|
Interview with Michael
Newton
by Jon Jordan
Web Site
 JON:
Well, first off I want to say I’m beyond impressed with the fact that
you’ve written over 164 books. You write in a more than one genre, ranging
from true crime to westerns and action adventure books. Do you have a favorite
genre to write in?
MICHAEL: I've done the most in
action-adventure, but I also enjoy westerns. Still, if I could only write one
thing (and earn enough from it to make ends meet), I'd probably go with
nonfiction.
JON: Your reference books are amazing. You
must do an awful lot of research. How do you approach a project like that?
MICHAEL: I try to start with something I'm
interested in, which presupposes that I'll have plenty of reference material on
hand already. The books are generally sold on the basis of a proposal which
includes sample entries and a prospective list of topics. The sole exception to
that rule (so far) is my forthcoming Encyclopedia of High-Tech Crimes and
Crime-fighting. That one was proposed by an editor and researched almost
entirely on the Internet.
JON: How did you come to write the Don
Pendleton books?
MICHAEL: I was a fan before I started writing
the books (or anything else, for publication). Around 1976 I was reading various
fictional biographies of James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage, etc., and it
occurred to me that the Mack Bolan character from Pendleton's
"Executioner" series might do well in a book of that sort, written by
someone distinct from the original series author. I got up the nerve to propose
it and Pendleton called me at home a few months later. He didn't care for my
idea but he was working on
something vaguely similar that became my first professionally published work.
Next up, he hired me as a "ghost" to work on several novels in his
next six-book contract and it snowballed from there.
JON: Do you have a favorite among all your
work?
MICHAEL: Avoiding the cliche that my next
work is always the favorite, I'd have to say it would be "The Invisible
Empire," which recently won an award as best book on Florida history for
2002, and/or "Silent Rage," which involved working with serial killer
Eddie Cole.
 JON:
With all the true crime writing you do, are there any cases that really
grab you, ones that really capture your interest more than others?
MICHAEL: Ed Gein is still the strangest
killer I've ever researched, and I suspect he always will be. After him, I've
been fascinated for years by the controversy surrounding Henry Lee Lucas and his
partner in crime Ottis Toole.
JON: When writing true crime, do you need to
be careful of using names of real people? Are there aspects of it that need to
be kept out of the public eye?
MICHAEL: I only use pseudonyms if a
particular person is still alive and likely to sue. Generally speaking these
cases are already notorious, within legal definitions, and most of the facts
have been aired in the media. I suppose dwelling on the minute details of a
sexual assault might be too much, but I rarely write about victim's who have
survived in any case and by the time I deal with a case it has generally passed
into history.
JON: Has there ever been any controversy over
something you’ve written? I’ve heard that people are disputing facts in the
Black Dahlia book you co-authored.
MICHAEL: The only complaints I've heard so
far about the Dahlia book come (a) from theorists convinced they know "the
truth" about the case (though none of them played any part in the
investigation and most weren't born when the crime occurred), or (b) from
individuals whose minds are closed on the subject of repressed/recovered
memories. There's a whole industry devoted to pretending that traumatic amnesia
doesn't exist. Unfortunately, most of those beating the drum for "the other
side" are either professional defense witnesses or accused criminals.
That work aside, the only real controversy I've encountered were the two
frivolous libel suits filed against me by serial killer Gerard Schaefer in
1993-94. I beat both cases in court before he was murdered in 1995, and I had
the satisfaction of hearing a federal judge officially declare Schaefer
a confessed serial killer (something he always tried to deny, even while
privately boasting of 80-100 murders).
JON: With all the exposure to the real side
of crime and murder that you’ve had, do you ever run across something that
utterly shocks you?
MICHAEL: I think I'm shock-proof at this
point, though certain demonstrations of perversity give me pause from time to
time. Dahmer's slave-making experiments, for instance; or the character in
Canada who cut one of his victims open and ate cereal out of her stomach.
JON: What made you want to start writing? Did
you write as a child?
MICHAEL: I was six or seven years old when I
started putting together my first "books," normally 10 or 12 pages
long, produced on an old manual typewriter with hand-drawn illustrations. I got
more serious about it in high school, but never really thought it would go
anywhere until Don Pendleton gave me my break in the business.
JON: Are you a big reader? And what do you
like to read? Any favorite authors?
MICHAEL: I've always been a bookworm and
would probably read instead of writing, if it paid the bills. I enjoy so many
authors a list would take all day, but a few off the top of my head include
Kinky Friedman, Carl Hiassen, Stephen King, Lawrence Bloch, Patricia Cornwell,
Barbara Gowdy, Robert Leckie, Jack Olsen, J.K. Rowling, Tolkein, Ian Fleming ...
I may as well stop there.
JON: What exactly is Cryptozoology? And how
hard is it to research?
MICHAEL: The man who coined the term, Dr.
Bernard Heuvelmans, defined it as the study of hidden animals -- meaning either
those unrecognized by modern science or those officially deemed extinct (but
still reported as alive and well from various parts of the world). Thankfully,
there are hundreds of books on the subject, along with several good periodicals
and a growing number of Internet websites.
JON: Any favorite stories from your research
into Cryptozoology?
MICHAEL: I've always been drawn to tales of
the Yeti, Bigfoot and Nessie, but there is such a wide variety of creatures
reported all around the world today that it's difficult to choose a favorite.
The Mongolian "death worm" intrigues me, but I suppose if I could only
study one, I'd go with the reports of surviving dinosaurs from the African
interior.
JON: Do you actually have any free time? And
if so, what do you like to do with it?
MICHAEL: Free time is increasingly hard to
come by, but when I get some I'm either reading or researching some new project.
JON: What do you think is the reason people
are so interested in true crime? People (myself included) are just fascinated
with it.
MICHAEL: Part of it's the car-wreck syndrome,
slowing down to look and thinking there but for the grace of "God" go
I, etc. I think today that many people are also enthralled by forensic science,
and some may be hoping that if they read about enough psycho-killers they can
spot the next Jeff Dahmer when he
moves in next door.
JON: Your website (http://www.michaelnewton.homestead.com/)
is really nice. Do you put a lot of time into it?
MICHAEL: I have literally nothing to do with
it. My fiancee is also my webmaster and deserves all the credit. I'm a virtual
high-tech illiterate.
JON: It seems like westerns are making a bit
of a come back, both in movies and books. Do you plan to keep writing them?
MICHAEL: I'd like to keep up the current
series, but since it started as a one-off novel and was never meant to be a
series in the first place, we'll have to see how it goes.
JON: What are some of your favorite movies?
MICHAEL: I've actually thought about this
one, perhaps more than I should. My all-time favorite is The Wild Bunch. Others
would be Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Unforgiven, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
JON: Do you get asked to consult by either
law enforcement or other authors?
MICHAEL: I hear from other writers now and
then, but nothing from law enforcement since I spoke at a few conferences on
child sexual abuse in the 1990s. Police usually want a Ph.D. or university
affiliation before they take anyone seriously--even if the Ph.D. in question is
shoveling manure with both hands (like one or two who shall remain nameless).
JON: What can we look forward to seeing from
you next?
MICHAEL: All my books in progress are listed
on the website, but those I'm enjoying most right now are the FBI encyclopedia
and the Cryptozoology book.
JON: What is the one thing always in your
refrigerator?
MICHAEL: That would be Classic Coke. Can't go
long without a sugar-caffeine rush.
|
