m nothing if not thorough.) The research part is much more relaxed, compared to the writing part which is much more regimented. Probably the most important thing I’ve learned is that when I am in the writing phase, to take a couple days off each week so I can be part of the world and be recharged. It also gives my brain a chance to re-think what I’ve already written and come up with different angles on the book.

Can you tell us about your latest book and why you wrote it?

A: Redemption is the second book in the Jane Perry series. It takes place six months after the events in Protector. I wanted to focus on the spiritual journey Jane Perry starts on as she battles her demons and tries to stay sober. After talking to a lot of people who are part of the 12 Step Program of AA, I realized that there was a repeating theme that focused on “spiritual awakenings” throughout their recovery. I took this theme and thought it would be an intriguing idea to juxtapose this idea next to the theme of fanaticism. Addicts have a tendency toward fanaticism. If one drink is good, twenty are better. So, there’s that feeling that moderation is the enemy and that extremism is healthy. Of course, it isn’t and that idea carries through in anything we do in life. Whether it’s our belief systems, our politics, our religion, our lack of religion, etc., when that element of our life becomes all consuming, we lose ourselves to it. In doing that, we also lose perspective on our life. I’ve done it and suffered the consequences. We’ve all done it. So, in Redemption, I parallel Jane Perry’s struggle toward sobriety against the crime du jour which focuses on Jane saving the life of a 12-year-old girl who is thought to have been kidnapped by a renegade member of a Fundamentalist cult. Everyone of note in the book has made the mistake of living to extremes and they have suffered because of it. The other mirrored theme in the story (which is somewhat controversial) is the idea that the young victims of crimes today can become perpetrators of crime in the future. Again, I used this central theme and mirrored it against Jane Perry’s own childhood abuse which was graphically introduced in Protector. The backstory I divulge regarding Jane’s abusive father’s childhood forces her to re-think what she has always believed and, thus. affects her sobriety. So, the story dovetails continually between the kidnap victim and Jane’s personal quest for moderation. While I’m not a Buddhist, I like the principle of “the middle ground” and how operating within it whenever possible is the healthiest territory for us to navigate. I also feel that compassion for the victim and even the perpetrator in some cases is necessary. Jane must learn the art of compassion in Redemption as she fights her own demons and realizes that her belief system of black and white is warping into a grey area.

Can you share an excerpt?

A: Since I mentioned the theme of “spiritual awakenings,” I’d like to share the scene early in the book that takes place at an AA meeting. It’s actually a monologue spoken by a woman at the meeting.

Introductions continued for another five minutes. Then it was time to open up the meeting to whatever topic crept into the minds of the group. Jane shifted her aching body in the hard chair and waited for what she expected would be a sad drone of post Christmas despair. She was about to zone out again when a wiry, dirty blonde woman in her late 40’s spoke up.

“I’m Michelle and I’m an alcoholic/addict.”

“Hi, Michelle,” the group dutifully responded.

“I’ve been sober and drug free three years, Christmas Day. I think that day is appropriate because that’s when I had my big spiritual awakening. But there were lots of moments that served as spiritual awakenings. I just didn’t recognize them at the time. When they’re happening, you’re usually so wrapped up in whatever shit’s goin’ on that you don’t realize that the hand of God just touched you and transformed your existence. Like three and a half years ago, I’d been drinking pretty much for four days straight and decided it would be a great idea to get in my truck and go for a drive. But I was so fucked up that I forgot I had 42 empty beer cans and two empty bottles of Jose Cuervo rollin’ around the backseat.” The group chuckled in a knowing manner. The woman continued. “So I’m driving and getting more pissed at everything in my life. And I don’t realize I’m going over 90 in a 40 mile an hour zone. I also don’t see that there’s a turn just up ahead. I come up on that turn and try to make it but it’s hard to carve a turn going 90 miles an hour when you’re sober let alone drunk. So my truck banks on the divider and then flips twice, landing on its hood. For some unknown reason, I don’t fly out of the truck window. I’m just hangin’ upside down and all around me are those 42 crushed beer cans. The two empty glass bottles of Cuervo had smashed and the chards were embedded in my face. But I didn’t feel anything. I was like, ‘Fuck! This sucks.’ Then a state trooper drives up. It didn’t take him more than a second to put two and two together. He said, ‘Well, lady, you sure did it to yourself.’ I said, ‘Get me the fuck outta here.’ At least, I tried to say it. I didn’t know that I’d almost bitten my tongue half off. The ambulance shows up and they use the Jaws of Life to pry me out. Next thing, I’m in the emergency room and there’s the nurse shoving this paper in my face, saying I have to sign it. They’d sewn my tongue back together, but it was swelling up and they said that in less an hour, it would be so swollen that I wouldn’t be able to swallow and I’d die. So, I had to sign the piece of paper to let them operate again and save my life. And I thought, ‘Wow. I have a clear choice right now to sign my name on a piece of paper and, in doing so, choose to live. Or I could just lay here and die in less than an hour.’ That was profound, you know? So, I signed the paper. And you’d think that that would have been the great moment of change for me, right? Wrong.

“Chasing death was my newest addiction. The closer I got to death, the more fun life was. When I got out of the hospital, I started mixing booze and drugs. I lost my job. I lost my house. And the whole time, I cursed God for abandoning me. I ended up in a homeless shelter in the worst part of town. Every possession I had fit into a duffel bag and I got that stolen the second night there. A week later, I got the shit kicked out of me in the alley over a bad drug deal. A week later, right before Christmas, I got raped by three guys. I figured that was it. God had forsaken me and there was no reason to go on. So, on Christmas Eve, I locked myself in the shelter’s bathroom and downed a bottle of Valium and a fifth of Jack. I lay on that tile floor and waited for God or the Devil to come get me.

“That’s when it happened. I stepped out of my body and looked down at myself lying there. For the first time in my life, I looked at myself as I really was. I saw how much I hated myself and how fucking angry I was at everybody and everything. And in the same moment, I realized that all the shit in my life, all the stuff that I thought was so awful and had led me to that cold, tile floor, had served a greater purpose. All the things I thought were terrible were actually spiritual awakenings that were trying to lead me toward my higher Self. Yet, each time they happened, I wasn’t ready to grab onto the towline and pull myself to shore. That didn’t mean God wasn’t there the whole time. He was beside me but He was also within me. Those are the only words I have to explain it. I looked down at myself and for the first time in my life, I felt love and compassion for that person lying there. I never loved myself until I was on the edge of death. I spoke to God. I thanked Him for the car accident. I thanked Him for getting beat up. I thanked Him for getting raped. And I thanked Him for the grace of a quick death or a better life. And this time I meant it.

“The doctors said I should have died that night. None of them could understand how anyone could survive what I did to myself. But I’ve never questioned it. I just know that the synchronicities of my life are neither good or bad. They are all opportunities to move closer to the God within.” The woman peered down at the worn, blue carpeting and wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. “Someone told me that temptation precedes growth,” she whispered. “Now I know what that means.”

The group was silent. Jane sat stone-faced. She’d heard plenty of stories over the last few months from group members, but this one drove deep into her core. A swell of emotion inexplicably crept up on her as her thoughts shifted onto that winter night almost 22 years ago. She remembered stepping out of herself and looking at the battered and blood-soaked body that lay lifeless on the dirt floor of her father’s workshop. But for Jane, there was no compassion or love for that girl on the floor. There was only the desire to die so the pain would cease. The taste of salt brought Jane back into herself as she furtively wiped a tear off her face. A second later, the cut on her lip throbbed. She knew the only way to temporarily short circuit her pain was via a strong dose of nicotine. Jane quietly stood up and made her way to the stairs that led outside.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

A: Probably my office which overlooks a pond on our property and an incredible mountain on the other side. You couldn’t ask for a more contemplative setting as we live in a rural area in Colorado and see more animals than people outside our windows.

What is one thing about your book that makes it different from other books on the market?

A: That’s easy. While my books are defined as Crime Thrillers or Suspense/Mysteries, they also intertwine a mystical theme that strongly affects Jane in each story. Through that mystical element, Jane grows as a person and her awareness of all things “unseen” also emerges. As the series progresses, that mystical (often esoteric) element will grow, while still connected to a base crime that Jane must solve. I wouldn’t refer to the Jane Perry books as paranormal; rather, they focus more on that mysterious realm that operates around us, whether we wish to believe in it or not. With each story in the series, Jane evolves and becomes more accepting of that unknown world beyond the veil of this reality. She is forced to not only see how these otherworldly energies affect the case she’s working on but also how they impact her personal life as well.

Tables are turned…what is one thing you’d like to say to your audience who might buy your book one day?

A: Jane Perry can be a frustrating character to get to know at first. She has demons, struggles daily to overcome them and doesn’t hold back when it comes to telling it like it is. But I’d like readers to realize that her bravado is just a cover for someone who has been deeply wounded. While she’s a strong, female detective that readers root for with gusto, I think it’s vital to recognize that she needs the readers’ compassion as well. Too often, we meet people like Jane Perry who rub us the wrong way and we instantly declare that they are “trash” or “worthless” without realizing that person’s backstory. When you really get to know Jane Perry, you’ll find out how truly vulnerable she is behind that gruff exterior. She’s tough as nails but she’s also terribly damaged from years of abuse and neglect. So, to future readers, I say, don’t judge Jane Perry too severely until you understand why she is the way she is. After reading her story, you might realize that Jane Perry is your neighbor, or a family member….or maybe even you. Don’t discard Jane just because she doesn’t fit into the pretty mold of your typical plucky heroine. If you give her a chance, she will grow on you and you might even become addicted to Jane Perry.

Thank you for this interview, Laurel Dewey. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

A: It’s been a pleasure. I really enjoyed talking to you and I look forward to the next time we can get together and chat.

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