ABOUT ROBERT DUGONI
“One of the best crime writers in the business.”
—Associated Press
“Dugoni is a superb storyteller…”
—Boston Globe
Robert Dugoni is a critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author, reaching more than ten million readers worldwide. He is best known for his Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle. He is also the author of the Keera Duggan legal thriller series, Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels. His novel The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell received Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, and Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. Washington Post named his nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary a Best Book of the Year.
Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a three-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. Dugoni’s books are sold in more than twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.
INTERVIEW
LYNN: As a trained lawyer, what made you want to leave that career behind and write mysteries?
ROBERT: I’ve wanted to be a writer since the seventh grade. I went to law school because I chickened out, thought it important to have an advanced degree. I have nine siblings, and they are compulsive overachievers. I guess I am also. But I realized early in my legal career that this was not my passion, that it was never going to get me up in the morning and make me happy. So, I set it aside, started from scratch and went back to writing. There have been many ups and downs, but with the strength of my family, I’ve made it through.
LYNN: Since I assume you’ve never killed anyone, what made you think you could write a credible mystery?
ROBERT: My Dad was a movie watcher, and I watched many with him. The question was always, what is going to happen next? Can you figure it out? Mysteries are puzzles. You keep putting pieces together until you can see what the puzzle is, then you race to finish it.
LYNN: How did you decide on your lead character Tracy Crosswhite?
ROBERT: I had been let go by Simon & Schuster, and my agent said, “David Sloane is dead. Write me a new character.” We looked through my old novels and I had this character in a book, Murder One, named Tracy Crosswhite. She was a former chemistry teacher who became Seattle’s first female homicide detective. I had no idea where she’d come from or why, but my agent said, “Find out.” Since eating is the mother of necessity, I embarked on finding out who Tracy Crosswhite was and why she was in one of my stories.
LYNN: Can you describe how you research particular aspects of your books—forensics, psychology, or investigation techniques?
ROBERT: I usually call someone who knows someone, and they put me in touch with the person I need. Recently I needed a shooter, and a friend put me in touch with a marksman. He took me and my son out shooting and then read the draft of my book and made suggested changes. It’s really cool because many of these people become my friends.
LYNN: What’s the toughest thing you’ve had to write with regards to stories involving murder?
ROBERT: I won’t write about kids in peril. I have two children, and I just don’t want to go down that path. In the book, In the Clearing, I had a young Native American woman killed, and it was probably the hardest murder story I’ve had to write.
LYNN: What aspect do you enjoy most about writing your stories?
ROBERT: I love the collaborative and creative process I have with my editors and agents about the next book—what I’m thinking, what I want to try. I have a great team, and they usually have some really terrific ideas. I love trying out new ideas and thoughts.
LYNN: Do you ever feel creeped out when writing about murder?
ROBERT: Always. Hard to wrap my head around the thought of someone taking another life, but I think that is the large majority of people. I don’t write blood and guts. I don’t write torture or anything like that. I don’t want to write it or read it. Like kids in peril, it just isn’t my thing. In fact, I usually write about the murder offstage, and my lead character is trying to figure out what happened.
LYNN: Which story/crime has burned itself into your psyche and not let go?
ROBERT: None. I don’t dwell on those kinds of things. I try to turn my phone off at night and not get caught in the Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram loop. I don’t think it is productive or healthy. I’ve even stopped reading MSN on my computer because I noticed that whatever I clicked on I got more and more of those stories. If anything, I think the Ukraine story is the most disheartening. To think of century old villages completely wiped off the map is just sad. It will likely never happen, but Vladimir Putin should be tried as a war criminal.
LYNN: What’s something about yourself that most people don’t know?
ROBERT: I suffer from low levels of anxiety and OCD. I don’t try to hide it. I acknowledge it, but I don’t let it drive the car or even sit in the passenger seat. It sits in the back seat. Someday, I’m hoping to pull over and kick it out of the car completely.
Thank you so much, Robert. I think I can speak for thousands of your fans that the world didn't need another attorney, and that we're better served with you as an author. Thank God you chose a different path.
Links to follow Robert:
Website: www.robertdugoni.com
X: @robertdugoni | Threads: @robertdugoni | Facebook: @AuthorRobertDugoni
Instagram: @robertdugoni
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