To learn more about Jack’s encounter with the Chemist, read Dirty Martini by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.
To learn more about Jack’s encounter with Barry Fuller, read Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath. Return to scene.
To learn more about Lucy’s first “fangirl” encounter with Luther and Andrew Z. Thomas at a mystery convention, read Bad Girl by Blake Crouch (contained in Serial Killers Uncut). Return to scene.
In Which Blake and Joe Interview Each Other About the Experience of Writing STIRRED …
Blake: We’ve been working toward this book for a long time. For those readers previously unfamiliar with our work, maybe we should start by talking about how we first met.
Joe: We had some mutual friends (Jon and Ruth Jordan, who publish the mystery review magazine Crimespree) who read both my Whiskey Sour and your Desert Places, and told me how similar our books were. So I sought you out at a writing convention. I think this was back in 2004. We became friends, and would discuss projects and trade manuscripts for editing suggestions. When this e-book thing started getting big in 2009, we wrote Serial together (the first Donaldson and Lucy story).
That lead to Serial Uncut, Killers, and Birds of Prey (all contained in the double novel Serial Killers Uncut, which features Jack, Luther, Andrew, Donaldson, Lucy, and many more of our characters).
It was my idea to make Stirred, a conclusion to both my Jack Daniels series, and your Andrew Z. Thomas/Luther Kite series. My heroine against your villain.
Blake: Because of how we wrote this book together, I ended up writing quite a bit from the perspective of the most famous character you’ve ever created, and the one that gave you a career: Jack Daniels. How’d you feel about someone else writing Jack?
Joe: I think you nailed her character. I did some fine tuning, but I was pleased at how little I actually had to work on those scenes. I bet my fans can’t tell which Jack scenes you wrote, and which ones I wrote.
I also did a lot of Luther/Andy point of view, which are your characters. How was that for you?
Blake: You did a bang-up job on my flagship characters. Although, I have to admit, it was a little weird reading those first drafts where you were writing from Luther/Andy’s point of view. Not that you weren’t nailing it, just that it was like the character was existing outside of me for the first time. In a strange way, it made Luther/Andy more real for me than ever before.
We’ve collaborated over a lot of projects together…Draculas (with Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson) and the double-novel-length epic Serial Killers Uncut that you mentioned…but I thought Stirred was the most challenging collaboration we’ve undertaken so far. We attempted to tie together all the storylines and character arcs we had set in motion over 1.75 million words. Did you feel this way, too?
Joe: Though the Jack Daniels books can all be read on their own, I always thought of them as one big story, broken up into parts. It’s fun to bring back characters from earlier novels. I also love the idea of two authors bringing their worlds together and matching their characters against each other.
It was a bit daunting, in terms of scope, to make sure Stirred was a satisfying ending to the Jack series, and also a satisfying ending to your Luther/Andy series (Desert Places, Locked Doors, Break You), and a satisfying ending to the Donaldson/Lucy epic (Serial Killers Uncut).
But I had a ball writing this book. You and I have worked together so often we can finish each other’s sentences. Stirred was way too much fun.
How’d it feel to take your character, Andrew Z. Thomas, into such a dark place?
Blake: Well, to some degree, it was hard, because I love Andy. He was the character who gave me a writing career. But even from Andy’s beginning in Desert Places, the idea of taking a good man through a character arc that turned him into a monster was always appealing, and I think the reason is because you just don’t really see dramatic character arcs like that in fiction. Andy always had a dark side, and in Break You, it just overcame him. I’m hoping my fans don’t kill me for this.
The cemetery abduction scene was probably the most difficult to write in the entire book, and you and I actually visited the Rosehill Cemetery when I was in Chicago so we could get a feel for the place. That was an interesting adventure, especially since you nearly got us arrested.
Joe: I called Rosehill three times to get a tour and kept getting snubbed. So we went to the office without introducing ourselves, asking all sorts of questions about night watchmen and breaking in after hours and how close the nearest police station was. We must have freaked out the lady we were talking to, because when we left she had security follow us around and escort us out.
And then, two days after we visit, I finally get the call saying they’ll tour us. Life is strange…
On an unrelated note, I keep getting e-mails from people saying they don’t want this to be the last Jack Daniels book.
These people should know that Jack and Phin’s grandson is the hero of my science fiction thriller Timecaster (he’s a Chicago cop, naturally). Jack and Phin also appear in the sequel, Timecaster: Supersymmetry. They’re elderly, but they still kick some ass.
Smart readers might also figure out that I’ve left myself open to write a series of Sam Adams thrillers, featuring Jack’s daughter. And I also have a thriller planned with Phin as the hero.
So there will be plenty happening in Jack’s world in the upcoming years.
Also, if I keep getting barraged with e-mail from people wanting another Jack Daniels novel, I’d be foolish not to listen.
We have, after all, left the window open, by letting Lucy, Donaldson, and Luther survive…
Blake: We have a tendency to do that, don’t we?
Six Decades of Mayhem
A Watch of Nightingales by Blake Crouch (1969, Orson Thomas, Andy Thomas)
A Day at the Beach by Blake Crouch (1977, Luther Kite, Maxine Kite, Rufus Kite)
A Pitying of Turtle Doves by J.A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn (1978, Donaldson and Mr. K)
The One That Stayed by J.A. Konrath (1983, Charles Kork, Alex Kork)
A Night at the Dinner Table by Blake Crouch (1984, Luther Kite, Maxine Kite, Rufus Kite)
Cuckoo by Blake Crouch (1986, Luther Kite, Rufus Kite)
SHOT OF TEQUILA by J.A. Konrath (1991, Jack Daniels, Tequila)
A Wake of Buzzards by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn (1991, Orson Thomas, Donaldson)
A Brood of Hens by Blake Crouch (1992, Orson Thomas, Luther Kite)
A Glaring of Owls by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath (1993, Orson Thomas, Luther Kite)
A Murder of Crows by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath (1995, Orson Thomas, Luther Kite, Charles Kork)
Bad Girl by Blake Crouch (1995, Lucy, Orson Thomas, Luther Kite, Andy Thomas)
DESERT PLACES by Blake Crouch (1996, Andy Thomas, Orson Thomas, Luther Kite)