Clark G. Haberman's Page

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author C. G. Haberman

C. G. Haberman was raised in south-central Nebraska, undergraduate education from the Nebraska University, and MS from Fort Hays State University.

For nearly a decade he taught the biological sciences in secondary schools. He changed professions to work in the environmental field for three different state agencies over twenty years. C. G. returned to education as a community college instructor and as an adjunct at a four-year, liberal-arts College. He has written and self-published five novels, four crime and one historical all set in the Great Plains.

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What makes you proud to be a writer from Nebraska? I am proud to be a writer from Nebraska because so little is known about this diverse State. My goal is to show, through words, the diversity that exists in Nebraska and the surrounding Great Plains States.

What or who inspired you to become a writer? A friend asked a similar question. The first time was in the seventh grade and the teacher, Mrs. Johnson, encouraged the class to write. My writing for the class involved mysteries. Writing was hit and miss with most of it professional publications except for the environmental reader series for children.

Writing started to take shape after I went back to teaching. It was the time of my wife’s health problems that I began, mostly to occupy my mind during her difficult recovery.

When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? During the time of my wife’s health dilemmas our daughter inspired me to bring the novel I had written out of my computer to share with the public. That novel became my first: Deadly Circles. Positive, as well as a few negative, comments about the novels drive me to write more and better.

Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? My environment—literally and figuratively—was the force behind the first novel. I had been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Because of the unique situations where I worked and lived and “battled” I can show and entertain the reader from a “been there, done that” perspective.

Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? I derive titles as I outline novels in my head. Once the novel is firmed up in a detailed outline I might change, but that has occurred only once with the fourth in the CJ Hand series: Lake of Lies.

Please introduce your genre and why you prefer to write in that genre? I write fiction: crime, mystery, and historic. All focus on the Great Plains environment.

What was your inspiration, spark or light bulb moment that inspired you to write the book that you are seeking promotion for? The moment that inspired me to write Deadly Circles came after a difficult time in my environmental career. On a secluded drive across rural, eastern South Dakota I wondered about the happenstance. During that drive CJ Hand was born in Hand County, South Dakota.

What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? The writing process experience most rewarding is the unfurling of the words as the book develops. An example is the historical novel, The Naturalists, where the character Abner Hayman took the reins and became a major actor, something I had not planned. As I read and researched this book I learned an immense amount about our country (positive and negative) from the mid-1800s to 1899.

Have you had a negative experience in your writing career? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? No. I cannot think of a time that was negative. Writing I do for pleasure, and hope those who read the CJ Hand Novels and The Naturalists enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? The most rewarding experience was the positive feedback about the dialogue and settings.

Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? None to date. I have not experienced a negative in my publishing journey.

What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? The positive piece of advice is write about what you love and read, read, read all kinds of books. One of the most intriguing I read was a philosophy book entitled: PLATO and a PLATYPUS Walk into a Bar Understanding Philosophy through Jokes 2007 Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein http://www.hnabooks.com

Who is your favorite author and why? My favorite author is Robert B. Parker followed by Cather, Sandoz, Steinbeck, Michener, Craig Johnson, Tony Hillerman, and C. J. Box

Please add questions and the answers to any questions that you believe your readers would like to know.

Q: What do you do when I get writer's block? A: Read. Relax. Listen to Music.

Q: Is Nebraska as flat as the media says? A: No, as long as you get off I-80. The Sandhills are rolling dunes with grass and cattle and wetlands. The Republican Valley holds some real surprises. The Niobrara and the Pine Ridge are gorgeous and wild. The Loess Hills of Iowa are wonderful in the fall.

Q: Why the Republican Valley for your first novel? A: It was where I took college students of all ages to learn and talk water and water war, look at geologic faults, plus it is Cather land.

How many published books do you have? I have four CJ Hand Novels and the one historical fiction mentioned above.

Which book title would you like featured in this interview? Deadly Circles

Deadly Circles: A CJ Hand Novel (Volume 1) - by C. G. Haberman

The pall of death hangs over two distinctly different valleys separated by eighteen-hundred miles. One a modest, unknown channel drained by a small cool-water stream and the other a magnificent gorge carved by a roaring river that separates two states. Unknown to a man, tormented by loss and intensifying anger, both valleys hold his fate. A bloody mist suddenly fills a truck cab. It is not the shot but the seconds after that begins change for criminal investigator CJ Hand. Beset with his recent loss and pent-up anger he takes leave from a tangled bureaucratic mess. Trying to find self-worth he agrees to help friends by probing the accidental drowning of a friend's son. The image of an uncomplicated investigation is quickly shattered. CJ encounters a maze of deadly circles surrounding the death. He begins unwinding hidden tentacles of political power and personal greed gripping Elm Creek valley. Affecting his personal life are two intellectual and intuitive women who help him come to grips with what he has been running from, or toward, for a decade. DEADLY CIRCLES is a fast-paced novel exposing the ugly underbelly of insidious criminal activity.

Book Genre: Crime Fiction, Mystery, History

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Cold Coffee Press Book Review For Deadly Circles:
A CJ Hand Novel (Volume 1) - by C. G. Haberman

Deadly Circles: A CJ Hand Novel is a fast moving fiction crime mystery that enchants the reader with breath taking descriptive beauty with possible environmental struggles within the Great Plains of the USA.

The main character, CJ Hand was born in Hand County, South Dakota. As a criminal investigator CJ Hand takes the reader on a vivid pictorial trip down the winding rural roads of Nebraska into the small towns where life and love among other things thrive with a cast of over 40 characters. The dialog flows very smooth and this reviewer can visualize this book series becoming an excellent made for TV series.

Enjoy the descriptive beauty of the landscapes and relate with the rural folks going about their daily lives. Just keep in mind that nothing is perfect and even here there festers a quiet under tone of mystery, personal and political greed, crime and an unexplained death.

Haberman weaves a tale that keeps the reader turning the pages with descriptive artistry like in this quote: “A breeze whispered through the pine and cedar trees as he entered the small acreage. Colored lichens dotted gravestones and the stately old trees. He moved from grave to grave reading the inscriptions. Several large round, prairie-hay bales rested in the warm autumnal sunshine in the east half of the cemetery, devoid of headstones. CJ squatted down, grasped a handful of loose hay, examined the dried vegetation, and rolled it between his palms. The earthy, redolent grass brought a melancholy rush. The death of a friend’s son brought him here and a tragic farm accident united him with the woman he loved. He stood in the earthly solitude, stillness within him. A wind gust interrupted the moment. An important task lay ahead.”

Cold Coffee Press Endorses Deadly Circles: A CJ Hand Novel (Volume 1) and you can follow this book up with Mill Creek Malice (Volume 2) as the series continues to unfold under the mastery of author C. G. Haberman.

'Deadly Circles' was given to us by the author in a PDF format for review. The review was completed on December 5^th. For more information please visit http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

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