Our interview today is with Joe Albert the author of Two Shots (4.5 stars on 35 reviews). Before we get to the interview a brief book description: When state game warden Tony Leach responds to an emergency call about a hunter who has been shot and killed at a deer camp in the woods of northern Minnesota, there’s no way he can be prepared for the twisted web into which he’s been thrust.
Five years removed from a stint with the Minneapolis Police Department, Tony Leach is a game warden for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Content to spend his days in the woods and on the water enforcing fishing and hunting laws, he thought he’d left violent crime behind when he left the city. But a single call from dispatch two days before the deer-hunting season opens changes that. … Read more on Amazon.
Interview with Joe Albert
What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?
The book is set in the forest of northern Minnesota. To me, there’s a certain mystique about the woods and the people who choose to live and work there. Specifically, my main character is responsible for patrolling hundreds of square miles of northern Minnesota – often by himself, and often at night. His desire to tackle that job in that setting says a lot about him.
The book is set in the forest of northern Minnesota. To me, there’s a certain mystique about the woods and the people who choose to live and work there. Specifically, my main character is responsible for patrolling hundreds of square miles of northern Minnesota – often by himself, and often at night. His desire to tackle that job in that setting says a lot about him.
Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments?
I’ve tried my best to keep my characters as real and believable as possible. I’ve spent a lot of time around small towns in northern Minnesota, and have tried to draw characters that are consistent with my own experience. Given my novel is a thriller, some of the predicaments certainly aren’t everyday-type events, but they aren’t out of the realm of possibility, either. I think readers are able to relate better to characters when they’re going through something and the reader can say, “I would have responded this way,” or “I would have done it that way.”
I’ve tried my best to keep my characters as real and believable as possible. I’ve spent a lot of time around small towns in northern Minnesota, and have tried to draw characters that are consistent with my own experience. Given my novel is a thriller, some of the predicaments certainly aren’t everyday-type events, but they aren’t out of the realm of possibility, either. I think readers are able to relate better to characters when they’re going through something and the reader can say, “I would have responded this way,” or “I would have done it that way.”
Was there a basis for your story? A previous experience? Something else?Some of the main themes of Two Shots are natural resources, law enforcement, and politics. Those also happen to be things that I’m interested in, and that I cover and write about at my day job as an outdoors writer. There are parts of the story itself that draw on real events, but for the most part it’s completely fictional.
What research did you have to perform to back up your story?Much of what I wrote about I’ve experienced and/or written about as part of my job as an outdoors writer. I’ve ridden along with a number of game wardens as they go about their day-to-day work, and I write often about the cases they’re working. I believe they’ve got one of the most difficult jobs in all of law enforcement, given the huge areas they cover and the fact that they regularly deal with people who are armed.
What is your method for writing a book?I can’t start writing until I have the beginning done. Once that’s done, the rest seems to flow. I’m not much into outlining and instead like to let the story flow. I typically don’t know what’s going to happen next, and am often surprised by how characters react to situations. I figure if I’m surprised, then readers will be, too. But writing in this way definitely adds extra importance to the editing process.
Visit the Website: http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Albert/e/B00846JL7K
Twitter: @writerjoealbert
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