Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, and graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Washington. Actually, I'd started out as a Drama major, but switched to Sociology near the end of my Sophomore year because, back then, Sociology "sounded" better than Drama. My family was in the jewelry business, and weren't they surprised when I told them than I wanted a show business career.

Are you coming to mystery writing from another job?

I've been working in the entertainment industry since the mid-1960s, primarily running my own public relations agency, representing many well-known performers, composers, writers, directors, producers and other personalities.

I've been writing professionally since the early 1970s. During that decade, I wrote and had published seven non-fiction books, all dealing with some aspect of the motion picture industry and its personalities. Among these books were biographies of Basil Rathbone, Merv Griffin, Paul Muni and Charlton Heston.

In the 1980s, I wrote a series of one-person plays about various legendary film stars. Five of these (Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Carole Lombard, Orson Welles and Al Jolson) have been staged one or more times, with the Jolson play being the most popular of the group.

Then, in the very late 1980s, I had my first screenplay sale. The finished film, an action/comedy, was called KEATON'S COP (1990), and starred Lee Majors, Abe Vigoda and Don Rickles. Two other films, based on my original scripts, followed. They were CHEYENNE WARRIOR (1994) with Kelly Preston and DILLINGER AND CAPONE (1995) with Martin Sheen and F. Murray Abraham.

As I write this, two more films based on my scripts are in production. One is shooting in Canada and the other in India. I stopped doing p.r. 2-3 years ago, and now make my living as a writer, often working on assignment.

What led you to write mysteries?

I enjoy mysteries, but I'm really consider myself to be a storyteller. I love to spin a good yarn. If that tale happens to be a mystery, that's fine, but the elements that make me want to commit to writing a particular piece have more to do with the story premise and the characters, rather than the genre.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I started writing NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE in the mid-1970s. I got about halfway through it, then lost interest and set it aside.

Fifteen years later, I picked up the manuscript, read it and said to myself, "Hey, this isn't bad." It took me another year to finish the book, and the only publisher that I actually submitted it to was The Center Press, who is bringing it out this Spring as their first venture into fiction. I have had a prior relationship with this company. They'd previously published my "How to Tell a Story...Any Story: THE ART OF STORYTELLING," which is now used as a writing text in several colleges, and also my original screenplay of CHEYENNE WARRIOR.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

I didn't do much library research, because though NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE is totally a work of fiction, the town of Mineral Lake and many of its residents were inspired by a real place and real people that I knew when I was growing up.

One character in the piece is a Vietnam vet, so I did talk to a friend who'd been in that war in order to get some specific details on what it was like "in country".

Who are your influences as a writer?

I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't read a lot of fiction...mostly non-fiction. Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH is and always has been my favorite novel. Mystery-wise, I guess my favorite remains Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.

What does your family think of having a mystery author in their midst?

I think that my son is proud that his father is a published author, as well as a produced screenwriter/playwright.

Tell us about plans for future books.

I have a second novel completed. It's a thriller, entitled PHANTOM WITNESS. Assuming that NOBODY DROWNS IN MINERAL LAKE does well enough, I imagine that it could be published sometime next year.

How can readers get in touch with you?

Druxy@ix.netcom.com

Michael, thanks for joining us,and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake -- check it out.

June 3, 1999