QUESTIONS FROM READERS

cathom@starpower.net: Where did the idea for this book come from?

Clinton McKinzie: Mexico's beauty and corruption have intrigued me since I was a teenage surfer exploring Baja's isolated point breaks. Years later, as a prosecutor in Colorado, I learned about drug cartels and their astounding influence on the Mexican legal system. Two good friends, one a federal agent and the other a defense attorney representing drug mules on the border, provided some great material. A lot of research shaped things from there.

erichbug@bellsouth.net: How did you go about getting John Talbot as your literary agent? What specifically did Talbot like about your writing to take you on as a client? What advice do you have for unpublished authors?

Clinton McKinzie: I queried a lot of agents and was fortunate enough to receive several indications of interest for my first book. John's agency at the time was fairly new, but John had a lot of experience as an editor for major publishing houses and his enthusiasm for my book really flattered me. I think what attracted him was how I wove an extreme sport like climbing into a tale of crime and suspense. The advice I hear him give to unpublished authors is to write with confidence, to write in their own unique voice, to be true to themselves.

pajead05@bellsouth.net: I was wondering what research you did regarding the drug trade in Mexico? Does it really work like in your book? Are there actual drug lords like Hidalgo out there?

Clinton McKinzie: I did a lot more research for this book than any other I've written. I began by talking to friends who are involved on both sides of the drug war. Then I read everything I could find about the cartels and their influence on the Mexican government. For anyone who is interested, I'd recommend journalist Charles Bowden's DOWN BY THE RIVER. Yes, there are drug lords like Jesus Hidalgo in Mexico. Some of the more notorious real-life ones are mentioned by name in the book --- Amado Carrillo-Fuentes, the Arrelano-Felix brothers, Rafael Caro Quintero, etc. and they really do things just as awful as I depict.

Screamy8@aol.com: How long does it take you to create/write a novel like CROSSING THE LINE?

Clinton McKinzie: It takes me an entire year. This particular book made for a very difficult year, as there was so much research I felt I needed to do to make it authentic.

sueh@olivia.lib.mn.us: What was your first thought for this book and what section of the book did you write first?

Clinton McKinzie: My first thought was to make Roberto the star. I wanted him to be redeemed, while his brother Ant, the hero of the first three books, would begin a journey to the dark side of the law. I wanted them to switch places, at least in a moral sense. I also wanted to write about drug cartels. From there, everything pretty much just fell into place. I wrote the first scene and it took off from there.

suekdittmar@charter.net: Do you live in Wyoming? I was born in the Southwest and love being there.

Clinton McKinzie: My dog and I were traveling around the West, living out of a tent or the truck, when we dropped down into Laramie in the midst of a snowstorm that failed to interrupt the Fourth of July parade. I fell in love right then and stayed for five years. After law school in Laramie, I moved to Colorado for the opportunity to prosecute crimes in a big-city environment. If I could convince my wife to move back to Wyoming, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

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