September 14, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mt. Airy author’s ‘Body’ traces U. of P. murders
by BARBARA L. SHERF

The Mt. Airy author (pen-name D. H. Dublin) has written a fascinating novel about a Philadelphia crime scene investigator who, while investigating a crime, discovers secrets about her own troubled past.

By day he works full-time at the Weavers Way Cooperative in Mount Airy. Usually he’s editing The Shuttle newsletter or working on publicity and other communications items there, but sometimes you’ll still see him behind the register, checking out items for members. At night and on weekends, he is a writer — and he has just published his first novel, Body Trace, the first in a mystery detective series set in Philadelphia.

McGoran, 42, will be signing copies of Body Trace, a gripping, tightly written crime scene investigation novel, this Saturday evening, September 16, at Big Blue Marble bookstore on Carpenters Lane off of Greene Street in West Mt. Airy.

Writing as D.H. Dublin, a pseudonym he uses to differentiate this new series from his other, as yet unpublished novels, McGoran’s work has been published by Penguin Press as a Berkley Original Mass Market Paperback. The second in the series, Blood Poison, has a tentative release date of September 2007.

“I finished the first draft of Blood Poison in June, and we are now copyediting it. I am currently working on the third book in the series, and after that I hope to spend some time on some of my other novels, including revisions to Pig Latin and finishing Skipping Stones, a novel I was half-finished when I started work on this series. I would also like to find a publisher for my completed novel, a humorous thriller called Slapdash.”

Born and raised in Mt. Airy, McGoran lived almost all his life in Mt. Airy and Germantown before buying a house in Jenkintown when his son, William, was born six years ago. His wife, Karen, will soon be returning to her teaching career now that William is in first grade.

Weavers Way employee Jon McGoran will sign copies of his new book, Body Trace, at Big Blue Marble, 551 Carpenter Lane, on Saturday, September 16, at 7:30 p.m. Call 215-884-1870 to have a copy of the book set aside for signing or for further information or directions.

McGoran started writing science-fiction stories as a child, but turned to writing and performing music from his teens to mid-20s. When he returned to writing fiction after college, he was no longer a big fan of science fiction and was more interested in mysteries, thrillers and crime novels.

A description on the book jacket best describes the plot of Body Trace. “Fresh out of med school and back in Philadelphia, C.S.U. rookie Madison Cross is as green as they come. She has a lot to learn about forensic investigation, and must work twice as hard to make her mark. But she gets her chance when two women are discovered dead at a University of Pennsylvania sorority house. Everyone, including the police, is quick to write off the deaths as accidental drug overdoses. But for Madison, the evidence at the crime scene just doesn’t add up. Relying on her instincts, she embarks on an investigation that takes her from a pristine Ivy League campus to the seediest parts of town, an investigation that in time reveals secrets from her own troubled past. To find the truth, Madison knows she must listen to what the bodies tell her — because unlike the living, the dead never lie.”

McGoran has a clean, brisk writing style with lively characters and wonderful details describing Philadelphia landmarks like the Roundhouse, the Market Street Bridge and Old City coffee shops. He received a very favorable review by Publisher’s Weekly, which called it a “brisk, tight novel... His detailed approach and lively characters make an immersive read; anyone waiting for a CSI: Philadelphia spin-off should be pleased with this well-written, well-meaning derivative.”

The following is an example of McGoran’s writing style: “Madison followed Parker to the far side of the room, where he could pretend they had some privacy. He was all fake smiles until they reached the corner. Then he turned around, red-faced and angry.

“‘That was bullshit out there today,’ he said through clenched teeth. A thin sheen of sweat covered his red forehead. ‘I just got a call from a buddy at campus security, asking if it’s true this might be a homicide. Then I got a call from a guy in homicide asking the same thing, and wondering why he didn’t know about it. Look, I don’t care if you blow off Rourke or me. That’s annoying, but it don’t matter. But you’re a lab tech, not a homicide detective. If you want to be a homicide detective, I’ll tell you what you do: You go to the Police Academy, you work your ass off for 10, maybe 20 years, pass a bunch of exams every couple of years, and kiss the right asses at the right times. Then maybe you can be a homicide detective. And then maybe someone will give a crap what you have to say about what some goddamn coed thinks about a very cut and very dried overdose case that a lot of people want wrapped up real quick’ …”

McGoran basically wrote “with every remotely free second I had. I wrote most of it very late at night, often until three or later, but I squeezed writing time out of every opportunity: waiting in the doctor’s office, pretending to watch my son play soccer, leaving myself voicemails while brainstorming on my commute to work. I drank a lot of coffee and slept very little in order to get this finished by my deadline.”

He admits, finding an agent was not an easy task.

“When I finished my first novel, Pig Latin, I queried 40 or so agents, had interest from about a dozen, serious interest from four, and an offer of representation from one, which I declined after researching the agency. I probably would have continued searching for an agent or considering self-publishing or electronic publishing, but at that point I was finished my second novel, Slapdash. I sent out about six queries, got two offers of representation and happily signed with my current agent, Kim Lionetti of Bookends.”

How does one keep going as a writer? McGoran shared his thoughts with me.

“I think I kept going for a few reasons. First, I have a lot of faith in my ability, although I am cynical sometimes about how irrelevant that can be. But also, while you might hear overnight success stories, when you hear most successful writers talking, they usually cite perseverance and hard work as key to getting published. Most importantly, however, is that I love to write, so, although I don’t like getting up at 7 a.m. to go to work on three or four hours sleep, I don’t so much mind staying up till 3 a.m. doing the actual writing. I enjoy the work if not the lifestyle I have to endure in order to do it.”

As for the description of scenes and buildings in and around Philadelphia, McGoran credits some of that to his father and some to hard-core research.

“My father was an architect, and for a while was the acting city architect for the City of Philadelphia, so I was already aware of a lot of the architecture in the city. I have always appreciated Philadelphia’s architecture; it is in many ways an extremely beautiful city. For specific questions about architecture or neighborhoods in the city, I spent a lot of time on the internet, a lot of time calling people and a lot of time driving around to the various parts of the city where the book is set. I actually discovered some fascinating little areas that I was previously unaware of, like a little underground city block, basically beneath the old post office at 30th Street. I hope to use it in a book someday.”

McGoran credits a number of mentors along the way. “As I said, I started writing on my own in grade school. A neighbor of mine on Dorset Street at the time, Steve Zucker, used to indulge me by reading my science fiction stories. When I was at Central High in Philadelphia, I had a teacher, Irving Rotman, who also helped me with my short stories. I took a few creative writing courses while at Temple, and studying film helped a lot, both in writing and in thinking in terms of story and plot.”

His secret to finishing three books under tight deadlines is having a thoroughly detailed outline. “I spent an average of five weeks writing the outlines and then completed acceptable drafts for the novels in about five months. But you have to trust the outline, trust that you included all the things you begin to worry about halfway through the manuscript. “

Body Trace is 320 pages and retails for $7.99. It is being sold at Weavers Way, Big Blue Marble Books in Mt. Airy, and bookstores everywhere, as well as www.amazon.com and through his web site, www.jmcgoran.com, where you can also download excerpts of his published and non-published works.