An Interview with Michael McGarrity

By Tom Scanlan

 

                

                   Rosemarie Scanlan with Michael McGarrity at his home near Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

Rosemarie and I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing author Mike McGarrity during our visit to Santa Fe this past October.  He had just returned from a 25-stop book tour around the United States, promoting his latest novel, Everyone Dies.  We met at his home, located about 20 miles south of town in a secluded area of rolling hills far enough from the attractions of Santa Fe to get some real writing done. 

 

His novels always feature the same protagonist, policeman Kevin Kerney, and are set mostly or entirely in contemporary New Mexico.  They are fast moving adventure/mysteries (some might say police procedurals; McGarrity says that good story-telling defies genre) replete with strong characters supporting a story guaranteed to keep you up past your usual bedtime.  His novels flow out of his experience in the criminal justice system in New Mexico, where he has worked as a Deputy Sheriff for Santa Fe County, instructed at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy (where he had graduated with honors), been honored as Santa Fe’s Police Officer of the Year (1987), and conducted investigations for state agencies.  He also holds a BA with distinction in psychology and a Master’s degree in clinical social work, which shows in his development of characters. 

 

He began his first novel, Tularosa, (see review in my website) while still working as a law officer, but began writing full time after that novel was published to rave reviews and won several prestigious awards.  Since that time he has published seven more novels, with another to be released this August.  That works out to about one novel a year, prolific by any standard.  How does he do it?

 

He doesn’t find writer’s workshops particularly helpful nor is he the MFA type.  He mentioned that he’s somewhat of a loner, doesn’t normally care to socialize with other writers or aspiring writers.  He considers himself ‘reality based’ and usually draws from his own experience.  He will often “take a real incident and give it a different twist, rather than make something up from whole cloth”.  When it comes down to the act of writing, he says “there are no set rules, no set times, no magic formula.  I might skip a day, work until a chapter or scene is finished, or stop in the middle.  No tricks, but sometimes ‘magic happens’.  A character from a previous novel might pop up suddenly in the one I’m writing.  Lots of serendipity.  But…write it, finish it.  If it’s bad, then throw it out and start again.”

 

His first readers are his wife,  Emily Beth, whom he fondly refers to as his ‘sweetie’, along with his son, Sean, who lives in Santa Fe and also draws the maps for Mike’s novels.  Mike admits that loved ones aren’t very objective critics; they’re going to like whatever you write.  He avoids reading fiction, especially mysteries, while working on a novel.  He also avoids discussing his current work with anyone,  because he feels that can dilute the passion you have for writing.  He’s fond of the writings of John Ralston Saul, particularly Voltaire’s Bastards, which includes an indictment of our culture’s misuse of the age of reason when it comes to writing.  Saul laments that novels used to be tales of travel and adventure,  but he feels that literature professors have hijacked the novel in the last 50-100 years, and that too many novels are now written to please the literature critics.

 

Although McGarrity believes that each of his novels will stand on its own, it’s more interesting to observe the growth of his characters and their relationships if you read them in chronological order.  As it turned out, I read his fourth novel, Hermit’s Peak, first, and thoroughly enjoyed it.   Since reading his earlier novels, though, I believe I would have enjoyed it even more had I read them in order.  It’s also pleasurable to know when you pick up a novel that you are familiar with the main characters from previous novels--one reason I’m so fond of Tony Hillerman’s novels.

 

I should add that even though McGarrity and Hillerman are good friends and each of them write about law enforcement in New Mexico, their novels are not all that similar.  Mike’s books are faster paced with more action and more sex.  His protagonist is closer to a western version of Sam Spade or Mike Hammer than to Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn, Hillerman’s venerable Navajo policemen.   What both of these writers have in common is that they each write books that you don’t want to put down until you finish--and they leave you looking forward to their next book.  That’s good writing!

 

For a more complete description of Mike’s extensive background and a synopsis of each of his eight published novels, check out his excellent website at  http://www.michaelmcgarrity.com/author.htm.