Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was a newspaper and magazine writer/editor for 35 years. My first novel was Breaking Out, a coming-of-age story, and a ghost-written memoir for a woman closely followed. Murder in Palm Beach: The Homicide That Never Died is my second novel, and I recently released The Way It Was: Short Stories and Tall Tales. I am three-fourths finished with my third novel, a mystery inspired by an act of police brutality but replete with humor.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Murder in Palm Beach: the Homicide That Never Died. A magazine that I wrote for needed articles for its 50th anniversary addition, and I had been a newspaper reporter in 1976 when a sensational murder occurred in Palm Beach. Little did I know that a former colleague of mine would drop a bombshell about who the killer was and the powerful person behind the assassination.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
What’s probably most unusual is my lack of habit in writing. I weave it into the myriad other activities that fill my week, and ordinarily write in the evening, often into the week hours. When people ask me if I’m still working, I tell them I’m working harder than when I was working.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Pete Dexter’s Paris Trout impressed on me the need for attention to detail, and had expertly crafted examples of showing versus telling that enhanced my consciousness of that basic tenet of fiction writing. In A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley so profoundly showed the possibilities of character creation that I often thought she had to know these people intimately. Frank McCourt’s nimble application of wry but gentle humor to a book that could have been overwhelmingly depressing shined in Angela’s Ashes.
What are you working on now?
I’m excited about my third novel, which is about three-fourths finished. The inspiration for it was an act of police brutality experienced by a gentle, mixed-race computer repair person who once assisted me for free. The main character is a bigoted attorney I knew, and the book draws on elements from two of my favorite movies, My Cousin Vinny and Gran Torino. A tragic love affair imbues the story with heightened drama.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have belatedly begun building an email list, which I hope to grow via a landing page with my book of short stories given free. On my website, I have a blog for posting articles on three passions: socio-politics, alternative health care, and grammar (The Grammar Grouch). I fully intend to write additional blogs relating to my books, focusing on Murder in Palm Beach. The website is http://bobbrinkwriter.com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Be aware before you get involved that, with an estimated 1.2 million new books flooding the market annually, you are in for intense efforts at drawing attention to your book if you want to garner sales of any respectable size. Your email inbox will be inundated with marketing strategies that add up to considerable cost, and you need to summon all the savvy in your psyche to sift the wheat from the chaff.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again — but be realistic about your limitations.
What are you reading now?
Moo, by Jane Smiley. It’s a lot slower, and considerably more light-hearted than A Thousand Acres, and is defined by an understated humor that no doubt can best be appreciated by inhabitants of academe. The setting is a university in Iowa where Smiley taught, and ex-Iowans such as I can relate to the agricultural references. A dozen or so other books, most acquired in a library sale, await me — from John Grisham to John Sandford.
What’s next for you as a writer?
If I ever find time to finish the third novel, I would like to pursue a nonfiction story about a serial killer related to me at a book signing by the man’s defense attorney.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Three favorites: A Thousand Acres, Angela’s Ashes, and Paris Trout, the author of which, Pete Dexter, left a Florida newspaper 1 1/2 years before I arrived there.
Author Websites and Profiles
Robert Brink Website
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