Andrew Mayne's debut novel, Angel Killer, was a runaway self-published hit, and it continued running when HarperCollins got hold of it. Amanda and I are big fans of Jessica Blackwood, the lead FBI agent character, and the very interesting way Andrew weaves the art of illusion with crime-solving.
We are giving away 15 copies of Angel Killer to the first people to email us at [email protected], so get your clicker fingers ready and Go! I'll wait.
Now that you've emailed us, here is a behind the scenes look at Andrew's progression as writer.
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I was eight and bored. I’d finished the latest Encyclopedia Brown mystery and was searching for something new to read. A boy detective myself, but despite letting it be known around the neighborhood my investigating skills were for hire, business was scarce. So I was looking for a way to kill time between cases.
Snooping around the guest bedroom closet I discovered several boxes of books my father had stowed away. What a treasure! These weren’t the small books about giant red dogs or boy detectives I was familiar with. No, the dogs here had names like Cujo and terrorized their families! The detectives drank martinis instead of chocolate milk and dispatched villains with bullets, not brainteasers! The covers were filled with alien worlds, menacing eyes and scantily dressed women wrapped around suave men who would kill you as soon as say “Hello”.
We’ve all opened that door. It starts with a cover that tingles your curiosity. Next, you’re haunting bookstores in search of more adventure. Those books made me want to be a storyteller with my own tales. I lied about my age to go from high school to star of my own magic show performing in places I was too young to set foot inside. I worked circuses, cruise ships and headlined a casino revue in Japan. I created behind the scenes for Penn & Teller, David Blaine and spent several years helping famous skeptic, James Randi, investigate faith healers, mediums and other fraudsters.
Along the way I kept writing and sharing stories to anybody who would listen, including the showgirls I lived with in Japan who I’d read to at night as they gathered around in their pajamas. We should all have such muses…
Eventually I decided to take writing seriously and wrote a novella for fans of my podcast (now over 10,000 listeners). It climbed the eBook charts, motivating me to write more. Even before A&E picked up my TV pilot, a retailer declared me the fifth best-selling independent author in the UK that year. It was an encouraging start, to say the least.
I wrote Angel Killer to tell something close to home. Dinner as a kid was filled with my father’s ATF agent stories hunting moonshiners, body-guarding presidents, investigating bombings and chasing international hit men. This inspired my brother to become an FBI agent and me to write in safety.
Jessica Blackwood possesses some of my experiences but in important ways the mirror opposite. I was a magician born into a law enforcement family. She’s from a showbiz family whose moral code compelled her to become a cop. I’m a man in a male-dominated industry, who takes things for granted. Jessica is someone who has to work for everything and overcome the biases of the people around her.
Her story is all the things I know and don’t know. Which is why the curious boy detective/magician is excited to be bringing Angel Killer to a larger audience. I hope you enjoy it.
Best,
Andrew Mayne
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Annie
I received my copy ~ thank you
Posted by: Christy | January 22, 2015 at 04:07 PM