It’s a pleasure to welcome Genevieve Dewey, author of The Downey Trilogy. Described as “one part The Godfather, two parts Emma and a dash of Casablanca mixed together, ‘First, I Love You’ isn’t a detective novel, a gangster novel, a mystery, a romance or a family saga. It’s a little of all of the above.” I’m looking forward to reading these books!
Genevieve is also the author of the short stories The Bird Day Battalion & The V-Day Aversion. She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and anthropologist. She loves intelligent debates but has zero tolerance for uninformed opinions (unless it’s stated up front it is based upon an irrational belief in which case props for your honesty!)
She was raised mostly in Nebraska and partly in Arizona. Her parents are from Chicago. Don’t get her started on the subject of Chicago unless you want to be bored to death about how awesome Chicago is.
She got her Bachelors in Anthropology from Texas A&M University (Whoop!) and a Masters degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Big Red!). She worked as an Applied Anthropologist for years (even ran her own research company for awhile) before deciding to be a stay at home mom.
She has three insanely brilliant and diabolical children and an incredibly funny and patient husband who is not a Dewey (for which he is thankful because that would be gross) and who hates Chicago (for which his wife forgives him on account of the funny and patient part).
Read on to find out more about Genevieve and her fascinating trilogy!
About First I Love You
If Mario Puzo and Jane Austen crossed the time-space continuum and mated, “First, I Love You” would be their literary baby. Imagine being a detective with a mobster for a father, or a mobster with a straight arrow, good cop for a son. This is a relationship that is tricky on its best day. Add in some well-meaning meddling from a mob princess sister, an arrogant DEA agent, and gangsters running a human trafficking ring and you have a recipe for a book that refuses to follow the rules. Told from the perspective and point of view of each the six main characters this is the first novel in a trilogy about love, loyalty, revenge and redemption.
Omaha Detective Tommy Gates has kept his gangster father at arm’s length his whole life. Mickey Downey has spent the better part of the last two decades trying to find ways to get back the son he lost through Witness Protection. Now Tommy has taken an opportunity to work on a Federal Human Trafficking Joint Task Force in Chicago where his father lives. Tommy’s sister Kiki and his mother Mary see this as an opportunity to build a relationship between the two. Tommy’s new DEA partner James Hoffman sees it as an opportunity to gain leverage over Mickey Downey. Tommy’s other partner, FBI Agent Ginny Sommers wants to keep Tommy’s family as far from the case as possible. When Kiki and James join forces, sparks fly and it sets fire to a maelstrom of unexpected consequences for everyone involved.
Now let’s shine the spotlight on Genevieve!
Maer: Genevieve, thanks for joining us today to tell us about your First I Love You. The entire series sounds like so much fun! Where did the inspiration to write this come from?
Genevieve: I’ve always been interested in warring philosophies or competing viewpoints and trying to explore the sticky realm in between. Two of my real life interests are organized crime and the FBI. I also love reading romance books. I was having a conversation with a friend about how other than the Romeo & Juliet with a happy ending theme my other favorite thing to read or watch in a TV or movie is two family members on the opposite side of the law from each other. I said, ‘how come no one ever writes it where they actually both try and see how that would work (while keeping the angst of their differing worldviews)?’ She said, ‘you should write that’. So I did.
Maer: What is a one line synopsis for your book?
Genevieve: When Detective Tommy Gates’ sister decides to manipulate him into a relationship with his gangster father, Mickey Downey, it sparks a maelstrom of consequences both personal and professional for everyone involved.
Maer: And this is which part of the series?
Genevieve: This is the first book in The Downey Trilogy.
Maer: Which character other than your MC is one of your favorites to write and why?
Genevieve: I have six main characters, so other than them, Joe Downey is my favorite. He is a perfect blend of all his family and environmental influences. He’s a little like me, always trying to see all sides, but from a logical and practical standpoint, not naïve or idealistic.
Maer: Genevieve, if you had to pick a color to describe your Main Character what would that be and why?
Genevieve: I’ll pick Tommy (I do think of the six he is the “central”). I think I would pick chocolate brown. He’s a very down-to-earth steady sort of guy, and like the overused grey, chocolate brown has many hues to it.
Maer: That’s a very thoughtful answer and I like your take on chocolate brown. Turning now to your own reading, who are your favorite authors?
Genevieve: William Faulkner, Victor Hugo, Jane Austen, Kurt Vonnegut, Nora Roberts, Janet Evanovich, Catherine Coulter, Julia Quinn, that’s just a few. 😛
Maer: Can you share a bit about your current project?
Genevieve: I am writing the last book in the Downey Trilogy right now called Third Time’s The Charm. In the first book these six very different people start out at very set emotional points, get all mixed up and tangled up in the second book (Second of All), and here’s where I straighten them out a bit. But, expect that they are still forever changed, I think for the better, by becoming part of each other’s lives. It will be a “happy” ending, or as happy as a book containing gangsters and cops can be. 🙂
Maer: That sounds intriguing! What do you do when you’re not writing?
Genevieve: Take care of my kids, read, chat on the internet, mock TV shows with my husband.
Maer: What influenced you to write in your genre? Do you write in others?
Genevieve: I read all sorts of different genres. The Downey Trilogy is very much a mixed genre. That’s how I like it most of the time as a reader. When a book is too formulaic, as is the case with many solidly-placed-in-one-genre books, I can quickly lose interest. On the other hand, I would be lying if there weren’t times when I wanted, very specifically, a certain plotline and predictability of ending. So I, guess I mean to say, I’m glad I read and write both mixed genre and straight romance (in my short stories).
Maer: Great answer! During your writing process, what music, if any, do you like to listen to while writing?
Genevieve: That depends on the character and scene. I pick songs that match the mood of the scene I’m trying to write. When editing, I usually do that in perfect silence or classical music (no words).
Maer: Do you have anything you’d like to add?
Genevieve: Thank you very much for inviting me here! I love chatting about my books to anyone that’ll sit still long enough. Ha! If you’d like to know more about the characters in the Downey Trilogy, or find out how they’re connected to my popular short stories Bird Day Battalion and V-Day Aversion, please check out my website GenevieveDewey.com!
Maer: The pleasure was all mine and I look forward to reading your trilogy!
If you want to read First, I Love You (The Downey Trilogy)
To keep up to date with Genevieve, you can find her at the following links:
Thank you Maer for having me!
It was a pleasure to have you stop by, Gen!