Brought to you by OBS reviewer Angie.

• Read our review for “The Retro Look”, here.

I didn’t realize that this was only one story in a series about a woman who has a fascination with crime dramas and also happens to be a hooker. Once I figured that out it made a little more sense and I enjoyed it much more.

Angie: Are you yourself a fan of crime dramas? If so, which are your favorites and what draws you to them?  

Albert Tucher: Of course I’m a fan! My favorites actually go back quite a way, for instance to Hill Street Blues. My favorite detective was probably Chris Noth as Mike Logan, especially later, in Law and Order CI. I would watch an entire episode just to hear him growl, “Gedadda here!” at some dirtbag.

Angie: Have you ever considered being a forensic scientist or a detective?

Albert Tucher: I can’t say I ever have. I only started writing in 2000, when I had long chosen my line of work. (I’m a librarian in my day job.) 

Angie: Why did you choose prostitute as Diana’s profession? How do you think that enhances the story line over something like a nanny or bank teller?

Albert Tucher: Diana started as a single short story in a fiction writing class. I didn’t realize at first that she would occupy the next decade and more of my life. In crime fiction I definitely prefer the noir side of things, and the deception and self-deception on both sides of the prostitution transaction are the essence of noir.

Angie: What was your inspiration for making a series of short stories rather than a book? And is there a chance that we might get a full-length book?

Albert Tucher: I have a series of novels about Diana, which I have been trying to get published for years. They came before the short stories, which I started writing to build a resume and a platform.

Angie: When you write Diana, do you picture a particular actress in her role? Who might that be?

Albert Tucher: Hilary Swank would be ideal. She’s beautiful in an unconventional way, and she can do the tough chick thing superbly. Evangeline Lilly could also do it.

Angie: We like to get to know our authors outside of their work, and have a few fun questions we’d like to ask feel free to answer as many or few as you like.

Fun Questions:

Angie: Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

Albert Tucher: I do most of my writing in the local B&N. I listen to whatever is coming over the store’s sound system, as well as the conversations around me. I like commotion, because tuning it out heightens my concentration.

Angie: What kind of music do you enjoy?

Albert Tucher: Just about everything. I spent twenty years pursuing an operatic singing career, but I also like pop idioms.

Angie: What advice do you have for someone who is trying to become a published author?

Albert Tucher: Keep writing, and keep sending what you write out. I wish I had something that sounds more like wisdom, but I don’t.

Angie: Would you prefer a vacation in the mountains, on the beach, or somewhere else?

Albert Tucher: That’s easy. My favorite place in the world is Hawaii, and I go there whenever I can. I have a brother who lives there, which helps.

In two of my novels I send Diana to the Big Island. I prefer the rainforest side, because it’s such a great location for crime fiction. Sparsely inhabited and lightly policed, it’s home to marijuana farmers, meth dealers, Sixties burnouts, survivalists and fugitives. I can’t understand why no one I know of has used the setting.

Angie: When you were little how did you answer the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Albert Tucher:  I never knew what to say, which probably means I was destined to become a writer.

 

Thank you to author Albert Tucher for a great interview!