Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Lily Andrews is talking with Shelly Frome, author of Fast Times, Big City.

FQ: Congratulations on this novel. It was a fascinating read for me. How did you develop your characters? Are they based on real people?

FROME: One advantage I seem to have is based on all my years being an actor in New York and then, for a time, a playwright and teacher of acting at the University of Connecticut. In short, it’s as if I realized I need someone to play Bud who has all these attributes, background and shortcomings. Every step of the way I let Bud be Bud and respond to the moment. In short, I simply become each needed character in terms of this particular dynamic.

FQ: From the onset, the book does not dally in its progress and hooks the reader's mind effortlessly. How did you arrive at the first chapter? Was it pre-meditated, or did you dive right into the storytelling?

FROME: As a playwright I was taught that in order for a play to “play” this can’t just be another day. It starts out at a point of delicate balance so that, say, after only a few opening moments there’s a disturbance that sets things in motion that will carry me through a number of proliferating consequences until everything resolves.

FQ: One of the book's strengths lies in the period in which the book is set. What was the inspiration behind this moving backdrop?

FROME: Actually, I missed the Miami and New York of old. When Miami was a sleepy, tropical town and, in contrast, you could take off and afford to be a starving actor in a place where it seemed everything was on the brink—live TV dramas, the heyday of the Actors Studio, the new wave in Greenwich Village, etc. I simply wanted to return as someone unlike myself, who had enough maturity to take it all in and, in some way, deal with it.

FQ: What was the most difficult part to write in this novel? Why so?

FROME: It became a juggling act. I had to keep mobster Jack Reardon at bay while Ben gets acclimated to a world that’s totally over his head. In other words, it was the progression of the mobsters’ scenario, Ben’s quest and what was happening those precise two weeks with Castro in the mountains of Cuba.

FQ: Besides offering escapist entertainment, what other takeaway do you intend for readers to carry?

FROME: To consider the possibility you have to venture beyond the safe and predictable to find your true self and perhaps your hidden calling.

FQ: In my view, Bud is a proactive character who I liked and enjoyed rooting for and deserves to be in a sequel. Is this a plan you have in the future, or would you wish to start from scratch and write on a new protagonist?

FROME: Maybe it’s a shortcoming on my part, but something has to trigger my writing. Some unfinished business, a realization that a certain basic assumption isn’t true anymore or some venture or misadventure that will carry me through.

FQ: No mean feat, the crime thriller genre requires the skill and creativity of an author, which you deftly executed in this tale. Is there a particular reason that you drew you to write a novel in this genre as opposed to other genres?

FROME: Simply put, there’s always something vital at stake that drives the narrative.

FQ: I have read positive reviews online about this novel. How does it feel to have this positive feedback from readers?

FROME: It’s gratifying or, as venerable actress Ruth Gordon once said in response to the applause, “I have to say this is very encouraging.”

FQ: Thank you so much for the interview. My last question is related to your writing career. Are you currently working on something else for readers who, like me, love your work?

FROME: I’m working on a mystery driven by a handyman who feels he’s squandered his life and suddenly finds himself in a quandary. The working title is Charlie and the Grifters.

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