Journalism has long fascinated me. When I was only five, I'd sprint down the long dirt driveway of our rural home near the Everglades, run back with a copy of the Miami Herald. My father would devour that paper, right alongside his breakfast. Now, I'm the one reading and watching news. And I write it, as well. I've enjoyed a byline in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times and Washington Post… among other journals. In my novel, "Deadlines," I celebrate a newsroom in full uproar, the quirky character of reporters, their flawed nobility, and their ongoing service to democracy. It's no secret that newsrooms are endangered now; so I wanted to show readers what's so incredibly valuable about what they do.

2) Did your background in reporting help or hurt this attempt to branch into fiction?

Hemingway once said that journalism was fine training for writers, as long as they, "got out of it soon enough." I'm not sure that I did! However, Hemingway himself admits he learned his clear and direct prose style from practicing journalism. Professional reporting also hones an instinct to aim fearlessly at the heart of any tale. Beyond that, I'd say there's no better school for learning about the full spectrum of human behavior than a newsroom. So I'd say my journalism background has helped tremendously. Still, it has been a great relief and a great pleasure to finally be able to use all the tricks and skills available to fiction writers. Undertaking hard, serious, deep research on a topic has always been a pleasure. But I'm f adding creativity and imagination to my story-telling is even more fun!

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Letter from the Author:

During my years as a reporter, no one ever accused me of fudging facts or making up a quote. You can see, then, why I might yearn go into fiction. Hewing to that level of journalistic discipline was exhausting! By comparison, writing my new novel "Deadlines" was a romp in a candy store. Did I dislike a character's nose? I could pop a new one on in an instant, like a kid playing with a Mr. Potato Head. Did I want to put words in someone's mouth? Hey, I suddenly had carte blanche to do just that.

Or, I thought I did. Pretty soon, I was set straight. Have you ever heard of characters giving sass and back-talk to their authors? Well, that began to happen to me. Just one of my young characters, Sebastian Palmer, the journalism school grad from Florida, stayed fairly compliant. That doesn't mean he wasn't tough - only patient, polite and low-key. But Elle Jatobá, the lesbian with the hair-trigger temper, was harder to deal with. Any time I tried to tamp her down, she would give me what-for, and leap back out of her box, elbows churning, fists pumping, and gray eyes aflame.

Then there was Colm MacCay, my alcoholic columnist. Completely impossible! The only thing worse than a wise-ass smarting off to his creator, is a half-drunk wise-ass. (Honestly, I don't know how God puts up with us.) MacCay was always interrupting me, falling down on the job when I wanted him to stand up, then tearing off on some demented errand to try to nail down this story he was investigating.

The worst part was trying to set him up with dialog. I'd provide MacCay with some elegant words to speak, and he'd just fold his arms and refuse. "I'd never say that," he'd yell. "You're out of your mind! Please just shut up, get out of my way, and let me talk!"

And then, man, would he ever yack away, coming out with a stream of pompous balderdash, some half-baked literary allusion, a sarcastic joke, or clever repartee with his ghostly lover, Anna Gardiner.

Now Anna, I have to admit, was easy. I'm not sure why , except that she might actually exist in some intriguing department of the Hereafter, and I was channeling her just as surely as MacCay did - whenever he sat before her shrine in his little flat in out in the Richmond District of San Francisco.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that writing "Deadlines" was just as much an adventure for me as I hope it will be for the reader. It's a murder mystery with some points to make about the media and the value of public resources. But first and foremost, I tried to write a cracking good yarn. Once you get to know these characters, if you feel like you might miss them by the end of the book, don't worry. They've already informed me that they won't leave me in peace. They'll be back!

Cordially,

Paul McHugh