This week at the Café we have mystery author Vincent H. O’Neil with us. So let’s grab a cup of his favorite coffee, French Vanilla from Dunkin’ Donuts, and enjoy the interview. If you happen to live in Cranston, Rhode Island you may catch him in the Borders reading area enjoying coffee and a good book. His latest book, REDUCED CIRCUMSTANCES, was released by St. Martin’s Minotaur in July 2007, and the next one, EXILE TRUST, will be out July 2008.

Café:
Tell us a little bit about your current book.

Vincent:
This is the second book in the Exile/Frank Cole series. The first book, MURDER IN EXILE, won the "Malice Domestic" competition in 2005 and was released in 2006. The series follows the main character, bankrupted northerner Frank Cole, as he tries to re-start his life in the Panhandle town of Exile, Florida.

Café:
How long have you been writing?

Vincent:
Over twenty years; finally published in 2006.

Café:
When did your first novel come out? Can you tell us a little about it?

Vincent:
MURDER IN EXILE (St. Martin's Press, April 18, 2006) introduced the main character Frank Cole, bankrupted northerner trying to restart his life in the small town of Exile, Florida. Cole takes odd jobs as a fact-checker, and one of these calls for him to review a hit-and-run fatality that turns out to be no accident.

Café:
Have you always written mysteries?

Vincent:
Actually, MURDER IN EXILE was the first mystery I'd ever written, and I wrote it for the Malice Domestic competition. I'd been writing for roughly twenty years by then, and had written espionage thrillers, a military history non-fiction, and a science fiction epic (none of which has yet been published) when I wrote MURDER IN EXILE.

Café:
What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book?

Vincent:
I wanted a warm climate that people would like to read about, so I selected a part of Florida I had visited many years ago. I was in the US Army at the time, in a demanding commando-style course known as Ranger School, and part of that training takes place in (yes, in) the swamps on Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle. After that experience, I was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia and took every opportunity to re-visit the Panhandle. It is a beautiful area, with everything you'd want in a long-running series: Beaches and forests, cities and small towns, rich people, not-so-rich people, and even seasonal weather.

Café:
Tell us a little about the setting and main character.

Vincent:
As for Frank Cole, I wanted to create a character people would like. The series is told in the first person singular, from Frank's perspective, and I wanted people to root for him. He has suffered a devastating loss in the bankruptcy of his software company, and he feels bad about his former employees losing their jobs. He sympathizes with other people who he thinks are getting a raw deal, and he makes up for his lack of investigative training with dogged determination. Frank is the best part of the whole series.

Café:
What is the main reason that you write?

Vincent:
I have to.

Café:
Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to take away from your work?

Vincent:
Mostly for entertainment. I do add in small tidbits, such as the local sheriff's comment that most people walk through life with their eyes closed when all sorts of life lessons are all around us, but I try to keep that to a minimum. If it doesn't fit the character or the storyline I leave it out.

Café:
Do you have a schedule for your writing or just write whenever you can?

Vincent:
I wrote all but one of my books whole working other jobs, so I do most of my writing whenever I can.

Café:
Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what's going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Vincent:
Both. I outline my mysteries so that I can test out each plot development to see if it makes sense before putting pen to paper. I also create a few tables or matrices which allow me to keep track of events and clues. Each table has the names of the character down the left-hand side and a timeline across the top. I then write in what each character is doing at a given time, what clues they learn, who lies to them, etc. and in this way I make sure that I don't have Character X acting on Clue A when Character B hasn't told that clue to Character X until a day later.

Café:
If you had your ideal, what time of day would you prefer to write?

Vincent:
Late at night.

Café:
Yay, finally a night person!! (for anyone who hasn’t read our other interviews, most of the writers have been morning people-which I am not at all) Day job?

Vincent:
I've done everything, but most recently I've worked in financial services.

Café:
Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Vincent:
Incredibly. I actually decided to go the competition route because I was concerned that most of my queries and sample chapters weren't getting read at all.

Café:
Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you'd like to share?

Vincent:
Yes. One house asked to see the complete manuscript of one of my books many years ago, so I sent it with a Return Receipt Requested and, of course, a self-addressed envelope with return postage. The manuscript beat the Return Receipt back to me! Obviously someone took the manuscript out of the original envelope, slapped a rejection note on it, and put it in the self-addressed envelope without ever looking at it. Things like that make it hard to believe the line about "we give every manuscript thorough consideration" in rejection letters.

Café:
Wow, that is bad. What kind of promotion do you find most effective?

Vincent:
Speaking in front of large audiences. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the workshops I've conducted and the panels on which I have sat at conventions, and would like to expand that to include civic groups and clubs if possible.

Café:
Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Vincent:
I recently met a man named Frank Cole (that's the name of my main character) who showed me his ID and then introduced his ten year-old son, Frank Cole, and told me his grandfather was also named Frank Cole. This was actually quite gratifying, because when I picked the main character's name I wanted it to be a relatively common name to which many people could relate.

Café:
How funny. Future writing goals?

Vincent:
I will write the Frank Cole series for as long as they let me. I set it up to be a long-running saga, with Frank's back story slowly gaining a resolution that then asks its own questions: If Frank can get his bankruptcy settled, will he go back to New England? Will he still pursue investigative work, or will he go back to software development? Or will he stay in Exile?

Café:
Any heroes?

Vincent:
Hank Scorpio, the CEO of Globex Corporation in The Simpsons. He tried to take over the world while maintaining a family-friendly work environment.

Café:
Lol Should we worry about you? Person you would most like to meet dead or alive?

Vincent:
Sam Peckinpah.

Café:
What do you read?

Vincent:
Recently I've been reading a lot of books written by authors I have met at conventions. There are so many bright new voices out there, and I try to promote them by writing reviews of their books. In addition to mystery novels, I am a huge history fan and will read anything in the history or biography category.

Café:
What are your hobbies?

Vincent:
Writing, reading, and going to the gym.

Café:
Favorite TV or movies?

Vincent:
This list is far too long, but a sample of the TV shows would be: The Rockford Files, Barney Miller, ALF, The Office, and The Wire. For movies: The Godfather, The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing, The Big Lebowski, A Fish Called Wanda, and The Wild Bunch.

Café:
Any pets?

Vincent:
I grew up with dogs, but also like cats. Right now I don't have any pets, but that's because I live alone and it isn't fair to have a pet if you're not going to spend a lot of time with them.

Café:
Family?

Vincent:
I never got married and have no kids, but I come from a large Irish family with plenty of nieces and nephews.

Café:
What part of the country do you live in?

Vincent:
New England. I traveled all over the world while in the service, and lived in a lot of different places, but home has always been New England. And Florida.

Café:
Any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Vincent:
Write what you think is good.

Café:
Anything you would like to add?

Vincent:
Yes. Buy my books, and then tell your friends about them.

Café:
Website?

Vincent:
VincentHONeil.com

Café:
Where can people purchase your books?

Vincent:
Both my novels are available through the main bookstore chains, as well as some very nice independents. They can also be ordered online.

Café:
Thanks Vincent for being with us here at the Café. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future. You can find a review of Vincent’s current book here at the Café.

©2008 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.