Interviews & Articles
Kindle Author Interview: Bob Frey, Posted 2011
Bob Frey, the author of The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders discusses his book, his journey as a writer, and self-publishing on Kindle.
DAVID WISEHART: What can you tell us about The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders?
BOB FREY: Frank Callahan the gay LAPD detective who first appeared in the free-for-all mystery, The DVD Murders, and his long-term friend and partner, Detective Barry Jennings, are back in two contemporary crime fiction stories that will keep you guessing all the way.
The Bashful Vampire Murder begins where most vampire tales end: in the apprehension of a vampire hunter right after he has driven a stake through his quarry’s heart. The defense attempts to prove that vampires exist and the homicide was justified. To Callahan’s horror, the trial ends in a hung jury. Only the resourcefulness and savvy of the tough cynical detective stand between justice and the killer being allowed to walk.
In The Comic Book Murders, the two flatfoots run the gamut of superhero and villain suspects, from Captain America and the Caped Crusader to the Joker and Firebug until outstanding police work and dogged persistence lead them to the unlikely killer. On the way, we get to visit a kinetic comic book convention, the backstreets of Hollywood, and a firebombing in Westwood on Halloween eve.
DAVID WISEHART: How do you develop and differentiate your characters?
BOB FREY: I develop my characters in many ways, from people I know or have known, actors in films or on TV, or perhaps someone I have just seen somewhere or a combination of people. I differentiate my characters by speech patterns, mannerisms, actions, and, of course, physical descriptions. I try to have fun with them. If I’m lucky, they develop themselves.
DAVID WISEHART: Who do you imagine is your ideal reader?
BOB FREY: Someone who likes something a little different with a quirky sense of humor.
DAVID WISEHART: What was your journey as a writer?
BOB FREY: I was an electronics technician in the Navy and when I was discharged, I got my first writing job as a tech writer. From there, I went into advertising agencies as a copywriter, writing ad copy and the TV commercials everybody hates. I thought I was pretty hot, but when I turned to fiction, it didn’t take me long to realize it was a whole new ballgame, and I had a lot to learn.
DAVID WISEHART: What is your writing process?
BOB FREY: I usually write two to three hours every morning, but may jot down thoughts any time of the day. When I am involved in writing a book or story, some of my best ideas come in the middle of the night or early morning, and I have to get up and get a paper and a pencil and write them down. The best and fun part is in the rewrites. Now that I work on a computer, the rewrites are a lot less than when I used a typewriter. The worse part is trying to sell what I’ve written. The more time I spend on that, the less time I have to write.
DAVID WISEHART: What authors most inspire you?
BOB FREY: Henry Miller, William Saroyan, Kirk Vonnegut, and more contemporary, Ann Tyler. As you can see, I also like authors that are a little quirky.
DAVID WISEHART: What one book, written by someone else, do you wish you'd written yourself?
BOB FREY: Any bestseller. I believe the greatest American novel is Moby Dick by Herman Melville. It takes a little getting into, but once you are hooked, wow! The best title of a book or story is Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. Man, what that conjures up in your head.
DAVID WISEHART: How have you marketed and promoted your work?
BOB FREY: How haven’t I? By newspaper, magazines, festival programs, and internet ads, press releases, ed ops, giveaways, reviews, excerpts on sites, social sites such as Twitter and Facebook, signings, etc. You name it. The list goes on.
DAVID WISEHART: Why publish on Kindle?
BOB FREY: Kindle is the greatest thing to happen for writers. Not only can you post your work free and set your own price, you can go back any time and make revisions. Try that with a printed book. You can also check your sales on a daily basis if you are so inclined. In addition, the exposure you get on Amazon books is fantastic.
DAVID WISEHART: What advice would you give to a first-time author thinking of self-publishing on Kindle?
BOB FREY: Do it. Try getting your manuscript published by a traditional publisher if you want, but don’t spend your life doing so. However, before you publish on Kindle, make sure you get a good editor. A good editor can be expensive, but if she or he is good, they will improve your baby.
DAVID WISEHART: Thanks, and best of luck with your books.
Exclusive Interview with Bob Frey Author of 'The Bashful Vampire Murder'
Posted on Vampires.com., 2011
I was fortunate enough to land an interview with Bob Frey, the author the Frank Callahan Mystery series. He shared a bit about his fave vampires, his upcoming projects and of course, the latest novel in his series, The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders, a twofer that not only gives you a story about vampires, but comic book characters as well – win! Check it out below!
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I love to entertain, make people laugh and think, and, perhaps, shake them up a little. I was a copywriter for several top Los Angeles advertising agencies and received several awards for my creative work. When I turned to writing fiction, I found it was a whole new ballgame and I had a lot to learn. I have since published a couple of mysteries and some short stories. Also an actor, I have appeared in some forty independent films and stage plays. I now live in Sandy, Oregon, with my wife, Susan.
Can you tell us about The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders?
The Bashful Vampire Murder & Comic Book Murders is the second in a series of Frank Callahan mysteries. Frank Callahan is a gay LAPD detective who first appeared in the free-for-all mystery, The DVD Murders. He and his long-term friend and partner, Detective Barry Jennings, are back in two contemporary crime fiction stories that hopefully will keep you guessing all the way.
The Bashful Vampire Murder begins where most vampire tales end: in the apprehension of a vampire hunter right after he has driven a stake through his quarry’s heart. The defense attempts to prove that vampires exist and the homicide was justified. To Callahan’s horror, the trial ends in a hung jury. Only the resourcefulness and savvy of the tough cynical detective stand between justice and the killer being allowed to walk.
In the Comic Book Murders, the two flatfoots run the gamut of superhero and villain suspects, from Captain America and the Caped Crusader to the Joker and Firebug until outstanding police work and dogged persistence lead them to the unlikely killer. On the way, we get to visit a kinetic comic book convention, the backstreets of Hollywood, and a firebombing in Westwood on Halloween eve.
How does The Bashful Vampire Murder differ from other novels about vampires?
As I said before, The Bashful Vampire Murder begins where most vampire tales end: in the apprehension of a vampire hunter right after he has driven a stake through his quarry’s heart.
Where did you get the idea for The Bashful Vampire Murder?
I’m not sure. It’s something that’s been kicking around in my head for a long time. I suppose in many ways, I’m a realist. It just occurred to me one day, what if a guy really did drive a stake through another guy’s heart and was caught. What would people think? Would there be a trial, etc.? And I just took it from there.
Who’s your favorite fictitious vampire (other than your own)?
That would have to be, the original Dracula. I just loved Bela Lugosi and his campy accent. He set the standard for vampires.
What is your favorite vampire book, movie and TV show?
Again, that would have to be the original Dracula. I also love an old classic called The Fearless Vampire Killers, directed and starring Roman Polanski, the director of Rosemary’s Baby. If you want some belly laughs, check it out.
Given the current vampire craze, people feel especially attracted to vampires, why do you think that is?
For the average wage earner, life can get pretty boring sometimes. What better way to add some spice to your life than the supernatural. Vampires represent the extremes of human life. Who hasn’t daydreamed of living forever? And yet to do so, would probably be the saddest thing that could happen to a human being.
Tell our readers why they should check out your book - in 3 words: (bwahaha) Satire, mystery, humor
And finally, what other projects are you currently working on? Any goodies we should watch out for?
A couple of things. A children’s book entitled Guide to Seldom Seen Animals, which helps explain in a humorous way some inexplicable things that happen to people in everyday life, such as misplacing your car keys or losing a sock in the laundry. It is now in the hands of a publisher. And Catawampus Tales, A book of short stories in which each tale is somewhat askew or catawampus—a mixed-bag of fast food for the mind. Incidentally, it contains a shorter version and slightly different take on The Bashful Vampire Murder called Trials of a Vampire Hunter. It will soon be sent to a publisher.
"The Time for Gay Protagonists in Mainstream Mysteries Has Come" by Bob Frey
(Posted 2010 on Authors Den, Female Mystery Writers, and other sites)
Many advances have been in gay and lesbian rights, especially in the recent legalization of same-sex marriages in a growing number of states. Commercial fiction, however, which is often a barometer of contemporary thinking, has not kept pace. This is especially true of mainstream mysteries. The following remarks attempt to add some perspective to this enigma.
Tamara Kaye Sellman of the Writer's Rainbow Literary Services asserts on the cover of my gay detective novel, The DVD Murders, “The time for gay protagonists in all sorts of commercial fiction has come.” Has it? Is the straight world really ready for an invasion of gay heroes into all genres of mainstream fiction, such as fantasy, romance and mystery? Will the girl next door become the boy next door, Plain Jane, Plain Jim, or the clueless husband, the clueless domestic partner?
Gay characters have made great strides on network television. The Jodie Dallas character as portrayed by Billy Crystal on Soap in the late 1970s is generally regarded as the first openly gay male as a regular cast member in a series. Thinking has progressed until we now have had such credible gay characters as the precocious Justin Suarez on Ugly Betty and the sociopath Andrew Van De Kamp on Desperate Housewives.
Sometimes you may get the impression that everywhere you look on TV these days you see a gay, lesbian, or bisexual character. Not quite. According to estimates by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) such characters account for only 2.6 percent of all the regular characters in TV Series in 2008-2009 season. While that was up from 1.1 percent of the previous year and was a positive sign, more work is needed to achieve fair balance. Cable, with its two gay-oriented channels, Logo and here, customarily offers a greater number of GLBT characters.
Hollywood, on the other hand, has not kept pace and seems stuck in the twentieth century. True, the major studios have turned out many films with gay characters over the years. Most of them, however, have been in minor roles, such as the flighty costume designer in Broadway Melody, closeted characters like the female schoolteacher in The Children's Hour, stereotype jokes, such as the policeman in Wild Hogs, or victims like the AIDS patient in Philadelphia.
In the four years since the groundbreaking Brokeback Mountain the major studios have only produced one gay film, the award-winning Milk. Hollywood execs claim a lack of high-quality gay scripts or that TV has a lot more time over the course of a series to develop a character whose sexuality is only a part of his life while a film only has two hours. Others suggest movie executives tend to be older than TV executives and therefore less comfortable with homosexuality.
Whatever the reason, Hollywood is out of touch. Attitudes have changed, particularly among young people who tend to be more accepting of alternative lifestyles. Unfortunately, as of yet, this acceptance has not carried over into mainstream mysteries. Ask any typical mystery lover: when was the last time you read a whodunit that had a gay detective?
Gay characters have appeared in mystery novels for a long time, but like the movies they were mostly cast in minor roles as villains, victims or freaks. It wasn't until Joseph Hansen introduced the Dave Brandstetter series that we had a detective--here an insurance investigator--who was unashamedly and unapologetically gay.
The relative success of the Hansen novels paved the way for other gay protagonists and was followed by the breezy mysteries of Nathan Aldyne's gay gumshoe Daniel Valentine, the lesbian amateur sleuth Jane Lawless in the Ellen Hart books, and many others. Few, however, have made the crossover to mainstream mysteries, unless you count the Alex Delaware novels of Jonathan Kellerman which feature Milo Sturgis, a gay cop friend of the protagonist or the lovable bisexual psychopath Tom Ripley in the Patricia Highsmith novels. Not all gay mysteries are parts of series, of course, and there have been a number of notable stand-alone novels over the years, such as Butterscotch Prince by Richard Walter Hall and Rough Trade by Lou Rand.
Despite the many advances made for gays and lesbians, and in particular the legalization of same-sex marriages in a growing number of states, some readers because of religious beliefs or prejudice are simply not ready to accept a gay protagonist in a mystery novel or any other work of fiction. That's too bad, especially if you are a mystery fan, since not only do these novels provide us with more rounded and realistic images of gays and lesbians but some of them are simply crackerjack mysteries.
First Novel by 79-Year Old Bob Frey is Classic Mystery Getting Pretty Good Reviews
Says ability to produce a 265-page novel is positive proof than older citizens have something to contribute
Posted on Senior Journal, 2009 - Bob Frey, a former ad agency copywriter and freelance writer has published his first novel, The DVD Murders, at the age of 79. A crime-fiction mystery, it features a gay detective and takes place in Los Angeles where Frey previously lived and worked. Asked what took him so long, Frey stated, “I don’t know. I have written other books, or at least started them, but this was the first time I was able to put it all together. Persistence paid off, I guess.”
In The DVD Murders, someone is killing the A-list actors of Hollywood and leaving a defaced DVD of one of their films at the crime scene.
The story follows the detective, Frank Callahan, and his fellow Irish Catholic sidekick, Barry, as they chase the elusive DVD killer around the streets of Hollywood, through Six Flags Magic Mountain and other LA landmarks and culminates in an exciting climax reminiscent of Hollywood’s legendary gangster film, White Heat.
Loaded with classic film references, the gay element of this mystery gives the novel a unique twist and adds some humor and insight, the author says.
Reviews of the novel have been largely positive, according to a news release on the book.
Kaye Trout in The Midwest Book Review stated, “I enjoyed The DVD Murders very much,” and “I would recommend this book on many levels.”
MyShelf called “The DVD Murders “an excellent police procedural with its step by step account of the detective’s investigation.”
H. L. Cherryholmes, author of A Slight Touch, said “Bob Frey has written a memorable character by defying stereotypes in creating a whole character who’s neither sinner nor saint.”
New Mystery Reader Magazine reported, “I’d be happy to see Bob Frey’s next book featuring Frank Callahan, or even a telemovie with Christopher Meloni playing Frank to Jack Black’s Barry.”
“You know,” Frey said, “when you get to be a certain age, some people tend to write you off as useless or even a burden. My hearing isn’t what it used to be. I wear a hearing aid. I get tired a lot easier than I used to, and my memory, especially my short-term memory, often lets me down.
“My mind, however, is as sharp as ever and inside I feel like the same kid that grew up in Philadelphia, a fact young people may not understand.”
Bob was born in Philadelphia, PA. A street kid who managed to graduate from high school, he bummed around for several years in beach towns in New Jersey and the streets of New York City before joining the Navy.
Court marshaled for direct disobedience of orders and sentenced to twenty one days hard labor, he went on to be honorably discharged, and graduated from Columbia University under the G.I. Bill of Rights. He was a copywriter for several top Los Angeles advertising agencies and received several awards for his work.
He says his ability to produce a 265-page novel is positive proof than older citizens have something to contribute.
His advice to other seniors: “Don’t let others get you down. Sure, you can’t run a four minute mile or play professional football, but if you have a book or good story inside you, sit down and write it. It will not only give you pleasure to do it, but someone may actually enjoy reading it.”