Rick Mofina: Take Your Work Seriously
Rick Mofina is a former journalist and bestselling author of more than 30 crime fiction thrillers that have been published in nearly thirty countries. He is a two-time winner of The Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence; a Barry Award winner; a four-time Thriller Award finalist and a two-time Shamus Award finalist. Library Journal calls him “One of the best thriller writers in the business.” Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Rick Mofina
Photo by Michael Mofina
In this interview, Rick discusses the real-life image that inspired his new thriller, Someone Saw Something, his advice for other writers, and more!
Name: Rick Mofina
Literary agent: Amy Moore-Benson (Toronto) Lorella Belli (London)
Book title: Someone Saw Something
Publisher: MIRA
Release date: April 30, 2024
Genre/category: Thriller
Previous titles: Some 30 previous titles, as well as other novellas and short stories all found at RickMofina.com.
Elevator pitch for the book: The six-year-old son of a network news anchor vanishes in New York’s Central Park. Family secrets unravel as time ticks down on the child’s life, and his journalist mother finds herself at the center of a growing—and increasingly controversial—media frenzy.
Bookshop | Amazon
[WD uses affiliate links.]
What prompted you to write this book?
The real-life image of a T-shirt advocating for the lynching of journalists.
As a former reporter, that gave me pause. It was not only the T-shirt. There were a number of real-life events. Like the downfall of powerful men who had used their positions to assault women. Or the cases of those with large platforms spewing lies, motivating disturbed people to call the tragedies of murdered children “staged”; giving them license to horribly harass their bereaved families.
That activated the “what-if” switch in my imagination. As I walked through Central Park during a visit to New York City, a character came to me: a woman who struggled from tragic, humble beginnings, to become a top-network journalist and anchor. Two former news colleagues of mine, one with a major TV news network, another with a major newspaper, are both based in New York. They were familiar with the pressures, challenges, and threats facing journalists professionally and personally every day. Both were generous with their time, helping me with real behind-the-scenes insights. With these elements at work, I felt I had the foundation of a thriller.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The seed of the idea for Someone Saw Something probably emerged a few years before I completed the book. When the time came to work on it, I conducted a little research, then I developed an outline. I always outline but it serves only as a guide, and while the central plot didn’t change, some things did. I often tell others who ask about outlines that a map for your journey is rarely the same as the actual journey. But the map can come in handy if you get lost. It took roughly nine months to finish the story and another six or so from production to publication.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
After more than 30 books, no surprises, so much. But I’ve come to realize, and greatly appreciate really, that while a writer works in solitude, you’re never alone in the publishing process. From first secret readers, to agents, editors, proofreaders, cover artists, production teams, sales teams, audio folks, digital experts who get your story online; publicity and marketing people, reviewers, to the people who produce and box up your physical books, drive them to the stores, get them on the shelves; to booksellers who hand sell them; to libraries and book clubs; all of the effort by so many, to get the story that lived and grew in my imagination, to readers where it comes to life in theirs.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Not so much a surprise, but an understanding that for me, the writing process, even after a couple dozen books, never gets easier. And that was true with Someone Saw Something. I can’t take anything for granted. Each book presents new challenges and I learn something each time out. For me, it’s that solutions to problems are there, if I am patient and look for them. At the same time, with every word, I am striving to give it all I’ve got, to make the story the best it can be.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
A good page-turning thrill ride, that might leave them thinking, it could ring true.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Above all, focus on your job, which is to trust yourself to write the best story you can. You have to take your work seriously, if you want readers to take it seriously.
With a growing catalog of instructional writing videos available instantly, we have writing instruction on everything from improving your craft to getting published and finding an audience. New videos are added every month!