Clare Carlson first appeared in Yesterday’s News and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Clare.

What is your name?
Clare Carlson. Well, actually my full name is Clarissa Carlson. But I always use Clare. Have ever since I was a kid and decided how much I hated being called Clarissa. So I guess the simple answer to your question is: “Hi, I’m Clare Carlson.”

How old are you?
I’m in my mid-40s. Okay, I’m 45. Hey, that’s about as mid as you can be in your 40s. I mean I’m just as close to 40 as I am to the big 5-0.

What is your profession?
I am the news director of a New York City TV station. I used to be a newspaper reporter, and I loved that. But then everyone stopped reading newspapers and they started dying off, so I moved into TV. First as an on-air reporter (that didn’t work out too well, people said I was too unlikeable and too grating to the viewers), and so now I’m running the Channel 10 newsroom. Go figure.

Do you have a significant other?
I’ve had a number of them. I’ve been married three times, but none of them lasted very long. I go through boyfriends pretty quickly too. I may have a commitment problem.

What is (or, in my case, was) your significant other’s profession?
My husbands were – in this order – a doctor, a lawyer and a homicide detective. All nice guys, but they said I was more interested in covering the news than I was in them. They might have been right. My last husband had divorce papers delivered to me in the newsroom to make sure I got them. I was directing our coverage of a Manhattan skyscraper fire at the time, and didn’t open the divorce papers until the fire was out.

Any children?
Yes. And no. Well, the real answer is yes. But it’s complicated. You’ll have to read my books to get the story.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
No, I’m an only child. Which may explain some things about my personality.

Do your parents live near you?
They’re both dead. I didn’t have a very good relationship with them once I got older, especially with my father. We went years without speaking. Again, read my books for more on that.

Who is your best friend?
Janet Wood. She’s a successful attorney in New York who’s also managed to be happily married and raise two wonderful children. She’s somehow managed to balance the whole career/family thing. I admire Janet greatly and am honored to be her friend. I have no idea why Janet wants to hang out with me.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
No. Would love to have a dog or cat, but I’m on the go too much.

What town do you live in?
New York City! Greatest city in the world!

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I rent an apartment. I keep talking about buying something, but never have gotten around to it. Meanwhile, of course, the New York prices keep going up.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
In front of the TV.

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
You know I really really love fettuccine Alfredo. But I only eat it once in a while, because it consumes my calorie count for an entire week. Dessert? Okay, I’ll go with chocolate marshmallow ice cream. That’s not fattening, is it?

Favorite hobby?
Hobby? What’s a hobby? Seriously, when you’re running a big city TV news operation, you have no time for a hobby.

Favorite color?
Red. I like wearing red clothes whenever I can. After that, I guess, I’d go with black. A person can look really great in a black outfit.

Favorite author?
Hank Phillippi Ryan. She’s a TV journalist – just like me – and she writes mystery novels about a TV journalist. How cool is that?

Favorite vacation spot?
Martha’s Vineyard. I’ve vacationed there every summer for years. When you live in a place like Manhattan, it’s very relaxing to go to a very different kind of island for a few weeks.

Favorite sports team?
New York Mets. In New York, you’re either a Yankees or Mets fan. I’m Mets all the way.

Movies or Broadway?
I’m a movie person. But I gotta say. . .it’s fun to go to a Broadway show once in a while. A whole different kind of experience. But again, I don’t have enough free time to do movies or Broadway shows very often.

Are you a morning or a night person?
I used to think I was a morning person, now I’m more inclined to say night. Not long ago, my station started an early morning newscast which required me to get up very early and act very chipper. I was not all that chipper. I guess that’s when I really realized I was more of a night person than a morning one.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
I’m a professional journalist, that’s what I am. So I’m an investigator, I just don’t carry a badge or gun. Think Woodward and Bernstein – only a female and on TV.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
My entire news staff. So I have a lot of help when I’m chasing after a big story.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
I come to work in the TV newsroom and have about 100 story ideas pitched at me. I have to decide which ones to cover on air, how to cover them and who will do it. So I need to make maybe a thousand decisions during just a few hours in my job as a TV news director. And just hope I get most of them right. That’s basically what happens during a day (every day) in the life of Clare Carlson!

You can read about Clare in Below The Fold, the second book in the “Clare Carlson” traditional mystery series, released May 7, 2019.

When the murder of a “nobody” triggers an avalanche.

Every human life is supposed to be important. Everyone should matter. But that’s not the case in the cutthroat TV news-rating world where Clare Carlson works. Sex, money, and power sell. Only murder victims of the right social strata are considered worth covering. Not the murder of a “nobody.”

So, when the battered body of a homeless woman named Dora Gayle is found on the streets of New York City, her murder barely gets a mention in the media. But Clare―a TV news director who still has a reporter’s instincts―decides to dig deeper into the seemingly meaningless death. She uncovers mysterious links between Gayle and a number of wealthy and influential figures. There is a prominent female defense attorney; a scandal-ridden ex-congressman; a decorated NYPD detective; and―most shocking of all―a wealthy media mogul who owns the TV station where Clare works. Soon there are more murders, more victims, more questions. As the bodies pile up, Clare realizes that her job, her career, and maybe even her life are at stake as she chases after her biggest story ever.

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About the author
R. G. Belsky is an author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery Below The Fold was published in May 2019 by Oceanview. It is the second in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first Clare Carlson book, Yesterday’s News, came out in 2018. Belsky previously did the Gil Malloy series – The Kennedy Connection, Shooting For The Stars and Blonde Ice – about a newspaper reporter. Belsky writes about the media from an extensive background in newspapers, magazines and TV/digital news. He was metropolitan editor of the New York Post; managing editor of the New York Daily News; news editor at Star magazine; and managing editor for news at NBCNews.com. Belsky has been nominated as a finalist for the David Award at Deadly Ink and also for the Silver Falchion at Killer Nashville, He also was a Claymore Award winner at Killer Nashville.

To learn more about R.G., visit his website at rgbelsky.com.

All comments are welcomed.