It's A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Quintin Peterson, author of SIN

Author’s Bio: Quintin Peterson is a retired D.C. police officer who served the public for some three decades. He is also an artist and critically acclaimed crime fiction writer who has authored four DC-based crime novels – SIN (Special Investigations Network), The Wages of SIN, Guarding Shakespeare, and The Voynich Gambit. He has also contributed to the British horror fiction magazine SANITARIUM, the noir fiction magazine Heater (formerly known as eNoir), issues of the Bold Venture Press pulp magazine, Awesome Tales, and nine anthologies, including D.C. Noir, edited by George Pelecanos. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America as well as the Public Safety Writers Association (PSWA), and has received PSWA writings awards in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019.

He retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in April 2017 and then worked as a Special Police Officer employed by the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Department of Safety and Security from December 2010 to June 2017. According to Peterson, lots of his crime fiction casts bad cops as protagonists; as well as cops-as-heroes. All of his tales are about justice, which he rarely saw while he was on the job. 

Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book?

Quintin Peterson: I was a police officer when I wrote SIN. What inspired me to write this crime thriller is a chance to see justice served, which I rarely saw while I was on the job. 

DL:  What were some of the challenges when writing this book?

QP: Finding the time to write as I was working as a law enforcement officer most of the time. 

DL:  Describe your writing process?

QP:  Quite often, the ending of a story occurs to me first. I then figure out what happens before the ending and write the story leading up to the end. Listening to jazz, I plug away at it when I can until it all comes together. 

DL:  What do you think makes a good story?

QP:  A good story must be gripping from the start. It must grab the reader’s attention and hold them by the collar, and not let go until the tale is over. 

DL:  Can you share an excerpt from SIN?

QP: Sure, here you go: 

Kindle Edition of SIN is only $4.99: https://tinyurl.com/y6jcoe9k 

Metropolitan Police Officer Jacob “Doc” Holloway believes that by working a deep undercover assignment with the Special Investigations Network (SIN) he can help disrupt illegal drug trafficking in the District of Columbia and make a difference.

He is wrong.

EXCERPT FROM SIN

Senator Grumwald pulled some strings, appropriated money, and enlisted the assistance of federal law enforcement agencies.  And, with the support of Chief of Police Martin Turman and D.C. U.S. Attorney Harold King, and the blessings of Mayor Walter Monroe, in September of 1984, an MPD/Federal task force utilizing the entire Special Investigations Network was created to "combat the ne'er-do-well hooligans" plaguing decent, hard-working citizens residing in Washington, DC. 

Since infiltration of the crews was impossible, the mission of the task force was to identify major drug suppliers and distributors in the Washington metropolitan area and eliminate them, with the ultimate goal of interrupting street sales of illicit narcotics in the District of Columbia.               

Officers recruited for assignment to the Janus Project, a Metropolitan Police Department/Multi-Federal-Law-Enforcement-Agency Task Force, under the auspices of the Organized Crime Bureau, were to be provided with new identities by the U.S. Marshals Service's Witness Relocation Program. 

Janus Project coordinators guaranteed that these new identities would withstand the closest scrutiny.  In fact, project coordinators worked closely with the undercover officers to create intricate new identities, weaving lies with the truth to fashion effective operatives, convincing personas. Even fingerprint records for undercover operatives would be altered so that they would identify them as their criminal alter egos. 

Undercover officers were also assured that they would have ample fiscal and human resources, as well as state-of-the-art technical support, to assist them in the successful completion of this extremely dangerous assignment.               

DL:  What are the keys to success in marketing your book(s)?

QP:  Finding means to reach your target audience. 

DL:  What tips would you give to aspiring writers?

QP:  Read, read, read, learn the nuts and bolts of good fiction writing and have found your voice, and then know who your target audience is before you write your stories. 

DL:  What do you like to do when you are not writing?

QP:  Read, play chess, explore museums, and film study. 

DL:  What new projects are you currently working on?

QP:  In November 2020, two of my crime stories will appear in the next issue of the Bold Venture Press pulp magazine, AWESOME TALES. I am also working on the third installment of my series of Norman Blalock Mysteries. 

DL:  Where can readers learn more about you and purchase your book(s)?

QP: They can find out more here:

• Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/yacjmcd8
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quintin.peterson.56
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/luther_kane
• Washington Post article, End of an Era: https://tinyurl.com/jppths4
• Shakespeare Magazine Author Interview: How to Rob the Folger Library: http://tinyurl.com/z5oj8f4
• WAMU/National Public Radio interview, Policing Hollywood: https://tinyurl.com/yyoeotft
• REDUCED SHAKESPEARE COMPANY INTERVIEW, SHAKESPEARE GUARDIAN: https://tinyurl.com/y5427b56
• 6 Theatre Workers You Should Know, American Theatre Magazine: https://tinyurl.com/j9bc4tj
• Online Art Gallery: https://tinyurl.com/y46fk3db 

DL: It’s been a pleasure having you here with us today. I know my readers will enjoy getting to know you and your work.

QP: Thank you.