Wednesday, November 12, 2014

A Conversation with Crime Novelist Austin Williams

Omnimystery News: Author Interview with Austin Williams
with Austin Williams

We are delighted to welcome author Austin Williams to Omnimystery News today.

Austin's first book in a trilogy of suspense thrillers is Misdirection (Diversion Books; June 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with him to talk a little more about it.

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Omnimystery News: Give us an introduction to the lead character of this trilogy. What is is about him that appeals to you as a writer?

Austin Williams
Photo provided courtesy of
Austin Williams

Austin Williams: An amateur detective and vigilante, Rusty Diamond is the lead character in a trio of suspense thrillers that begins with Misdirection. Rusty was once a star magician on the Las Vegas Strip whose career went up in flames for reasons that aren't fully explained until later in the trilogy, though hints are given along the way. Misdirection starts about a year after Rusty fled Vegas in fear for his life. We find him keeping a very low profile in the sleepy coastal town of Ocean Pines, Maryland, where he grew up. When his landlord is murdered and Rusty becomes a suspect in the eyes of local police, he launches his own investigation to clear his name, and in the process uncovers a much larger web of crime.

I like the idea of an unconventional sleuth who's not really prepared for the danger he faces in confronting violent criminals. Though untrained in detective work, Rusty has a unique set of abilities he can use to intimidate and combat his enemies. Knife-throwing, lock-picking, mentalism, escapism, and overall misdirection ... these strike me as skills any detective might find useful in the course of investigating crime and trying to stay alive the process.

OMN: You have planned this series as a trilogy. How do you expect Rusty to develop over the course of three books?

AW: My concept is for Rusty to evolve somewhat over the course of the trilogy. Each book covers a stand-alone mystery set in a different locale (Ocean City, New Orleans and Las Vegas, respectively) but his character arc connects all three into a cohesive whole. We learn early on that Rusty has a somewhat shady backstory, which raises some questions. Why did he abandon his successful career as a magician to live as a recluse in a small town in Maryland? What went wrong out in Vegas, and will he find a way to make it right? Can he manage to live away from the spotlight without reverting to the bad habits that got him in trouble to begin with? By the end of the third book, these and other questions will be answered and readers will have a full picture of Rusty Diamond, then and now.

OMN: Into which fiction genre would you put this series?

AW: I'd classify the books as crime thrillers written in a hard-boiled noir style. In terms of broader categories, they're better described as Suspense than Mystery. Though I think the books will appeal to diehard fans of mystery novels, they are not whodunits in the traditional sense.

OMN: You mentioned that the books will be set in three different places. How true are you to the settings?

AW: I do take a few liberties with Ocean City, Maryland, as it's depicted in Misdirection. For instance, a key location in the book is a decrepit boardwalk haunted house called the Morbid Manor. Such a place did exist but was demolished in the 1990s. For the purposes of this story, I resurrected the Morbid Manor so that it still exists in the present day. Hopefully the good citizens of Ocean City will not mind this small misrepresentation of their town, and will appreciate the nostalgic spirit behind it.

OMN: What is the best advice you've received as an author?

AW: You have to learn the value of honest criticism, and how to process it without getting defensive or discouraged. That may sound obvious, but it's not the easiest thing to put into practice if you've just completed your first manuscript and are asking people for feedback. Fortunately, it gets much easier with time and experience. The more you write, the more you come to recognize the need for revisions. A first draft, no matter how good, is always just a first draft.

OMN: You are also a screenwriter. How is the process of writing a screenplay different from writing fiction?

AW: The differences in writing fiction and writing a screenplay are pretty vast. I adapted one of my previous books after the rights were optioned by an established screenwriter. He was originally going to adapt the book himself but ended up consulting on the project as a producer while I handled the writing. It's an entirely different way of telling a story, even if the characters and plot elements remain the same. In a screenplay, economy of language is paramount. The idea is to start each scene as late as possible and finish as early as possible, trimming away all the fat and allowing for a swift pace where information can be transmitted visually rather than through dialogue. I enjoyed the process and learned quite a bit, but given the choice I'd generally prefer to write a book than a screenplay. Even the best screenplay is ultimately no more than an outline for the film it will become, where a novel is complete once the last line is written. Even if it gets made into a movie, the book itself remains untouched as the author intended, for better or worse.

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Misdirection by Austin Williams

Misdirection
Austin Williams
The Rusty Diamond Trilogy

A street magician needs more than sleight-of-hand to survive getting embroiled in a murder case …

After years of chasing fame and hedonistic excess in the bright lights of Las Vegas, Rusty "The Raven" Diamond has returned home to Ocean City to piece his life back together. When he finds himself an innocent suspect in his landlord's brutal murder, Rusty abandons all hope of maintaining a tranquil existence. Acting on impulse, he digs into the investigation just enough to anger both the police and a local drug cartel.

As the unsolved case grows more complex, claiming new victims and inciting widespread panic, Rusty feels galvanized by the adrenaline he's been missing for too long. But his newfound excitement threatens to become an addiction, leading him headfirst into an underworld he's been desperately trying to escape.

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