Conversations with Writers: [Interview] Harry Hughes

2011-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Conversations with Writers: [Interview] Harry Hughes, Author of THE BAIT SHACK and HORSESHOES

2008-10-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

HORSESHOES

Hello, Everybody.
First let me thank all of you readers who have purchased or are still ordering my first novel, THE BAIT SHACK. I hope that you enjoyed reading the thing as much as I did writing it.

The official release date for my second book HORSESHOES is Wednesday, November 3, 2010. The e-book is already available at Amazon's Kindle Store and at Barnes & Noble. E-book versions will also be available at Sony and Kobo soon. I believe that the small investment purchase will yield hours of interesting reading. But of course, that statement is a self-serving, shamelessly rank promotional gesture. Love to all.

The book HORSESHOES consists of a novella and five (long) short stories, one of which is A RIVER TOO DISTANT that was previously published by Hampton Shorts. What follows is a rundown on the contents.

In the novella HORSESHOES, brilliant aeronautical engineer Bill Barnes is caught cheating on his wife Rosemary … and the numbing experience precipitates a mid-life crisis that sends Bill in a fugue state to Dallas, Texas. Aboard the jet, he's intrigued by young scientist Judith Hume who sleeps through the landing in Dallas where Bill must disembark. But the mentally unhinged Bill plots to reencounter Judith.

In New York, Rosemary Barnes contacts the cagey but delusional Attorney at Law, Grant G. Grant, a long time friend of both Bill and Rosemary, to arrange her divorce. Riddled with conflict, Grant decides instead to secretly reunite his two friends by hiring Private Investigator Paula Royal to bring Bill back to New York City.

In Dallas, Bill hooks up with sexy and cunning young blonde Mexican, the tattooed Bobbie Gutierrez, who escorts him through a bizarre odyssey the irony of which relentlessly shreds the seat of his pants, a journey that ends with the execution of Bill's equally bizarre plot to sniff out Judith Hume at a science conference.

Throughout this hilarious drama we encounter the amiable but well-heeled, African-American prostitute Lenore, hired by Rosemary Barnes. Constantly undermining Grant G. Grant's well-intentioned reunion of Bill and Rosemary is Sally Yee, Grant's Chinese-American secretary who openly regards her boss as a simpleton.

Here is a quick summary of the five short stories.

In SWOOP, two U.S. Marine combat veterans concoct an outrageous plan to keep a young surfer from being shipped to Viet Nam.

In A DOLLAR TWENTY-FIVE PER MILE, a Long Island night-shift hacker eyes the beautiful day driver Althea from an immeasurable distance. One morning, he cashes in and drops to the back seat of her taxi. "California," he tells her.

A RIVER TOO DISTANT is about an African-American repo man who reclaims the Honda Civic of a white southerner abruptly fired from his job at the lumberyard. But Duck and his chainsaw are ready for him.

HECTOR'S DRUNKEN BUDDHA tells the story of an aimless, underachieving Latino who rediscovers his self-worth following a nightmarish weekend of migraine headaches, prescription drug abuse and the death of two close friends.

And in FRY COOK, a North Carolinian woman named Marnee tells the story of her otherwise gentle husband’s grotesque plan for revenge and its inevitable execution, an act that is both unnerving yet strangely reasonable.

2008-09-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Synopsis of

THE BAIT SHACK

Unemployed whiz-kid Dale Cooles struggles to save his marriage and his sanity when his previously charmed life is turned upside down by a cadre of misfits and killers. Dale and wife Lacy, daughter of an eccentric and wealthy Tennessee timber magnate, unwittingly adopt Twist, a brain damaged laborer, into their domestic wrangle. Lieutenant Calvin Revels, a beat weary yet determined conservation officer, seeks revenge for Lacy's unscrupulous employer's role in the mysterious eradication of rare birds on a prime piece of real estate. And then there are the other eradications ... the human ones. In the parade of offbeat characters in Hughes's ingenious and 1990s-set, street-smart black comedy of crime, we meet cutthroat businessman Henry Meredith, out for what he can get; psycho hitman Connie Jablonski, out for what he can hurt; mobster Johnny Avalino, eager to enhance the value of his beach-front property by any means; Nancy Littlecrow, a shameless and cagey Native American attorney who gives new meaning to the term 'Indian Affairs'; Seymor L. Bram, a retired Air Force Major suffering from chronic depression and delusions of easy money; Duncan Slockbauer, a slovenly and obsessed amateur producer of grisly crime videos. And we don't quite meet the hapless Karen Kern and the faceless others who might have crossed the path off a shockingly perverse serial killer nobody seems to have noticed lurking somewhere in Hughes's uniquely colourful dramatis personae.

Reviews of

THE BAIT SHACK

A stunning first novel. An up-to-date take on the classic American murder mystery. Harry Hughes tells his suspenseful story in quick-paced and colorful prose and creates dozens of sharply drawn characters, including Dale Cooles, an unforgettable anti-hero in the Philip Marlowe tradition. Michael Lydon, author of Rock Folk, Boogie Lightning, Ray Charles: Man and Music. Michael is also a co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine

Harry Hughes takes noir to a new level. Wry, classy, compelling and utterly hysterical. Think Ian Pears crossed with Martin Amis. Dale and Lacy make an endearing team of anti-heroes in a world showing its true colors. Read it for pleasure and then re-read it to find surprising richness in the depths of its insights. Magdalena Ball, author of The Art of Assessment, Quark Soup, and Sleep Before Evening

The Bait Shack is an intriguingly entertaining and engaging murder mystery that demonstrates a vivid imaginative gift on the part of the author, Harry Hughes. In his debut novel, Hughes expertly created a small but complex cast of characters whose quirky persona and relationship dynamics lend much to the novel's appeal . . . Hughes has crafted a solid read around a twisted tale that explores the dark side of the human soul and peppered it with his own brand of deliciously dry humor. The Bait Shack is a fast read that will easily hold the attention of any murder mystery buff. I definitely look forward to more from Harry Hughes. Marta Stephens, author of Silenced Cry and The Devil Can Wait

When Harry Hughes grabs your hand and pulls you through the corridors of his mind, you are helpless to let go, helpless to do anything but white-knuckle the ride of the newlywed couple Dale and Lacy Cooles as they attempt to outrun their past and the murderer staking a claim in their own backyard. As the plot unfolds, The Bait Shack parades a crew of miscreants across its pages, succulent and suspicious all, and the proverbial finger of blame shifts directions numerous times. From the lecherous business developer and the meat-head criminal to the disfigured boy and opportunistic Native-American lawyer, Hughes delivers. Then with evidence stacked up and illumination near, Hughes rips the rug out. Dale and Lacy edge closer to the truth while the plot gels to the consistency of a hearty stew; readers will delight in poking around to unearth the answers and find unraveling the storyline as much of a challenge as it is savory. The bonus seasoning? Each page teems with delicious phrases and brisk dialogue that will incite knowing smiles and audible chuckles. In a world of pat novels, Hughes stands out as an author who knows his stuff, but more importantly as an author who loves his stuff. Devour The Bait Shack. Hilary Lauren, literary critic and author of the forthcoming novel Killing Karl

. . . Harry Hughes starts THE BAIT SHACK out with a bang – in the throes of a gruesome murder. Hughes carries the murder through the entire length of the prologue. He writes his prologue by visiting and revisiting the act all the while being completely immersed in the mind of the victim . . . It’s the most agonizing murder scene I’ve ever read and the author quite purposefully has written it this way. He makes the reader lie down next to the victim as the murderer pierces her skin, plunging the knife in deeper, smoking a cigarette while she lays in a pool of her own blood, close to death and then finally finishes her off . . . You’re there with the characters every step of the way. It’s a brutal depiction of a heinous crime and a depiction that Hughes has captured eloquently, if that can be said about a murder. He’s prolonged the writing of this scene with intention so that the reader understands the murderer’s nature and the slow exhaustive death of the victim. This meticulous author leaves nothing to chance. Then, in a methodical build of staging and conflict, characters and convergence, Hughes writes the perfect mystery. A dark and eerie thriller at times but always at a page-turning pace, THE BAIT SHACK left me feeling like I had just had some of the best, most rigorous yet odd sex of my life . . . After I finished THE BAIT SHACK I felt like I wanted to take a shower. The story is funny. It’s creepy. It’s like covering your eyes from seeing something you don’t want to see but then opening your fingers because, well, you just have to watch. Hughes writes in a crisp and tantalizing manner. The dark sardonic story found in THE BAIT SHACK is so out there at times, that I found myself turning my head and saying, “Good lord.” And, that’s a good thing. I want to feel something when I read a book. Many times I wanted to ask Hughes why he went from A to B in the plot but then as I read along, and, as with any fine writer, he answered my questions brilliantly and usually with such complete and utter creativity that he left me breathless. As a writer myself, I felt envious of Hughes’ ability to be so organically complex and then be able to comb through all of his built-in complexities with satisfying resolutions. He takes the genre of mystery to a new height. His writing style is unlike any one else’s I’ve read. He sets a new standard for authors to shoot for. The author has found in THE BAIT SHACK a narrative thrust that makes the story an absolute pleasure to read. Well done, Mr. Hughes. Susan Wingate, author of Bobby’s Diner, Of the Law, and is a finalist in The 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award

If you're looking for lyrical prose to pull you through a captivating story, lending the characters a spark of vitality with real life dialogue unrivaled in modern day literature, THE BAIT SHACK is for you. Johnny Nys, literary critic, Belgium

An Amazing read, I didn't want to put it down. The graphic imagery held you right there in the moment with the victim and killer. Jan Coad, author of Strange owls: Poems

. . . There are several subplots at play, cleverly tied into the main story as the reader begins to guess at what will happen, what motivates these people and why they do some of the things they do. Talented new writer Harry Hughes will slowly twist all the strands into one while holding our attention from page to page. I'm pleased to recommend this book as a fun read for anyone who likes houses that creak in the night, shadows that pass windows and seem to peer in, and likes strange characters whose crudities and rawness make them very lifelike. Enjoy. I did. Anne K. Edwards, author of Death on Delivery and The Last to Fall.

. . . Where other mystery/suspense novels start with a lot of action that keeps building until the climax, Mr. Hughes builds suspense and mystery slowly throughout a delightful tale of romance between an out-of-work man and a secretary, to finding several cadavers buried beneath the porch of an old house that the secretary's employer has been trying to purchase. I kept asking myself just where is the crime, the mystery in this tale, and who was the lady being killed in the Prologue? But when I reached the height of danger for the couple (Dale and Lacy), I found the story totally satisfying in every way. The Bait Shack is a must-read. Lucille P. Robinson, author and literary critic.

Philosophical dilemmas, dead bodies, greed, sex - You can't stop reading! Tough times demand tough heroes - Harry Hughes' "The Bait Shack" satisfies. Explosive, racy, and charming. Mary Zuzan, literary critic

A convoluted, twisting read filled with unusual characters, strange locations, murder, mayhem and an ending of such unexpectedness as to be totally unprepared for. Ruth Woolsey, literary critic

I just finished The Bait Shack and upon closing the book found myself in a state of surprise. It's been a long time since I stepped off the path of my usual nonfiction, do-it-yourself type reading, and what a ride it was. The hook motif is quite appropriate. I had forgotten how sly a story can be, like a well-baited hook . . . kind of low key at first, tempting but not too overt . . . just kind of bobbing there saying 'follow me, follow me'. The story allowed me to initially read at my usual slow rate. But when it hooked me and took off, there was no putting it down. Harry - well done! I'm such a stickler about facts. When the facts are wrong in a book or movie, it just breaks the spell for me. Consequently, I seldom read fiction anymore. Thank you for bringing me back to the enjoyment of the tale - caring about the people - and needing to find out who done it! It's been years since I just sat down and read a book simply for the pleasure of it. I'm looking forward to Horseshoes. Jackie Irwin, singer and guitarist of the Delaware based roots band "H2I"