About Rick Neumayer

Self Interview

First things first. Can you tell us a little more about you?

I started trying to write fiction seriously soon after graduating from college. I wrote part-time at night, on weekends, and during the summers when I was teaching. One year before my daughter was born, I taught half-time while trying to write my first novel. I failed. Now I am a full-time writer and have been since 2004, when I retired after thirty years of teaching. My first book, Journeyman, was published 1 September 2020; my second, Hotwalker, 1 October 2021; my third, The Little Green Men Murders, 1 July 2024.

And what about the books you write?

Journeyman is classified as literary fiction. Hotwalker and The Little Green Men Murders are mystery novels.

What inspired you to write this book and series?

I’ve loved mysteries all my life and once spent twenty years trying to write one. The great fictional sleuths appear in series, from Sherlock Holmes onward. In the 1970s and 1980s, the classic American P.I. hero began springing up in places other than NY, Chicago, or LA. I loved this development and decided why not in Louisville, KY? In this way, I get to write the kind of story I love and set it in the place I call home, which I happen to know more about than I do the aforementioned ones and which makes it feel even more real to me.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing? What do you think makes a good story?

Motivation is number one through 100. No writing can exist without it. I look for voice, a polished prose style, authenticity, and a strong sense of place. There is no story without interesting characterization, obviously, and I prefer plotted fiction to amorphous narratives. Every. Word. Counts. So does every sentence and every paragraph. Hee’s a quote from a creative writing prof that I admire: “I can’t teach you to write, but I can teach you to rewrite.” Two separate skills really, and rewriting is by far the more important. If I like a writer, I will try to read every word he or she has ever written. I hate it when my favorite writers die because they won’t be writing any more books for me to read.

Where do you get your ideas?

I stumble across them, usually. Rarely do I know what I’m going to write when I begin. I have some ideas but until I write the epiphany—I’m a James Joyce disciple—I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m speaking now of short fiction. My longer fiction tends to grow out of my shorter fiction. An exception is my mystery writing, where I start with the final clue and work backwards to the beginning of the story.

What is your writing process like? On a typical day, how many hours do you spend writing? What time of the day do you usually write? What is your work schedule like when you are writing? What is the best part of your day?

It varies. There are times when I have worked for ten or twelve hours straight, day after day. Other times, not so much. Usually nowadays, I write from after breakfast until late afternoon—somewhere between four and six hours. That’s every day, seven days a week. The best part of my day can be the moment when I write something I consider really good. It can also be when I get to stop writing. Of course, writing is not my entire life and I usually enjoy the rest of the day, as well.

When you are writing an emotionally draining scene, how do you get in the mood? Do you write listening to music?

I love music. I am a singer, used to sing lead in bands. But I cannot concentrate on writing if I am listening to music, so I don’t. When I write an emotionally draining scene, I usually soldier on until a draft is finished. Then I go work out or grab a beer, or both. Writing a book is a hard slog that takes many, many months for me. I try to pace myself, but at times it becomes too much, and I feel overwhelmed. Then I need a break. But I always come back. I do think writing has changed me in some ways. Despite the nearly constant rejection of agents and editors, writing has helped improve my self-esteem, thus making me (I hope) a better, more empathetic person.

What is the most difficult part about writing for you? How do you handle writer’s block?

Getting it right is the hardest part, whether in the initial inspiration stage or the rewriting. None of it is easy. Rewriting over and over, making sure there are no clunker sentences, no errors, nothing that belongs there left out—this is the laborious part, but also the glory of it all because once you do get it right you feel wonderful. I seldom have writer’s block anymore, though I did at first. I believe it is usually just self-doubt, which we all experience from time to time. I did not mention the rejection part because that comes after the writing, and we don’t need to think about that until the time comes.

What advice do you have for writers?

Do what you want to do with your life, not what other people tell you. Somebody once said, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour on the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” That’s how I see it, too. You must make your own meaning in life. The single most important lesson I have learned about writing is to finish what you start. I cannot say I have always done that. But even if your work-in-progress is truly terrible, in finishing it you will establish an essential habit. In my own case, I would have started earlier, stuck to it with all my might no matter what, and never have thrown away anything I wrote. I’m talking about complete stories, not bad drafts. I tossed my first short story out of embarrassment and have regretted it ever since. That was well over fifty years ago.

How important is autobiography in your books?

Fiction writers all use the canvas of their lives and experiences to create characters. It is almost impossible not to do so, at least for me. The chief advantage of writing autobiographically is that I know everything about the character and thus can be very authentic in my portrayal; the chief risk is that I may limit myself unnecessarily to the facts rather than creating something new and different.

What are the most important books to read?

The ones you enjoy. I’m a firm believer in the pleasure principle. Nobody willingly does stuff that makes them unhappy. Once you develop a love of reading, of course, wise adult guidance can be very helpful. I was reading the Classics Illustrated versions of books like The Count of Monte Cristo when I was really young. By the time I was ten, I had read every Sherlock Holmes story and novel there was. I also liked the Hardy Boys. I read Treasure Island and Kidnapped, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I read everything I could get my hands on.

Who are your favorite writers and why?

I have difficulty picking my favorite anything. On top of that, as an English teacher by trade for many years, I am keenly aware that there are just too many great writers to name one or two. If I had to choose one on pain of death, though, it would probably be Hemingway, who had a huge effect on my writing because of his style and courage and because he’d been a newspaper reporter, which I was myself as a young man. Different books have been important to me at different times in my life. Mr. Russell, my fourth-grade teacher in Torrance, California, for example, read Don Quixote aloud to us daily, and I thought it was about the funniest, wisest thing I’d ever heard. Still do in many ways.

Who are the mystery authors you most admire? What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

I’ve always read mysteries for pleasure. But they have also been my textbooks as a mystery writer. Again, this would be a very long list. But any list would have to include Arthur Conan Doyle, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker, Ed McBain, Dick Francis, Elmore Leonard, Lawrence Block, John Lutz, Loren Estleman, Peter Corris, James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, James W. Hall, Tony Hillerman, Sue Grafton, Ian Rankin, Jonathan Valin, and Randy Wayne White, to name but a few.

What is your favorite quote?

“Give me love / give me love / give me peace on earth.” –George Harrison.

“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” —Ernest Hemingway.

How many books have you written, including unpublished and half-finished books?

Eight novels, three published, five still in-progress.

What was the inspiration for Hotwalker?

I read a newspaper story about an unsolved murder on the backside at Churchill Downs and it occurred to me that I’d never heard of that happening before. It remains unsolved today. The fact that the victim was Guatemalan and part of a world that few outsiders ever see or understand made it more intriguing. I had already invented a detective hero. All he needed was a case. I’d never read one set on the backside at the Downs. The idea seemed irresistible.

What was the inspiration for Journeyman?

In 1971, I hitchhiked across the country with a friend, an experience which inspired Journeyman. I also taught in an inner-city school that year, which helped to inspire the other part of the tale. It was a story I had been wanting to write for half a century but didn’t know how. Or didn’t feel ready to do it justice. Until I did.

What was the inspiration for The Little Green Men Murders?

During the pandemic, when we were all afraid of each other’s germs, something wonderfully wacky happened. A 12-foot-tall metal monolith of unknown origin was discovered in a remote desert canyon in Utah by surveyors in helicopters. The thing resembled the monolith in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and it had been hidden there where nobody on the ground could see it for five years. Who does that? Soon the monolith disappeared. But over the next two months, over 100 more monoliths turned up all over the world. This had never happened before. Who was doing it and why? Aliens? Practical jokers? Weird artists? I found it amazing, fascinating, and wonderful. I wanted to write a book about it. Then I remembered reading about this Little Green Men Festival in western Kentucky and I thought, whoa!

What is the significance of the Hotwalker title?

The title refers to the job, of course, usually performed by low-paid immigrant workers who are at the bottom of the pecking order in the racing world. When a racehorse returns from its workout or a race, it is untacked and given a bath by the groom. Then a hotwalker leads it around with periodic water stops for a half-hour, or until it is thoroughly cooled out. I love the word because I find it both poetic and slightly obscure.

What is the significance of the Journeyman title?

The title refers to the hitchhiking trip out West. It also alludes to the protagonist’s level of life experience (a journeyman in earlier lingo was a tradesman who was no longer an apprentice but not yet a master of his trade.) Of course, it is also a pun. My late writer friend Joe Peacock suggested the title.

What is the significance of The Little Green Men Murders title?

Well, it’s a mystery so the murders part needed to be in there. The rest is self-explanatory.

Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing the story? What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Yes, there is much to do. Before writing the narrative, I try to find out anything and everything I can about setting, real life events and people connected to the story, and all manner of technical information. Sometimes it takes a couple of months, sometimes less. But that is only the beginning. While writing the narrative, I am constantly going online to learn more about the subject of the book. Yes, I have a library card which I use all the time. And Mr. Google and Mr. Wikipedia are two of my closest friends.

How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?

A lot. My mentors at Spalding U. placed great emphasis on creating a strong sense of place. It was an eye-opening discovery for me that changed my fiction dramatically. Basically, when the reader parachutes into the novel, it is the writer’s job to provide him or her with a road map to understand where they are and what it’s like there. Imagine the difference between a desert setting and a frozen mountain range setting. Or New York City v. Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

As with most either/or questions, both are desirable goals. Fictional world building can be fun. Faulkner created Yoknapatawpha County for his fictional realm. Everything James Joyce ever wrote is deeply rooted in Ireland. In his Dark Tower series, Stephen King attempts to link characters from many of his fictional worlds. I’d like all mine to be connected, too, and all three of my novels are set in Kentucky. Of course, The Little Green Men Murders is also the second novel after Hotwalker in the Jim Guthrie, P.I. series.

What comes first, plot or characters?

This is a chicken-or-egg question to me. It can, and has been, either one. If I hear an anecdote or of an incident that I find interesting, I’ll make a note of it and try to explore its fictional potential. Same thing with people. Storytelling is all about details—choosing the right ones and getting them right—and knowing what to leave out, like a sculptor discovering the form concealed inside the marble block.

If Hotwalker and Journeyman became movies, who would you cast to star in each?

I would almost always prefer an unknown to portray my protagonists, especially for Journeyman where the two main characters are such young men. Stars bring so much of their own glamor to a role that they tend to crush nuances and distinctions that matter to me. But if pressed by Hollywood to cast someone to play Jim Guthrie in Hotwalker, the actor who comes to mind is Timothy Olyphant who played Raylan Givens in “Justified” to play Jim Guthrie in Hotwalker and The Little Green Men Murders.

How was the writing process in Journeyman different from Hotwalker and The Little Green Men Murders? What was the highlight of writing each novel? What were the key challenges you faced?

Journeyman was an early attempt at writing a literary novel after several tries at mystery novel writing. It grew out of my studies in the MFA program at Spalding U. and continued for several years with the help of my writers’ group. Everything about it was a challenge. A lot of the time I did not know what I was doing, but I did have a lot of autobiographical experience to guide me. Otherwise, I might never have finished it. On the other hand, I have no autobiographical experience with murder whatsoever.

What are the key themes and messages in The Little Green Men Murders, Hotwalker, and Journeyman? What do you hope your readers take away from reading each?

Pleasure. Let me say up front that I dislike theme or message-mongering. But I cannot deny that themes and messages exist in my work. In Journeyman, I think it is obvious that peace and love and all the things that resonate with them rank high. But I am mainly just trying to tell a story, one that will appeal to a lot of smart, good-hearted readers who can then draw their own conclusions about what it means. The Little Green Men Murders and Hotwalker are mystery novels and by definition an entertainment…. Justice, naturally, is big in any mystery. But The Little Green Men Murders is also about our wonder and fascination with the unknown. Hotwalker is also about immigrants. And cheating in racing. And love.

You have written both mystery and “literary” novels. Do you have a preference? Is one easier to write than the other?

I loved doing both. Neither is easy. In fact, writing any kind of novel is the hardest work I have ever done. But it is also the most satisfying. Plotting a mystery is generally far more difficult than plotting a literary novel. But plot matters much less in a literary novel, where characterization and figurative language are more valued.

Do you find it more challenging to write the first book in a series or to write the subsequent novels? How do you keep a series fresh?

I think they are equally challenging, but in different ways. Of course, if the first book is no good, you’re doomed. But if it works, then you have a protagonist and other equipment already going for you, which helps a lot. You must give the reader “the same thing, only different” in the sequel. We all know about Star Wars and Indiana Jones and how they revisit familiar landscapes while also trying to add new territories. Same here.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I wanted to be a baseball player. My grandfather played ball and I wanted to be just like him. I did play baseball for many years and remain a big fan of the L.A. Dodgers. I also wanted to be a singer—and was lead singer in local rock’n’roll bands for fifteen years. There were no writers in my family (although I later learned that my father had some unrequited writing—and singing—ambitions). So, it never occurred to me that I could be a writer any more than I could be an astronaut. But almost everyone in the family was a reader. And as a kid, I adored being read to. I memorized entire books just for the fun of it. One early one was “The Night Before Christmas.” I also memorized Poe’s “The Raven,” which of course is a long poem, not a book.

Share something your readers would not know about you.

In 1979, I was arrested for a solo protest at the Marble Hill nuclear power plant, which was under construction. I did it for two reasons. One, because I feared that if completed, Marble Hill would endanger my young family. And two, I was sick and tired of hearing people talk about doing something without ever actually doing anything. I thought Thoreau had the right idea. When Emerson visited Thoreau in jail for protesting the Mexican War, he said, “Henry, what are you doing in there?” And Thoreau replied, “Ralph, what are you doing out there?” I also believed that one person protesting alone might make a special impact. And it did, at least on my life. I expected to go to jail (which I did, but for less than an hour—and was basically forgiven by the court when my case came up) and possibly lose my teaching job—and my career—for doing it. Instead, everyone from my fellow jailbirds to my students to school board members wanted to shake my hand and congratulate me. I was very lucky that fate smiled on me that November afternoon in Madison, Indiana.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

My website, rickneumayer.com, is the best place to find out more about me and my books, and to contact me. I am on Facebook, too, and am always happy to communicate with my readers.

If you had to describe yourself in two words, what would they be?

A storyteller.