Make Note of Mike Nemeth

Greetings, Noters!

I have some big news to share with you all: Too Much to Candle was named a 2023 Best Paranormal Finalist at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards! What an incredible honor; I am beyond excited and very, very proud.

That’s not the only great news for the Glenmyre Girls. Hazel and Poppy are coming to audiobook! Melissa Green, the incredible narrator from my Court of Mystery series, has been transported from the Realm of Virtues to Crucible, New York. Melissa’s performance is perfection, and I cannot wait for the audiobook to be available. I’m eagerly awaiting its distribution!

I’m also thrilled to introduce you all to a new-to-me author. Through this blog, I’ve met many amazing writers, and I’m so happy to have gotten to know this week’s guest.

Without further ado…

A Bit About the Author: Mike Nemeth, a Vietnam veteran and former high-tech executive, has written four mystery novels in which ordinary people face moral dilemmas in extraordinary circumstances. Defiled was an Amazon bestseller in the Crime Fiction Noir category. The Undiscovered Country won the Beverly Hills Book Award for Southern Fiction and the Augusta Literary Festival’s Yerby Award. The book inspired songwriter Mark Currey to compose the song Who I Am. Parker’s Choice, won a Firebird Award for thrillers and American Fiction Awards for Diverse and Multicultural Mystery, and for  Romantic Mystery. His latest novel, The Two Lives of Eddie Kovacs, was released in late 2022. Mike’s short pieces have been published by The New York Times, Georgia Magazine, Augusta Magazine, Southern Writers’ Magazine, Deep South Magazine, and the Writers’ Voices anthology. Creative Loafing named him Atlanta’s Best Local Author for 2018. Mike lives in suburban Atlanta with his wife, Angie, and their rescue dog, Scout.

Mike, thank you so much for being here today on Noteworthy. I’m delighted that my readers will get to learn more about you and your work. What book made you first fall in love with reading?

Boys and Girls Together by William Goldman was probably the first novel to leave a lasting impression. Most people would know him more for The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, but he was my influential novelist. Always enter a scene as late as possible and leave as early as possible, was his enduring advice.

How did your love of reading evolve into a love of writing? How did you begin your writing journey?

I guess most kids pick someone to emulate when they’re young, I chose novelists and tried to imitate them. I wrote a novel about my Vietnam experiences when I was twenty-five and collected an impressive stack of rejections. No one wanted to hear more about Vietnam at that time. It was something to forget. And my writing was amateurish. I didn’t try again until I neared retirement. I wrote a novel just to see if I had learned anything in forty years. I hadn’t learned much. It took many editors and critique groups to develop a voice and a style.

Thank you for your service, Mike. My dad, a Desert Storm vet, instilled in me at a very young age that we owe our endless respect and gratitude to veterans of the Vietnam War.

I’m also heartened to hear that you channeled those manuscript rejections into action and kept pursuing your dream. Parker’s Choice is one of your more recent novels. What came first, the character or the plot? How did you “meet” Parker?

Neither! I found a quote by Kathryn Stockwell, the woman who wrote The Help. She said write about what bothers you, especially if it doesn’t bother anyone else. So, I start with something that bothers me, usually something to do with social justice, and I develop a theme, something I want to say about the issue. Then I concoct a plot/storyline that will highlight the theme. I cast the characters last, like a movie director, because they have to fit the story. They have to be believable in their roles.

Wow, I really admire this approach. As writers, we certainly have the power to say something meaningful, and it is clear you take that to heart.

What’s a trait of Parker’s that you most admire? His biggest flaw?

Parker doesn’t give up on people no matter how many times they disappoint him. In this story, he absorbs one betrayal after another on his way to finding the truth. His flaw is that he believes in his personal moral code rather than the law. It gets him into plenty of trouble.

My own heroines can relate. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a tough writing session?

Beer! And a chat with my wife, a walk with our dog.

I can’t tell you how many tricky situations I’ve worked out while walking our dog, Eevee. It’s such a cathartic process.

What does your writing space look like? Is there anything you need for a successful day of writing?

I have a large office with a nine-foot-long trundle table I use as a desk. The desk sits in front of three windows through which I watch hawks and squirrels (And a few neighbors).

What is your favorite, can’t-live-without writing application?

I use Word, Google, and the Wikipedia. No tools built specifically for writing.

All solid applications for research. All right, it’s time for the final question: You stumble across a crime scene. What book character are you alerting first? Why?

Travis McGee (John D. MacDonald). I practically grew up with the man, and there’s more to him than just ferreting out clues.

I can’t believe you’re the first author to mention Travis on Noteworthy — what a great choice! Mike, it’s been wonderful getting to know you and your work. Thank you for being here. Noters, Parker’s Choice is available now!

Parker’s Choice: After serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, Parker and his wife, Paula, hide from an old enemy in an Atlanta suburb. Their new beginning is disrupted when his new boss solicits his help with a fraud that will ship thousands of American jobs overseas, and Parker suspects his mysterious and elusive birth father is involved. Then a body is pulled from the Chattahoochee River and Parker believes Paula has murdered his enemy, but the cops think Parker did it. He and his brilliant colleague, Sabrina, who can trace her roots to Virginia slaves, steal the “smoking gun” that will expose the fraud and go on the run, pursued by cops and crooks. After a violent showdown in a frightening New Orleans cemetery, they connect the dots between murder, fraud, and a man from his mother’s past. Loyalties are torn. What will be Parker’s Choice?