Q) Winter the fourth book in your Bob and Marcus mystery series can you describe the story and what inspired you to write it?
In this series, Bob is an attorney and Marcus is a college professor. They often get pulled into each other’s cases and issues. This one focuses on the murder of a famous professor, a colleague of Marcus’s. It was a chance to shift the focus back to academia, where the series started in “Shade.”
Q) The Bob and Marcus books sequels have all been set many years apart, what made you decide to take this approach?
It’s given me a chance to map the relationship between the lead characters over time—they’re a long-term couple—and, to some extent, to incorporate events in the wider world as they unfold. Tracing characters over time adds a lot of depth, I think. They develop as people, as do the people around them.
Q) Do you revise your work extensively, or do you prefer to write a first draft and then go back to edit?
Yes, I revise quite a bit, and sometimes pieces of the plot change as I put words down on paper. I love revising, it’s my favorite part of the process.
Q) Were there any personal experiences or events that shaped the story of Winter?
The murder and the plot here are entirely made up, but the setting is San Diego and the University of California campus there, and I was on the faculty there for 14 years. So I know the setting, and I poke gentle fun at it.
Q) You had published several nonfiction books before your first mystery, Shade, What made you decide to try your hand at fiction?
I retired from teaching after the Spring of 2020, which was, of course, when Covid hit and we all suddenly found ourselves on lockdown. So it was a case of now or never, and lockdown was the perfect environment to write.
Q) What mystery authors do you read for inspiration and working on your craft?
Michael Nava, Dorothy Sayers, Amanda Cross, Stuart Woods, Tony Hillerman. All masters of the craft.
Q) what is your next project you are working on? Are there more mysteries to solve for Bob and Marcus?
I’m busy drafting mystery #5.
Q) If people want more information about your or your projects, where should they go?
My website, hnhirsch.info.
Final four questions –we ask everybody.
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Hiding in the closet.
Q ) What is your favorite Fandom (could be sports, pop culture, favorite director or author)
I adore Joan Didion. And I’m addicted to “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” Watching those episodes actually helps me think about plots and character development. Really, I should probably pay them something.
Q) What piece of art, be it in the form of music, a book, a film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
Everyone should see the Picasso Museum in Paris. Reproductions of his work don’t do them justice.
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
On the last day of every semester, I’d let students ask me anything they want. Someone would always ask, “are you a good cook?” The answer is “no, I’m a terrible cook. I can ruin anything, including an egg.” I actually use that line in “Winter.” Marcus is a terrible cook, like me.
Paper Phoenix ink 