Jim Michael Hansen talks with Kathy Martin

Added February 9, 2006

Kathy: My interview today is with Jim Michael Hansen. He is an attorney and author of Night Laws, a crime-thriller set in Denver. This is his debut book.

Jim, thank you for doing this interview. First I want to let the readers know that I read and reviewed your book. I think it was a great read and recommend it to any one who loves reading crime-thrillers and/or mysteries!

Jim: Kathy, thanks, you're way too kind! It's a daunting task to devote the gazillion hours that are necessary to write a novel, not knowing if anyone will ever read it, much less like it. Getting a kind word at the end of the project is like someone saying, "Hey, I guess you didn't throw a large chuck of your life away after all." So, thanks. It's an honor to be interviewed by such a fine organization as In The Library Reviews.

Kathy: Okay, lets get started. What got you interested in writing in the first place? How long have you wanted to write a book?

Jim: When I was young we couldn't afford books, so they only way I would ever get one would be to write it myself. Of course, then you have to let it sit for five or ten years-until you don't know the ending anymore-if you really want it to be a good read. That is, unless you don't care whether you know the ending or not. You laugh, but sometimes that happens. How many times have we all watched Titanic?

Actually, I always thought it would be sort of cool to walk into Barnes & Noble and see a book sitting on the table with my name on it. So I figured, what the hey, I've done harder things.

Kathy:: I assume you are still a practicing attorney and were when writing the book. How did that help or hinder the progress of getting it finished?

Jim: Being a full time anything-attorney, tadpole trainer, sawdust counter, whatever-is bound to get in the way of the writing. My particular profession is probably one of the worst, because everyone gets to control my life except me. I haven't met too many judges who get a chuckle out of lawyers who miss deadlines. In fact, I knew a judge once who used to send out an arrest warrant if an attorney missed a court appearance. No joke.

What that means is, I have to put the manuscript down for days, weeks or months at a time. In fact, I started Night Laws in 2000 and finished in 2005, to give you an idea.

When you put the book down things get stale, you forgot what you wrote, where you're going, etc. To minimize the confusion, I kept a spreadsheet. On the left side, running down the page, I listed all the back-story events in chronological order. Then I had three columns, one for each of the POV characters (Bryson Coventry, Kelly Parks, David Hallenbeck). For each intersecting grid box, I filled in whether that character discovered and/or knew about that particular back-story event. For example, one of the back-story events is that David Hallenbeck previously killed three women at OSU. David Hallenbeck's column would say "Personal Knowledge." When Bryson Coventry discovers the event, I would put something in his column, like: CH. 8. Learns from FBI. This helps me keep track of who knows what and also keeps me organized so that I'm sure that all the back-story events get discovered by a least one character (and therefore the reader) at some point during the book, so the book ends up being complete.

That takes care of keeping the back-story organized. As for the front-story (what everyone ends up doing after they're plopped down into the middle of the back-story), I never quite knew where that was headed, so the law practice interruptions were particularly harsh on keeping the momentum going in an orderly fashion. But alls well that ends well.

Kathy: Your characters are so real. Where did you get the ideas for them?

Jim: Kathy, funny you should ask. I got them all from an ad in the back of a writing magazine:

"Night Laws Characters For Sale. Order Now and Get Two for the Price of One!"

It seemed like such a deal, especially since it came with a free Dice-O-Matic and three easy monthly payments. They wouldn't ship David Hallenbeck until I made my third payment, which is why he doesn't show up until Chapter 3.

Actually, there is some work involved in making the characters "real." The first is dialogue. If you ever listen to people talk-at least in my experience-it's never a straight-line question/answer or statement/response situation. Most conversations seem to be more like two separate conversations that just happen to overlap to some extent. Each person has something on his of her mind that they're trying to talk about, and keeps coming from that direction rather than responding directly to what the other person is saying. So, I try to write realistic dialog by first knowing, and then showing, what is on each person's mind, and keeping his or her emphasis coming from that direction.

Another way that I try to keep the characters "real" is by having them observe and think about all the small things that are taking place around them. The entire book is written in the point-of-view of three characters: Bryson Coventry, Kelly Parks and David Hallenbeck. So the reader is always inside one of their heads. They, in turn, note the small things: there's a smell of rain in the air; Billy Holiday is playing from a CD; a car just cut too close in front of them. These small details tend to give the characters a certain reality because they're the same kinds of things that we would notice if we were in their shoes.

Kathy: The story line of this book required you to delve into the very darkest sides of the human psyche. Did you ever find it difficult to write certain parts?

Jim: You are, of course, referring to the bad guy-David Hallenbeck-who is responsible for giving the book such a hard edge. I wrestled with his character on and off throughout the writing process. At first, I thought the things he did might be too edgy. Then, when I finished the first draft and read it, I decided he wasn't edgy enough to give the book the vibration I was looking for, so I went back and added several scenes where he's at his worst. I wasn't writing him so much, as writing the contrast that the book needed to make things more exciting. I wanted him to be a realistic and imminent threat to Megan Bennett, Kelly Parks and Bryson Coventry. I think I not only ended up scaring them along the way, but a few readers as well. Sorry about that.

One of the reasons he turns out to be such a frightening person is that he's well grounded in reality rather than being some kind of a big, goofy cardboard monster. He has wants, needs, desires, thoughts, feelings, emotions, anxieties, fears, and goals just like any other person. Some of his are just pointed in a slightly different direction. But he's as real as anyone else in the book, if not more so.

As far as difficulty in writing "certain parts," most of the really bad stuff happens off-screen. You know it happens, and that's enough. I could take five pages of text out of the book and it would soften up considerably.

Kathy: You have other books in the works. Could you tell us a bit about them? Are we going to get to see old characters or all new ones?

Jim: Night Laws is the debut book in the Laws series, which all feature Bryson Coventry. I've tried to give him broad enough shoulders to carry a series and time will tell. Of course, Shalifa Netherwood and Kate Katona will join him in every book. After all, someone has to keep him out of trouble. I can't be there all the time.

In the next book in the series-probably titled Fear Laws, Prey Laws or Dark Laws-Bryson Coventry is pitted against someone who publicly pre-announces the next date of each upcoming kill and then fulfills his promise in spades. When a third party learns his identity, and blackmails him into killing someone that the third party very much needs gone, everything goes from bad to worse for everyone involved. Lawyers are in the thick of things, the clock is ticking, several people are at risk, and everyone is scrambling to find answers and not get killed in the process. It's very fast paced and realistic and so far has all the earmarks of being a worthy successor to Night Laws. Look for it on the shelves in late 2006 or early 2007. Information is on my website, www.JimHansenBooks.com.

Kathy: Okay, to start closing out here, just a couple more questions. What authors/types of books do you read yourself?

Jim: I wish I had time to read but I don't. Also, I'm somewhat concerned about getting enamored by someone else's style and starting to copy them. So it's convenient for me to just not read.

Kathy: And lastly, when you aren't working or writing, what do you like to do for fun?

Jim: For fun, in my free time, I fill out about ten different types of tax returns, cut the grass, balance my checkbooks (correction: try to balance my checkbooks), routinely call every person I know to stay in touch, work-out at 24 Hour Fitness every M to F, drink vodka and beer (not in the same day), sit on my boat and listen to Jimmy Buffet songs, go to Vegas (I was actually in Mystere, plucked from the audience and pulled on stage), replace sprinkler heads, get lost in the aisles of Home Depot, get my oil changed, get oil changes for my cars, read the morning paper, drink coffee at Einstein Bros., take clients to lunch, update my websites, eat junk food, build houses, landscape, check out the deer and coyotes that wander into the back yard, and last but not least, get interviewed, which is the most fun of all.

Kathy: Jim, thank you for taking time out for this interview. I am really looking forward to when your next book comes out.

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