Who doesn’t like a good mystery sitting by the fireside on a cool, autumn night? Richard Roach’s first novel, Scattered Leaves, is one such mystery that combines drugs, murder, and falling in love into one neat package.
Born in 1931 in Galveston, Texas , this multi-talented author is nothing to be reckoned with. With Scattered Leaves stirring up dust since its release the first of September, Roach will be releasing a new novel, Scattered Money, in 2009.
We interviewed Richard to find out more about this exciting new author and his new book, Scattered Leaves.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Richard. Why did you choose to write mystery?
A: I am a reader of mysteries and my interest was in trying to create an action thriller where the reader might think they knew the murderer but in the end find out there were multiple villains.
Q: How did you come up for the idea behind your latest book, Scattered Leaves?
A: After June is murdered, McCord is sitting in the back yard (it was the fall of the year) thinking about life and how disjointed he felt when he noticed the leaves being blown helter-skelter across his backyard by a strong north wind. He made the obvious comparison to life and his struggles. (In real life, I had lost our savings in a poorly thought out venture in 1959 and had to struggle several years to get enough capital to start another company and in my mind it was similar. The saying goes, when you have lemons, make lemonade.)
Q: How much of yourself did you see in your characters?
A: Practically none. My characters come from people I see in the doctor’s office, on the street, and anywhere humans congregate.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the whole book?
A: When Ben and PJ are taking out the bad-guys … when it’s payback time for all their meanness.
Q: What gave you inspiration during the writing process to help you keep going?
A: In geology we keep logs of the various formations the bit penetrates and any fluids or gases encountered; the logs can and do run several hundred pages. When I thought of what was ahead of me, I remembered how easily the pages accumulated. That was in 1974 when I was only forty-three. Now it’s different, I tell the story and don’t need a crutch.
Q: Thank you for this interview, Richard. Can you tell us where we can find out more about you and your new book, Scattered Leaves?
A: Try Amazon for a copy of the book. Thank you for the interview. If you’re reading this I love you.
