Book Name and Description: Starsky and Hutch Next Gen.
Description of Starsky and Hutch Next Gen
Not only are Davis Starsky and Kent Hutchinson young, single detectives with the Bay City Police Department in California, they’re brothers only a year apart, as they share the same mother, who died in an auto accident when the boys were young teenagers.
Other characters in Starsky & Hutch Next Gen include Captain Shaw (female superior), Tasha Brown (Huggy’s daughter), her boyfriend Tony (Phys Ed teacher), Mo (Davis and Kent’s snitch and psychic friend who runs a grungy gym), and Lucky (Davis and Kent’s hooker friend trying to go clean).
Davis drives a black Mustang with twin white stripes running down the hood, and Kent drives a white Audi.
This book is available on Amazon: Click Here.
What gave you the idea for Starsky and Hutch Next Gen? Or what inspired you to write it?
It came from being a fan of the original TV show, and even the movie later on. Starsky and Hutch were my heroes: I liked what they stood for, justice and mercy, and they were one of the main reasons I wanted to be a social worker. They knew how to kick some criminal butt, but they stood up for the little guy too.
A lot of my writing comes from asking what-if questions, and this was one of them. What if Starsky and Hutch had sons who were detectives too? What kind of cases would they have in today’s society? What challenges would they face in their personal lives?
I wanted the characters to have their own identities, not to be just Xerox copies of their dads. What they do have in common with their fathers would be their integrity, their concern for victims, and their tenacious attitude, regardless of the obstacles they encounter.
What got you into writing in this genre?
I think this genre, the detective/investigation/social issue genre comes from my background as a child/adult protection social worker. I was accustomed to intense situations, actually thrived on them, so it just seemed natural to write about it. Also, I started writing fanfiction years ago, and it was cop stories I wrote even then. But with a human twist.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
I’ve been writing professionally for 17 years, so that’s a good question. I think I still have the same style, but maybe it’s a little more polished and relaxed than it used to be. I try to be as disciplined and proper with my fiction as I am with my non-fiction, but I write them so differently. With fiction, I can release my imagination a little more, it’s kind of like a bird escaping from a birdcage. It just wants to be free, and I have to rein it in. I think another way I’ve evolved is that I can take what I’ve learned about writing and publishing—my experiences—and pass them on to others.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
Some sort of market guide, like Writer’s Market, to know where to pitch your material once it’s finished. That’s all I had when I first started writing professionally, and it served me well. Pair that with a simple query letter, and you are on your way to publication.
How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
I use social media, do call-in guest spots on podcasts or radio shows, and interviews, when invited.
What piece of your own work are you most proud of?
It sounds cliché, but it’s this newest book, and I’ll tell you why I’m so proud of it. Number one, it’s a full-length book. It has 8 episodes, but it’s still a full-length book, and I had to make sure the story arc worked, and the character arcs worked for the duration of 287 pages. That is far different from my 1000-word articles and 3-10 page short stories. It was a real challenge to weave all 8 stories into one cohesive story line. But I think, and hope, that I achieved it. It felt like it when I was finished. I don’t have any regrets or second thoughts about it. It came out the way I wanted, and that was a relief. I just generally don’t do long works like that, so it was a big deal to me. Thank goodness it’s my last.
For those who haven’t read any of your stories, what story/book of yours do you think best represents your work and why?
Again, probably this one, because it has all the elements I love to write: Drama, angst, tragedy, friendship, family, social issues, and unexpected events. My son jokes that it’s a Lifetime movie waiting to happen, and he was my main sounding board for it. That’s another thing I rarely ever did while writing. I never bounced ideas off of someone. I knew exactly what I wanted to write. With this one, since it was so long, and had all those moving parts, I wanted a sounding board.
What are you doing next?
No writing planned, just promoting the work I’ve finished, or helping new or young writers on their way to publication.
What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Put the story first. Keep yourself out of it.
Bio:
Tammy Ruggles is a freelance writer based in Kentucky. Her first book, Peace, was a paperback published traditionally by Clear Light Books, while her latest, and final book, Starsky and Hutch Next Gen, is an Amazon Kindle eBook.
Links:
Starsky and Hutch Next Gen on Amazon
Starsky and Hutch Next Gen Facebook Book Page
© The Literary Librarian 2019
