A Touch of Fun...with Gary Ponzo

We welcome back to the blog Gary Ponzo, bestselling indie author with a great sense of humor.

The first book in your series, A Touch of Deceit, is consistently in the top 30 on Amazon's police procedural list. How do you keep that going?

I'd like to say it's a really good book and that it resonates with readers, but you know as well as I do some of it is luck with a twist of the Amazon algorithm working its magic. I did spend a good five years writing and rewriting the thing until it passed the beta reader test. Then, I blew up the first 150 pages once I was told the story started a little too slow—a mistake I learned very early and would never make again. Also I wouldn't eliminate the fact that it's a series and every time I release a new book, the first book in the series gets a little bump in sales.

Your books are highly rated and sell well on Kindle. Have you queried Amazon or other publishers? Or do you prefer to stay indie?

Thanks for the kind words. My readers have been enthusiastically supportive and I'm so grateful to them. Have I been queried by Amazon or any other publishers? No. Do I prefer to stay indie? I don't know. I'm approaching over 100,000 Nick Bracco books sold in the past couple of years and the future gets brighter with every release, so I don't know what's on the other side of the publishing world, but I'm sure liking the view on my side of the yard. Does that make me sound like a hick? I'm from Brooklyn for crying out loud. I didn't see a cow until I was thirteen.

What's your biggest challenge in being an indie author?

I should say the biggest challenge is exposure, but really my biggest challenge is finding time to write. I currently have a day job, a beautiful wife and two wonderful kids who are involved with all types of sporting activities, so I really have to work at squeezing in writing. I do most of it at night when everyone is asleep. When I get to the point where I can write fulltime, I'll find other things to distract me I'm sure.

Tell about your fourth Nick Bracco book.

While filming a documentary, the president's brother is captured deep within the Amazon Rainforest by a Colombian cartel. The president calls the one person who has the underground criminal contacts needed to fight this type of vicious enemy: FBI agent, Nick Bracco. Once again Nick relies on his mafia-linked cousin Tommy to help with the operation. When Tommy recruits an assassin to join the rescue team, the rollercoaster comes off the track and everyone becomes a target.

(I spent ten minutes trying to come up with a clever way to tell you about the story, but finally I just copied and pasted the blurb I used on my Amazon book page. I'm still scratching my head to come up with something better.)

What's next for you? Will you continue the series and/or do you plan to write any standalones? Is this a tough decision for an indie author?

I've been writing this standalone psychological thriller for the past five years. Here's the sequence of events which preclude me from finishing this book:

A: I release a new Bracco book and pickup the psychological thriller where I left off.

B: I get emails from people who loved the new book and want to know when the next Bracco book is coming out.

C: I put down the psychological thriller and begin a new Bracco book.

D: (See A.)

This is actually happening as we speak. The first thing I need is a title, though. Since all the others start with "A Touch of . . ." I need to find a new word for the title. A Touch of Despair? Contempt? Treason? Toffee? Help, I'm running out of words.

What do you see happening in publishing in the next few years?

I see a barrage of indie writers flooding the market. I see some really good ones who were overlooked by the publishing industry making a name for themselves. I see others struggle. Some because of poor manuscripts and others simply due to unfortunate events. I see the Big 6 publishers in NY becoming the Big 3 or maybe the Big 2. I see them passing up on some very talented writers in order to publish a book by Snooki's illiterate housecleaner who tells all about Snooki's bedroom activities. I see this book becoming a NY Times bestseller. I see very talented writers pulling their hair out.

Hey that's it! A Touch of Baldness! Nick Bracco infiltrates the publishing world in order to save the country from reading poorly written books by pseudo-reality stars which causes writers to pull out their hair. Okay, sorry you had to see that. I do it ten times a day without an audience.

Readers, writers: What do you think? Will the Big 6 become the Big 2? Should Gary look for a big publishing deal so he can quit his job? Would you read A Touch of Baldness?

A Touch of Success

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

As novelists, one of the best things we can do for our friends and readers is introduce them to other authors. So I'd like to tell you about Gary Ponzo,

Gary has quietly become one of the bestselling indie authors on Amazon. His Nick Bracco series has consistently high ratings, and all three novels are consistently on Amazon's top 100 police procedural list. As an author, I know how hard that consistency is to achieve on Amazon. When I asked Gary what his secret was, he said it’s because his books come up as “also boughts” with many other authors. That means a lot of different readers are willing to try him out. Which is why I’m bringing him to your attention today. Great writing, great stories, and great prices.

In addition, the third book in his series, A Touch of Greed, is free on Amazon today and tomorrow. Grab it while you can. The first two books, A Touch of Deceit and A Touch of Revenge, are only $.99 and $2.99. If you like fast-paced FBI thrillers, add these to your reading list.

Here are few thoughts from the author:

Q: When you wrote the first book, did you envision Nick as a series character from the get-go?
A: I think deep down I always knew Nick was a keeper.  At its core, the series is really a modern day Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kidd. Only they carry credentials. I've never really said this out loud before and never heard anyone ever make the connection, but that's really the truth. I don't even think Nick throws a punch until the third book. His partner Matt McColm is the FBI's sharpshooting champion three years running, so he's the one doing all the damage. Nick is the brains and Matt is the enforcer. Not that Matt is dense, he's just quick with a pistol.

Q: Do you ever get tired of writing about the same character, and what steps do you a take to keep Nick fresh?
A: Nick Bracco has PTSD, a cousin in the mafia, and a wife who wants him to leave the Bureau. That right there is enough material to keep me going for the rest of my life. I don't think I'll ever run out different ways to keep him in trouble. The only thing I'll ever run out of is time to write the next thriller.

Q: In your author bio, you talk about the five year period it took to write A Touch of  Deceit. What’s your writing process, and how have you refined it as you’ve moved forward?
A: I've always worked with a writers critique group where we exchange each other's chapters and line edit our work. Once the novel is complete, I send it out to my beta readers who give me their input, then it's off to my editor who goes through it word-for-word to eliminate any grammatical errors. At the end of the day, it's about the quality of the writing. No one cares how clever your plot is if you can't keep the scene interesting and the five senses involved with every page. The reader needs to smell and hear and feel the emotion of the characters or everything else is nonsense.

Q: You’ve had considerable critical success writing short stories in addition to novels. Do you prefer one over the other, and if so, why?
A: Short stories are one night stands; a romp in the sack with a woman you met at a wedding when you were twenty-five.  It's quick and over fast. Instant gratification.  A novel is a long-term relationship, sometimes involving therapy.  It's messy and intimate and ultimately more rewarding. But every now and then I'll write a short story just to keep my libido working properly.

Q: What are you working on next?
A: I've been asked to collaborate with some talented writers, including Rick Murcer, Dani Amore and Lawrence Kelter, to write a collection of short stories. Each of us will write a story about a murder which has taken place on a beach somewhere around the globe. It should be fun. Also, I have a psychological thriller which will be released sometime over the summer, then on to Nick Bracco # 4.  Not sure of the title just yet, but I'm guessing the first three words will be "A Touch of . . . "