Vincent Zandri is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, MoonlightFalls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches andEmbedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from VermontCollegeand is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New Yorkand Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.
His latest book is the bestselling thriller novel, The Remains.
You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com.
Thank you for this interview, Vincent. Can you tell us a little about yourself and how long you’ve been writing?
I was raised by a pack of wolves in the Adirondack Mountains. Ok I’m lying. The boring truth is that I grew up in AlbanyNew York. Child of the suburbs, Catholic school, private high school, private college. I was groomed for my dad’s construction business but quickly turned to writing. I did my MFA in Writing at VermontCollege. Married twice, divorced twice, father of three, Jack 20, Harrison, 16, and the beautiful Ava 5 (going on 16). It’s because of Ava that I have to write a lot of books. She’s already a shopaholic and a fashionista!
Can you tell us briefly what your book is about?
Right from the dust jacket:
“Thirty years ago, teenager RebeccaUnderhilland her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New Yorkfarm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.
Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.
Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.
But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.”
Who is your intended audience? Have you been able to crossover into other audiences as well?
Anyone who loves thrillers, mysteries, suspense stories. It’s also a crossover in that it has been getting a lot of attention from romantic suspense readers, and in fact, as a Kindle it’s a romantic suspense bestseller along with being a hard-boiled bestseller and an Amazon No. 1 Hot New Release. My publisher StoneHouse Ink is primarily a Christian publisher, and I’ve been gaining quite the audience there much to my surprise since I’ve never purposely written for that audience. Also some young adults have been chiming in as well. So, I guess you could say The Remains is for everybody.
Why did you choose your particular genre?
My genres tend to choose me. Rather, I started out writing The Remains as a tough, hard-boiled, noir thriller, more in the vein of Moonlight Falls or The Innocent. But eventually it organically wanted to take a bit of a different approach in that I wouldn’t be using the F-bomb in nearly every sentence. Ha LOL!
Do you ever experience self-doubts with your work?
Yes, I hate myself everyday for exactly one hour! But I love myself the rest of the time.
Where do you write? Do you have a favorite place?
I write in my bedroom which is also my studio. But I write in cafes, bars, airplanes, trains, hospital ships, bathrooms (Yup, it’s true), just about anywhere I feel like making a sentence. But then I’m also a journalist so you find yourself traveling to some weird places and writing in even weirder places trying to make a deadline.
What kind of research did you have to do during the writing process?
I delved into the world of art, which wasn’t too difficult because my girlfriend, Gina Occhiogrosso, is a successful visual artist in New York. She gave me quite a few pointers and read the manuscript several times. She’s also a college professor so some of the critiquing sessions were agonizing (Sorry honey!) I also researched autistic savants and what makes them tick. They are very special people.
Who is your publisher and how did you get accepted by them? Did you pitch your book yourself or go through an agent?
My publisher is StoneHouse Ink, a new upstart indie press that used to be primarily a traditional Christian nonfiction publisher. Since I’ve joined their ranks they created a new imprint for more hardboiled cats like me called, StoneGate Ink. I’ve signed three traditional agented deals with them, and I’m also working on some collaborative deals to bring out a couple of my out-of-print novels, and also a novel called Catatonic, which the big New Yorkhouses missed out on but that really rocks!
How are you promoting your book thus far?
I’m always nagging people via social media to buy my books. But I leaving nothing to chance, I’ve hired the sexy and super talented Dorothy Thompson at Pump Up Your Books Promotions, to not only do a special first-ever virtual tour for the EBook and Kindle, but also a 6 week tour for the trade paperback. Both tours filled up immediately with anxious reviewers!
If you could give one book promotion tip to new authors, what would that be?
Two words: Virtual Tour!
What’s next for you?
The second in my Dick Moonlight series, Moonlight Rises. Also, a noir novel called The Dead Souls, about the true life Bethlehem, New Yorkaxe murderer, Christopher Porco. My new novel, The Concrete Pearl comes out in the Spring starring the brassy but beautiful, Spike Harrison, commercial construction project manager and amateur detective. She carries a framing hammer instead of a gun!!!! Also a bunch of digital shorts!!!!
Thank you for this interview, Vincent. We wish you much success!
Thank you…and buy a Kindle!!!!
If you’d like to pick up your copy of The Remains, you can purchase online at Amazon or order directly through any of your local Virginia Beach bookstores.
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