Hot Shot
by S.A. Stolinsky
Publishing Date: November 1st 2016
Publisher: Fiery Seas Publishing
Genre: Suspense
James Ellroy once said to me, “Go to the museums, the out of the way art
galleries, the people in the park, any park, and talk to everyone. That’s
where you’ll get your stories and that’s where you get ideas.” I have no
quarrel with that. After I stopped shaking because I was meeting a literary
“star” I realized he was interested in the common man, woman, the everyday
person whose story was on its face boring, but whose psychological makeup was
anything but.
In Hot
Shot, my protagonist, Tyler West, is depressed. He starts out depressed,
lonely, unsure of himself, angry, a real Borderline Personality. He’s
tried the drugs, the alcohol, the sex addiction, and now he’s lodged into
gambling which turns out to be his worst nightmare yet.
He lost
everything. His girlfriend, his money, his life savings, his friends and
almost his family—because there is one woman who still wants to see him---his
mother, Sue, and then I wondered, “Where am I going with this?”
Honestly, the way I write---I start out never knowing where I’m going with a
book. I start with an idea and I always know the ending, always the
ending. Like, this one is going to be about gambling. Okay, okay,
what do I know about gambling? Well, I love Vegas. I love to watch
some cowboy with a gut hanging over his belt, come in wearing a white Stetson
hat and sit down at a $10,000 buy in table and literally put down $10,000
dollars!!
I freak
out. I do. Who lives like that? My mind goes over all the
things I could buy for that much money and why is it so important for this man
to chance it all? Then that leads from one place to another. And then I
just tell myself the entire story. After that, what most of our colleagues
call “Panstering” I will do the outline. Because by then I know the story.
Then
chapter one leads to chapter two, and so on. But when I first met the real
“Tyler West” the pseudonym for a guy I worked with, I had no idea he was going
to end up winning the World Series of Poker. I mean how many people do
that? Then that led me to researching the book. Oh, poor me.
I had to go to Las Vegas for a weekend, stay at New York, New York, eat all
that glorious food, and wind my way to the Rio where the poker series takes
place.
What an
arena---the size of about five football fields with tables bunched up against
each other and six chairs to a table and rows upon rows of lighting
above. It’s daunting. I spoke to some players who had lost, some
guards who explained how the series worked and even a winner of three million
dollars.
It's
always good for me to go anywhere at Christmas time, too. I love
Christmas and as a child, my mother always had a very ornamental tree with gobs
of presents under it. And at an early age I realized, a good novel must
have a Christmas or holiday scene, a rain scene, a love scene and a death
scene. Pretty good for a 10-year-old, but those were the stories I liked
to read. Especially Dickens.
I
discover along with him what’s going to happen next. When the book is
finished, it’s generally around 315 pages, I re-read it and go where the book
takes me. So, let me end by saying, along with your central plot, the added
texture of a time and place really enhances a story.
BLURB
Payback is a powerful thing...
Actor and bartender, Tyler West experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games. Determined to change his life, he enters the World Series of Poker. His life is suddenly turned upside down when the Russian mafia fronts him 1.5 million dollars to play at the tables. And then...he loses…
Now on the ride of his life, deceit and deception are his key to uncovering the truth. He must recoup the money, but will it come at a price? Can he stay alive long enough or will his time run out?
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/cc3b8xb7sl8
MY INTERVIEW WITH S.A. STOLINSKY
How would you describe you style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I’m hoping that my style is simplistic, easy to read, and economic. I like the way Robert Parker wrote. Economically. He always said he didn’t waste too much time with language, and quoted Harold Pinter as the great compressionist. I also write about the people I’ve met, the things I’ve experienced. I’m a forensic psychologist, so the people I interview have quirky and unusual ways of thinking. When I was doing comedy, the idea was to turn simple things into crazy, out of whack things that would make people sit up and go, “whoa, I didn’t see that coming.”
I try to say a lot with the fewest words I can. And like John Irving, someone who’s work I love, I do write the last chapter first so that I can see where I’m going. I also have recently started writing the most pivotal scene that will be in the book, first so that I can visually see the “arc” of the character, how he or she changes and what makes him or her change.
I construct a careful outline of the story, chapter by chapter, and see everything. When you do that, you see the “inciting incident” and you see how someone’s backstory will influence how he or she reacts to the current situation. An outline forces you to flesh out the whole story. So that's the way I write.
The character always comes first with me, even though I have a good idea of what the plot will be. I have to know someone and really understand what would turn their life upside-down, and then construct a plot that will turn their lives upside-down. Once I know that, I know I’ve got a great hook that can really grab the reader.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
I write every day, 7 days a week. I get lazy like right now. I’m in the midst of finishing the second book in the Counterfeit series and I’m trying to get through the middle of it. For some reason, I want more to happen. I usually get up at 8:30 in the morning, have breakfast with my husband and then write for the entire morning. I’ll have lunch with him and then go to the show. I get enthused by reading something I love like Mikey Spillane. His language and plots and character foibles can really get me going.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I have already “People-watched” in order to get the backstory of my character and I most certainly take him or her to heart. The character usually grows due to the circumstances of my plot and will build on his or her own sense of self-worth and empowerment.
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)?
I’m not that old, but from the time I was an actress in the middle 70s, I liked a character I called, “Mrs. Heffleby.” She was a crusty old woman (at least 50 years older than I was at that time) and I remember my acting coach, Jack Garfein, telling me to work on that character. I think she shows up in some guise or other in every piece I write. She’s always “the Greek chorus” commenting on what’s going on and how it’s disturbing her peace, busting her serenity. I just love that character. In HOT SHOT, my newest comedy/mystery, she’s a madam.
Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
I pretty much get them on paper. But I would love to put someone like a Sally Ride, the late astronaut into a book about perseverance, love, commitment and self-reliance. I’d love to put her in a situation where she connected to the simple-minded man and worked through a really difficult time with him. When the guy finds out who she is, he feels blessed and special.
Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
I have terrible ADHD. I have very little ability to delay gratification and that causes terrible havoc with me. When I studied with famed coach, Stella Adler, she told me it would take me longer to accomplish what I wanted because I had no patience. She was right about that, but I did persevere.
Author Info
Stefanie Stolinsky, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and forensic psychologist with a private practice in Beverly Hills, California. She specializes in trauma, adults sexually, physically and emotionally abused as children, and PTSD. She is an international speaker and has taught training seminars in overcoming the aftereffects of child abuse. She has also taught licensing examinations to candidates for both marriage, family and child counseling and for the psychology licenses.
She began her career as an actress in motion pictures, television and stage and created a unique therapy combining acting exercises with psychodynamic psychotherapy to help survivors of all kinds of trauma overcome the aftereffects of abuse. The first edition of "ACT IT OUT" was a top seller for over nine years. A second edition of the popular book was launched in April of this year and is available on Praeclarus Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.
She is also the author of several award-winning short stories including her newest short story anthology, DATE NIGHT, and numerous comedy mystery. Dr. Stolinsky lives with her husband in Los Angeles.
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