SAM JENKINS INTERVIEWED ON AUTHOR DAVID CLEINMAN’S BLOG.

Feb 2, 2014 by Wayne Zurl

David,

Thanks for the opportunity to become a member of your group and introduce your fans to Sam Jenkins, the main character in my series of police mysteries.

Readers meet Sam as the police chief in the small Smoky Mountain city of Prospect, Tennessee. They know he retired as a detective lieutenant in New York, but much of his past is sketchy. There’s a reason for that. If a writer doesn’t know it beforehand, they quickly learn too much back-story can be the death knell with an editor—a one way ticket to the slush pile.

But over the last 2 ½ years since Jenkins reared his head in print, readers have asked questions about his life prior to Prospect PD. This seems like a great opportunity for him to sound off.

Sam agreed to be interviewed. He’s flattered and thinks this will be like Doctor Watson interviewing Sherlock Holmes. He would; like Holmes, Jenkins owns a large ego—about the size of South Dakota.

WZ: Hey, Sammy, we’ve known each other a long time and seem to share many common experiences. Any idea how long it’s been?

SJ: Seems like forever, but that would be an exaggeration. I remember the old neighborhood, school, the Army, finishing college on the GI Bill, the police department and now, retirement. Jeez, we both even relocated to east Tennessee. A lot of similarities. That’s scary.

WZ: [chuckling] I may be asking a few personal questions. Would you like to have an attorney present?

SWJ: Don’t be an ass.

WZ: I can’t remember, did I ask you or did you ask me to write stories about you and this new job as police chief?

SJ: You asked. Remember your mid-life crisis? You bought a sports car and said you needed a creative outlet. You could have told your own stories. Write your memoirs, for God’s sake. Why pick on me?

WZ: Excuse me for not answering. I’m the one asking the questions.

SJ: [Made no comment. Rolled his eyes and shrugged.]

WZ: A NEW PROSPECT starts everything off in the series. You get the chief’s job and readers meet your wife, Kate, and most of the cops you work with. And you catch a homicide case during your first week on duty. Then you get socked with negative influence from the victim’s powerful family and a load of political corruption. Tough first case.

SJ: Convenient, wasn’t it? And nice how you used the story to filter in my knowledge of old British sports cars.

WZ: Writers call that exposition.

SJ: Cops call it sneaky. But I like how you gave my ’67 Austin-Healy an important role.
WZ: Yeah, it’s a great old car and having the murder take place at the annual British car show kept the theme interesting. Now, back to the interview. Tell the people how we came up with plots for all these Sam Jenkins mysteries.

SJ: That’s sneaky, too. We take cases from back in New York—real incidents, although you and the publishers say these are all fictional. Then, because you’re the writer, you embellish them—add elements that make good fiction. And you transplant everything to Tennessee. It’s not only sneaky, it sounds easy.

WZ: Maybe you think it’s easy, but I have to change the names to protect the innocent.

SJ: Yeah, like Jack Webb. You really change things to protect the guilty and keep me out of civil court.
WZ: I keep us out of court. Come on, focus. I don’t have much time here. The next full-length novel scheduled for publication early this year is called A LEPRECHAUN’S LAMENT. Remember that “Typewriter Murray” case back in the 1980s? Tell the readers what they can expect.

SJ: Do I remember it? Jeez, I lost enough sleep over that one. What began as an easy background investigation on a civilian employee turned into the most tangled can of worms I ever saw. A fifty-five year old man didn’t exits prior to his twentieth birthday. He was a specter, had no history, no answers. Everything was a lie. And then he got whacked. The shooter could have been anyone. We looked the world over for his killer. Everybody got involved—the FBI, CIA, British and Irish cops, and more spooks than you could shake a nightstick at. Hell of a story.

WZ: Yeah, I remember. And what else have we got on the coming soon list?

SJ: A couple audio books. One is already recorded. It’s called FATE OF A FLOOZY. An aging Hollywood actress is caught in the sack with a much younger man. Bam! Someone kills the pair with an $8,000 shotgun. Then there’s THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN BANK JOB. That girl we went to high school with shows up—Wanda Whatshername—the one who joined the Weather Underground and ended up on the Ten Most Wanted list. I get pushed into clearing a forty year old homicide the feds couldn’t solve. Am I good, or what?

WZ: Stop ending your answers with a question.

SJ: Remember how much you’re paying me for this interview.

WZ: What do you think about having these stories produced and recorded by professionals?

SJ: I like the actor who narrates and plays me. Although I think he’s got too much of a Brooklyn accent. I was born there, but as you know, lived my life on Long Island. We don’t tawk like dat.

WZ: We just signed a contract for another big book called HEROES & LOVERS. Talk about that one.

SJ: That one is a little embarrassing; at least my wife thinks so. I sort of get a little too involved with Rachel, the TV reporter from Knoxville. Your editor tells me it’s a good story element. Readers should be gritting their teeth wondering what’s going to happen between us.
And I like how you use two separate, but intricately linked investigations—a larceny by fraud and a kidnapping. And you showed a bit of my dark side. I have to smack a suspect around a little. What can I tell you?

WZ: You’re doing the question thing again.

SJ: What?

WZ: Forget it. I think we’ve run out of time.

SJ: So?

WZ: So, you haven’t given the readers much of your biography.

SJ: That’s your job. I read your stuff. You sneak in more of my history with each story. Hey, they send you the royalty checks. You should do the work. What do I get out of this arrangement?

WZ: What do you want?

SJ: Something I can’t have. I wish you sold me that ’59 Jag XK-150 you found in a barn on the east end of the Island.

WZ: Ancient history. Get over it.

SJ: Easy for you to say.

WZ: Say good-night, Sam.

SJ: Good-night, Sam.

WZ: And, David, thanks again for allowing me to interview my partner for your fans. Our best to everyone.