This question is addressed to our guest author, Mr.
Schutz.
I'm interested in the reasons you decided to put your
character through such extreme changes between the novel
MEXICO IS FOREVER and the short story follow-up,
"Lost and Found."
Haggerty had already gone through some truly wrenching
experiences in A FISTFUL OF EMPTY, the novel immediately
preceding MEXICO. Had you decided that you wanted an extreme
change for Haggerty and, on balance, what he had gone through
in FISTFUL wasn't extreme enough?
In terms of milieu, the character in "Lost and Found" is
almost a completely different type of character. Where Leo in
MEXICO and the books preceding it is a professional PI in
(relatively) good standing, a very good example of one kind
of PI character, the Leo of
"Lost and Found" is an ex-con who's lost his license and
takes cases under the table, an equally fine example of
another kind of PI character.
Usually, though, we are introduced to the "unlicensed ex-con"
after he's already gone through the life-changing experience.
His status is already a fait accompli. By contrast, you'd
spent a half-dozen books and several short stories developing
Leo the Well-Though-Of-Pro, then suddenly scuttled him in
favor of Leo the Ex-Con-Who-Takes-Cases-Illegally.
You bring it off very well, but the change is so radical, I
can't help wondering what led you in that direction.
JIM DOHERTY
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