Interview with new mystery author Paul Petrucci
SUITE: Do you have something you wish to accomplish with the things you write? i.e. enjoyment, challenge, fear...what do you want people to take away with them when they read your writing? Do you ever have a message?
PAUL: My central message in Prodigal Logic is that even in the twenty-first century, with all of our modern advances and sophisticated worldview, people don’t act logically and shouldn’t be expected to. A murder investigation is treated as a science, and my protagonist is a very left-brained individual with a very narrow and inflexible personal philosophy. But when it comes to a person’s belief systems, their religious views, their motivations, even their method of coming to thoughtful conclusions, people aren’t scientific and they aren’t logical. Ray Gabriel, the protagonist, is forced to learn this through his encounters with psychologists and metaphysicians and cult members and people of various levels of religious fanaticism. He gradually changes his attitudes and becomes less arrogant and more understanding. That central theme touches on a myriad of sub-motifs. I like the idea that everything is a paradox, that things that seem to make sense often don’t. I also like to poke at religious ideas – things like prayer and devotion, and show that they’re not dissimilar to some of the quirkier ideas in metaphysics. I also love to poke at the metaphysicians, who thumb their noses at science yet still feel compelled to use scientific explanations to explain their hypotheses. I guess I want people to use their brains, but I also want them to agree with me that it’s very unusual in life to find black and white answers, so stop looking for them and start opening up to external beliefs. Diversify, grow. Don’t be dumb. Don’t judge. I think I’m making this whole message thing more than it is. Read the book, it’s a cozy mystery and it’ll entertain you; it’s not nearly as serious as I’m making it sound.
SUITE: What time of day do you find you are most creative?
PAUL: I have low energy in the morning. My most creative moments are at night, after fighting off the first wave of sleep. But then if I give in to that, I’m even more tired in the morning. Writing and parenthood are often at odds.
SUITE: What sort of things do you do for fun?
PAUL: Living in the Northwest, there is beauty everywhere. I love to ski and bike. I live on
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