Interview with Ian Loome, Author of Snitches Get Stitches

by grant

in Author Interviews, Mystery, News, Thriller

06 Apr 2021

What can you tell us about your new release, Snitches Get Stitches?

Snitches Get Stitches is the fourteenth book in the Amazon best-selling Liam Quinn mysteries, an old-school private eye series in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker. Quinn is contacted by a childhood boxing rival. The man’s life has fallen apart and he’s a career criminal. But he’s convinced his beloved sister’s recent death wasn’t the suicide police claim. She was involved in both politics and the local drag community, and had a growing list of enemies. Quinn, meanwhile, is waiting for wife Nora to give birth at any moment to their first child.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I’m on the autism spectrum and began reading at an adult level at age three, so it was sort of a natural fit. I was a print journalist for twenty-five years.

What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read?

I can’t possibly limit it to five books, or ten, or twenty. My favorite books is usually just the last one I really enjoyed which, right now, would be The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?

Probably JD Salinger. His character Holden Caulfield is the most misunderstood in books, mostly because kids read him when they’re teens themselves and still developing. He wins (or loses, I suppose) poll after poll on the most annoying literary characters, but he’s just a kid who has lost his brother, the only person who cares about him, and is lashing out at the world’s inequities. People were so hostile to Holden, I wouldn’t doubt his misunderstood nature is part of why Salinger was such a recluse.

What’s your favorite thing about writing?

If I can give myself deep sympathy or empathy for a character even having pre-plotted what’s going to happen. I had a teary moment at the end of the vigilante story I’ve been working on that reminded me how much a good tale can affect us.

What is a typical day like for you?

A lot of work; usually four hours here and there to write, another four of working on ads or technical stuff. Walking the dogs, household stuff, an hour or two at night of blues guitar.

What scene from Snitches Get Stitches was your favorite to write?

The fight in the alley. I hate bullies and it’s nice when they’re surprised.

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

Absolutely not. Like is about being flexible and open to change.