Intro to Interview of Webb Sawyer of Blue Heron Marsh by Douglas Quinn

[Douglas Quinn]

Webb Sawyers Stilt House at Blue Heron Marsh, Nags Head, NC

This is the lead-in to an interview of Webb Sawyer by Douglas Quinn. Webb Sawyer is Douglas Quinn’s main character in his mystery novel Blue Heron Marsh. DQ thought this would be an interesting way to introduce readers to his book and characters. The full interview may be read at http://www.interviewswithauthors.blogspot.com.

Interview with Webb Sawyer by Douglas Quinn

I got up at 3:30am so I could take a quick shower and shave, get dressed and, by 4:00am, hopped into my Honda Element to make the hour and a half trip to Nags Head, North Carolina to make my agreed 6:00am interview with Webb Sawyer. I wondered why he picked such an ungodly hour. Just to be ornery, I guessed. When he was in a mood, he had that reputation.

A local newspaper, The Daily Advocate, had asked me to do a followup on Webb Sawyer after his involvement in a murder case that went awry. The newspaper blamed the City and County Attorney’s office for what had happened. Isn’t that the way things are? Someone always has to take the hit. Especially when they don’t really know all the facts.

The editor wanted me to write it as an article. I said the only way I’d do it was as an interview. I thought the readers would get more out of it. He didn’t like the idea. I kept selling. The editor finally capitulated.

Webb Sawyer lives in Blue Heron Marsh, just to the south of the causeway between Whale Bone Junction and Roanoke Island. I say in Blue Heron Marsh because his stilt home is actually out there in the marshes.

I gave myself an extra twenty minutes or so to boat out to his place. He’d left a skiff for me to use. It was tied up on the docks behind his friend’s, Brant Cloninger’s, place of business, the Whalebone Junction Bait and Tackle Shop. Webb’s 1986 powder blue Ford Ranger with rust lines and rivet holes down each side, where chrome stripping used to reside, was parked along the east side of Brant’s shop. He calls the rust bucket Trusty Rusty. Brant was there early and came out to say hello. He was alone, which was why I had the task of motoring out to Webb’s house by myself.

As I approached, I saw Sawyer on the upper front deck of a one-story stilt house that appeared very well cared for. Webb Sawyer was about six feet tall and solidly built but not muscular. He had a strong square jaw and rugged features that I wouldn’t call handsome, but certainly there was something about him that made me think he attracted the ladies. His mouth smiled, but his eyes were piercing. I knew he valued his privacy more than anything and it had taken some doing to get him to agree to the interview.

I started up the stairs from the landing when he said, "You might as well stay down there. We’re going out in the marshes and catching us some flounder." So that’s why he’d wanted me here at 6:00am. His voice was baritone, the northeastern North Carolina brogue evident but not predominant.

We shook hands. Then, while we got the gear into the skiff–the very one I’d brought to the marsh house–I decided to begin the interview. I turned on my recorder:

To Read the full interview go to Crystal Adkins’ Blog Site at www.interviewswithauthors.blogspot.com. I thank Crystal for hosting this weeks’ Douglas Quinn Virtual Book Tour stop.

Douglas Quinn is the author of two suspense/thrillers, The Catalan Gambit and The Spanish Game. His latest novel, Blue Heron Marsh, is the first book in the Webb Sawyer Mystery Series. The prologue for the second Webb Sawyer book, Pelican Point, appears at the back of Blue Heron Marsh. Pelican Point is in progress and is expected to be released in 2009.

To find out more about Douglas Quinn and his work you may go to his Web Site at www.douglasquinn.com.

Blue Heron Marsh and other books by Douglas Quinn may be ordered through retail book stores and online via www.amazon.comhttp://www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com and other online booksellers.