Love Put Me In – Love Got Me Out tells the story of a man wrongly convicted of murder who asks his detective grandson to find the real killer and clear his name. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The country and western song Ol Red, originally sung by George Jones, then re-released by Blake Shelton in 2001

Trey just wants to help his grandfather out but winds up discovering more than he expected and testing his skills as a detective. What was your writing process to ensure you captured the essence of the characters?

The characters in the song Ol Red gave me the idea for the main characters. With over 40 years traveling to all the counties in Oklahoma as well as several in the surrounding states and Utah, Wyoming, and Alabama for oil and gas companies, I listened to hundreds of books on tape and CD, which gave me a good insight and ideas. I made notes to myself about how I would write if I ever decided to write a book. In the years of listening to the books, I realized that it is best to limit the characters in the story to make it easier for the reader to keep track of the characters and not overload the reader with numerous characters. Also, I tried to establish a character’s personality early on and maintain the personality throughout the store.

As I was drafting an outline for my main characters and how I could make them more interesting to the reader, I began to think of actors and the characters they portrayed. For my book character Billy, especially in his older years, I thought of the character Gus McCrae, played by Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove. I tried to use his mannerisms and humorous comments to bring him to real life for the reader. For my character of Trey, the retired detective and Billy’s grandson, I thought of Tom Selleck and the character Jesse Stone, with his laid-back approach and calm demeanor. Thinking of these actors and their characters made it easier for me to develop my characters in a way that would keep the reader intrigued and looking forward to the next chapter of my book.

Some events in the book were chillingly similar to real-life events. Did you take any inspiration from real life when developing this book?

Yes, I have done a lot of fishing for various types of fish, which made it somewhat easy to relate my fishing experience with the reader. Also, with my traveling experience, I would use maps to find the shortest route to my destination; therefore, it was fairly easy for me to use this experience in my story when Billy was mapping out his trip to Idaho.

Will this novel be the start of a series, or are you working on a different story?

I am working on another story based on another old country and western song, Long Black Vail. In this story, Trey, the retired detective, is trying to solve another murder back in the 1930s. Just like the song, an innocent man is convicted and hung.

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