Why do you write the genre that you write?
I’ve always read a lot of crime fiction (along with SF and horror), so I naturally gravitated toward those genres in my own writing. The stakes are high, and the heroes have to use all their tools (mental and physical) to emerge from their struggles victorious. In my books, good ALWAYS defeats evil.

Tell us how you got into writing?
I hated writing as a kid; in fact, I went out of my way to avoid any type of writing assignments in school (I became an engineer!). Eventually, though, after reading thousands and thousands of books, I decided to try to write my own. It took a while to learn what I was doing enough to be able to write something that people might find worth reading. Even after having published a number of stories and novels, I still don’t feel like I really know what I’m doing.

What’s next for you?
Another book. Always another book. Or maybe a short story. There’s always another short story, too! Of course, I’m still promoting my YA thriller, I Play One On TV, which just came out in July. And I’m REALLY looking forward to attending some in-person mystery conventions, soon! I miss hanging with my peeps!

What are you reading now?
In the past few months, I read a super fun YA mystery, Holly Hernandez and The Death Of Disco by Richie Narvaez, and a great PI novel, Midnight Lullaby by James D.F. Hannah. I also read The Chill (Scott Carson), and two Colter Shaw books, The Never Game and The Goodbye Man (Jeffery Deaver). All recommended! I just finished a re-read of Red Dragon, so, naturally, The Silence of the Lambs is up next. After that, I’ll keep working on the several hundred books in my TBR pile!!

Where can we find you?
Website: alanorloff.com (sign up for my (very) occasional newsletter)
Facebook: alanorloff
Twitter: @alanorloff
Instagram: @alanorloff
MySpace: Ha! Just kidding.

Now to have some fun . . .

Vanilla or chocolate:
chocolate

Pizza or burgers:
I’m cheese phobic, and I don’t really eat red meat. Put me down for a vegan burger.

Broccoli or squash:
Broccoli

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner:
I have to choose? I’ll go with dinner. I don’t feel as guilty eating dessert at dinner than I do at breakfast.

Mountain or beach:
When I was younger, mountains. Now, beach.

Introvert or Extrovert:
INTROVERT! I mean, introvert, lower case (introverts don’t shout).

And even more fun . . .

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
My wife, a working cell phone, and a Slinky (I never get tired of playing with those things!).

My bio:
Alan Orloff’s debut mystery, Diamonds for the Dead, was an Agatha Award finalist, and his most recent novels are the thrillers Running from the Past and Pray for the Innocent. Alan lives in Florida.