Check Out Carmen Amato’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carmen Amato.

Hi Carmen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My author story begins on Christmas Eve 25 years ago, in a church in Mexico City.

Midnight Mass. Every pew was filled, many with sleepy but excited children, for a special Christmas Eve service. Father Richard was leading us in the Prayer of the Faithful when an armed man staggered up the center aisle, his limbs jerking as he waved his gun, alternately mumbling and shouting. We all shrank back as he made his way towards the altar, an unexpected and volatile presence.

As the congregation looked on in growing panic, the man accosted Father Richard. The priest didn’t move or stop the prayer, just dug through his robes for a pocket. He pulled out a few peso coins and pressed them into the man’s hand.

By that time several of the male congregants had reached the altar. They gently disarmed the junkie and got him out of the church.

Christmas mass continued but the junkie made an impression on all of us; evidence that Mexico’s own drug problem was growing as more and more drugs transited the country en route to the insatiable United States.

We were an American family in Mexico City, embracing a new culture, exploring a vibrant city, and meeting people who were to impact our lives for years to come. But we always knew that the situation was fragile. As if to prove it, violence in Mexico grew worse in the new year: shootouts in major cities, multiple drug seizures, rising numbers of dead and missing, the murders of mayors, governors and journalists.

I carried my memories of Mexico with me when we left. I poured them into a novel, matching a fast-paced contemporary style to a Cinderella story set against the backdrop of political corruption and cartel violence. The result was the 2012 political thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City, a story from the heart that took on both Mexico’s rigid social system and the corruption that flows from huge drug profits. The book went on to be longlisted for the 2020 Millenium Book Award.

Equally important, it led me to create the character of Detective Emilia Cruz. Beginning with Cliff Diver, the series pits the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico’s cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Optioned for television, it’s a two-time winner of the Outstanding Series award from CrimeMasters of America.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
One of the hardest things is learning which voices to pay attention to, and I’m not talking about characters! There is more than enough advice to go around, from how and what to write (Follow trends! Don’t follow trends! etc) to how to build an author brand, develop an audience, write a blog, create a Substack, and on and on.

It takes trial and error to chart your own course and build the team that helps you succeed as an author without being overwhelmed by so much incoming–and usually unsolicited–advice.

I’ve been lucky enough to find the right editor who knows Mexico very well, plus an outstanding artist who does all the Detective Emilia Cruz covers, which really help the series stand out in a sea of murky mystery genre covers.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
What sets my books apart is the authenticity of the stories. There’s a little bit of my 30-year career with the Central Intelligence Agency in everything I write.

Sometimes I’m concerned that most reader doesn’t know about the violence and corruption in Mexico and finds the realism in the Detective Emilia Cruz series hard to believe. But then I get an email from a reader who appreciates the authenticity and I know I will continue to be true to what I know and experienced first hand.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is time to be creative without worrying about the future and how to pay the bills. Success is flexibility, a healthy family, and having the bandwidth to enjoy new experiences. Success is also having an organized office, which hasn’t happened yet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carmenamato.net
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorcarmenamato
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/authorcarmenamato