Beginning with this week we will be featuring an interview with a mystery author every other week. This is our first interview and it is with mystery/thriller author Phillip Tomasso. If you are interested in learning more about Phillip’s books and where to purchase them, just hop on over to his website at: http://philliptomasso.go2click.com/
SUITE: Tell me a little about your books and what genre they are?
PHILLIP: I WRITE THRILLERS. MY FIRST NOVEL, MIND PLAY, HAS DONE PRETTY WELL, DESPITE BEING WITH A SMALLER PUBLISHER. THIS GETS CONFUSING--SO STAY WITH ME. MY SECOND NOVEL, TENTH HOUSE, IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES FEATURING P.I. NICHOLAS TARTAGLIA. IT CAME OUT IN FEBRUARY 2001, AND IS ALSO DOING PRETTY WELL, AND IS GETTING SOME MOVIE INTEREST (WITH LYNDA CARTER--WONDER WOMAN). IT IS A HARD-BOILED MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF THE SUPERNATURAL TO GIVE IT SOME EDGE. THE SECOND IN THE SERIES IS THIRD RING, AND WILL BE OUT FROM BARCLAY BOOKS THIS OCTOBER. THE THIRD IN THE SERIES, SECOND THOUGHTS, IS NEARLY COMPLETE AND I HOPE BARCLAY BOOKS WILL HAVE IT OUT LATE NEXT YEAR. I HAVE A STAND-ALONE NOVEL, JOHNNY BLADE, THAT IS GETTING SOME BITES. I THINK IT IS ONE OF MY BEST. I AM VERY ANXIOUS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH IT. ALSO, I HAVE A CHILDREN'S BOOK, KING GAUTHIER AND THE LITTLE DRAGON SLAYER. BARCLAY BOOKS IS CONSIDERING IT NOW. MY FINGERS ARE CROSSED. I THINK THE GAUTHIER BOOKS WOULD MAKE A WONDERFUL SERIES--AND I WOULD LOVE TO TOUR SCHOOL AND LIBRARIES READING TO KIDS. MY KIDS LOVE IT.
SUITE: When did you first start writing? First start publishing?(short stories, books,etc)
PHILLIP: I FIRST STARTED WRITING AT 14. I HAD SOME SHORT STORIES APPEAR IN THE HIGH SCHOOL'S ANNUAL MAGAZINE, THE MYRAID. IT WASN'T UNTIL ABOUT 6 YEARS AGO, THOUGH, THAT I REALLY GOT INTO IT. I WORKED HARD AT WRITING SHORT STORIES, THINKING I WOULD BUILD UP A PORTFOLIO--AND THEN TRY TO WRITE AND SELL A NOVEL. THE FIRST SHORT STORY I SOLD WAS A WESTERN TO A CANADIAN MAGAZINE--AND THAT MAG WAS THE HIGHEST PAYING MAG I'D EVER BEEN PUBLISHED BY--I WENT ON TO SELL THE EDITOR THREE MORE WESTERNS.
SUITE: Why do you write?
PHILLIP: I WRITE FOR ONE MAIN REASON. I CAN'T NOT WRITE. I JUST LOVE IT. I LOOK FORWARD TO IT. I THINK ABOUT MY STORIES AND CHARACTERS ALL DAY LONG. ALL NIGHT LONG. I LOVE READING, ALMOST AS MUCH.
