Behind The Words welcome Beyond Reasonable Doubt author Robert Dugoni to the blog today. First, we’d like to learn a bit about you. Where you’re from, where you live? Is writing your full-time job?
I’m from Seattle, Washington, the rainy state and writing is my full-time job since 2013. I love every day I go to work.
How long have you been writing?
All my life. I was a journalist in high school, at Stanford University and for the Los Angeles Times. I took a detour and went to work as a lawyer for a number of years but returned to writing in 2000 and had my first book published in 2004.
What does your typical writing day look like?
I write Monday through Friday now and on weekends when I’m working on getting a first draft of a novel finished, and I’m on a roll. I generally workout early and get to my desk by 6 or 8 in the morning and I work until late afternoon, then try to sneak outside for human interaction on the golf course.
Tell us about your latest release? Where the idea came from? Perhaps some fun moments, or not so fun moments?
The latest release, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, came through a conversation I was having with my good friend who has had Parkinson’s Disease for 18 years. Dr. Dan, as we call him, has more energy than I do. I said I wanted to create a fictional company that played on people’s medical health, something on the cusp of an incredible medical breakthrough, but not quite there. I wanted to highlight the “Fake it till you make it,” mindset that permeates the high-tech industry. Dan got me interested in Tissue Nanotransection, which is a technology that seeks to change skin cells using an electrical charge to convert the cell to cells that produce Dopamine and other chemicals that would possibly eliminate Parkinson’s and Alzheimers and other chronic diseases, including heart disease. Take something that valuable and put it in the world of tech and big money and you have the foundations for a thriller.
Could you share one detail from your current release with readers that they might not find in the book?
I don’t know Keera Duggan’s mother’s name. She appears in the book, but she’s always Mom.
Who has been the most difficult character for you to write? Why?
In Beyond Reasonable Doubt, the most difficult character to write is Patsy Duggan, the Patriarch of the law firm and family. Patsy is an alcoholic and hits rock bottom in this novel. I had a grandfather who was an alcoholic, and it is an insidious disease. I saw what it did to my mother and to her siblings. It was hard to relive those memories.
If you could be one of your characters for a day which character would it be?
Boy, I’m not sure. All of my characters are flawed human beings like the rest of us. I guess if I could be anyone from any of my novels, I’d choose Max Hill, the father of Sam Hill in The Extraordinary Live of Sam Hell. He has a very calm demeanor and is very reasonable and pragmatic. I’d think he’d have a fairly calm life.
If you could spend the day with your character, what would you do? What would that day look like?
I’d take my character fishing in the morning for salmon, then play golf in the afternoon. Both sports are terrific because there is lots of time to talk and get to know each other.
What’s your take on research and how do you do it?
I’m a research nerd. I love to do it, and often have to put on the brakes and stop researching. Tissue Nanotransection was so interesting I just kept trying to find more on the topic, then had to realize it was just the McGuffin to get the reader into the story. It wasn’t the story. Once I research, I just get started. That’s the hardest thing, that first page of 400. It’s terrifying, like looking over a cliff and stepping off. But once you do, you’re soaring.
Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write?
John Irving and Steven King are two that come to mind. I love Irving’s stories of people with unusual lives, and I love that King can write anything and make it sound brilliant. I love to read his prose each morning before I sit down to write, hoping that maybe just 1 percent will magically appear in my fingertips.
Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?
Sadly, Not really. I’m a pretty normal guy. I have learned to love/hate golf, however. I guess what a lot of people don’t know is I’m a guy who suffers from anxiety. I’m not ashamed of it. I’ve come to realize that everyone is dealing with something and if we all just opened up and talked, we’d realize we’re not alone, that we’re not abnormal, that we’re not weirdos. We’re normal.
Your favorite go to drink or food when the world goes crazy!
I’d ask for a salami sandwich on good old fashioned sour dough bread and beer! When I moved to Seattle in 1999, they didn’t have sourdough. Couldn’t find it anywhere. Then I was running along the wharf one afternoon and found a San Francisco Sour Dough company. I bought 12 sourdough rolls and my life in Seattle was fulfilled.
What is your writing kryptonite?
Haven’t found it yet and not going looking for it.
What is the one question you never get ask at interviews, but wish you did? Ask and answer it.
Answer: What is most important in your life?
My wife and my kids. I could lose everything, but if I had them, I’d be okay.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Robert.
Reader’s here’s a quick look at Beyond Reasonable Doubt:
A master manipulator accused of murder. An attorney sworn to defend her. Keera Duggan returns in a riveting novel of suspense by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.
When Jenna Bernstein, disgraced wunderkind CEO of a controversial biotech company, is accused of murdering her former partner and lover, she turns to Seattle attorney Keera Duggan to defend her. Keera is more than a master chess player who brings her intuitive moves into court—she’s Jenna’s childhood friend. But considering their history, Keera knows that where Jenna goes, trouble follows.
Five years earlier, Keera’s father successfully defended Jenna when she was tried for the killing of her company’s chief scientist who threatened to go public with allegations of corporate fraud. Keera knows Jenna too well. When she was a kid, Keera saw Jenna for what she was: a manipulative and frighteningly controlling sociopath. Now, with only circumstantial evidence against Jenna, Keera is willing to bury any trepidation she might have to defend a woman she believes, this time, to be innocent.
As the investigation gets underway and disturbing questions arise, Keera puts her trust in a client who swears that this time she’s telling nothing but the truth. If this is all just another devious game, Keera might be working to set a murderer free.
