An Interview with Suspense Author Alton Gansky

Talking About Publishing, Forensics Investigations, and the Death of Christ

Q: Alton, thanks for take a few minutes to answer some questions for us today. First of all, I see you did many things before becoming an author, and you served in the ministry for twenty years. How did you come to the writing world?

My love of books and writing goes back to childhood. Through each of my careers, I harbored a desire to write. I tried my hand at short stories, articles and even published a magazine for a while. I had a novel sitting on the shelf and a friend encouraged me to rewrite it and start submitting. Dave Horton, then of Victor Books, bought it. By My Hands became my first published book. It took a long time to get to that point. My varied background has been helpful in my writing.

Q: I see you offer three of your earliest novels for free in e-book format on your website. What motivated you to do this, and do you think downloading e-books from the Internet - rather than purchasing them from a brick and mortar store - is the future of book sales?

The books went out of print and I thought it might be fun to make my early books available to readers. I decide to give them away rather than sell them. My early work shows that I was still learning the ropes. I also give away a few later books that are also out of print. So far, I've sent about 700 copies around the world. That being said, I don't think ebooks will replace ink and paper. Most people prefer to hold something when they read. Now, will electronic readers replace books? Probably not, but they will fill a niche.

Q: Your background is fairly diverse: firefighter, architecture, business, ministry, and now fiction. Does having this broad range of experience help craft better, more believable characters?

I think so. I never base a character on anyone I know, but I do use experiences from these various fields in my work. Working in different fields has taught me to think outside the lines.

Q: The idea for Crime Scene Jerusalem is fairly unique. How did the storyline find its genesis?