Your work has received high acclaim - from awards to popular magazines. What element(s) do you think your work has that make(s) it stand out from the rest?

Hearse Case Scenario Book Review Excerpt Undertaker by day. Amateur sleuth by night. Hitchcock Sewell just keeps digging himself in a deeper and deeper hole. Hitch's longtime friend, Lucy Taylor, shows up at his office with a gun and a confession. Yes, she shot her nightclub boyfriend, Shrimp Martin, but he's still alive. Hitch immediately jumps into action. Even when Shrimp is stabbed through the heart in his hospital room, Hitch still knows Lucy could never do such a thing. Complete Review

I guess here I have to repeat myself from the previous answer. Hitch is a likable guy, slightly offbeat but not overly quirky. He has an honest way of looking at things. He is easily amused, often by the small things in life. I think people relate to this. I've made the guy very good looking and sexually appealing and at the same time very unthreatening and normal. Hitch is not larger than life. I think that's his secret.

I enjoy creating characters. In each of the books I've come up with characters - either newbies or series regulars - who are fun to spend time with. It's a motley crew. A congenial motley crew.

I'm guessing here, but I suspect that part of the appeal of the books is that they are not terrifically violent and graphic. This isn't to say that there isn't danger involved, but these are not books that go into terribly creepy places. Although, the truth is that the murderers in the books have some pretty twisted things going on...but that is not the tone that dominates the books. The more sordid aspects have to share the page with the fun and everyday silliness. I think it's the blend that has served me well.

Since you've written novels, screenplays and teleplays, which is your favorite to create and why?

Novels. I have more space to play with. I can afford to let myself run off on a tear in some surprise directions. Essentially I get to indulge myself with story and with language in a way that I can't in a screenplay. That said, I enjoyed writing screenplays and doing so taught me an awful lot about writing.

How did you decide to become a full-time novelist?

I forgot to come up with a regular career path. Writing is the only hobby I've ever stuck with. And vanity. I wanted to have books out there on bookstore shelves. And ego. I wanted to show off my silly writing skills. And the commute. From my bedroom to my desk, even during rush hour, it's not too bad. Writing books has been a dream of mine since I was a kid...one of those book-reading kids. One day I looked long and hard at a pen and realized that a publishable novel really was in there. There was something weirdly empowering in realizing this.

What's a typical writing day like for you?

The perfect typical writing day for me is to get up early...say 5:00...shake out the bones with some light exercise, then lock in for 4 to 5 hours of solid writing. I write longhand. So I might spend the final hour typing up what I've written. and I might spend the first half hour reading over the previous day's stuff. In a perfect world then I'd head off and play tennis for an hour and go on about my day. There are times when I'll put in a 12-hour writing day. There are also times when I'll put in five minutes. These are not what we call good writing days.

As an accomplished author, do you have other writing dreams you'd like to achieve?

That's a good question. I don't have a specific dream. Every time I read a book that particularly gets to me, I want to sit down and start my own version of that book. The most gratifying aspect of writing for me are the surprises. I would love nothing better than to sit down with my notebook and find myself writing a story I wasn't prepared to see. This has happened to me several times in my writing life - certainly the Hearse books - and it is an unimaginable thrill when it happens.

Your first hearse novel, The Hearse You Came in On, was actually written in 1998 and picked up by Hyperion later that same year. In this tough publishing market, how would you advise authors to get from unpublished manuscript to a published book with a major publishing house?

Well, my best advice is to get lucky. Okay...that's not fair. In my case I had made a lot of contacts during my screenplay writing period that when I turned to mystery novels I was fortunate enough to have people to get my manuscript to. Everybody's path to publishing is different. It can work for people by simply sending letters and sample chapters to the appropriate publishing houses, editors and agents. But of course it helps if you've gotten top know a person or persons who can help things along. Don't become a stalker, but make inroads. Writing courses. Writing groups. Six degrees of separation link-ups. I know I'm being vague here, but there's no single or simple formula.

What can your fans expect to see from you next?

Fans can expect to see the fourth book in the Hearse series. It is coming out in February 2003 and will be titled Murder in the Hearse Degree. They can expect to see a yellow and black book cover, a picture of me on the inside back flap, and many many pages of nonsense in between.

Thanks to Tim Cockey for taking time out for this special interview. You can purchase any of his novels, including his new release Hearse Case Scenario, through this site by visiting Amazon.com, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble or visit your favorite bookstore for more details.