Oct 18, 2018
In this episode Mark chats with Dave Sweet and Sarah Graham
about their new book SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET: Life
Lessons from a Homicide Detective, an unorthodox
police memoir taking readers on a ride-along like no other,
revealing poignant truths about life and death, and how we can all
work and live together. Danger and grit pair with humour and
compassion in this gripping, fresh read.
Dave Sweet, a conservative, veteran homicide detective has
teamed up with Sarah Graham, a liberal, optimistic author to write
this unconventional universal life-lessons book.
Before the interview, Mark shares a personal update which
includes:
- Why he is pushing back the release date of his book INDIE
PUBLISHING INSIDER SECRETS
- Some reflections on how previous Stark Reflections podcast
guest Dana Pharant turned a mistake into a win
- Mark's forthcoming trip to Las Vegas to teach at a WMG Publishing Master Class about the business of
writing and publishing
This episode is sponsored by Findaway Voices . . .

In the interview, Mark and Dave and Sarah talk about:
- How Dave and Sarah first met and then decided to work on this
project together
- The work Dave has been doing with local area writer groups
looking for insights and realistic detail related to actual police
work
- The dichotomy of "Homicide Cop" and "Life Lessons"
- The importance that this book be optimistic and not be
gratuitous in its portrayal of Dave's experiences
- The transformation that is witnessed in the various people
involved in a homicide investigation and the lessons learned along
the way
- The early reader expectation of "more grit" and how the authors
responded to that with respect for the victims and their loved
ones
- The decision to release this book as by Dave with Sarah rather
than keeping Sarah's name hidden like a more traditional "ghost
written" book, because of the way that Sarah's voice and influence
helped to smooth out some of the rougher edges that come from
Dave's experience
- The processes and different techniques used in how they wrote
this book together (actual writing, raw words, interactive
presentations, phone calls)
- What Dave learned about writing through this process
- What television actually gets right about police work and
police life
- How Sarah's experience as a writer was different than the
writer/cop partnership seen on television programs like Castle
- The publishing options, agent feedback and choices made for the
publication of this book
- The intriguing "sneak peak" preview eBook their publisher
created in a "Behind the Scenes" chapbook
- The comparison between when Sarah is all-consumed when working
on edits and Dave is all-consumed when focusing on a case
- The "Reading Guide/Study Guide" section at the end of the
book
- Forthcoming books in this series which will each explore
courage and death
After the interview, Mark reflects on how Dave and Sarah kept
working at testing out different ways of making the collaboration
work, not giving up, but continuing to experiment and find new ways
for the process to happen smoothly. He discusses their publishing
path as well, which was a series of learnings and tweaks and
changes, until they found the one that suited them best.
He considers how they applied patience, persistence, partnership
and progression in their path towards publication.
Mark then thanks Patrons for their sponsorship of the show via
www.patreon.com/starkreflections.

Links of Interest:
The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and
produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0