J.
Dalton Hayes 
|
|
|
Frequently Asked Questions 1. You read that book? What’s it about? Searching Among the Dead is a mystery-romance novel narrated in the voice of a newly graduated Forensic Pathologist who is assigned to study with an experienced Coroner. Along the way he learns about investigating death scenes and interesting cases but even more he learns that being a physician is more than knowing how the organs work and what drugs do. In a way you could say it is a coming-of-age story of a young doctor as he experiences life and death at its most painful moments. But there’s more. The young doctor has been sent to the older Coroner by a mysterious group of Forensic Scientists and unwittingly serves as a catalyst to resolve past tragedies. In fact, the young doctor learns a lot but also teaches the older man how to live and love again. 2. That sounds grim! Actually there are a lot of funny stories in the book. While it has a great deal of respect for the dead and the investigations, almost every chapter has something really funny in it. And unless you have ever spent time with a real life Coroner like Dr. Hayes you have no idea how funny some of the situations can be. Reading the book is like being right there on the scene with a real life Coroner. 3. How many pages are in the book? There are 20 chapters and 408 pages. 4. I never heard of this publisher? Who are they? Stone Mansion Associates Press is a micropublishing company in Upstate New York. For artistic reasons, J. Dalton Hayes decided to go with the micropublisher since the big houses weren’t interested in a project that has artistic merit but isn’t a sure fire best seller. Some agents also objected to the lack of bad language and no explicit sex or violence. Stone Mansion is negotiating with the major book store chains to get the book placed but without the clout of a big publishing house it may be 6 months before the book is available at, for instance, Barnes and Noble. 5. Is this J. Dalton Hayes a real Coroner? Yup. 6. How does the book come? It is available in paperback or hard cover. Stone Mansion Associates Press chose a really ‘high end’ stock and cover for this project. It has a nice look and feel. It is shipped through U.S. Mail or FedEx. 7. Why did Hayes write it? We asked him. He doesn’t really know. He replied, “For the same reason that I had kids. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Once I got to know the characters they started to tell me their stories and I just wrote them down. Everybody started to get all excited about how much they enjoyed it so I decided to submit it for publication. Can you forgive me?” 8. Is there a sequel in the works? We asked him that too. He said, “Yes. The characters won’t shut up. Especially Mrs. Sweeney who talks all the time, Mrs. Stufflebean who won’t quit flirting, and Brooke who wants to get married.” 9. You said that there is a spiritual theme in the book. This isn’t one of those “Holier Than Thou” preachy things, is it? If you think so after you read the book you probably read a different book than we did. The spiritual theme in the book is about struggling to be spiritual and suffering for what seems right even though you can never be absolutely sure what is right and what isn’t. In the book God seems to have a sense of humor and irony. 10. Are there any surprises? Hey! It’s a mystery-romance! If there weren’t any surprises would it be a mystery or a romance? We have never met anyone who figured it all out before the last few pages of the last chapter. Well, there’s Hayes but he wrote it and he doesn’t count. |
|
Last modified: 05/19/04 |