Kathy: JUSTICE MAKES A KILLING features criminal defense lawyer Bobby Earl defending another lawyer on a murder charge. What makes lawyers such interesting subjects?
ER: Lawyers encounter people in some of the most stressful, eventful and interesting moments in their lives, either facing life-shaping civil suits or criminal charges. In criminal cases, prosecutors deal intimately with the victims and families of tragedy, while defense lawyers represent defendants facing, perhaps, the most pivotal time in their lives. These moments place the responsibility to shape the entire future of other people in the hands of lawyers.
Kathy: Have you always been a fan of courtroom drama?
ER: Not really. I grew up in a house that did not have books, so when I was able, I gravitated to the classics that other had had the chance to read in their youth.
Kathy: Your novel also features the private prison industry. Why is this an important subject to add to your story?
ER: Our States use private prisons to incarcerate defendants sentenced to prison terms by our courts. These private prisons reduces our system of punishment and rehabilitation to a profit model. As a consequence, the conditions of punishment are unnecessarily harsh and the rehabilitation efforts don’t exist. We have recently seen conditions under which migrant children have been detained, when our Government used facilities run by the private prison industry.
Kathy: What first drew you to thrillers?
ER: I have always harbored the desire to write and I merely followed the old adage that you should write about what you know. I have been a criminal defense lawyer my whole decades long career. Besides, the intensity and drama of a good story is naturally present in a jury trial where someone’s life is at stake.
Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?
ER: No.
Kathy: Tell us about your series.
ER: The reader follows Bobby Earl, an authentic criminal defense lawyer, who is honest and ethical, but passionately committed to defending his clients. By following Bobby through high profile murder trials, it enables the reader to see both the strengths and weaknesses of our justice system and to understand how the pressures of our adversarial system produce among the participants, the lawyers, judges and cops, some who maintain their integrity and others who give in to corruption.
Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?
ER: I do enjoy watching Booby Earl face the pressure and stress of a high jury trial, while attempting at the same time, to have a close, trusting relationship with his girlfriend Sam, a LA prosecutor. But for fun, my favorite character is Henceforth, his hound dog, who always seems to find a way to get involved.
Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?
ER: There was no single event or person that was the inspiration for the series. Rather it was the accumulation of years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer who has tried over 200 jury trials that made me confident that I had learned certain truths about our justice system that were worthy of being shared.
Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?
ER: To be honest, I think I wanted the validation that what I had written was worthy to be read. Chickadee Prince Books gave me that chance.
Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?
ER: Flannery O’Connor and Wallace Stegner, both masters of the short story and William Faulkner and Sebastian Barry, wonderful wordsmiths.
Kathy: What are you currently reading?
ER: NARCOPOLIS by Jeet Thayil
Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?
ER: My wife and I have a place in New York where we go to enjoy theater, ballet and opera.
Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.
ER: Beer, almonds, apples and cheese.
Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?
ER: I am working on an historical thriller where the crime takes place in Los Angeles in 1975 and the lawyer character is assigned the appeal of the convicted murderer who has been in prison for 35 years.
Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?
ER: The chance to lead other lives and face danger and pressure from the comfort of my arm chair.
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Chickadee Prince: https://chickadeeprince.com/
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