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 Neela Sakaria: Please tell us a little bit about your background. This is your first novel, correct?
Mark Cohen: Yes, this was my first novel. As for my background, I grew up in Denver, the son of a Jewish father and a mother that came from a poor white trash family in Alabama. I was raised Jewish, but more or less gave up on organized religion in my teens. I call myself the world's only Unitarian redneck.
I attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and the University of Colorado School of law. I served 4 years as an Air Force JAG, during two of which I served as a Special Asst. U.S. Attorney. In 1986 I was honored as the ABA's Outstanding Young Military Service Lawyer of the Year. After leaving the Air Force in 1987, I practiced law in Omaha from 1987-1995. I returned to Colorado in 1995.
I now live in Nederland, CO with my wife Tana and our daughter Natalea. Natalea is from China, she is almost 4 years old and we adopted her when she was 11 months old. We are in the process of adopting another girl from China. We have two dogs - Bear and Clyde. Nederland sits 17 miles west of and about 3,500 feet above Boulder, CO. The altitude is 8,236 feet. I work as a part-time municipal judge for the City of Boulder and also maintain a private practice. I studied karate for six years and I am on the Board of Directors of a non-profit that teaches techniques designed to avoid workplace violence and deal with it effectively when it takes place.
I have a great sense of humor. I was a Toastmaster for 12 years and was twice a finalist in the state's humorous speech contest. My interests include fitness and watching football. (I can still bench press 300 pounds at the age of 44). The Fractal Murders is my first novel, but I have authored numerous legal and non-legal publications. My articles have appeared in magazines that include Inside Kung Fu, Camping & RV, and Modern Dad.
Neela: Your law background obviously plays a part in the FRACTAL MURDERS. Can you talk about the research that went into writing the novel?
MC: Actually, most of the research involved teaching myself about fractal geometry. I needed to learn enough to be able to explain some of the concepts through dialogue, so I spent several days at the University of Colorado library copying articles on the subject. After learning the basics of fractal geometry, I then studied how those principles have been applied to predict the behavior of the stock market. There was no need to research legal issues; I already knew what lawyers and private investigators do. In fact, I had been a licensed investigator in Nebraska, though that just means I paid a $50.00 fee to the State of Nebraska and passed a background check.
Neela: Can you talk a little bit about the role that math plays in the plot of the book?
MC: The story revolves around the death of three math professors - all specialists in fractal geometry, but it does not presuppose any mathematical knowledge on the part of the reader.
Jayne Smyers, an attractive math professor at the University of Colorado, attempts to contact some colleagues across the country, only to learn that three of them are dead - two murdered and one an apparent suicide. Because all three specialized in fractal geometry, she is unwilling to call it a coincidence and demands that the FBI investigate. When the feds are unable to find a connection, she hires private eye Pepper Keane. She insists there is no way the deaths of three specialists in that field could have been a coincidence.
Eventually we learn that the three victims had been working on a model that would use principles of fractal geometry to predict the behavior of economic markets such as the stock market.
Neela: Is the book only for math geeks and fans of mysteries? What audience did you have in mind when writing?
MC: I don't think the book is only for math geeks. In fact, I had to take all my college math courses on a pass/fail basis to avoid bringing my grade point average down. The reader need not know any math to enjoy the book. (My 7th grade math teacher would be turning over in his grave if he knew I had written a book having anything to do with math). The concepts are explained through dialogue, and I believe people with "math-phobia" will be pleasantly surprised.
My target audience was people that enjoy mysteries, and perhaps people looking for a mystery that was a bit unique. I think the humor in it will remind many people of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. I have also heard people compare me to Nelson DeMille and Kinky Friedman.
Neela: Can you tell us a little bit about the writing process for you? Do you sit down with stories already in mind or do you just go with the flow as you write?
MC: I use a method I learned from a man named Tom Bird. The first thing I do is buy 2000 index cards. Then I sit down and write down random thoughts on the cards - one card for each thought. The thoughts might be something like "red car" or "Fargo, ND" or "JFK assassination." Some of the cards might even contain a few lines of dialogue. Then over a period of weeks I sort the cards into whatever categories seem relevant. This process helps ideas to come together.
After I do the cards I start with my characters, my goal being to create characters the reader will enjoy. Then I work on plot. In this case I knew I wanted to use fractal geometry in some fashion, and I came up with the idea that all three victims could be specialists in fractal geometry. Then I devised a plot that would provide the killer with a motive to kill all three victims.
I generally write in the mornings, before my analytical mind gets going. I also revise, revise, revise, until I really like what I have.
Neela: Tell our readers about Pepper Keane's character. What are some of Pepper's greatest strengths? Flaws?
MC: Pepper is a former Marine JAG, who later got burned out on practicing law and decided to move to the mountains to become a private eye. He has a Diet Coke addiction, an encyclopedic knowledge of rock 'n roll, and a trace of existential angst. He has a knack for quoting lyrics from old rock songs at just the right time. (When a friend calls and remarks that he sounds hungover, Pepper replies, "It wasn't wine that I had too much of, it was a double shot of my baby's love.")
At 5'10" he is the tallest living Keane, but like all members of the Keane family he has a thick build, weighing in at about 220 pounds. He has black hair, with a tuft of white in the front that results from a genetic fluke - hence the name "Pepper." He reads philosophy and can be introspective. He is very caring, perhaps sad that the world is not what it should be. Though he has a tough-guy ex-Marine exterior, I purposely made him a bit of a contradiction, and for example he flirts with vegetarianism.
He has a great sense of humor. His flaws are occasional depression, wisecracking, and a Diet Coke addiction. He can hold a grudge for a long time. His college sweetheart was killed in an auto accident while a passenger in a car driven by Mike Polk. Polk is one of the FBI agents that investigates the deaths of the three math professors and concludes that the deaths were unrelated. There is no love lost between Pepper Keane and Mike Polk because Pepper holds Polk responsible for his sweetheart's death all those years ago. As Pepper investigates the case, Polk begins to look like a suspect in the deaths of the three math professors.
Neela: Do you have plans to make a series out of these mysteries??
MC: Yes.
Neela: Are you working on any other projects?
MC: My current project is titled BLUETICK REVENGE. This story revolves around the leader of a white supremacist biker gang. The girlfriend of the gang's leader decides to become a government witness, but before she will cooperate she wants to get her prized Bluetick Coonhound back from her old man. So her attorney hires the private eye Hops Holladay to steal the dog.
But then Hops is asked to baby-sit the girlfriend until the feds can relocate her. Meanwhile the gang leader hires Hops to find his missing girlfriend - the one that Hops is actually babysitting. Hops thinks the gang leader may be able to provide information that will help Hops catch the Neo Nazi skinhead that killed Hop's brother, so Hop tells the gang leader he will search for the missing girlfriend. The girlfriend takes off, and then the gang leader learns that Hops was using him. So Hops has to find the girl and avoid getting killed by the biker gang. In the end the dog will help locate the gang leader and Hops may have to choose between killing the gang leader and killing the man responsible for his brother's death.
Neela: Sounds great. Thanks for your time, and good luck!
The Fractal Murders
Publisher: Muddy Gap Press
ISBN: 097189860X
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