Tell
us a little about your latest or upcoming release.
Silent Partner is a paranormal detective novel
featuring a female detective who winds up teamed up with a tabloid reporter who
writes a psychic column. The reporter has psychic abilities, although he can’t
count on them. He also discovers he has a very attractive guardian angel who
sometimes causes him to think of her as far more than a ghost. The reporter and
the detective work together to solve a double homicide, and together they
explore the seedy S&M clubs where there are no rules. I think the relationship between the reporter
and his spirit is a bit unusual and fascinating. I come back to that and
develop it further in the sequel I just completed.
Are
you a parent?
I’m a dad. Our son’s grown, but you never stop
parenting.
If
yes do you find it hard to juggle writing and parenting?
When our son was young, I worked full time. I would
come home and help our son with his homework. AFTER he finally went to bed
after I told him a story, I would then work on my writing. For many years I
wrote non-fiction technology books almost entirely in the evening and on
weekends. Now, finally, I can write full-time and not have to juggle parental responsibilities.
Have
you ever based your book or characters on actual events or people from your own
life?
There is always a piece of a writer’s life in his or
her works. In the case of Silent Partner, I was a senior executive with a
technology market research company much like the Saxon firm. The advantage is
that I understand the types of people attracted to that kind of company as well
as the pressures they face. Similarly, I spent some time working in a police
department, so I have some understanding of the pressures officers face, both
internal and external, as well as the corrosive effect that kind of work has on
relationships and marriages. As far as the paranormal element in the book, I’ve
always been fascinated with that subject since reading Life After Life.
Is
there a theme or message in your work that you would like readers to connect
to?
I think there are a number of themes. I’m even
posting a discussion guide for reading groups on my website (www.stanschatt.com). Off the top of my
head, here are some themes that come to mind:
· Is
gender identity destiny?
· What
does the book suggest is the purpose of life and what happens after a person
dies?
· Is
evil simply a force onto itself or do the evil characters in Silent Partner have sufficient
motivation to explain their actions?
· Synchronicity
--- Do things just happen or is it possible there’s a complex fabric to life in
which coincidences and relationships play key roles? What role does free will
play in all this?
· Women
in traditionally male professions. How is the double standard in terms of how
women are evaluated in such professions shown in Silent Partner?
What
would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I don’t have a “traditional” writer’s background. I
started out thinking I’d be a doctor and even went to medical school. Later I
tried several different careers ranging from salesman and sales manager to
retail manager, software trainer, network manager, college English professor,
Telecommunications professor, etc.) before spending many years as a futurist
for several different technology research firms. I even worked in a police
department and in an autopsy room as an autopsy assistant.
When
you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?
When I’m not writing, I’m probably thinking about
writing. Still, my wife and I like to travel as well as visit our son and his
family. We’re both avid readers. We also love going to plays. I’m a huge sports
fan even though my wife thinks of games as just “noise.”
Which
romance book or series (or other genre, if you don’t write romance) do you wish
you had written?
I’m not much of a
romance reader, but I’d happily settle for ownership of Michael Connelly’s
mysteries or Frank Herbert’s Dune
series.
Is
there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?
I’m currently working on a science fiction novel;
that represents a new genre for me.
Of
all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?
I’m partial to Josh Harrell in Silent Partner. He
reminds me of one of those ants that keeps trying to climb its way out of a
glass jar only to keep falling down just before reaching the top. What you
admire is the inability to give up. He keeps trying. I develop his character
even more in the sequel.
If
this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
I’ve already completed the sequel, and I’ve
tentatively titled it A Bullet for the
Ghost Whisperer. I further develop the paranormal relationship between
reporter and guardian angel and even provide a near-death experience for Josh.
What
is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in
progress?
I love to work on several projects at the same time,
so there are a lot of books in various stages of development on my digitized
desk. I’ve already mentioned my sequel to Silent
Partner. In addition, I’ve just put the finishing touches on a sequel to my
Amazon best selling Journey to a
Different Dimension. It’s a children’s adventure set in the world of
Minecraft, a very popular game. I’m also co-author of an upcoming middle grade
mystery/adventure titled Jane Blond,
International Spy. Finally, I’m about a third done with a science fiction
book that features a love affair between an ex-SEAL and a very beautiful and
very complicated female extraterrestrial.
What
book are you reading now?
When I find a writer I like, I tend to dive in and
read that writer’s entire body of work. I’m just completing Jonathan
Kellerman’s mystery entitled Killer.
What
is in your to read pile?
Following the pattern I
just mentioned, I have several other Kellerman books on my to read pile.
Silent Partner
Stan Schatt
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Publisher: Pen-L Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-940222-45-4
Number of pages: 239
Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Kelsey Rice
Book Trailer: None
Book Description:
Detective “Frankie” Ryan tracks a sadistic killer while the press attacks her as a feminist vigilante who takes the law into her own hands. The only one who can help her is a tabloid reporter who can’t decide if he’s a psychic who sees ghosts or is just going insane.
As they search for the killer in a sunny seacoast city’s seamy S&M underside, they begin to question everything they know about sexual identity. How can they find the killer before he strikes again when he defies any description?
Silent Partner is a paranormal mystery, a police procedure novel with a female detective that will remind you of Harry Bosch, a ghost story that suggests what lies beyond death, and a comic look at a tabloid where the “truth” is whatever sells.
Excerpt:
Frankie glared
at Landry. His neck turned red, but he didn’t say anything. “How could I live
without her? I was addicted to her. Once you had her in your system, you never
wanted her to leave. When I was away from her, I thought of her constantly. It
wasn’t just the sex. She was the smartest, wittiest woman I’ve ever known. She
was the most interesting and exciting woman I’ve ever met. She was also the
most manipulative woman I’ve ever met. I hated myself for not throwing her out,
but I just couldn’t. Love is a horrible thing, and not the wonderful things
poets say.”
“Did she leave a
note?” Frankie was trying to develop a timeline.
“I came home
around five-thirty, and she didn’t leave a note. I never believed her notes
anyway. You have to understand something about Lorna. She never admitted she was
wrong about anything, and she never apologized. She could convince herself in a
minute that anything she said was true. Lorna once left me a note that she was
going shopping with a girl friend. That friend called later and didn’t know
anything about the shopping. I told my wife I knew she lied to me, and she
became furious that I didn’t believe her. I’m sure she totally believed that
she was right and I was wrong. I think the shrinks call someone like that a
sociopath.” “We’ll need your
statement. Does your
wife have any
enemies?”
Frankie said.
Marco looked up.
His eyes glistened from his tears. “It’s probably a long list. As I told you,
Detective, she didn’t play by the same rules as everyone else.”
“Let’s start
with the names of people you know had reason to dislike her,” Frankie said.
About the Author:
Stan Schatt grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and now resides in Carlsbad, California. He has written thirty-five books on a wide variety of subjects ranging from fiction to technology. He is co-author of Journey to a Different Dimension, an Amazon bestseller. He also authored Egypt Rising, a YA novel focusing on a teen’s experience in Egypt at the time of the Egyptian revolution of 2011. This novel contains paranormal elements including a secret buried under the Sphinx. The paranormal mystery Silent Partner is Schatt’s latest novel.
He has led several careers including futurist and executive for many of the world’s leading technology market research firms, police department administrator, autopsy assistant, software trainer, Telecommunications Department Chairman, and English professor. He taught at Tokyo University as a Fulbright exchange professor. His non-fiction includes books on such diverse topics as strategies for changing careers for a green industry job, studies of Michael Connelly and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., network and data communications technology, telecommunications, computer programming.
@stanschatt
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