FAQ
About the books
Q: When will the next book be out?
M: The next Eva book should be out next summer. Mark has a sci-fi book due out in the Spring. So far, the title is Phobivore.
Q: Are your books available anywhere besides the web?
C: Yes. Delissimo's in Old Town Spring has a supply. They also have great sandwiches.
M: I wanted to set up a combination lemonade and book stand in front of the house, but Charlotte wouldn’t let me.
Q: Will your books be available as e-books or audio books?
M: Hacksaw is available as an e-book now - ISBN# 978-0-595-89908-1. We hope to one day record it as an audio book, but that isn't scheduled yet. We’d love to do it soon. How’s your speaking voice? Do you happen to know James Earl Jones?
Q: Where did you get the idea for Eva?
C: Eva appeared when we needed her most.
M: We spent a year honing a book with a storyline and plot similar to Hacksaw. When we finished, we knew we had the makings of a good novel, but it just wasn't quite there. We discussed the things we liked and didn't like and agreed one of the main problems was that Kate Ramirez was telling the story. This wasn't working for a number of reasons. We needed a different point of view; someone who didn't have so many pre-existing opinions from all the case history in her head.
C: So Eva appeared to tell the story her way and discovered things we didn't know.
M: Eva is an amalgam of both our younger personalities, both the good (mostly Charlotte) and the bad (mostly me). She’s brash, impulsive, and has an underdeveloped respect for rules and authority. She can occasionally blindly run over obstacles in her single-minded concentration on a goal. But she’s idealistic, genuinely cares about people, has a fierce loyalty to her friends, and works very hard to be the best at whatever she does. When we’re writing about her we occasionally want to shake some sense into her, but she insists on forging ahead into disaster. It’s very characteristic of her personality that she won’t even listen to us.
Q: Do you write anything besides mysteries?
M: Charlotte writes fictitious letters to my grandmother in which I'm always doing something stupid.
C: Mark writes science fiction, entertaining math problems for his students, and some very special stories just for me. The science fiction book, Phobivore, is almost ready for release (February ’08).
M: Charlotte also writes children's tales.
About the authors
Q: Will you be touring?
M: Schedules permitting, we’d love to. Are you volunteering to put us up at your house?
C: We'll be visiting family over the holiday's. Maybe our parents will hold book signings in their living rooms.
M: The plan is to tour locally (Houston area) at first and then expand. We have a few tentative dates, but nothing is final yet.
Q: When did you start writing?
C: As soon as I could hold a pencil.
M: In the womb. My Mom still complains about that.
C: We started writing novels several years ago.
M: We were slow learners.
Q: What books and authors do you read?
M: We both read a lot of detective fiction - S. Alexie, S. W. Albert, C. Amiri, C. Anthony, A. Atkins, L. Barnes, N. Barr, J. L. Burke, A. Camacho, G. C. Chesbro, L. Cody, R. Crais, C. N. Douglas, A. C. Doyle, D. L. Driver, J. Ellroy, J. Evanovich, J. Fforde, C. Fowler, R. A. Freeman, J. Gash, A. George, B. Gordon, J. Gores, S. Grafton, R. U. Gulik, B. Hall, T. Hillerman, D. Housewright, P. B. Jones, S. Kaminsky, L. King, J. Langton,
C: S. McCrumb, K. Mills, K. Mitchell, J. Mortimer, M. Muller, R. Parker, A. Perry, G. Petievich, R. Poole-Carter, K. Reichs (soon – the Temperance Brennan books are in the stack), S. Saylor, J. Sallis, D. Sayers, A. M. Smith, M. Spillane, W. G. Tapply, A. Vachss, M. Wings, anything recommended by Mom or Ms. Pope. And Mark reads lots of Science, American history and anarchist/libertarian tracts.
Q: Sounds like you spend a lot of time reading. When do you write?
M: Charlotte keeps the books locked up. I have to finish writing a chapter to check one out.
C: A new book is the best reward for a job well done.
M: Second best.
Q: Moving on - where are you from?
M: Mom and Dad say I’m from Illinois, but I have clear memories of another part of the universe. I did grow up in Illinois and use a lot of that background for Eva. Charlotte is from Pennsylvania – where our mentally imbalanced character is from – go figure.
C: I grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania and have lived in Florida, California and Texas.
Q: Besides Eva, are you like any of your characters?
C: Some of our characters are irresponsible, emotionally scarred, mentally off-balance,
M: I was going to say “no”, but since you put it that way.... Shade is like me on my bad days (thankfully without the substance abuse). Ramirez is Charlotte when she’s in full manager mode, though Kate’s biblioholism is one of my character flaws.
Q: Where did you two meet?
C: That's a secret.
M: Oh, Dear. I don’t see what could go wrong if we told them about our lives before the Witness Protection Program.
C: Hey!
M: Uh, I mean, it’s a secret.