IndieView with Lisa Fantino, author of The Costa Affair

Bringing any art form to life is always a struggle in some respects but as a writer there are many, many voices all shouting to be heard inside my head. It can be crazy at times.

Lisa Fantino – 17 March 2022

The Back Flap

Tremors rock the art world when a millionaire patron of the arts vanishes from his Riverdale mansion. The mysterious disappearance of Gianni Costa and millions in art is headline news, triggers an urgent investigation, imperils a multi-million-dollar auction, and threatens to destabilize a huge overseas pipeline of profit.

In The Costa Affair, Lisa Fantino’s long-awaited follow-up to her Det. Maggie Flynn mystery series, Maggie is plunged into a world of unimaginable wealth where priceless art changes hands with the fall of a gavel.

Beneath the veneer of elegance though is a transatlantic criminal underworld where deals are brokered in blood, and art is used to evade taxes and launder drug money. Is Costa connected? Nosy NYPD detectives who get too close are in grave peril.

In Fractured, her debut mystery, Fantino proved she’s a master of suspense. She’ll keep you riveted now as Maggie braves dark corners of Costa’s mansion for the key to his disappearance.

The author’s almost uncanny insight into the minds of the near dead and desperate unlocks the mystery, but fair warning, it will leave you with chills and you will never look at The Mona Lisa the same way again.

About the book

What is the book about?

This is the second in the Detective Maggie Flynn mysteries, a sequel to the well-received Fractured.  Flynn is no longer a rookie and has earned her chops as a valued member of the Bronx Detective Squad.

The mysterious disappearance of noted art philanthropist Gianni Costa and millions of dollars’ worth of art is headline news, triggers an urgent investigation, imperils a multi-million-dollar auction, and threatens to destabilize a huge international pipeline of profit.

When did you start writing the book?

This is truly a COVID creation started about 18 months ago.

How long did it take you to write it?

It took about six months to outline and 14 months to write.  That may sound ridiculous to readers but the one thing I learned is that your outline should be longer than your manuscript.  The story just flows as a result.

Where did you get the idea from?

I have a very vivid imagination thanks to my Dad who introduced me to noir mysteries and Nancy Drew and my Mom who was the most colorful spirit on the planet.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Bringing any art form to life is always a struggle in some respects but as a writer there are many, many voices all shouting to be heard inside my head.  It can be crazy at times.  You have to know your characters so well that when you’re typing their words, you’ll self-edit, sit back and say to yourself, “There’s no way she would say that.”

What came easily?

I took a Master Class with James Patterson about four or five years ago and the one HUGE takeaway was the need for an extensive outline.  Ever since I made that part of any project, the story just flows as a result.  I told him that his course changed the trajectory of how I write, and he just smiled in disbelief, I think, but it’s most certainly true.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Writers are told to write what they know.  Good thing I know a lot of people.  So, while all of the characters are fictitious, of course they are composites of people I have met along the way.  That includes family, friends, colleagues, convicted killers and investigative journalists.  It’s a true privilege to walk through life and absorb the world and the stories around you and use them in your art.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

There are three who always come to mind.

I had the honor of interviewing Mary Higgins Clark on my celebrity chat show on Cablevision about 20 years ago.  We chatted for about an hour and it could’ve gone on all day.  She taught me to always grab them from the first page and let the readers know that nothing will ever be the same again for that character.

The Master Class with James Patterson was just brilliant.  I need to snap out of overthinking my plots.  It happens when you’re a lawyer and an investigative reporter.  Patterson’s class helped me get out of my head and enter the world of imagination in a new way.

John Hart is a wonderful writer.  He writes in a way that draws you in, makes you think and the language he uses literally paints a picture without boring you to death.  His opening line of The Hush is absolutely brilliant: “Johnny woke in the crook of a tree under a diamond-studded sky.”  In contrast, would you care if the story said: “There were a thousand stars in the sky when Johnny found himself under an old oak?”  Yawn.

I can only aspire to their level of mastery.

Do you have a target reader?

Not really.  Anyone who watches police dramas, mystery and suspense movies would likely enjoy the whodunnits.  Sometimes they’re tied up in a nice neat bow and other times they’re messy but that’s life.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

As I said earlier, I’ve learned to outline from a master and now I can’t imagine starting a new book without that key step.  Each chapter is outlined, rehashed and bashed.  Each character morphs over time, even recurring characters who reveal pieces of their personal back stories in each sequel. It also allows me to change the order of chapters for better story flow.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I’m always editing myself.  My career as a broadcast journalist forced me to say a lot in a short amount of time, 30 seconds for radio, 60 seconds if it was a headline story, and two, maybe three minutes for TV.  So, if something bothers me, I change it on the spot.  The final review and edits of the book as a whole are for minor tweaks.  In my experience, if you start doing major re-writes or revisions when you’re getting the book ready for production, there’s a good chance you will miss an element somewhere in the manuscript and that major revision will throw off the whole storyline.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

Oh God, no.  Even barking dogs rattle my creative flow zone.  If necessary, I escape to the beach, the mountains or even out of the country when I’m writing.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

When I first started on the air in New York City, the toughest media capital in the world, I thought I had a book in me with every major murder I covered. Drop a body and Fantino would drop a cover letter to agents.  I know most of my colleagues were the same way.  We’d be at crime scenes or in courtrooms at trials and wonder who would be the first one in the media pool to get the book deal because someone always gets a book deal.

I used to keep the rejection letters in a box and laugh at them on occasion.  Then one agent drew me in slowly, asking me to submit a treatment, then a chapter, then three more chapters and finally letting me know six months into this dance that they’d have to pass on representing me.  It was at that point that I decided working with agents was not a priority, at least not for me.  Nothing has changed my mind in the meantime.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I got very lucky with my first book, which oddly was a travel memoir, Amalfi Blue – lost & found in the south of Italy, which did extremely well on Amazon, hitting number one in its genre in three countries.  The production and marketing was a bit of slog for the first time at bat but we muddled through, me and my current publisher, Wanderlust Women Travel.  They had previously published all of my travel articles and it’s just worked ever since.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

I’ve designed all four of my book covers.  It’s time consuming when you don’t use your graphic design programs every day.  You need to restart with each new project.  However, the flip side is, I’m saving a lot of money and I have the talent.  Also, now, several years into this, KDP on Amazon has an online book cover creator which seems almost foolproof if someone is not familiar with or have the patience for designing their own cover.  Remember, even though most people may be buying online and not in a bookstore, the cover is what draws them in and is quite important.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

Publicists are only as good as their contacts but they don’t guarantee media coverage and cost a lot of money.  If I’m going to pay an agency $5,000 to 7,000 per month, I’d like to know they understand me and can guarantee some realistic media placement.  That’s not going to happen unless you have a big publishing house with an in-house media staff pushing any title.  Again, from my experience.

You need to navigate the market you’re in and you can’t do that with old school publicists.  I am currently working with a book tour organizer and we’ll be doing a ten-day release blitz of 30-40 sites, including interviews, podcasts, reviews and contests.  I’m optimistic. Check back with me in a few months.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Don’t pursue any art to be rich and famous because then your heart and soul will not be in it and your art will reflect that.  You need time to develop your craft, determine to travel the never-ending journey and a thick skin to put up with people who don’t like your work.  Someone will like it but only if you love it for the right reasons.

What are you working on now?

Plotting the next Detective Flynn Mystery.

End of Interview:

For more from Ms Fantino visit her website, like her Facebook page, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Get your copy of The Costa Affair from Amazon US or Amazon UK.