Interview with Joe Niehaus, author of "Shadow in the Reflection"
ABOUT JOE NIEHAUS
Joe Niehaus, a veteran police officer in Ohio, is the author of six books and numerous articles in police and martial arts magazines. He holds certificates in fraud examination and clinical and forensic hypnosis. A graduate of Tiffin University, he is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Ashford University and Sinclair Community College.
ABOUT MARY SIKORA
Mary Sikora is a former daily news reporter, freelance writer, and editor. A University of Dayton graduate and Cincinnati native, she is the author of A Mississippi Family and Orphan’s Gift. Previously, she and Niehaus collaborated on Beware the Whale’s Wake and Hypnosis Unveiled.
What is your favorite
quality about yourself?
Oh, I would say I’m
honest, friendly, loyal – sort of sound like man’s best friend a dog.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself?
I can be a bit impulsive
at times and not think a situation through completely before acting on it.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?
Not sure who the author was but this
was on a tombstone – Remember as you walk by, As you are now so once was I, As
I am now, so too you shall be, Bow your head and pray for me.
I think this quote puts life into
perspective and lets us realize that our time here is short so we should make
the most of what time we do have. Any
parent will understand as we have our children for only a short time and then
they are grown and gone. So make time
now for family and friends – and keep in mind the chances to tell people we
care and to show it are gone before we know it.
What are you most proud
of accomplishing so far in your life?
I would have to say that being in
the law enforcement field for 36 years.
During that time I have had the opportunity to accomplish many things
and to experience things many people will never. I think though, being told that I saved a
person’s life when I gave them CPR is high on that list. To think that it was my action that provided
them the opportunity for more time with their family was awesome. Of course, solving some complex cases is also
something I remember.
How has your upbringing
influenced your writing?
Well, I would have to say that my
upbringing had a mixed influence. I have
always been interested in telling stories, even as a child. When I would approach my parents with the
idea of writing I was always told that I would really have to study hard as
smart people are authors. So I figured
that meant I wasn’t good enough. But I
am persistent – in high school we were given the option of writing a poem or a
short story for an English class. I was
not very good at poetry but did like short stories (especially Sherlock
Holmes). So I wrote a short story. My teacher made copies and gave it to my
entire class – so I sort of panicked, and swore never to write again. The teacher was very enthusiastic about my
story but I was kind of shy at the time, but as time went by – the urge to
write reemerged. I would have to say
that one big thing from my upbringing was tenacity – and to write you have to
be tenacious.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
From an early age I was interested
in telling stories. I can remember one
year I received a reel to reel tape recorder and I would narrate stories on the
recorder. I never did anything with
them, it was just for fun but I liked creating a world and characters. I think most children do as that is a big
part of play but I sort of liked putting a structure to it and having it
scripted out. Then there was the short
story I wrote in high school. So I guess
my interest was fostered early on by watching tv, movies and reading
stories. The whole idea of making
characters come to life has always been interesting to me.
When and why did you begin writing?
That is certainly a question to
think on. As I mentioned I took a big
step in high school to write the short story – in fact I even remember the
title – “The Great Brain.” It was based
on Sherlock Holmes. I really liked that
character as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did create a character so lively that for a
time I thought he had been a real person.
Anyway, my in my story the main character wasn’t on the side of the law
but would have been a Professor Moriarty type.
The idea was to pull off the perfect crime. Of course being an awkward teen at the time I
did not go further with it and figured that there was no future there for me.
When I became a police officer I
found that police work – unlike on tv and in the movies – is not all glamour
and excitement. In fact, it is a lot of
paperwork. Of course in police work we
ask the who-what-where-when-how and why questions all the time. So writing became a big part of my everyday
life.
At the same time I was working as an
officer I began taking a new martial art.
I had taken several forms of the martial arts before but this was the
early 1980’s and the art of Ninjutsu was very new. I met Stephen K. Hayes who was the man who
brought the art here to the U.S. from Japan.
I became one of his first students and guess what…he was an author of
books. Suddenly I began to realize that
what I had been told by my mother for years was wrong – not all authors are
rich and live in California or New York.
Stephen showed me that authors are real people and live in neighborhoods
just like mine. So with that I thought
maybe I can write. So my first venture
since high school was to craft a novel based on the time of the samurai and the
ninja and of course had fight scenes in it based on the art of Ninjutsu.
How long have you been writing?
For as far as how long I have been writing – I
would say since about 1982. During that
time I have taken time off because of family and work issues but I have always
dropped back in and crafted an article for a magazine or worked on a much
larger fiction or non-fiction book.
When did you first know you could be a writer?
When I met and got to know my
martial arts teacher, Stephen K. Hayes, who was an author and supported me in
my efforts to get published. I think
that sometimes all it takes is for you to see that it is not an impossible
hurdle to overcome and then to dig in and tell your story your way.
What inspires you to write and why?
I find inspiration from people,
places and events that surround me. I
have been the police adviser on several of Sharyn McCrumb’s books. A secret she once told me is that the person
who dies in her novel is usually based on someone she had met that was not a
very nice person. She said that instead
of shunning them she would start asking them questions so she could place some
of those details in her story. So, like her, I find inspiration all around me.
An example of how I come up with
plots would be the inspiration behind Mary Sikora’s and my novel Beware the Whale’s Wake. I was at the movie theater when the movie
Star Trek 4 (yes, I know how that ages me!) while watching the movie the
thought suddenly came into my head that what would happen if the hunters of
whales suddenly became the hunted. So
from there I developed the plot of a murder mystery where people on an illegal
whaling operation started to be murdered one by one.
For my mystery, Fade Out, I was sitting in the prosecutor’s office one day waiting
to file a case when I picked up a magazine talking about the recent DNA
discoveries and such. My mind started wandering
and I said what if someone could alter a living person’s DNA to make them
someone else? Sort of a modern day
Frankenstein plot. From there the story
developed into recombinant DNA and a murder mystery.
For Shadow in the Reflection, I drew on my experience as a
hypnotist. The story developed from a
true account of a doctor who was doing past life regression on two of his
clients who did not know each other but he noted that they had the same past
life memories. Turned out they had the
same memories of being married to each other and on their honeymoon cruise (on
a steamboat) he fell overboard and got caught in the paddles and died. So from there my imagination took off and the
Viking story developed into a mix of past and present.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
Probably because of my
law enforcement background I prefer mystery but my martial arts background
opens me up to also fantasy and historical writing.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I would have to say it
was my interest in the martial arts and the history of Japan. That time period is much like our westerns –
looked at through nostalgic eyes and romanticized.
Who or what influenced your writing once you began?
I would have to start
with the authors that influenced me.
Early on of course it was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes
stories but close behind him was Rex Stout and the Nero Wolf stories. That was pretty much what I would devour as a
teenager.
Later I became
influenced by the works of James Clavell and his Asian saga (Shogun, Noble
House, Tai-pan, etc.) I found his plots
to be very intricate and complex and that I found really enjoyable. Then I discovered Clive Cussler and his Dirk
Pitt stories or as he often refers to his stories as a poor man’s James
Bond. His books are fast action and
designed to keep you turning pages. This
style of writing was a big influence on me and I have tried to develop that
same kind of writing.
But then there are the
authors who I have met and developed friendships with. People like Stephen K. Hayes, Sharyn McCrumb,
Sharon Short, Katrina Kittle and others.
I attend the Antioch Writer’s Workshop in Ohio often and as a result of
that workshop I have met many talented authors and even became part of a
writer’s group as a result. What is nice
is I get to discuss writing with them and sometimes get to see their works in
progress which is always good to see how a story develops and is polished.
Who or what influenced your writing over the years?
Like I have mentioned I
have been influenced by authors I have read and met. But perhaps the most influential thing was
when I had the opportunity to talk with students from a local high school who
used Mary’s and my book, Beware the Whale’s
Wake, in their English class.
Getting to talk with them and to see that characters that we created
came to life for those students was fantastic.
That is perhaps the greatest gift a reader can give an author – to
believe in their characters and story.
What made you want to be a writer?
I don’t think anything
made me want to be a writer – I think the desire for this has to come from
within. It is sort of like a drive
inside you and if you do not have that drive and tenacious attitude then you probably
will not write.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?
For me I would think
that the most challenging thing is getting the plot down. Is it believable? Is it plausible and do all of the subplots
fit in with the overall plot? Being able
to create an entire community of people and have them interact in a believable
way with enough tension and emotion to allow someone to care about it besides
the author is perhaps the most challenging.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it?
In writing, Shadow in the Reflection, I think the
thing that emerged at the end of it was that no matter how bleak life may seem
– there is a brighter future awaiting us.
Do you intend to make writing a career?
That would be great –
but I believe in the old saying – don’t give up your day job (or in my case
night job as I work midnights). I think
being a full time writer would be a great way to spend my days!
Have you developed a specific writing style?
I would say my style is
unique and perhaps it is a blending of my favorite authors, Cussler and
Clavell. I try to make the plots a bit
intricate but not as in-depth as Clavell’s and I try to keep the reader turning
the pages like Cussler. So to steal a
line from Clive Cussler – perhaps I am a poor man’s Cussler and Clavell!
What is your greatest strength as a writer?
I think plotting of a story is one of my strong
suits but I have to admit I am a bit partial to my fight scenes as I let my martial
arts background shine through here. I
think my characters are real and believable.
Of course the truth is, we may think these things are our strengths but
the true judge is the reader!
ABOUT SHADOW IN THE REFLECTION
Can destiny be fulfilled in just one lifetime? Dr. Gregory Ambrose thinks so. Through past-life regression therapy with a young woman named Anne, he finds himself carried over the centuries to not only a different time but a different reality. Anne’s memories act like tendrils, drawing Ambrose into this most savage time with her. Frustrated and confused Dr. Ambrose reaches out to a colleague for help. During their conversations, he learns that one of this doctor’s past-life regression patients believes that he was some kind of Viking in another time-not unlike the Vikings in Anne’s memories. The coincidence is too much, and Ambrose’s imagination and ambition tempt him down a dangerous path. Determined to know the truth and understand the connection, he begins to push the limits of his ethics. What evolves is a story from another time, when wizards and warriors battle for power. The fate of two lands-one fighting for unity, the other for safety-hangs in the balance as two druids play out their own endgame strategies. At the same time, two hearts seek their destiny with true love. Fate lends a hand as all meet in a final battle. Is it truly the end or just the beginning?
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