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| Interview with retired Police Captain Lou Campanozzi, author of the first in a series entitled The Killing Cards (Hollis Books, May 2000). Two other books in the series are already in the works. Read our review of The Killing Cards. Feature by Phillip Tomasso III. PHILLIP TOMASSO III - Welcome to The Charlotte Austin Review, Lou. You’re a native of Rochester, New York now retired and living in New Mexico. What did you do before retiring? LOU CAMPANOZZI - I retired from the Rochester, NY Police Department as a Police Captain in 1988, and then worked as the Director of Special Investigations (Organized Crime, Intelligence) for the State of New Mexico. I am now the Chief of Police at Sandia Pueblo, an Indian reservation in central New Mexico. I’m also a partner in BowMac Educational Services, a training and consulting company located in Rochester. When did you first know you wanted to become a writer? I knew I wanted to write when I read Battle Cry in the 8th grade, along with some Mickey Spillane books that I had to smuggle into the house past my mother. I love Damon Runyon and would love to write like him. Gay Talese is also a role model. Was The Killing Cards the first thing you have ever written? Published? The first book I ever wrote was The Alphabet Murders but I could not sell it because it was not a true mystery. The killer is identified about halfway through the book, so publishers didn't like it. However, it is not the mystery that is the story but rather, the impact murders have on the detectives who live with the cases. It will be my 3rd book, re-named Justice Delayed. Did your job as a detective influence the story for The Killing Cards? Any case in particular? The Marie Schneberger case gave me the idea for The Killing Cards. A prostitute in the county, she was found horribly mutilated and murdered, with the Ace of Spades card near her. How much time per day, or per week do you spend writing? I usually write from about 8PM until 1 or 2 AM. Sometimes, I may write 3-4 times a week. Other times, a week or two will go before I actually write. I have to get the chapter right in my head before I can let it roll out on the computer. How long did it take you to write The Killing Cards? The Killing Cards took about three months to write, and another year and half to re-write. And as I read it, I would still like to re-write parts of it. Is the publishing of The Killing Cards part of a multi-book contract with your publisher? Hollis Books has committed to the 2nd book entitled Ground Lions, and promised to take the 3rd if I maintain the standard. I have five books planned in my head, maybe more. With The Killing Cards taking place in Rochester, do you see your main character staying in New York for the next book or might he venture out west, say, to New Mexico? Mike Amato is a true Rochesterian. He will die there rather than leave and stop complaining about the weather. Each of the books will take place in Rochester but he may travel a little in some of the later books. What do you enjoy most about having published a novel? Is there anything you’d change about it, if you could? I enjoy having a copy of it on my bookshelf, with my dad's name on it, next to Runyon, Telese, Leon Uris and Bob Greene. What I would change about the book is make the language more real, but my family would be too embarrassed to read it then. Any words of wisdom for writers struggling to accomplish what you have made look so easy? If you believe in what you're doing, don’t give up! Let people read what you write, and accept their feedback. I wrote my first book in 1978 and now I know it was far from my best. Read, write and keep at it. The rest will follow. Why do you write in the highly competitive mystery genre? Why not write non fiction for instance? I didn't know the mystery genre was highly competitive! I write mysteries because that’s what I know. I also wanted to write about what really happens in a real investigation with a real police force. Recently, there's been talk of publishers not favoring mystery series as much because a series might take more time to establish a writer. What is your reaction to this possible new trend towards stand-alone mysteries? I don't know enough about the publishing industry to comment on a new trend with publishers. I'm glad I didn't know about it, it might have affected my tenacity. Do you think that writing a series is more difficult than writing a stand-alone? Writing a series seems to be difficult because the characters have to grow, evolve and age. I sometimes have to double check with earlier writing to keep a character consistent. What are your future plans? What's next? I don't know. I'm happy to have succeeded this far. Is there anything else you’d like to add? My writing is very important to me and I need to know that readers enjoyed my book. Rochester is not a metropolitan type of city. Although it is just fifty miles across Lake Ontario from Toronto, Canada, it is a world away from Toronto, New York City, and Chicago in nightlife, trendy living, and excitement. Therefore, it is kind of a boring place for murder mysteries. But then again, so was Memphis before John Grisham. |
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