Timony McKeever Author Interview

The Gumdrop House Affair is a genre-crossing novel with elements of mystery, thriller, and crime drama as well. Did you start writing with this in mind or did this happen organically as you were writing?

I never considered what genre anyone would label or put The Gumdrop House Affair in when I began writing it. The character of Father William Yeats Butler also known as “The Monk”, is so multi-faceted both physically and spiritually and I have known him so intimately, he doesn’t fit just one genre. However, as the book developed from my initial outline it became its own entity. The characters, including the Monk became deeper and, in some cases, more complicated. Empathy, cynicism, anger, spiritual beliefs and violence at all levels came from unexpected sources.

An outline is a good start, but I feel you should never be a slave to it. As I write, my ideas seem to expand because I am more open to the flow of the work. This may sound odd, but often my characters surprise me. They tell me things or remind me of things that I never considered or have forgotten about in their development. The organic part of writing and character development is too important to dismiss because it wasn’t in your outline. It’s what makes it the writing the most fun and rewarding. Sometimes the most beautiful things appear that were never in any outline.

The characters in this novel, I felt, were intriguing and well developed. Who was your favorite character to write for?

The Ugly in all his forms and his confrontations with the Monk directly or indirectly. There are a surprising number of Christians who don’t believe in Satan because they don’t want to think about there being a Hell as a possible destination after they die. Every religious belief I’ve read about has some form or entity like the Ugly.

Even those who profess no faith question the seemingly senseless acts of cruelty and violence that man does to his fellow man. What motivates a timid Florist to go home one night, beat his family to death, then kill himself. Someone or something moved this man to commit such an unspeakable crime.

Being the Irish Catholic that I am, expressing how I feel the Ugly works and giving him human forms, a conversational voice and intellect gives the reader an awareness of the Ugly in a way they may not have had before reading any of the Monk Mysteries. He can appear as the 14-foot-tall winged purple creature with a long tail and scale like skin or a handsome man in an Armani suit, what ever works best at the time. If the Devil was at your party, he would be the most popular and attractive person in the room. Plus, he would be able to tell you everything you ever wanted to hear about yourself to make you feel special and superior.

Giving the Ugly a sense of humor, a temper, a social presence and a fantastic awareness of the nature of man made the Ugly a compelling character. His surprisingly humorous shenanigans with the Monk could not hide the true malevolence of his presence. This was intended to make the reader aware who the real enemy in our culture is.

The novel touched on many social issues prevalent today like crime and corruption. What were the themes you wanted to explore in this novel?

Thousands of men and women takes vows and oaths everyday and promise to live up to those vows and oaths as to their jobs as Priests, Nuns, Policemen, Doctors and Politicians. Those who live up to those oaths and vows seldom receive any press. Those who don’t live up to those oaths get more press than they deserve. However, the coverups by the Church, payoffs and ignoring all types of crimes has become culturally systemic in the Church and needs to be addressed.

Having been a Criminal Investigator most of my life I know firsthand these men and women are also human with stresses and problems like everyone else. Everyone has character defects, but too often society expects Priests and those who are in Law Enforcement and positions of trust to be faultless. When you spend so much of your day dealing with people as their worst or as victims it is easy to become extremely cynical.

As in The Gumdrop House Affair, everyone reaches their breaking point and responds one way or the other. Stress, both physical and mental are often internalized in the name of being a “Tough Cop”. What this does to personal relationships and your spiritually is something I wanted the Reader to understand and be aware of. These men and women are just as susceptible to the tricks of the Ugly as anyone else, badge notwithstanding. Often the badge can make it worse.

This is the second book in your Monk Mysteries series. What will book 3 be about and when will it be available?

In Vol 1 The Monk, Father William must deal with his personal epiphany as to his calling to the Priesthood and leave the Police Department. All the while dealing with Jack Laskey’s feeling of betrayal and assisting Laskey with one of the most high-profile murders in years.

In The Gumdrop House Affair the Monk gets to deal with the Ugly head to head and is put on notice the Ugly will be giving him special attention. The first two books take place in Denver. Vol. 3 Death by Kachina takes place in Sedona Arizona and Monument Valley on the Navajo Reservation. “Thou shalt not murder” is the original Aramaic quote for the 6th Commandment. The King James version says “Thou shalt not kill” which has always caused confusion to Christians and non-Christians alike. It is because most people think the definition of kill and murder are the same. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

If you are commanded not to kill why does the Church pray for victories in wars that are won by killing the other people. The Monk is dealing with spiritual burnout and takes a sabbatical in Sedona with old friends. It is not long before spiritual forces have the Monk in Monument Valley dealing with powers and principalities seen and unseen. He will have to struggle with both translations of the 6th Commandment. Due to be published in July 2018.

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A Jewish Accountant chokes on a Polish Sausage in a City Park. A young Catholic Priest is found wearing only his collar with a dead “Gay Hooker” hanging from the Ceiling. The body of Mafia “Construction Baron” is found in the parking lot of the Diocese of Denver.

It’s obvious how Denver Homicide Detectives, Sargent Jack Laskey and his partner Detective Mai Li McDuff would become involved with these events. But how does Father William Yeats Butler of the Franciscan Order become totally involved in every one of these events and more with his ex-Partner Jack Laskey.

An African American standing 6’5″and weighing 315 pounds of muscle, Father William Butler was an imposing figure in the robes of a Franciscan Priest. Father William was always known as “The Monk” because of his devout Catholic faith when he was an All American Linebacker at Notre Dame or a Narcotics and Homicide Detective for the ten years that he and Laskey were Partners.

In the tenth year of his police career the Monk felt a calling to the Priesthood. He felt as a Police Officer he was only dealing with the spiritual symptoms of humanity’s illness not the real cause of the illness, the Devil’s influence on common man. The Monk had an acute and powerful awareness of the Devil’s presence. Not a “6th Sense”, but a powerful gift from God.

The Devil, who the Monk calls “The Ugly” is now and always has been active on Capitol Hill. In The Gumdrop House Affair many of his deceptions and ploys are revealed as the Monk and his faith stand against the “Wickedness and the snares of the Devil.” Written by a Veteran Cop the pace is fast, violent, profane, humorous and honest.

A tribute to the men and women who give all to stay true to their Vows and Oaths as they protect a cynical public and a decaying culture.

You will fall in love with Father Augustus O’Shea, Aunt Rhoda, Popcan Charlie, Paisley Bob Lewis, Frank the English Bulldog and all the people who visit St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church.

The Gumdrop House Affair”deals with the recent Sex Scandals in the Catholic Church and the effects in an honest Blue Collar Layman’s fashion.