in Crime Fiction by
In Two Truths and a Lie, former reporter and award-winning author Mark Stevens delivers a gripping crime thriller that follows journalist Flynn Martin as she pursues a killer copying the crimes of PDQ, a serial killer she helped put in prison in her previous book, No Lie Lasts Forever. Set in Denver, this novel is the second book in the Flynn Martin series and marks the second time Stevens has written a female protagonist, following his first series about a hunting guide named Allison Coil. In regards to why he continues to feature a female lead character, he explained that it was a world he wanted to explore when he began writing crime fiction. “When I started with the Allison Coils and with just approaching any female character, I think it’s my job to get any human being right on the page. Sure, it’s daunting to write across gender. There’s no question, and if you’re featuring the opposite gender, you’ve got to do your homework… I do love women, I respect women… it’s just the way these particular stories have fallen out… and we all write about everybody, it’s a matter of who you’re featuring…”

After working as a reporter, Stevens transitioned to writing crime fiction after being introduced to his first mystery novel, which opened his eyes to a whole new world of storytelling. He became deeply immersed in the genre and developed an interest in writing in that format. “…the mystery format gave me some idea that, I wondered to myself how hard it might be, so I started writing. It took me a long time to get published, but I just kept at it for twenty plus years until I got published and knowing, as I continued to write, that crime fiction was my… I loved crime fiction. I just loved all the different varieties of it…” With the exception of his baseball novel The Fireballer, the rest of Stevens’ novels are crime fiction, the first three from his Allison Coil Mystery Series, and the last two to the Flynn Martin series. After the release of Two Truths and a Lie, Stevens will work on book three, completing the Flynn Martin trilogy.

It’s not so much about trying to capture the whole female perspective, it’s trying to get your one character right.” -on writing from a female protagonist perspective

Mark Stevens

Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.”

George Orwell
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About

Debbie Hadley is a fourth grade teacher who has completed her 21st year in education. She has taught students in grades first through fourth over the course of her career. She lives in Pflugerville, Texas, with her two children and two dogs, Ruby and Bree. On her free time, she enjoys drinking coffee, watching movies, and spending time outdoors with her kids and dogs.

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