Editor of One Monkey Typing talks with elusive private eye:
OMT: I am talking today with Don Milkey, the protagonist of the book “Smart Shield.” Mr. Milkey, why didn’t your author come up with a more masculine name, like Don Firestone, or Dirk Tower?
DM: What’s wrong with Milkey? My parents were Milkeys, and they named me “Donald” after my grandfather who fought in WWII. They probably thought “Donald” was masculine.
OMT: Usually, the star of a dectective story is muscular, tall, daring, and has a name that implies all of that.
DM: Sorry to disappoint you. My girlfriend likes me.
OMT: What’s the story about?
DM: Well, this guy gets killed, and I’m hired by his wife to find out who killed him.
OMT: We’ve heard that at the time of the killing, you were employed as a security guard.
DM: Not true. I was under contract for protective services.
OMT: Yes, and you were fired from that job?
DM: “Fired” would not be an accurate term. We disagreed about correct procedures.
OMT: You didn’t make your rounds because you were asleep, according to our sources.
Donald Milkey
DM: Mr. editor, I’ve seen the photo you have placed in this article. Isn’t that a picture of a young Peter Falk?
OMT: We weren’t able to get a photo of you from your author.
DM: That’s because I’m a character in the novel. My picture is in the heads of the readers.
OMT: We needed to spice up the blog.
DM: But I’m not anything like Columbo.
OMT: Reviewers think you are.
DM: I don’t wear a wrinkled trench coat, and I don’t have a glass eye.
OMT: Who did the killing in your story?
DM: That would be the purpose of reading the book. Look in there, towards the end. You’ll find it.
OMT: I’d have to read your book, or most of it.
DM: $1.99, Kindle version on Amazon. Check it out. “Smart Shield.”
OMT: uh…
DM: What’s the matter? Never had a character pitch a book?
OMT: Right.
