Bookpleasures.comwelcomes  as our guest, Steven C. Harms author of TheCounsel Of The Cunning.

Stevenis a professional sports, broadcast and digital media businessexecutive with a career spanning over thirty years across the NBA,NFL, and MLB. He’s dealt with Fortune 500 companies, major consumerbrands, professional athletes, and multi-platform integrated sportspartnerships and media advertising campaigns.

Heis also an accomplished playwright having written and produced awildly successful theatrical production which led him to tackling hisdebut novel, Give Place to Wrath, the first in the Roger Viceroydetective series and The Counsel of the Cunning.

Norm:Good day  Steven and thanks for taking part in our interview.

Howdid you get started writing novels? As a follow up, why do you write?Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books? 

Steven:I was inspired to tackle writing a novel after a similar experience Ihad with tackling a theatrical production.

Fifteenyears ago I completed a two-act play that included music, drama, anddance. I thought at the time it was just a creative exercise to seeif I could actually bring my story to life on paper.

Well,from there it actually got to a stage and went on a five year hugelysuccessful run with 20,000 people seeing it. So, what was next? Mybrain landed on take your next inspiration and write a novel. 

Iwrite because it’s a creative release and the inspiration and goalis to bring a subtle, or sometimes obvious, message of morality intothe mystery/thriller/suspense genre.

And,I’m not taking any high ground here at all, but rather theuniversally accepted moral principles is the focus.

Norm:Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of thetwo? Please summarize your writing process.

Steven:Honestly, it’s mostly intuition with a dose of logic. We all haveintuitions that we come to find out were misplaced, so that flips onthe logic switch.

Norm:What inspired you to write your recent thriller, TheCounsel of the Cunning?

Steven:After the release of the first book, GivePlace to Wrath, Irealized that I needed to free up my detective hero, Roger Viceroy,from the constraints of working in a government agency. Think JackReacher to a degree.

Thatresulted in crafting a story that got him out of that position so Icould broadly widen the possibilities of story plots.

InTheCounsel of the Cunning,he’s hired away by a former U.S. Senator and billionaire to serveas a stealth investigator. That worked well.

Fromthere, I came up with a plot that involves international intriguecovering the streets of Milwaukee (Viceroy’s home base), thecorridors of Washington D.C. and a conspiracy in Central America. 

Norm:What was the time-line between the time you decided to write yourbook and publication? What were the major events along the way? 

Steven:It was about a three-year undertaking. My agent and I wanted to moveon from the publisher from the first book to upgrade that part of myopportunity as an author.

Thattook a while with publishers not necessarily looking to take on aback listed book in a series.

Wewere fortunate to land a deal with Suspense Publishing. From there,the editing process unfolded forCunningbringing the process to a planned publication in the spring of 2020.Unfortunately, the pandemic’s arrival pushed it all back, andfinally got it launched just last month.

Norm:Did you know the end of your book at the beginning?  

Steven:Absolutely. I know in my head the plot at a 30,000-foot level, butbefore I ever write one word I know more granularly the beginning,the end, and some of the middle that needs to happen to advance thestory. Then, I fill in the gaps and let the creative process blossom.

Norm:What was the most difficult part of writing the story?

Steven:Not to reveal too much, but the story as a parallel plot. Two thingsare going on at the same time. The challenge was to keep both afloatfor the reader and, while the trajectories of both are fast-paced, Ihad to be measured in their convergence so it built to a climax.

Norm:What is your secret in keeping the intensity of the plot throughoutthe narrative? 

Steven:I tend to include a number of short chapters that are planted in thestory to compel the narrative forward and quicken the pace, thusheightening intensity.

And,while not always, I also end most chapters with an action, idea, orsurprise for the reader so they want to turn the page.

Norm:Who is your favorite character in your book and why?  

Steven:Hands down, one of Viceroy’s assistant detectives – Trevor “Silk”Moreland. He’s a former high school athletic star who went onto adecade’s work as a top-flight detective for the Milwaukee PD beforejoining Viceroy’s team.

Hegrew up on Milwaukee’s streets, standing 6’5” with a wit and awell-timed irreverent attitude that seem to work well. Silk is getsthe most response from readers. They love him and want to see more ofhim in future books.

AsI developed the character, it was Silk’s irreverential trait thatopened a door, allowing me to write his dialogue with some humor andflare, and his interactions and reactions with a much wider berth,while also providing me the freedom to use him for plot moments thatworked better than Viceroy or Regina, the other assistant detective. 

Silkseems to resonate with readers in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Ithink it’s his dry, yet pinpoint humor he invokes at just the rightmoments combined with his dedication to being “a monster fordetails,” as Viceroy describes him. He’s completely sold out tobeing a detective and is passionate about finding clues or anglesthat others may have missed. The chapters he’s in just seem to havea more energetic bounce to them.

Norm:Where can our readers find out more about you?

StevenMy Website

Norm:Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Follow Here To Read Norm's Review of TheCounsel of the Cunning.