Snakes Can’t Run:

Posted: October 30, 2017/By: achristay@aol.com

Please welcome author of Snakes Can’t Run

Ed Lin author of Snakes Can’t Run will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Snakes Can’t Run

by Ed Lin

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GENRE: FICTION/Mystery & Thriller

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INTERVIEW: Snakes Can’t Run

What or who inspired you to start writing?

I’m not really sure because I’ve always felt compelled to write. I’ve pretty much wanted to write as soon as I learned how to write. I guess the wonder of creating things was quite novel to me–even before I wrote novels!

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

If I had it my way, I wouldn’t want my readers to know anything about me! I feel that when you learn things about a writer, it will begin to color what you think as you’re reading the writing. I usually skip reading someone’s bio until I finish their book. The writing part is something personal to the writer but the reading aspect is personal to the reader.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

I have a series set in Taipei for Soho Crime. I’m now working on the third book to follow up Ghost Month and Incensed. Stay tune, as they say.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?

I am part of a reading group of three people. We’re like Lazarus. Seriously, we get together about every seven years or so and intensely read each other’s work and give feedback. Then we disappear for a while! It helps in that we have decades of experience with each other’s words because we all know what we’re trying to do and our motivations.

What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

Best advice: When you start writing a book, don’t begin to revise until you’re done, otherwise you’ll keep going backwards when you need to keep going forward.

Worst advice (from a potential agent): Go see that film Cider House Rules. It will teach you how to tell a real story.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I do both, sorta. I write about a page and a half of an outline and then just start writing. The story may or may not hold to that original idea!

Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I’ve made one character allergic to seafood because I am! It’s good to know that even in Chinatown, there are plenty of great things to eat that don’t come from the sea. I think if you have allergies, it makes you more conscious about looking out for others, and I think that is one more dimension of the fictional character.

Do you have an all time favorite book?

I have a few. Fast One by Paul Cain is definitely one. Anything by Charles Willeford; he has a great sense of absurdity.

Who is your favorite actor and actress?

I have so many favorites, it’s not fair, but right up there for actor is Joel de la Fuente. You know him from Man in the High Castle and Hemlock Grove, but if you ever see him on stage, he will blow you away with his range and virtuosity. My favorite actress is certainly Cindy Cheung, my incredible wife, who is in the cast of 13 Reasons Why and House of Cards!

What is your favorite reality show?

I came across that show My 600-Pound Life a few months ago and whenever it’s on, I can’t stop watching. I love seeing how people who are in a difficult space make some changes and lift themselves up.

BLURB: Snakes Can’t Run

Set in New York City in 1976, Snakes Can’t Run finds NYPD detective Robert Chow still haunted by the horrors of his past and relegated to tedious undercover work. When the bodies of two undocumented Chinese men are found under the Brooklyn Bridge underpass, Chow is drawn into the case. Most of the officers in his precinct are concerned with a terrorist group targeting the police, but Chow’s investigation puts him on the trail of a ring of ruthless human smugglers who call themselves the snakeheads. As Chow gets closer to solving the murder, dangerous truths about his own family’s past begin to emerge. Steeped in retro urban attitude, and ripe with commentary on minorities’ roles in American society, this gritty procedural will appeal to fans of George Pelecanos and S.J. Rozan.

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EXCERPT: Snakes Can’t Run

The mind is a funny thing. After I got on the wagon and fell in love with a girl, I started seeing my father out in the streets. I didn’t literally see his ghost walking around, but I’d see his nose in profile on another guy’s face. Sometimes I’d be walking behind someone who had his slouchy shuffle, his spotted ears, or the back of the head that looked like an elderly porcupine with spikes gone soft and white.

One time, a hand reached out to my shoulder and touched me exactly where he used to touch me from his chair after dinner to ask me to get him a beer from the fridge.

Of course it wasn’t my father. It was an older guy who wanted to know if I was the guy whose pictures used to be in all the Chinese newspapers. The man was almost completely bald and had two light brown spots on the top right of his head that looked like an imprint from a woman’s high-heeled shoe.

He called me the Sheriff of Chinatown. I tried to get away from him as soon as possible, but he was one of those people who liked to say good-bye and then ask another question just when you’re about to part. The guy ended up grabbing both of my hands twice before I was able to make the corner and get away. I checked that my wallet was still in my pocket, though, just in case he had been working me with a partner. I guess he was genuinely glad to meet me.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ed Lin, a native New Yorker of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards and is an all-around standup kinda guy. His books include Waylaid and This Is a Bust, both published by Kaya Press in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Snakes Can’t Run and One Red Bastard, which both continue the story of Robert Chow set in This Is a Bust, were published by Minotaur Books. His latest book, Ghost Month, a Taipei-based mystery, was published by Soho Crime in July 2014. Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung, and son.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertchow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ed-Lin-80513225734

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edlinforpresident/

Website: http://www.edlinforpresident.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/112827.Ed_Lin

Buy Links: https://www.harpercollins.com/cr-123754/ed-lin-1

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

Ed Lin will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2447