Patrick H. Moore is a Los Angeles-based author, investigator, and sentencing mitigation specialist. Known for his razor-sharp thrillers, he brings a gritty authenticity to his fiction, drawing on years of real-world investigative experience. His novels combine gripping suspense with deep social commentary, engaging readers who crave both adrenaline and insight.
Author Interview
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Books were always a part of my life. My parents read to my siblings and me—serious books and light-hearted books—almost every evening. We lived in rural Wisconsin, and my father would scoop up entire one-room schoolhouse libraries when they closed down.
I always enjoyed writing in school and occasionally wrote something good enough to draw my teacher’s attention. I started writing seriously, however, at the age of 25 when I began work on my first unpublished novel, The Gravel Road.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Like any professional writer, I adopt different styles depending on the task at hand. During my twenty years of sentencing mitigation work, I wrote hundreds of Federal Sentencing Memoranda, which were read by judges and prosecutors. Therefore, I wrote these documents in a calm, measured and respectful style.
When it comes to my own fiction writing, I give myself far more leeway. My novelistic style is broad-based. In my Nick Crane novels, I’m known for my staccato rat-a-tat style, but I also employ long flowing sentences when the story calls for them. I try to vary my sentence structure but always strive to keep the story moving forward. In my current WIP, a psychological suspense novel, I use both conventional third person narrative techniques and various first-person voices. The challenge here is to keep each first-person voice distinct and to also keep them distinct from the third person narrative voice.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
There are several crime writers whom I think of as mentors, both as positive forces and as warnings as to what not to do. The early Dennis Lehane Patrick Kenzie novels, The James Lee Burke Dave Robicheaux novels, and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher stories have all influenced me. From Lehane I learned that plot, characterization and dialogue are all crucial in writing a strong crime novel. From Burke I learned the importance of setting, characterization and empathy, but found his plots to be murky. From Child I learned the importance of creating a strong, iconic protagonist, which is what I consider my protagonist, Nick Crane, to be. Jack Reacher, however, is only half a man. He is strong, masculine and knows right from wrong but lacks empathy to a shocking degree and is also incapable of experiencing real joy. Therefore, in creating Nick Crane, I have tried to imbue him with the entire range of human emotions.
What was the hardest part of writing your book?
For me creating characters and writing dialogue comes naturally. Creating strong storylines does not come so easily. The story has to work, and I work very hard to create strong, plausible plots. The other hard part pertains to the nuts and bolts of writing. Every sentence and every paragraph has to pass the sniff test. I go over my paragraphs and sentences with a fine-toothed comb until I am satisfied. This takes untold hours but is necessary to give my work the sheen and polish I am striving for.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
After writing and publishing four Nick Crane novels and serving as a judge for both the Shamus Awards and Killer Nashville, not to mention reading hundreds of crime novels on my own over the past many years, I have two specific bits of advice for other non-cozy crime writers. First, please limit your domestic scenes to the bare essentials. Do not bog down your stories with a bunch of family stuff unless it is TRULY necessary for your storyline. Second, try to depict your villains realistically. They may be monsters; in fact, they probably are monsters, but to make them interesting, they need to be imbued with human qualities. Take Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, in the James Bond books. One of the most evil men on earth, Blofeld nonetheless loved his white cat.
How do you come up with names for your characters?
Great Question. When I need a name for a character, I sit back, close my eyes, and let my subconscious do the work. Lo and behold, a name usually announces itself. I usually take this name and run with it, though very occasionally I change a name mid-stream. This is rare, however.
How many drafts do your books generally go through before publication?
I am a slow writer, a perfectionist you might say. My books go through countless drafts before they are published. I may go over individual pages twenty or thirty times. I like to get it right as best I can, and that takes me quite a long time.
Give a shout-out to a fellow author.
Everyone, please check out Lorraine Evanoff and her series of Louise Moscow mystery-thrillers. Her work is perhaps the most original I’ve read in a long time. Louise works UC and has a knack for getting herself entangled in the most precarious situations. The Louise Moscow books are high-concept novels centered around international banking fraud and murder.
How do you think being a writer has helped you as a person?
This is a tough question. Being a writer is a difficult business and it can be very stressful. However, writing novels has given me purpose in life, which is perhaps the most precious gift of all.
Connect with Patrick online at
Website: https://www.patrickhmoorewriter.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577783593185
Giant Steps is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FP8C8N8Z