Journalists are some of the most prolific writers of fiction, and when Derek Catron started publishing books, they naturally got on readers’ radar. To mark the release of his latest book, Final Deadline, Derek talks about the inspiration behind his work. Enjoy this week’s Big Five with author Derek Catron.
1. Tell readers a little about yourself and how you ended up in Central Florida.
My family moved to the Orlando area when I was in high school, and after graduating from the University of Florida, I started working at the Orlando Sentinel. I ended up as a “Daytona” reporter and discovered that I preferred the ocean breeze to the gridlock on the freeways. I never went back. I was an investigative reporter, project editor, and finally managing editor at the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Volusia County has been my home for most of my life, and I consider myself lucky. I got married here, raised my daughter here, and started writing novels when she got too cool to spend time with the old man. All is well now; I wouldn’t live anywhere else, and five books later, while I wouldn’t say I’m cooler, my daughter likes spending time with me again.
2. As a journalist, you deal with facts. How did you manage to switch from facts to fiction?
It was tough, the disciplines are so different. Journalism is about communicating facts as quickly and clearly as possible. Fiction is about knowing which facts to hold back to build suspense and narrative momentum and draw the reader deeper into the story. What is similar is researching to get things right. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from journalism is knowing what I don’t know, a humility I apply when building a fictional world that readers will recognize. For Last dateI remember researching (among many, many other things) what time the sun sets in March in Central Florida, both before and after daylight saving time began. I doubt few readers would have noticed if the sun had set late in my fictional county. But when you get the facts wrong, you risk destroying the magic of reality you’re trying to convey so that readers can lose themselves in your own world. This is even more important in historical fiction, since so much is unknown to a modern audience. I couldn’t go back to 1866 to research Trail Angel and its sequels, but I drove — with my very patient woman – the thousand-mile stretch between Omaha, Nebraska, and Virginia City, Montana. We even camped one night in a covered wagon. Anything so I could get a better feel for the terrain, the sight of the cottonwood leaves glistening in the sunlight, the smell of the air after a rain.
3. Your work spans multiple genres. Do you have a favorite genre and why?
The legend on my website, derekcatron.com, reads, “Join the Adventure.” Life is an adventure, and I want my readers to feel swept up in it. That’s my goal, whether it’s a historic covered wagon heading out West for love and a fresh start; a camping trip that turns violent and tests the courage and limits of two women’s friendship; or an editor’s efforts to protect those closest to him when his newsroom falls into forces beyond their control. When I began writing my first book, I had my late grandparents in mind. Both were avid readers, but they rarely read the same books. I wanted to write something they would have been happy to share. So far, so good.
4. Are there any authors who have inspired you and if so, who has had the greatest influence on you as a writer (and of course why)?
I enjoy many different authors and learn from every book I read. Dickens and Hemingway taught me that “literature” can be fun. Larry McMurtry took me to worlds that seemed more real on paper than anything I had known in life. John Grisham showed how to create nerve-racking suspense from settings as mundane as a Southern courtroom. Laura Lippman proved that former journalists could create stories that seemed even truer than the news they once reported. Elmore Leonard said, “Skip the boring parts,” and Lee Child showed how to “write the slow parts fast and the fast parts slowly.” I probably learned the most from the character-driven mystery thrillers of Stephen King and JK Rowling. If they can trust that their readers will appreciate a compelling story that occasionally pauses to breathe life into characters so that they are more than mere plot devices, then who am I to argue with them?
5. This book is different from your others. Why do readers have to go back to the editor?
Last date is pure fiction. Thankfully, armed men never invaded a newsroom where I worked. But the story is more personal than any I’ve written. As more and more local newspapers across the country close or wither away into a shell of what they once were, I couldn’t get rid of this story. Local news matters, even if people ignore it most of the time. The stories you read in these pages foster a sense of community by making you more informed about the place you live and the people you call neighbors. This is a unifying influence that we ignore at our own peril. Although it comes from a dark corner, the story is ultimately hopeful. Because when I think back on my own career as a journalist, the stories that mattered most to me were the ones that asked questions no one else was asking or uncovered facts no one else had – all with the goal of making or keeping our community a better place to live. All good journalists have stories like this. It was a perspective I wanted to share – wrapped up in a rollicking story of danger and secrets and love that had been denied for too long.
You can find “Final Deadline” as a hardcover, paperback and e-book on Amazon at these links:
Hardback edition: https://amzn.to/4fDfrJJ
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3ygSZoM
E-book: https://amzn.to/4fnrNFA
