Mickie McKinney: Boy Detective, The Case of the Absent Answers received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author R.L.Fink.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Mickie McKinney: Boy Detective, The Case of the Absent Answers, published 2022
What’s the book’s first line?
The name’s McKinney. Mickie McKinney. I’m a gumshoe, a private eye to those who speak my lingo, and a detective to those thatdon’t. I’ll find your cat or bust the monster under your bed, and I ain’t afraid of the dark either. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Mickie McKinney is Maple Ridge Middle School’s one and only private detective. (Not that anyone else wants the job). So when the new girl is accused of stealing the history test answers, Mickie has a hunch that someone else might be behind the crime.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I had developed Mickie McKinney first as a pilot script that I was hoping to use to get a job as a TV writer. When that didn’t pan out, I thought I might draw attention to my story if I turned it into a podcast and got an audience. I never got more than a hundred listeners, but I did learn a lot and I had fun with the various voice actors. As they acted out the roles I got a better sense of the characters, and the more they understood the roles, the more I did too. I had to pack up the project for a little while, but when everyone was forced into Covid Lockdown, I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. While I was waiting for the world to start again, I unpacked the audio scripts and started to develop them into a book series. After all, I had a lot of stories, why not see how they would work in a different format?
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Personally, I think it’s a lot of fun. My Dad would read Encyclopedia Brown, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew to my brother and sister and I every night when we were young and it is one of my cherished childhood memories. I wrote the story with the intention that I pass the same fun down to future generations.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character?
I developed the three main characters to be sort of a triad. Sam was the tough tomboy, aka the brawn, Burners as the girl genius was the brains and Mickie was the heart of the group. Even though Mickie isn’t smart like Burners or strong like Sam, he ties the group together because he is compassionate and does his best to right the wrongs around school and that is something both Sam and Burners appreciate. I think that sends a good message to young readers because even if they don’t have any special talents, or smarts, they can be kind, and in doing so, make the world a better place.
Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Well, I developed Mickie to be like Lucas Guererro, the voice actor of the original Mickie McKinney, but there’s also bits of me in him too. I daydream a lot, I’m the shortest in my family, and I used to think being paid in sweets was a pretty good idea. Lucas (as the other aspect of Mickie) enjoyed theater, he was very goofy, but he also was kind and very loyal to friends. Between the two of us, we brought a character to life that I think a lot of people can enjoy.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write. I have a memory of being very young and trying to dictate a story to my mom and getting frustrated because she wasn’t writing fast enough and I wasn’t old enough to write on my own yet. I have notebooks filled with stories (most of them horrible) dating back to when I was six years old. Fortunately, I was born into a family of writers, and between my Mom and Dad, I was given a lot of training on how to properly write stories. They are, (and continue to be) my biggest fans and worst critics. They have supported every story I ever wrote, but they will also let me know if something needs improvement. I am the writer I am because of them and I appreciate their teachings every day.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
Technically no. I’m a ghostwriter so there are a number of books out there that I have written, I just can’t take credit for them.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part of being an Indie is that I get to be in charge of everything. My vision, my decisions. Before I embarked down the Indie Road I tried working with a few people who were also in the publishing game. They gave me a lot of feedback and advice I didn’t want, and rather than argue with them for the duration of the series, I decided to do everything myself. The worst part of being an Indie is marketing. Half the time I feel like I’m throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. I also have to pay for everything. Financing a small team that includes editors, an illustrator, a narrator as well as any book contest and review I can find is not cheap, but hopefully it will all be worth it.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Put together a marketing plan and schedule everything you can a year in advance of publishing your first book. Book as many reviews as you can, as many contests as you can to keep your book relevant. Be prepared for a marathon rather than a sprint when it comes to getting your book out there. It takes time to be seen, and you don’t want to exhaust all your resources in the first month.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Only if I had a good audience following. Traditional publishers take care of some things, but a friend of mine got a traditional publisher and they only helped her out for six weeks. Regardless of whether you are indie or traditional, the biggest fan of your book is you, so you will be the one who cares the most about whether you fail or succeed at your publishing goals.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Greg Taylor, the creator of the Red Panda Adventures. A friend recommended his work to me and I listened to his podcast non-stop through the last years of college. He’s just a small Canadian writer, but his work kept me entertained when I was a starving artist and motivated me to write stories that provided humor and fun to others.