Featured Author: Troy Lambert

Troy Lambert writes heart stopping fiction. He's the author of the Samuel Elijah Johnson crime thriller series. I'm happy to have Troy here today for an interview about himself, books he likes, and his newest book, Temptation, the sequel to Redemption. Broken Bones, a collection of short stories, is his first published work.

About the book:

Sam, a wrongly accused man who obtained his law degree in prison, helped others find Redemption when he won his freedom. Whether through luck, good timing, or his uncanny ability to tell truth from a lie, Sam has won every case he’s taken on. True, they’ve been small time parole hearings or appeals so far. But when his assistant is in an accident, and he has to take on another employee, his luck in the courtroom may be changing. A mysterious stranger and a series of tragedies make his next case the most challenging and tempting of them all. The cast of Redemption and a host of new characters return, each one of them forced to face Temptation in their own way in this fast paced thriller.

Interview with Troy Lambert

Troy, you have three published books so far. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I started writing at a young age: 6. I penned my first book, as yet unpublished, titled George and the Giant Castle. It took me about 30 years to figure out how to really be a writer, though.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

I actually just started working at home full time. I do editing, video editing, videography and short films, technical writing, and research. It is the greatest and toughest thing I have ever done.

What’s your favorite line from a book?

One of my favorites is a quote from Heinlein. “Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything — you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.”

Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.

One of my current favorites is Losing It by Valentine Williams. It tells the story of a woman who killed her children and is imprisoned in a mental hospital. It really gives a genuine voice to insanity, and the reader sympathizes with Jane by the end of the book. It’s hard to say a book has something for everyone, but almost anyone can take something good away from this book.

How do you get to know your characters?

Arthur was a long term relationship. I wrote him years ago, but when I pulled the story out of the drawer (that became the middle for Redemption) I started to realize who he was, and what his motives were. Writing him into Temptation, too, helped me bring some of his issues full circle and resolve them. Sam was a character I just knew. As soon as I wrote his first thoughts, I felt like I had known him for years.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

I enjoyed writing Sam the most: for some reason I always do. I don’t relate directly to him, but I feel like we are good friends.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

I’ve waited years to write my favorite scene in the book: Peter has a motorcycle accident near the beginning, and the details are based on my own experience in 2001. It never fit in any book or story before. No spoilers, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

No! No spoilers here. Suppose you get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?

Sam Elliot and Morgan Freeman would team up, maybe with James Earl Jones. If they had a tickle fight in the studio, it would be the sweetest sound ever.

Well now that's something interesting to ponder! Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

I do most of my writing early in the morning and in my office. There are days that if I could move my desk outside, I would. Especially in the spring and the fall.

Where’s home for you?

Kuna, Idaho, a small town outside of Boise. I went to college in Boise, and I like the area. We moved here recently for my wife’s work.

Neil Gaiman said, “Picking five favorite books is like picking five body parts you'd most like not to lose.” So…what are your five favorite books and your five body parts you’d most like not to lose?

Top Five: A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving. Job: A Comedy of Justice, Robert Heinlein. Eyes of the Dragon, Stephen King. Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follet, and Bird by Bird, Anne Lamont.

Body parts: My hands (I need to type. I’m counting that as two) My head (I need to think) My Left Foot (just because I like saying that) and one other part that shall remain nameless here. Ask me the books tomorrow, and the answer might be different. The body parts are pretty solid.

Great answer! Would you rather work in a library or a bookstore?

Library. If I worked in a book store, I would be broke.

You won the lottery. What’s the first thing you would buy?

A bookstore.

Wow! Another great answer. I thought "a zoo" was a good answer, but bookstore! I'm hitting myself upside the head. Brilliant! Okay...you’re given the day off, and you can do anything but write. What would you do?

Go for a long hike in the woods. Even then, I would have a hard time not writing at all that day. I think I would be counting the seconds to midnight.

Very true. What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

Ties that Bind, Natalie Collins, Parallax View by Alan Leverone, and City of Heretics, by Heath Lowrance.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Central Idaho, in the middle of the wilderness by a lake, with a long, windy road that came only to my house. I don’t think my wife would live there with me though. I might have to settle for at least a small town nearby.

What are you working on now?

Currently I am working on the third the Samuel Elijah Johnson trilogy, tentatively titled Confession, the edits of a Halloween piece, and a non-fiction project. Of course, that is in addition to some freelance research and a video project.

Please come back when Confession is published and tell us about it.

Other books by Troy Lambert:

About the author:

Troy began his writing life at a very young age, penning the as yet unpublished George and the Giant Castle at age six. He grew up in Southern Idaho, and after many adventures including a short stint in the US Army and a diverse education, Troy returned to Idaho, and currently resides in Boise.

Troy works as a freelance writer and researcher including for the Wallace District Mining museum, and also edits for Tirgeaar Publishing and others on a freelance basis. He truly loves to write dark, psychological thrillers. His work includes Broken Bones, a collection of his short stories, Redemption, the first in the Samuel Elijah Johnson Series, and his new novel, Temptation, the sequel to Redemption.

Troy lives with his wife of twelve years, two of his five children, and two very talented dogs. He is a skier, cyclist, hiker, fisherman, hunter, and a terrible beginning golfer.

Connect with Troy:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Buy the book:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords