Author Interview: Paul Levine, the Solomon and Lord legal thrillers

Paul Levine is author of the “Solomon and Lord” legal thrillers--
Solomon vs. Lord, The Deep Blue Alibi, Kill All the Lawyers, Habeas Porpoise (formerly titled Trial & Error).

The books were nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller, and James Thurber awards, and have been released as Kindle Exclusives.

         
Q: “Solomon vs. Lord” opens with the lyrics from an old Frank Sinatra song called “But I Loved You.” That’s a little odd for a legal thriller, isn’t it?

A:Would you like me to sing a verse?

Q:Only if you must.


A:“Opposites attract, the wise men claim, Still I wish that we had been a little more the same,It might have been a shorter war.”


 Q: So, is it a thriller with humor or a mystery with romance?

A: A legal thriller with humor. A dramedy.

Q: If you had to compare the story to earlier works...?

A: Shakespeare, of course.

Q: Of course.

A. Seriously.  The ‘opposites attract’ set-up goes all the way back to “The Taming of the Shrew.”  Then there’s Dashiell Hammett’s “The Thin Man.”  “The Bickersons” on radio.  “Moonlighting” on television. Two people love-hate each other.  Life sizzles when they’re together, fizzles when they’re apart.

Q: Let’s look at the book’s teaser: 

          “Victoria Lord follows all the rules...

Steve Solomon makes up his own...

bed.”

Does that leave anything out?

A: All the kinky sex.

Q:  We’re not sure if you’re being serious.

A:  Totally.  My working title was “Fifty Shades of Plaid.”

Q: One reviewer described the book as “Carl Hiaasen meets John Grisham in the court of last retort.”  Fair assessment?

A: I probably bring humor to my work because, as a trial lawyer, I saw so much nuttiness in the courtroom.

Q: In “The Deep Blue Alibi,” there’s a chapter at a Florida nudist resort.  Is it fair to ask how you researched the scene?

A: Like Jackie Chan, I do my own stunts.

Q: What about the title?  Are you paying homage to John D. MacDonald’s “The Deep Blue Good-Bye?”

A: “Homage?” That’s French for cheese, isn’t it?

Q: Now you’re being facetious.

A: That’s what they pay me for.

Q: Let’s be serious.  You’ve won the John D. MacDonald Fiction award.  You’re not denying his influence on you.

A: After I moved to Florida, I read all of MacDonald’s Travis McGee books.  When I wrote my first Jake Lassiter novel (“To Speak for the Dead”), one of my first fan letters was from John D. MacDonald’s son. I think JDM nailed Florida’s weirdness and corruption.

Q: Does that explain the title of your third Solomon & Lord novel, “Kill All the Lawyers?”   A combination of Shakespeare and MacDonald.

A: As lawyers constantly point out, that line was spoken by a villain in “Henry VI.” The guy wanted to overthrow the government, and killing all the lawyers seemed like a good place to start.

Q: While we’re on the topic of titles–

A: Which you seem to be obsessed with.

Q: What about “Habeas Porpoise?”

A.  I didn’t steal that one from Shakespeare.

Q: Or anyone else.  That would seem to be original.

A: Here’s the story.  When Bantam published the book, my editors rejected the title as too funny.  Now, the story opens with two highly trained dolphins being kidnapped by some hapless animal rights people, so I thought “funny” was okay.  But we settled on “Trial & Error” for the book. When I got the rights back for e-book publication, I restored the original name.

Q:  Tell us about your background.  Your education.

A: At Penn State, I majored in journalism.  At the University of Miami Law School, I majored in the swimming pool.

Q: You’ve been a successful television writer. What advice would you give to people who want to break into Hollywood?

A: Marry a blood relative of Jerry Bruckheimer or J.J. Abrams.

Q: Lacking that, when aspiring authors or screenwriters sit down at the computer, what should they be writing?

A: Ransom notes, maybe? Look, it’s really hard to break into the business. Some people suggest writing a spec script. But that’s a tough route.  Years ago, Elmore Leonard said, “Writing a script and sending it to Hollywood is like drawing a picture of a car and sending it to Detroit.” So I’d recommend entry level positions as assistants or script readers.  In the TV business, assistants sometimes manage to sell a script to the show they’re working on.

Q: Any last words about “Solomon vs. Lord?”

A: I wasn’t kidding about the kinky sex.

More information on Paul Levine’s website: http://www.paul-levine.com

Thanks to Wiley Sachek of Authors on the Web for this interview.