Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Alexa Recio de Fitch
Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Alexa Recio de Fitch
About Alexa’s Mystery Novel, Triggers:
Phillip Weatherly’s biggest secret is that he’s a killer with a sealed juvenile record who grew up to become a bestselling crime fiction author. Then, striking similarities between a homicide and his detective fiction novel get this adrenaline junkie—who trespasses into ruins—arrested. But is the murderer Weatherly or one of six others?
In Weatherly’s book, a murderer stabs a victim to death at Manhattan’s abandoned City Hall station. Years later, Mitchell’s real-life death mirrors the same MO and location. Detective Jónsdóttir discovers other suspects who could have wanted Mitchell dead and Weatherly incriminated because of their pasts. Throughout, Jónsdóttir also struggles with inner demons since she threw her homicidal father in prison. Who was triggered to commit this execution and why?
Author Alexa Recio de Fitch Interviews Phillip Weatherly, The Main Character in Her Mystery Novel, Triggers:
Alexa: It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weatherly. I’m a big fan of your crime fiction novel.
Phillip: Thanks. It’s great to meet you, too.
Alexa: I’ve heard that you engage in unconventional methods to get inspired. Can you tell us more about that?
Phillip: Who told you that?
Alexa: We can speak in hypothetical terms if it makes you more comfortable. Anyway, hypothetically speaking, what’s urban exploration, and how would a writer use it to get inspired?
Phillip: Fine. Urban exploration is about trespassing onto abandoned places that are sometimes historical. A writer might do this to imagine what that ruin in front of them looked like in the past. The adrenaline rush produced from visiting a place that’s off-limits might inspire them to write about that experience. It’s like that Victor Hugo quote about architecture being the great book of humanity, the chief expression of man in his various stages of development. We should be allowed to see these works of art, without having to do it illegally.
Alexa: Interesting. What are some of your favorite abandoned places in NYC?
Phillip: Well, there’s North Brother Island (where “Typhoid Mary” was quarantined against her will), City Hall station (the first subway station in NYC), the Staten Island Farm Colony (which was built in the 1800s, and where the destitute lived in exchange for farm labor). There’s also the Harlem Renaissance Ballroom (where Ella Fitzgerald used to sing), the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital (which was built in the 1800s), and Pollopel Island (home to Bannerman Castle, which was built in the early 1900s). There’s a bunch of other amazing abandoned places. Those are just some of my favorites.
Alexa: Let’s talk about the murder scene in your novel. Do you mind telling us more about it? Why did you pick City Hall station?
Phillip: One night, I fell asleep while riding the 6 train, in Manhattan. I didn’t notice when everyone walked out at the last stop. The train then made a sort of U-turn to go back uptown. I then woke up, and through the windows, I saw the abandoned City Hall station. Later on, I learned that subways hadn’t stopped there since the 1940s because the curvature of the platform couldn’t accommodate the newer trains. It was the first subway station in New York City, built in 1904. A few days later, at three a.m. on a weekday, I arrived at Fulton Street Station. Once inside, I walked onto the subway platform.
When nobody was around, I jumped to the subway track. After I examined the place for cameras, motion detectors, and subway workers, I went into the tunnel. No trains were around, so I continued. When I got to City Hall station, I saw streams of sapphire-colored light flowing through the skylights, and tall, arched ceilings, and brass chandeliers. It was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen. I took out a notebook and began writing right away. All of this is hypothetically speaking. I’m not admitting to doing anything illegal.
Alexa: Why was the victim in your novel drugged with Burundanga?
Phillip: It seemed like the perfect way to get the victim to willingly follow the murderer into City Hall station. Burundanga makes you docile, and without resistance, you’ll follow instructions from whoever drugged you. It comes in powder form. The criminal will blow on it, and the person’s brain gets scrambled. Robbers have used it to get people to withdraw money out of their bank accounts and hand it over to them willingly.
Alexa: It’s not a secret that a man named Taylor Mitchell was murdered at City Hall station, just like in your novel. What do you have to say about that?
Phillip: Come on! [Pounds his fist on the table.] I thought we were here to talk about my book, not some crime that happened at City Hall station. I don’t even know the dead guy.
Alexa: What are your thoughts on Detective Jónsdóttir?
Phillip: The detective investigating the Taylor Mitchell murder? All I know is what I saw on the news—that her father’s a serial killer, and she put him in prison. Who knows why they let her become a detective?
Alexa: Is it true that you’re a suspect in the case?
Phillip: Who told you that?
Alexa: Well, it wouldn’t be the first time that a crime fiction author is accused of murder. I mean—there’s Krystian Bala, Anne Perry… In fact, this isn’t your first time being accused of murder, is it?
Phillip: [Gets up from his chair abruptly.] No comment. This interview’s over.
Alexa: Why did you change your name to Phillip Weatherly and publish your novel under that name?
Phillip: [Points finger at Alexa.] Enough. I said the interview’s over. [Walks out.]
—
Alexa Recio de Fitch is a mystery author. Her debut novel is titled Triggers and is available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Alexa has published stories in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Colombia. She worked at Hachette Book Group and McGraw-Hill and holds an English literature degree from the University of Notre Dame. Alexa is from Barranquilla, Colombia and lives in New York City.
Website:
https://alexarecio.wixsite.com/alexareciodefitch
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble:
https://twitter.com/alexardfitch
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/alexa.reciodefitch/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexaReciodeFitch/
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/alexa_reciodefitch
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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