1. What inspired you to write Pacific Reaper?
Thank you for hosting me!
Pacific Reaper is the fifth book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in
Acapulco. She’s the first female police detective in Acapulco, which over the
last 10 years has gone from tourist mecca to one of the most violent cities in
the world, thanks to drug violence. The first four books in the series
established Emilia as a fighter but also as a woman trying to have a love life
and a successful career amid the machismo,
drug smuggling and official corruption. But in Pacific Reaper, her carefully built life comes unglued.
2. What kind of research did you do, if any?
Early in the book, Emilia and her partner Franco Silvio
discover an altar to Santa Muerte, the folklore saint of death, next to a
murder victim. Soon they believe a gang is invoking Santa Muerte to intimidate
a rival. I first became interested in developing a Santa Muerte story line
after finding a booklet of scary prayers to Santa Muerte at an outdoor book
fair in Mexico City, but really had my eyes opened by Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut in
his book, Devoted to Death. The
colors of Santa Muerte artifacts, the type of item left on altars, and the
intersection of Santa Muerte beliefs and law enforcement all provided important
details that appear in Pacific Reaper.
3. Did you relate to the main character, Emilia
Cruz, in any way? If so, what?
I get asked this question a lot. Emilia and I are both
Catholic and were raised by single moms. We both know how to take action and
get things done. That being said, I’m more polite than
Emilia and have more shoes. She’s much quicker on the draw and lets her mouth
get out of control. Also, I’m into yoga and she’s a kickboxer. That, more than
anything, illustrates the difference between us!
4. What was Emilia’s connection to Las Perdidas and what was her purpose
with it?
One of Emilia’s friends disappears in Made in Acapulco, the prequel collection of short stories, and she
began to collect information about women who have gone missing in the Acapulco
area. She calls the missing women Las
Perdidas—the Lost Ones—and has a binder of names. Most of the cases are
cold and Emilia is the only one still looking. Thousands of people have gone
missing in Mexico due to drug violence in the last 10 years, plus I drew on reports
of the decades-old mystery of missing women in the Juarez area and desparacida notices in Latin American
newspapers to build this part of Emilia’s world.
5. What are some of the main socio-economic
issues that you explore in this book and why did you explore them?
The Detective Emilia Cruz series is grounded in contemporary
Mexico. It was important to me to make the series as authentic as possible—this
isn’t Baywatch with Emilia running
around in a bikini. Starting with Cliff
Diver, the series pits Emilia against gender inequality, income equality,
human trafficking, and official corruption. The setting of Acapulco forces
Emilia to live with one foot in the deluxe tourist locations that ring the bay
and the other in the impoverished and violent barrios far from the water’s edge. Pacific Reaper stayed true to Emilia’s world, but added the
complexity of dark religious beliefs.
6. What do you hope readers gain from your book?
First, I hope readers are entertained and want to read more
Emilia Cruz! The books are mainstream police procedural fiction. Mystery lovers
are my main audience. I hope they get a better understanding of the issues that
Mexico faces right now and see Emilia as hope for the future.
7. What inspired you
to be a writer?
I’ve always loved the art of arranging words on a page and
finding new ones in a thesaurus. I got my start as a novelist, however, writing
an aviation adventure series for my son when he was in third grade. He adored
airplanes and while there were plenty of non-fiction books, we couldn’t find an
age-appropriate action story. I wrote two novels in which a young teen always
winds up in the cockpit of historic aircraft, The Secret Blackbird and The
Pacific Ghost, but never published either.
8. What do you like best and what do you like
least about being a writer?
I love the editing process but hate typing in a first draft.
I’m always so impatient for what’s in my head to get on the page! I also love
that my dog sleeps on a fur blanket next to my desk whenever I sit down to
work. I’m never alone; he’s like Velcro.
9. Who are some of your favorite authors?
When it comes to mystery, I love books by Robert. B. Parker,
Jo Nesbo, Louise Penny, Susan Spann, Tana French, and Ann Cleeves. For dialogue
and humor, no one does it better than P.G. Wodehouse and I’ve learned much
about pacing and flair from his Jeeves series. When it comes to craftsmanship,
I’m in awe of Carlos Fuentes. The Eagle’s
Throne was a tour de force.
10. If your book would be turned into a movie, who
would you imagine playing the part of the main character?
Believe me, I have thought of this! Last year I signed an
option contract with a major US studio for a television series based on the
Detective Emilia Cruz series. I don’t know if a series will ever become reality,
but I think Gina Rodriguez would be terrific as Emilia Cruz, with Salma Hayek
as Carlota Montoya Perez, the self-absorbed mayor of Acapulco; and Benjamin
Bratt as Victor Obregon, the crooked head of the police union. I’m not sure who
should play Franco Silvio, Emilia’s cranky partner in Pacific Reaper, or Kurt Rucker, her hotel manager boyfriend. I’m
open for suggestions!
11. Are you working on anything right now?
I’m working on 43
Missing, Detective Emilia Cruz #6, which was sadly inspired by the true
disappearance of 43 students from the town of Iguala, not far from Acapulco, in
September 2014. Emilia will find out what happened to them in a powerful
conclusion, but of course it will be fiction. In reality, it’s been three years
and I’m not sure anyone will ever know the truth. 43 Missing is slated for release in early November.
12. And, finally, what do you think is in store
for the future of Latino literature?
A few years ago, I wrote a series of posts for
Latinas4LatinoLit.org and have been happy to see the steady growth in Latino
books for children. But when you get to adult reading material, I think Latino
literature is mostly associated with literary fiction. There are wonderful
books by Latino authors in this category, but the reality is that the most
popular fiction genres for readers worldwide are romance and mystery. Latino
literature needs to expand more aggressively into these categories.
I appeared on NPR’s Alt.Latino show with Felix Contreras last
year http://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/2016/10/26/499330831/latino-noir-private-eyes-and-really-bad-vatos
and we discussed the Detective Emilia Cruz series and other Latino mystery
series. Compared to Nordic noir, there isn’t much. Colorado-based Manuel Ramos has
been tremendously successful. Leighton Gage’s Inspector Silva series set in
Brazil was a role model for me when I was told books with all Mexican
characters would never sell. But there is room for much more.
Thank you so much! Readers are invited to get a free copy of
the Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library at http://carmenamato.net/starter-library.
Thank you so much for having me. Gracias!
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