chriswarner

Question: Hello Mr. Warner, or is it Special Agent Warner?

Chris: Chris works best, but I'll answer to most anything.

Q: Great. Faces – Death in San Francisco was just published on August 15, 2014.

Chris: That's right.

Q: It's available via Amazon in paper version, and Amazon Kindle digitally.

Chris: Yes.

Q: What's it about?

Chris: Faces – Death in San Francisco is a fictional account of a serial murder investigation conducted by two San Francisco Inspectors, Park and Keller. The killer is mutilating the victims, who for the most part are prostitutes. There is little left behind for the lab crew to identify the killer, so Park and Keller have to try and solve the mystery the old fashioned way, pounding the pavement, finding sources of information, and a not so old fashioned way, utilizing information from a psychic.

Q: Psychic, huh? Are you a believer?

Chris: In real life I'm kind of like Inspector Keller...I don't believe or disbelieve, but I'm not going to ignore any information that could help me, and if a psychic walks up to me and gives me the lotto numbers, I'll risk a buck just in case.

Q: Is that the only way that you identify with Inspector Keller?

Chris: There's a lot of me in the character, but by the same token, there's a lot of me in the character of Inspector Park. It's kind of impossible to write anything and not inject some of yourself into the characters. I'm everywhere in this book. If there isn't any of me in the character, there's some of my observations of life transformed into the character. In other words, if it's not me, it's someone I know.

Q: Good point. So does this book have a happy ending?

Chris: Not for the dead.

Q: How about for the living?

Chris: Yeah, for the most part. Part of the story is the interaction between Park and Keller, and by the end of the book, they have bonded and have a closer friendship, in addition to their professional relationship.

Q: The book is set in San Francisco. You live in Washington D.C., do you have ties to San Francisco?

Chris: Tony Bennett ties. I was born there, as was my brother. My parents married there. My wife and I married there, My kids were born there. I worked there for about ten years. My in-laws, a large group I might add, almost all live there. Yeah, I'd say I've got ties there.

Q: So why are you in the nation's capitol now?

Chris: Well, the Government told me to either come here, or stop getting paid, and my greed got the best of me. Actually I'm not really new here. I went to Middle School, High School and College here, and started my government service here too.

Q: Where did you go to college?

Chris: The George Washington University. I majored in Political Science, with minors in History and Psychology.

Q: Okay, now what's this government service you speak of?

Chris: While I went to GW, I worked at the hospital as a Special Police Officer. Basically we were the Police for the hospital.

Q: Isn't that where they took President Reagan when he got shot?

Chris: Yeah, actually I was on duty when he came in. I worked 36 hours straight, and for the time period that he was there. I was actually supposed to leave, but stayed for a week longer, as my boss there called the CIA and said I was essential.

Q: The CIA?

Chris: Yes, I left GW Hospital for the CIA, where I worked for about 3 years. I left the Agency for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and was a Special Agent for 24 years, then I retired.

Q: Where did you work?

Chris: Temporarily I worked all over the world. The offices that I was assigned to were DC, Naples, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, San Francisco, and Fresno, California.

Q: When were you in Miami?

Chris: Early to Mid 1980's. I left Florida in the early nineties.

Q: The Miami Vice era?

Chris: I guess you could say that. It isn't the same Miami that is there now, that much I can tell you.

Q: How many people have you arrested?

Chris: Not enough obviously. We still have quite a drug problem in the world.

Q: You must have a bunch of stories from all of your assignments.

Chris: I've got a story or two.

Q: Should we be looking for them on Amazon?

Chris: Sure. I've got a lot on paper already . I just need to clean them up and get them out there. I'll let you know when they get done.

Q: What about an autobiography? Do you have one of those?

Chris: No. Very doubtful I could get one done. I have a hard time writing about myself like that. And the really good stories are each big enough to be a book or movie by itself.

Q: So how long have you been writing?

Chris: Geez, a long time. I think that I started in High School with short stories and poetry. Then in my twenties, I wrote 4 novels, and dozens of short stories. The publication process was so taxing that I didn't write for a couple of decades, and then wrote 5 or 6 screenplays in 2000's and some short screenplays. Once again the process stopped me. And in 2010's I started writing novels again.

Q: No more poetry?

Chris: No more teenage angst. No need to.

Q: Are all mystery novels and screenplays?

Chris: No, not entirely, though all are in that kind of setting I guess.

Q: What do you mean?

Chris: Well they're crossover types of stories. Part dark comedy, part mystery. Part baseball, part drug smuggling conspiracy, a musical tribute with a part of a military spy story as the base of the story.

Q: That's interesting.

Chris: Thanks.

Q: What books do you read?

Chris: I read a lot. A little bit of everything. Some of the authors that I really like are, of course, dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, John MacDonald, John Irving, Doris Kearns. I read a lot of history and political books of various authors.

Q: Well thank you for your time, Chris, and good luck with your book.