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?
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.
