Author Steve Hamilton won the 1999 Edgar and Shamus Awards for Best First Novel. He's the only author to ever win both awards for a first novel.

Since then, he's developed a large fan base for his Alex McKnight series. His most recent novels include, The Hunting Wind and Blood is the Sky.

FictionAddiction.NET's Veronica Atkinson caught up with Hamilton right as he was getting ready to go on tour to promote Blood is the Sky.

Alex McKnight is a very believable character. Does he represent anyone in your life, past or present?

He doesn't represent anyone real in my life, and he's certainly not me. To tell you the truth, I honestly don't know where he came from. When I tried to write a private eye novel (you know, sitting in his office, ready to take a case) and totally failed, Alex was sort of there waiting instead. Does that make any sense?

In your novel The Hunting Wind, the search for a gypsy woman named Maria gets Alex and his friend into a whole lot of trouble. How did you come up with the idea to make Maria a gypsy?

I'm not sure if it was politically correct to do that, but I had just read this article on women who... No, wait a minute, if I say that, I'll be spoiling the book for anyone who hasn't read it yet! I'll take the fifth on this one.

In Blood is the Sky your fans get to see one of your secondary characters step into the spotlight. What made you decide to focus this novel more on Vinnie LeBlanc?

Vinnie was a big part of the second book, Winter of the Wolf Moon. He and Alex had a falling out in that book, and Vinnie really hasn't been around much since then. So I thought it was about time for him to come back. As good a friend as Jackie is to Alex, and also Leon in his own way, there's just something unspoken between Alex and Vinnie. They both share the same dark side, really.

The northern cold temperatures of Michigan are a focus in your novels. Are you much of an 'outdoorsy' kind of guy and do you enjoy any winter activities?

I was born and raised in Michigan, and I still love living in a real four-season climate. Having said that, we just got through a terrible winter with more snow than I've ever seen before. (Shoveling snow, that was my winter activity.) I did do a lot of snowmobiling in my day, but don't tell Alex that. He has this thing about snowmobiles.