Palumbo did a nice job of tying this novel in with his previous one (Mirror Image) without in any way losing a reader who is meeting these characters for the first time. There are also touches of humor, few unnecessary cliches (the few are par for the course in genre tales), a bit of romance to keep us coming back, and a cynical attitude toward politicians.

The Q&A

Q: What do you get out of writing that you don't get from doing therapy? I don't think it's money!

Certainly not the money! I've been reading and writing stories since I was a teen. Writing is a passion of mine, one that not only feeds my creative impulse, but offers solitude and contemplation, the chance to explore my own heart and mind. I love being a therapist and connecting with others in that clinical--though undoubtably intimate--way. But as a respite, I appreciate the silent conversation with myself that writing provides.

Q: I like losing myself in a good novel. Do you enjoy reading novels or short stories more? What's your favorite to write?

While I enjoy both, I think I too prefer novels because of the opportunity for the author to more deeply explore themes, develop characters and impart a sense of place. In fact, one of the things I enjoy most about my Daniel Rinaldi novels is that I get to explore Pittsburgh, my home town, both in terms of its physicial description but also as a city going through a successful, though often wrenching, transition from an industrial center to a pioneer in the Information Age. Blue collar transitioning into white collar, and its psychic effect on the city's multi-generational inhabitants.

Q: I could feel a little of what I think of as screenwriting style in Fever Dream. Was your very frequent use of sentence fragments a conscious choice, or is that simply what comes naturally to you?

I feel, stylistically, it comes naturally to me. Though I don't think of it as merely an outgrowth of my former career as a Hollywood screenwriter. My style has also been influenced by many past and current crime novelists, from Chandler, Hammett and Cain to Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane. What I strive for is vivid imagery and a sense of propulsive movement through the narrative, which sometimes means shorter sentences or even sentence fragments. Also, since we see the story through the eyes of a first-person narrator, I like giving the impression that he's relaying his thoughts and impressions in quick, brush-stroke-like bits. The way a quick mind does.

Q: How do you come up with and keep track of your complicated plot and many characters?

The old-fashioned way: I make a lot of notes and keep them littered around me on my desk! Also, as I'm writing (and re-writing), I often have to go back to earlier pages to make sure things are still on track, still making sense. Not the most efficient, state-of-the-art way to go about things, but there you are.

Q: What's it like for you to write about a therapist who gets mixed up in detecting and finds himself in the midst of danger and violence? Rinaldi bounces back pretty quickly when clobbered (like most fantasy detectives, I believe).

One of the reasons I made Rinaldi a former amateur boxer was to allow us to believe he could survive some of the things that happen to him. It also let me give some physical energy to what is a quite cerebral character (and profession). As to what it's like for me? Vicarious pleasure, I suspect, since Rinaldi is definitely braver and more resourceful than I am!

TRAUMA THERAPY?

Q: Rinaldi, as a therapist, insisted that Treva, the trauma victim, would have a long way to go to recover, and that she had to have therapy to express her pain and deal with it effectively. Isn't there some research finding that not everyone has to do that to get well? (Rinaldi doesn't!)

As a psychologist, Rinaldi does believe in the efficacy of therapy for patients dealing with severe trauma. Though certainly that doesn't mean therapy is the right approach for everyone. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to the problems of life. In fact, as I'm sure Rinaldi would agree, life isn't a problem to be solved. It's an experience to be lived. Also, I should point out that in the debut novel, Mirror Image, I describe how Rinaldi needed two years of therapy himself to deal with the trauma of his wife's murder. Again, not the route everyone would (or should) take, but the right one for him.

Q: Was the hero's lack of sleep a conscious decision to make the story more tense and emotional for the reader?

Yes. I wanted the story to have a visceral impact on the reader, so it not only takes place over the space of only a week or so, Pittsburgh is suffering from a heat wave. I also felt this would emphasize Rinaldi's sense of urgency. I hoped his lack of sleep would contribute to this.

And it's true: In Fever Dream, reading about a character chasing bad guys while suffering from lack of sleep is the opposite of sleep-inducing for the reader. In a good way.

You may be interested in a previous post of mine on Palumbo.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Susan K. Perry