Today was the scheduled day to post my dear friend, Marty Fallon’s blog, but I didn’t know I was going to have to ask for everyone’s prayers for him. The day before yesterday Ia received a quick email that he was going to miss out monthly writer’s meeting because he was in a rehab center – because he had a stroke. OMG. He said he was typing his email with one finger. So, everyone, please say a special prayer for a complete recovery for this wonderful writer friend of mine.
So, I am going to plug along as if he was sitting right in front of me.
Marty, when did you first know you wanted to be a writer and was there a particular inspiration to get started?
English teachers supported my writing, first in high school and later in college. I was not an English major, but in those classes I did take, those professors acknowledged some of my offerings. Later as a school social worker, I had to write social histories on all students being considered for special education. Any flourishes above and beyond the generic psychological reports, brought some spice to an otherwise dull process. Their laughter, energized me. The epiphany, came from retirement guilt. I started a job at a local resort hotel, and, after three weeks, decided that those folks worked harder than I felt ready to sustain, so I quit. That experience became the inspiration for my first published book, The Concierge. But my first novella, still languishing on the hard drive, I wrote in a week. That was a rush, writing on yellow legal pads, reading the daily results to my wife, not stopping to get dressed.
I’m sure Gretchen is glad you finally got dressed. What other work have you done, and how has it impacted your writing?
I grew up and a farm, so I know mindless repetitive work. The pyscho-social jobs, in child neglect and abuse plus the school interventions gave me an appreciation of how dysfunctional behavior starts and the consequences of repeated social-emotional failures. In Florida, I found work as a home-health aide, and used my helping skills to establish relationships with older adults with diminished intellectual abilities.
How long did it take you to publish your first manuscript?
It took twelve years, and that might just as well have been forever, except Create Space came along to offer the digital publishing option many authors are now using to sidestep the traditional publishing barriers.
Do you follow a structure pattern such as staying in chronological order, or alternating points in time, or different POV’s?
My crime/relationship books are primarily in chronological order, because the danger inherent in repeated crimes requires resolution. And the relationships between the cops and the victims are also moving quickly. There may be one or two flashbacks to deepen our understanding of motive, but, by and large, my people are in a hurry to catch the bad guys and also pushing hard to make the personal contacts they think they need to improve their love lives.
Marty, tell us about one of your books in 3 sentences.
The book coming out in January, started with car ad, a girl in a bikini on the hood of a pickup, trying to sell her old vehicle. That level of desperation became the inspiration for Trouble On The Hood.
Who are some of the authors whose work you admire the most?
Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, John Sanford and Michael Perry. Hiaasen and White are ex-journalists from Florida and their subsequent knowledge of the state is superb. Sanford also has a journalism background, and he provides remarkable detail from Minnesota. Perry writes non-fiction, but he hasn’t strayed far from his rural roots. All these authors spin wonderful stories with drama and memorable characters. I want to have my writing rise to the quality their books demonstrate, so they will remain esteemed models.
What is the premise of your novel we are promoting today?
The Daughters, describes the odyssey of three women, a kidnapped girl from Colombia, an assaulted high-school student from a Lee County high school, and an impoverished eighth grader coerced into joining a local gang. As the lives of the victims come closer to overlapping, our local law-enforcement team, two of whom are getting married, attempt to gather the clues required to intervene before tragedy envelopes the little community of Bonita Springs.
Marty, our thoughts and prayers are miss you. We missed you at Marco Writers this week. For our readers, you can buy Marty’s books on Amazon at
Writing Under Fire 