Interview with Henry Olek, Author of A Few Murders in My Neighborhood

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write A Few Murders in My Neighborhood?

I’ve made a wonderful living in Hollywood as a screenwriter/producer. Yet when my favorite (and most optioned) screenplay A Few Murders in the Neighborhood never became a film — I decided to take the bull by the horns and wrestle it into a NOVEL. Wasn’t easy but I’d had a little practice with my very first screenplay, which did become a film, A Different Story, and Ballantine Books asked me to turn it into a novel.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of A Few Murders in My Neighborhood, what would they be?

Underdogs by Chris Young and Outside by Taylor Swift.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

A great mystery with well developed characters and HUMOR.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

The Maid by Rita Prose. Crossroads by Johnathan Franzen. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

You’re asking me to choose between my children. The scene that I’m writing is always my favorite.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Writing itself is quirky and addictive and doesn’t stop.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Trust Yourself. William Goldman said it best: Nobody knows anything.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

GO FOR IT. NOW.

Henry Olek is the author of the new book A Few Murders in My Neighborhood

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