About the book:
For a select few people, friendship lasts forever. Nicky Fusco and Frankie Donovan were friends like that, but that was years ago. Now Frankie’s a detective in Brooklyn’s Homicide department, and Nicky is a reformed hit man. But when Frankie gets in trouble—and the law can’t help him—he turns to Nicky.The problem is that Nicky promised his family, and God, that he’d go straight.
Book Trailer
Interview with Giacomo Giammatteo
Giacomo, how did you come up with the title Murder Has Consequences?Murder Takes Time is the first in the Friendship and Honor series. In MTT, there is a set of six rules for murder. Murder Has Consequences is rule number two. All of the books will follow a rule of murder, so the next one out is Murder Takes Patience which is rule number three.
Excellent. Do you have another job outside of writing?
I’m a headhunter in the biotech and medical device industry. I’ve been doing this for thirty years.
How did you create the plot for this book?
All my plots are created in the same basic way. I have a concept or theme that I follow for each series. This is the Friendship and Honor series, so the theme revolves around the problems/conflicts that might arise out of a pact or oath of F&H. All I have to do is imagine a scenario that would create conflict and go with it. I always have an ending before I start, and then I work backwards. I despise a novel where the ending seems fabricated, so I swore I’d never do that.
What’s your favorite line from a book?
I’m a huge fan of the old noir films/books. Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett...and I have to say my favorite lines from all time are from the scene with Sydney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. Some of my other favorites are from Casablanca.
Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.
The Count of Monte Cristo. My favorite book of all time.
How do you get to know your characters?
They’re real. I base them on real people, or on combinations of real people. I’m a huge believer in knowing my characters and not just the main ones. I think it is just as important, if not more so, to know your secondary characters as it is to know the primary ones. And when I say know them, I mean down to the core. Know what they’d do in a given situation, how they’d react if someone challenges them, if someone kisses them, if someone betrays them. That, in my opinion, is how great characters are created.
Which character did you most enjoy writing?
Nicky Fusco.
You say your characters are based by real people. Who?
Most of them. Can’t say.
Understandable. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
The scene where Nicky goes to see Millie in the bar. It seems like such a simple, nothing scene, but it isn’t. That scene allowed me to show so many things about Nicky, about the way things have changed in the neighborhood, and about the kind of conflict and respect Nicky had for people. I loved it.
Who are your favorite authors?
Alexandre Dumas, John Sandford, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Frank Herbert, Donna Leon, and when I need to laugh out loud, Luciano De Crescenzo.
How long is your to-be-read pile?
Far too long, unfortunately. And since I’ve been published it’s grown considerably. I’ve met so many wonderful authors, and they have books I want to read. My iPad is stocked with a lot of titles.
You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose?
Me. If I find time, I’m going to try it myself.
What book are you currently reading and in what format?
I’m reading an ebook, Sleep Not My Child, by Christopher Bartley. He’s a gifted author, and I love his work.
Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
I write mostly in the kitchen, and I start about 10:00 at night. If I have blog posts to write, I usually do those earlier, and if I have editing or proofreading to do, that comes before writing. My writing I like to do late.
Where’s home for you?
I live in Texas, outside of Houston, but I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware.
Your last meal would be…
Veal Marsala with good bread, and a good wine.
You won the lottery. What’s the first thing you would buy?
A lot of land for my animals.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Italy.
What are you working on now?
This is a loaded question. I always have a lot going on.
Mystery: A Bullet From Dominic, Blood Flows South book II
Necessary Decisions, first book in new series, Redemption
A novella about one of the characters in Necessary Decisions
Murder Takes Patience, Friendship and Honor book III
Old Wounds, a Redemption Novel
Non-fiction: No Mistakes Interviews, book II of the No Mistakes Career series
No Mistakes Guide to Misused Words
Fantasy: Vengeance is Mine, Book IV of the Rules of Vengeance series
I realize this seems like an awful lot to be working on, but it’s how I work. I actively write on a non-fiction and a fiction (or 2) at the same time, depending on the mood I’m in, and I actively plot and write scenes as they come to me for the others.
I'm the same way. Good luck with all of your projects, and come back anytime!
Other books by Giacomo:
Excerpt from Murder Has Consequences
Actions have consequences. I learned that long ago.- I learned it when I was five years old and got caught stealing cigarettes.
- I learned it when Mikey “The Face” Fagullo beat our asses for not giving him a cut of the smokes we stole from a boxcar.
- I learned it when Father Tom caught us playing cards instead of attending mass.
- Mostly I learned it when I shot Freddy Campisi. That lesson cost me ten years in prison.
But there is another, far worse, consequence-—the one you have to live with day in and day out. The kind of consequence you beat yourself up over. The kind that won’t go away. I did my time for killing Freddy Campisi. The other things I’ve done I have to live with. Those are between me and God. They are my cross on earth.
Nicky Fusco
About the author:
Giacomo Giammatteo lives in Texas, where he and his wife run an animal sanctuary and take care of 45 loving rescues. By day, he works as a headhunter in the medical device industry, and at night, he writes.Connect with Giacomo:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter |
Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Kobo
Thank you for posting this interview with such an interesting author!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Lance. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteHi, Amy. Thanks so much for putting my jibberish on your site. I really appreciate it. And good to see you again, Lance. Love Omnimystery News.
ReplyDeleteNot jibberish at all! Happy to have you here.
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