I was asked to kick off a column on Voice in The Dark newsletter by interviewing a character from one of my novels. The asst. editor suggested August Summers, so here it is.

August is a leading female character in a continuing mystery series beginning with UNHOLY ALLIANCE and THE FIFTH DEADLY SIN. The third novel, VENGEANCE, will be released sometime next year. Along with Detective Bobby Beckett, August helps solve crimes committed by disturbed perpetrators, serial killers, lunatics and more. August has agreed to participate in an interview conducted by Dana Reed, author of the novels.

Q. First of all, August, what prompted you to take a role in a mystery series?

A. It was a challenge, not unlike the challenges I faced growing up. I’ve had background experience dealing with someone criminally insane. To begin with, my father was an extremely sadistic drunk. Not that he was much better sober, but when drunk the punishment doled out to my sister and me was beyond comprehension by anyone sane. I learned to deal with his mania so dealing with bottom feeding killers doesn’t bother me at all. One more thing: Diane is a year older than me. However, she’s not too bright so I found myself in the position of protecting her from W.F.—Wayne Forester, my father, who by the way was an award winning news correspondent and international journalist. When not out of town, he was home, drinking, punishing Diane and me for violations against him.

Q. What violations?

A. When drunk, he imagined we were plotting against him and ridiculing him because of the laughter emanating from our bedroom in the upper part of the house while he sat in the kitchen downstairs and sulked. Surely we were mocking him. Therefore, his punishment was to banish us to a cold, damp basement where we spent many years growing up. However, we weren’t alone down there: not with scores of spiders and rodents roaming the basement.

Q. How old were you and your sister at the time?

A. Diane was seven; I was six.

Q. Was your mother alive at that point? And if so, why didn’t she stop him?

A. Mother had taken a bullet in the brain during Desert Storm—a long story—rendering her helpless. Diane and I took care of Mother when W.F. wasn’t home. We took charge of her medication, her personal care and so on. But then, Mother never tried stopping W.F. before the bullet because when he was enraged she often took rides to a lovely spot near our home, a bay. She called it her screaming place. When he beat us she went there. After the bullet, her mind traveled to God knows where. The journey must’ve been pleasant because she stayed there for a long time.

Q. How did you protect your sister, Diane?

A. W.F. had a habit of handcuffing us to a steaming radiator to punish us when he was angry. Sometimes he let us go before our burns became too evident. Other times he fell asleep while we were chained there. I discovered a way of getting myself loose from the cuffs and I taught it to Diane. I was forever seeking solutions to his cruelty to save Diane.

Q. I’ve heard a rumor that your right leg was removed above the knee when you were around sixteen. However, if you’re wearing a prosthesis it’s a remarkable piece of work. It looks as real as your left leg. How did you lose your leg?

A. My father insisted on Mother and me vacationing with him in Florida. Diane was no longer living at home, so she was spared. During our stay down there, I was bitten by a recluse spider. My leg swelled to hideous proportions and turned colors. W.F. insisted it was just a bug bite, no harm done. By the time he took me to a local hospital weeks later it was amputation time.

Q. Am I correct in assuming that W.F., your father, was unaware of the consequences of being bitten by one of these spiders?

A. Your assumption is wrong. W.F. was sent to Miami years before to cover the story of the influx of boat people coming in from Cuba. While there he was bitten in the arm by a recluse. He was told to seek immediate medical attention or he might lose that arm. He was well aware of the consequences of ignoring the bite. He later claimed it was a way of preventing me from leaving as Diane did. He wanted me to remain dependent on him for support.

Q. This is your reasoning for taking the role in the mystery series?

A. Yes. I needed the extra income since by the time the role came along I was living on my own and not doing well financially. This afforded the chance to continue with my chosen lifestyle.

Q. How did you meet Detective Bobby Beckett, another primary character in the novels?

A. Long story. My private life was adapted into the script for Unholy Alliance and led to my relationship with Bobby. To explain: after I took courses in college pertaining to writing, I decided to live in a loft apartment in the East Village. I had a romantic idea of becoming another Jack Kerouac and writing successful novels as he did. However, months later I discovered that my characters were idiotic, my plot average and the rent was due. Therefore I procured a job working on a leading national magazine: The Interloper. However, the best I could do there was to work as a copy girl and a gofer, climbing the ladder until the day I’d finally receive a decent paying writing assignment.

Shelly Robins, owner/editor of The Interloper, hired the cream of the crop for her top selling monthly. The articles published generally ranged from political to big business to current crime segments, to fashion news, entertainment columns and so on. I worked there a few months when Shelly assigned me to write an article on Women in The News. Quite a few leading female journalists were involved in the project. I was both surprised and elated by the assignment until Shelly asked me to shadow one Detective Roberta `Bobby’ Beckett, who worked in the Homicide Division at Midtown South. I was to follow her every move and write a column on her daily life as a detective. I became hesitant at that point. Anyway, this is how I met Bobby.

Q. Why were you hesitant after receiving information on the assignment?

A. Bobby Beckett was a Homicide detective. There was a murder in my background. You see, the year before the assignment I had an altercation with W.F. while visiting him in a remote cabin in the woods in North Carolina. When I last saw him he was lying dead on the floor of that cabin and it was my fault. At the time we met, Bobby was investigating a series of gruesome murders committed by a madman. The point was she investigated murders. I feared she’d find out about my past.

Q. And did she?

A. Another long story that I’d rather not go over.

Q. You say she was investigating murders performed by a madman?

A. Yes. His name was Micah Travis and Bobby called him the ‘Necrophiliac’. Necrophilia means the forming of an Unholy Alliance with the dead. Plus he was a maniac, so Necrophiliac fit. After committing the murders, Travis had a deranged habit of collecting souvenirs from the corpses in the form of body parts. Sometimes he stole the entire body. In his demented mind, he formed close relationships with the bodies and body parts. They became his family and he kept them in his apartment in the city. He spoke to them and they answered. He catered to their every imagined need. When the eyes of one corpse turned to liquid, Travis killed someone and stole the victim’s eyes for his family members at home. He was a severely insane person.

Q. Did Micah Travis become a direct threat to either you or Detective Beckett.?

A. To me. Detective Beckett didn’t want me to shadow her on the case because of the type of killer she was dealing with. Bobby was forever trying to dump me for my own safety. However, after it became apparent that Travis was focused on me as a victim she had no choice but to keep me by her side. In fact, if it wasn’t for Bobby I’d probably be dead by now. Travis focused on me from the start of the story as a desired victim. It wasn’t until Bobby was forced to spend a night in my apartment that the threat became obvious.

Q. Did he attack you?

A. Yes, three times. The experiences were harrowing.

Q. Can you tell us how you handled the attacks?

A. I’m afraid that would be divulging too much of the plot. According to my contract with you, the author, I’m allowed to discuss minor parts of the plot. However, when it comes to key parts, I must advise the inquisitive to read UNHOLY ALLIANCE.

Q. Understandable. Is the first in the series the only novel in which you were the victim of a stalker?

A. No. I do believe this author has it in for me. Dana, you’re constantly placing me in extremely dangerous positions—always when I’m alone. How much am I expected to handle? I mean by the time the role in THE FIFTH DEADLY SIN came along I had been sanctioned by the Mayor of NY City to become a permanent shadow of Bobby Beckett’s. I’d written such a favorable article on the first case that the mayor felt that becoming part of Bobby’s investigations was good publicity for the NYPD.

Q. So you continued in your role?

A. Yes, and I have the same role in the third novel in the series—VENGEANCE.

Q. Who stalks you in the second novel?

A. Again, according to my contract I cannot divulge that information. All I can say is that he’s even more dangerous than Micah Travis. But he’s not at the center of the plot this time. As the plot continues and mysterious murders occur around us the stalking goes on. I say mysterious murders because it’s so difficult to track down the killer or killers involved. Especially for the readers; it’s so very complex that it’s nearly impossible to tell who’s killing who until they reveal themselves at the end.

Interviewer: Well, let’s join in thanking Ms. August Summers for participating in this interview. I think you’re a very talented lady with a future ahead of you. When and if the series ends what are your plans for continuing with parts in novels?

A. When and if the series ends, that will be the end of me. For this reason I keep urging you, Dana, to continue writing those sequels. I only hope that if you ever run out of ideas, you’ll allow another author to take the helm to keep the relationship between Bobby Beckett and me alive.