January 29, 2025 • 24 mins
Mike Cobb, author of The Devil You Know and its sequel You Will Know Me by My Deeds, discusses his writing journey and the inspiration behind his character-driven crime novels. Cobb began his writing career with Dead Reckoning, a historical crime fiction novel set in 1895 Atlanta, based on the real-life murder of a prominent merchant.
Fascinated by crime, particularly cold cases, Cobb weaves his passion for history and storytelling into his work.Drawing from personal experiences and extensive research, Cobb’s books focus on characters like Billy Tarwater, the protagonist of his recent novels. Cobb describes Billy as a reflection of his younger self, embodying a strong connection to his Atlanta roots. For Cobb, compelling characters take precedence over plot, with their development guiding the story.The author also delves into the darker aspects of his writing.
His upcoming book will fictionalize the execution-style murder of a young woman he knew personally, a case he has investigated for years. Cobb acknowledges the emotional and personal risks of addressing real-life tragedies but feels driven to explore them through fiction.In discussing crime fiction’s evolution, Cobb emphasizes the power of subtlety, preferring to leave graphic details to the reader’s imagination. He believes this approach enhances the impact of his stories.
Additionally, Cobb touches on the role of historical fiction, blending fact with creative storytelling while ensuring an engaging narrative.With a fourth book set for release in April, Cobb remains dedicated to shedding light on unsolved mysteries and societal issues through his unique blend of historical context and character-driven plots. Readers can find his works on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Mike joins Mark Alyn on this edition of Late Night Health.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Fascinated by crime, particularly cold cases, Cobb weaves his passion for history and storytelling into his work.Drawing from personal experiences and extensive research, Cobb’s books focus on characters like Billy Tarwater, the protagonist of his recent novels. Cobb describes Billy as a reflection of his younger self, embodying a strong connection to his Atlanta roots. For Cobb, compelling characters take precedence over plot, with their development guiding the story.The author also delves into the darker aspects of his writing.
His upcoming book will fictionalize the execution-style murder of a young woman he knew personally, a case he has investigated for years. Cobb acknowledges the emotional and personal risks of addressing real-life tragedies but feels driven to explore them through fiction.In discussing crime fiction’s evolution, Cobb emphasizes the power of subtlety, preferring to leave graphic details to the reader’s imagination. He believes this approach enhances the impact of his stories.
Additionally, Cobb touches on the role of historical fiction, blending fact with creative storytelling while ensuring an engaging narrative.With a fourth book set for release in April, Cobb remains dedicated to shedding light on unsolved mysteries and societal issues through his unique blend of historical context and character-driven plots. Readers can find his works on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Mike joins Mark Alyn on this edition of Late Night Health.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/late-night-health-radio--2804369/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
This is Late Night Help.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is the radio show that cares about the most
important part of your life, your health. I'm Mark Allen
and along with the insane Daryl Wayne. During the next hour,
we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
To do something a little bit different. We're going to
be talking about fiction books, but some of these.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are maybe based on reality. We're going to start by
going to Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And speaking with author Mike Cobb his books The Sequel.
First of all, his first book was.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
The Devil You Know, and then we have the sequel,
which is You Will Know Me by My Deeds?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
And you have other books Mike as well.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I do. My first book actually was a work of
historical crime fiction called Dead Beckoning, which is actually a
late nineteenth century.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Piece, Oh my goodness, about.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
A prominent Atlanta merchant who was gunned down on his
way to work one morning in eighteen ninety five. It
is to this day a cold case.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
I spent several years actually researching it and ending up
fictionalizing the story. And yeah, so that was the first
book that I wrote and published, and then the second
book was The w New as you mentioned, and then
the Sequel.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Have you always wanted to write? And tell stories I
have I have.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I mean, I actually, I think the first work of
fiction that I wrote was when I was quite young,
younger than Billy Tarwater, who I'm sure we'll talk about
at some point. And I've written my entire life. But
it wasn't until I got close to retirement and then
(02:07):
retired that I could really devote the time that I
wanted to devote to writing.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What'd you retire from?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I was, actually, I have a I have a I
joke with people and tell him I have a checkered past.
I have a PhD in quantum chemistry.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Okay, sure you do it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I mean WHOA No, I really, honest to God, I
really do.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And did you teach?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I did not? I mean I've I've done some a
little bit of adjunct teaching often own, but I never
I never taught. From a career perspective, when I got
my PhD from Georgia Tech here in Atlanta, I went
into the chemical industry. I worked as a spectroscopist for
(02:59):
a few years and then moved sort of away from
not away from the science, but more toward the business
side of things, and headed up a product development group
for a chemical company. For a while, and then in
nineteen ninety eight started my own consulting practice, helping companies
(03:21):
sort of bridge that gap, if you will, between science
and business. And I still I still have one client.
They were always my favorite client, and so they helped
me sort of keep my self sharp, if you will.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
But other than that, I'm spending my time writing.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So where were you when I was struggling with chemistry
in high school? Let's talk about your books, because you
have kind of I don't know if he's a co
author or how you would explain it, but you have
a young kid.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Who works with you or writes with you.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, he's not really, he's my he's my fictional character. Okay, okay,
but he does write with me. Billy Tarwater, who was
the principal character in both of the books, The Devil
You Knew and You Will know me by my dads
as a really cool kid. Billy and I grew up
(04:26):
together in a sense, in a strange sense, we grew
up together a lot of a lot of a lot
of what Billy goes through as an eleven year old
kid in The Devil You Knew mirrors my own experience
growing up in the same neighborhood that he grew up in.
(04:50):
My characters mean the world to me, not just Billy,
but my other characters. I mean they they live inside
of me, They live in my head. They tell me
what to write. They they are right there alongside alongside
me every step.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Of the way.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
When when I see a movie or I see a
TV show, what always gets me are the characters. I mean,
the plot is obviously important. You want to know a
to A to Z. You want to know.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Who done it.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
We watch a lot of who Done It, especially British ones,
Australian ones, New Zealand ones, and and these are all
really good, But I always want to know about the
character because that's how I personally relate.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bright.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
To me, the characters are everything. The plot is candering.
If the characters are strong, If the characters speak to you,
if you're willing to open your mind and listen to
them and commit to paper what they are telling you,
the plot will come. I don't like reading plot generated
(06:19):
or plot driven or plot centric centric. If you will fiction,
the characters, the characters are everything. So my books are
not from a plot standpoint. They're certainly not formulaic crime books.
They're not formulaic historical fiction. They are very much character driven,
(06:45):
and I don't I don't if I tried to write
any other way, I don't think I could.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You're you're writing in a crime genre.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Okay, the some of the some of the murder mysteries
that I'm watching today that have been produced in the
twenty first century are a lot bloodier than when I
was watching Perry Mason in the sixties.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Sure, right, watching.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
These kinds of things, reading about these kinds of things,
do you think there's some kind of psychological I don't know,
impact to people as they're watching reading these kinds of things.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I do.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
I will tell you those that you mentioned the change,
if you will, and a lot of crime fiction from
the Perry Mason days. I believe that it can be
much more powerful and much more impactful on the reader
or the viewer if you leave a lot to the
(07:58):
viewer of the reader or the viewer imagination. I just
think I think if the work is too graphic, the
impact is actually not as great.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, it's almost Some people would probably think it's a
little paradoxical, but I don't think it is at all.
Because when we read or watch a movie, we want
our imagination to basically take center stage. Right.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely, I was thinking of because my background's radio. I
listen to a lot of old time radio. Okay, we'll
start with Jack, Benny and Bernice and Allen, but I
also listened to The Inner Sanctum, okay, or The Murder
(08:53):
and the Rue Morgue. It's hard to say, Yeah, I'm
a professional. Don't try this at home, but it's interesting
because the theater of the mind just literally takes over.
So what I'm going to do is we're going to
(09:13):
take some time out, just briefly, and when we come back,
I'd like to continue and talk about how the characters
bring this to life in somebody. Because if you're reading
(09:33):
and you're thinking of.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Billy, my.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Visualization of Billy might be different than the guy next door. Right,
So we'll find out more about that. Our guest is
Mike Cobb his books. You will know Me by My Deeds,
and that's the sequel to the Devil. You know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I'm Mark Allen.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Join us at late Night health dot com. We'll have
a pretty picture of Mic up there and a link
to his work and all kinds of things going on
over at Latenight Health dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
More coming up as we continue. Late Night Help is
proud of our partnership with the EBC, the Evolutionary Business Council.
Check them out at Ebcouncil dot com.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
You're listening to Late Night Health with Mark Allen.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
The show continues in a moment.
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Speaker 2 (13:11):
It's time to tackle a tough topic, one that affects
us all. We're talking about sexism in the workplace. The
award winning Identifying the Elephant in the Room series is
back and ready to tackle some complicated communications issues again.
This spring, we're focusing on critical communication strategies in the
face of sexism.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Join us as we.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Hear from professionals in the natural products industry who have
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From all sides of the elephant. It's time to have
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Helped continues, I'm Mark Gallon, along with the insane Daryl Wayne.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Don't ask.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It is true about the insanity not only with Darryl,
but a little bit has rubbed off over the years
with me as well.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Our guest is Mike Cobb.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I mispronounced the name of his first book, It's The
Devil You Knew, not the Devil You Know, and his
current book is You Will Know Me by My Deeds. Mike,
we were talking about characters and that you like to
make you write about characters. I like to watch something
(14:52):
or read something where you know, I'd love to go
to the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Bar and just sit with that and chit chat about life.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
It makes perfect sense. I mean, that's what real characters
should do, and I hope my characters do that. I
think they do. I mean, I would love I would
love to sit with the adult Billy and a little
bar that plays center stage in both of my books.
(15:29):
I would love to sit at that bar with him
and just and just talk about his experience and yeah,
that would be wonderful.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Well, the next time I get to Atlanta, we'll go
to that bar.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Let's do it, and we'll have it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
We'll we'll we'll set up a chair for Billy, Billy
for Billy.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Okay, I'm also in love, by the way, with his wife.
I probably should not tell you that, but I just
to be in the spirit of full disclosure.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Oh okay, you wow.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Because Billy grows up and he gets married. So yes,
I'm in love with his wife. My wife knows that,
and she tolerates me.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I was going to ask about that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
When you started writing these crime thrillers, what did your
wife say to you.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, she's been very encouraging of my writing. I don't
know that she has ever had a problem with the
fact that I write crime, but she's always been my
biggest advocate and my biggest cheerleader if you will, and
I don't know what I will do without her support.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
How long have you been married?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
All right, this is going to date me. I have
been married forty seven years.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
We'll talk about that off congratulations to that.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
She also knows that there is a reason why I
write about crime, and it's something that I haven't talked
about a lot. But it will be my It will
be my fifth book. I have a fourth book coming
out in April, which is completed, but my fifth book
will basically I'm planning to take a little sabbatical and
(17:18):
spend up to a year writing it. It is a
It will be a fictionalized account of of the brutal,
execution style murder of a young woman whom I knew
well when I was seventeen, she was twenty three. She
(17:38):
took me under her wing at a time when I
needed I needed somebody to help me figure a lot
of stuff out, which often seventeen year olds spend, you know,
needed somebody to help them figure stuff out.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Sure, she took.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Me under her wing, and and then she was murdered.
Then she was gone, And I have spent several years
investigating it's a cold case investigating her murder. I've been
working closely with a private investigator. We have got all
the crime scene photos, the police reports and everything. I
(18:20):
won't get into great detail here, but there is a
little doubt in my mind that there was a police
cover up, and so that really that experience in nineteen
seventy is what really set me on the course, if
(18:43):
you will, of being really fascinated with crime, especially cold cases,
and it's one of the main reasons I write about crime.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Kim writing about crime, I don't know prevent more crime?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Can it help?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, sometimes it's great to support police, but if
there's a cover up, like you're saying, maybe it's not
so good to cover to support them.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yeah, I don't know whether it can prevent more crime
or not. I hope it can shed light on issues
that need issues like police malfeasance or police negligence that
need to be that need to be brought to light
and need to be dealt with. I will tell you
(19:38):
in you will know me by my deeds, much of
which is about the Atlanta child murders that took place
in nineteen seventy eighty and eighty one. If you read,
you will know me by my deeds, you will learn
that there was a there is a likelihood that a
(20:00):
a group of people killed one or more of those
murdered black children, but police were scared to death that
if it got out into the open, there would be
race riots in the city. And I believe, based on
the research I've done, that the individual who is serving
(20:22):
time now for murder did not kill all of the
black children. There were over twenty twenty semi children killed,
Oh my god, during a two and a half year,
three year period. And so yeah, there is also a
thread of I won't saying that in that case necessarily
(20:46):
police malfeasance, but possibly a cover up.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Would you say that were these racially instigated?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
If my theory is and again this is laid out
in the book. The book is a work of fiction,
but much of what is in the book is based
on research that I did. If my theory is correct,
at least some of the murders we were racially motivated. Now,
the man who is doing time, Wayne Williams, who is
(21:20):
doing time a in a Georgia penitentiary now as a
black man, and all the children were black, and there
were several adults who were murdered as well, and he
was never convicted of killing one child. He was convicted
of killing two black adults, and there was some circumstantial
(21:45):
evidence related to the child murders, but he was never
tried for the killing of any of the child murders.
But once once he was convicted of killing the two
adults and sent away in the court of public opinion.
And as far as the police were concerned, that was it.
(22:08):
You know, they had their man.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
As you're writing fiction, but as you're basing these on truths,
are you afraid for your family or yourself?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Sometimes I will tell you when I write this. One
of the reasons I've put off writing this fifth book,
which is very close to home in more ways than one.
I one of the reasons I put off writing it
is a it's emotionally charged for me because I knew her.
(22:43):
But number two, there is a degree of trepidation that
I feel. You know that that that I have that
I have to deal with.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
And the other thing about writing historical fiction, by the way,
regardless of whether it has a crime element or not,
it is fiction. But it is based on to one
degree or another, on historical fact. One of the challenges
I think that a writer of historical fiction always has
(23:14):
to deal with is not letting the historical facts get
in the way of telling a compelling story.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
But you yeah, and you want to make sure that
it sounds like a drill that it happened. We are
out of time, Mike. When your book comes out in April,
you'll come back. I would love to good all right,
Mike Comb has been our guest. He's the author of
The Devil You Knew and his current book. You will
(23:49):
know me by My Deeds and you can find out
more about Mike at what website.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
It's Mike Cobb Writer, All One Character String, Mike Cobwriter
dot com. My books are also available on Amazon and
Bornes and Nooble dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Terrific.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I look forward to our next conversation. We are out
of time right now.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
We will be back in just a couple of moments.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
As Late Night Helps continues, tun
This is Late Night Help.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is the radio show that cares about the most
important part of your life, your health. I'm Mark Allen
and along with the insane Daryl Wayne. During the next hour,
we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
To do something a little bit different. We're going to
be talking about fiction books, but some of these.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Are maybe based on reality. We're going to start by
going to Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
And speaking with author Mike Cobb his books The Sequel.
First of all, his first book was.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
The Devil You Know, and then we have the sequel,
which is You Will Know Me by My Deeds?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
And you have other books Mike as well.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I do. My first book actually was a work of
historical crime fiction called Dead Beckoning, which is actually a
late nineteenth century.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Piece, Oh my goodness, about.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
A prominent Atlanta merchant who was gunned down on his
way to work one morning in eighteen ninety five. It
is to this day a cold case.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
I spent several years actually researching it and ending up
fictionalizing the story. And yeah, so that was the first
book that I wrote and published, and then the second
book was The w New as you mentioned, and then
the Sequel.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Have you always wanted to write? And tell stories I
have I have.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I mean, I actually, I think the first work of
fiction that I wrote was when I was quite young,
younger than Billy Tarwater, who I'm sure we'll talk about
at some point. And I've written my entire life. But
it wasn't until I got close to retirement and then
(02:07):
retired that I could really devote the time that I
wanted to devote to writing.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What'd you retire from?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I was, actually, I have a I have a I
joke with people and tell him I have a checkered past.
I have a PhD in quantum chemistry.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Okay, sure you do it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I mean WHOA No, I really, honest to God, I
really do.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And did you teach?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I did not? I mean I've I've done some a
little bit of adjunct teaching often own, but I never
I never taught. From a career perspective, when I got
my PhD from Georgia Tech here in Atlanta, I went
into the chemical industry. I worked as a spectroscopist for
(02:59):
a few years and then moved sort of away from
not away from the science, but more toward the business
side of things, and headed up a product development group
for a chemical company. For a while, and then in
nineteen ninety eight started my own consulting practice, helping companies
(03:21):
sort of bridge that gap, if you will, between science
and business. And I still I still have one client.
They were always my favorite client, and so they helped
me sort of keep my self sharp, if you will.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Got it.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
But other than that, I'm spending my time writing.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So where were you when I was struggling with chemistry
in high school? Let's talk about your books, because you
have kind of I don't know if he's a co
author or how you would explain it, but you have
a young kid.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Who works with you or writes with you.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well, he's not really, he's my he's my fictional character. Okay, okay,
but he does write with me. Billy Tarwater, who was
the principal character in both of the books, The Devil
You Knew and You Will know me by my dads
as a really cool kid. Billy and I grew up
(04:26):
together in a sense, in a strange sense, we grew
up together a lot of a lot of a lot
of what Billy goes through as an eleven year old
kid in The Devil You Knew mirrors my own experience
growing up in the same neighborhood that he grew up in.
(04:50):
My characters mean the world to me, not just Billy,
but my other characters. I mean they they live inside
of me, They live in my head. They tell me
what to write. They they are right there alongside alongside
me every step.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Of the way.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
When when I see a movie or I see a
TV show, what always gets me are the characters. I mean,
the plot is obviously important. You want to know a
to A to Z. You want to know.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Who done it.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
We watch a lot of who Done It, especially British ones,
Australian ones, New Zealand ones, and and these are all
really good, But I always want to know about the
character because that's how I personally relate.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Bright.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
To me, the characters are everything. The plot is candering.
If the characters are strong, If the characters speak to you,
if you're willing to open your mind and listen to
them and commit to paper what they are telling you,
the plot will come. I don't like reading plot generated
(06:19):
or plot driven or plot centric centric. If you will fiction,
the characters, the characters are everything. So my books are
not from a plot standpoint. They're certainly not formulaic crime books.
They're not formulaic historical fiction. They are very much character driven,
(06:45):
and I don't I don't if I tried to write
any other way, I don't think I could.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You're you're writing in a crime genre.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Okay, the some of the some of the murder mysteries
that I'm watching today that have been produced in the
twenty first century are a lot bloodier than when I
was watching Perry Mason in the sixties.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Sure, right, watching.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
These kinds of things, reading about these kinds of things,
do you think there's some kind of psychological I don't know,
impact to people as they're watching reading these kinds of things.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I do.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
I will tell you those that you mentioned the change,
if you will, and a lot of crime fiction from
the Perry Mason days. I believe that it can be
much more powerful and much more impactful on the reader
or the viewer if you leave a lot to the
(07:58):
viewer of the reader or the viewer imagination. I just
think I think if the work is too graphic, the
impact is actually not as great.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Yeah, I would agree with that.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, it's almost Some people would probably think it's a
little paradoxical, but I don't think it is at all.
Because when we read or watch a movie, we want
our imagination to basically take center stage. Right.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Absolutely, I was thinking of because my background's radio. I
listen to a lot of old time radio. Okay, we'll
start with Jack, Benny and Bernice and Allen, but I
also listened to The Inner Sanctum, okay, or The Murder
(08:53):
and the Rue Morgue. It's hard to say, Yeah, I'm
a professional. Don't try this at home, but it's interesting
because the theater of the mind just literally takes over.
So what I'm going to do is we're going to
(09:13):
take some time out, just briefly, and when we come back,
I'd like to continue and talk about how the characters
bring this to life in somebody. Because if you're reading
(09:33):
and you're thinking of.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Billy, my.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Visualization of Billy might be different than the guy next door. Right,
So we'll find out more about that. Our guest is
Mike Cobb his books. You will know Me by My Deeds,
and that's the sequel to the Devil. You know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I'm Mark Allen.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Join us at late Night health dot com. We'll have
a pretty picture of Mic up there and a link
to his work and all kinds of things going on
over at Latenight Health dot com.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Don't go away.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
More coming up as we continue. Late Night Help is
proud of our partnership with the EBC, the Evolutionary Business Council.
Check them out at Ebcouncil dot com.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
You're listening to Late Night Health with Mark Allen.
Speaker 5 (10:35):
The show continues in a moment.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
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Speaker 4 (11:41):
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Speaker 2 (13:11):
It's time to tackle a tough topic, one that affects
us all. We're talking about sexism in the workplace. The
award winning Identifying the Elephant in the Room series is
back and ready to tackle some complicated communications issues again.
This spring, we're focusing on critical communication strategies in the
face of sexism.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Join us as we.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Hear from professionals in the natural products industry who have
valuable career lessons to share and real world experience to discuss.
From all sides of the elephant. It's time to have
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(13:53):
March sixteenth. Register today at nisibox dot vfares dot com.
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conversation to be part of the solution. Late at Night
Helped continues, I'm Mark Gallon, along with the insane Daryl Wayne.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Don't ask.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
It is true about the insanity not only with Darryl,
but a little bit has rubbed off over the years
with me as well.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Our guest is Mike Cobb.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
I mispronounced the name of his first book, It's The
Devil You Knew, not the Devil You Know, and his
current book is You Will Know Me by My Deeds. Mike,
we were talking about characters and that you like to
make you write about characters. I like to watch something
(14:52):
or read something where you know, I'd love to go
to the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Bar and just sit with that and chit chat about life.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
It makes perfect sense. I mean, that's what real characters
should do, and I hope my characters do that. I
think they do. I mean, I would love I would
love to sit with the adult Billy and a little
bar that plays center stage in both of my books.
(15:29):
I would love to sit at that bar with him
and just and just talk about his experience and yeah,
that would be wonderful.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Well, the next time I get to Atlanta, we'll go
to that bar.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Let's do it, and we'll have it.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
We'll we'll we'll set up a chair for Billy, Billy
for Billy.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Okay, I'm also in love, by the way, with his wife.
I probably should not tell you that, but I just
to be in the spirit of full disclosure.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Oh okay, you wow.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Because Billy grows up and he gets married. So yes,
I'm in love with his wife. My wife knows that,
and she tolerates me.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
I was going to ask about that.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
When you started writing these crime thrillers, what did your
wife say to you.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, she's been very encouraging of my writing. I don't
know that she has ever had a problem with the
fact that I write crime, but she's always been my
biggest advocate and my biggest cheerleader if you will, and
I don't know what I will do without her support.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
How long have you been married?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
All right, this is going to date me. I have
been married forty seven years.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
We'll talk about that off congratulations to that.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
She also knows that there is a reason why I
write about crime, and it's something that I haven't talked
about a lot. But it will be my It will
be my fifth book. I have a fourth book coming
out in April, which is completed, but my fifth book
will basically I'm planning to take a little sabbatical and
(17:18):
spend up to a year writing it. It is a
It will be a fictionalized account of of the brutal,
execution style murder of a young woman whom I knew
well when I was seventeen, she was twenty three. She
(17:38):
took me under her wing at a time when I
needed I needed somebody to help me figure a lot
of stuff out, which often seventeen year olds spend, you know,
needed somebody to help them figure stuff out.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Sure, she took.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Me under her wing, and and then she was murdered.
Then she was gone, And I have spent several years
investigating it's a cold case investigating her murder. I've been
working closely with a private investigator. We have got all
the crime scene photos, the police reports and everything. I
(18:20):
won't get into great detail here, but there is a
little doubt in my mind that there was a police
cover up, and so that really that experience in nineteen
seventy is what really set me on the course, if
(18:43):
you will, of being really fascinated with crime, especially cold cases,
and it's one of the main reasons I write about crime.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Kim writing about crime, I don't know prevent more crime?
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Can it help?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
You know, sometimes it's great to support police, but if
there's a cover up, like you're saying, maybe it's not
so good to cover to support them.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Yeah, I don't know whether it can prevent more crime
or not. I hope it can shed light on issues
that need issues like police malfeasance or police negligence that
need to be that need to be brought to light
and need to be dealt with. I will tell you
(19:38):
in you will know me by my deeds, much of
which is about the Atlanta child murders that took place
in nineteen seventy eighty and eighty one. If you read,
you will know me by my deeds, you will learn
that there was a there is a likelihood that a
(20:00):
a group of people killed one or more of those
murdered black children, but police were scared to death that
if it got out into the open, there would be
race riots in the city. And I believe, based on
the research I've done, that the individual who is serving
(20:22):
time now for murder did not kill all of the
black children. There were over twenty twenty semi children killed,
Oh my god, during a two and a half year,
three year period. And so yeah, there is also a
thread of I won't saying that in that case necessarily
(20:46):
police malfeasance, but possibly a cover up.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Would you say that were these racially instigated?
Speaker 3 (20:58):
If my theory is and again this is laid out
in the book. The book is a work of fiction,
but much of what is in the book is based
on research that I did. If my theory is correct,
at least some of the murders we were racially motivated. Now,
the man who is doing time, Wayne Williams, who is
(21:20):
doing time a in a Georgia penitentiary now as a
black man, and all the children were black, and there
were several adults who were murdered as well, and he
was never convicted of killing one child. He was convicted
of killing two black adults, and there was some circumstantial
(21:45):
evidence related to the child murders, but he was never
tried for the killing of any of the child murders.
But once once he was convicted of killing the two
adults and sent away in the court of public opinion.
And as far as the police were concerned, that was it.
(22:08):
You know, they had their man.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
As you're writing fiction, but as you're basing these on truths,
are you afraid for your family or yourself?
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Sometimes I will tell you when I write this. One
of the reasons I've put off writing this fifth book,
which is very close to home in more ways than one.
I one of the reasons I put off writing it
is a it's emotionally charged for me because I knew her.
(22:43):
But number two, there is a degree of trepidation that
I feel. You know that that that I have that
I have to deal with.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
And the other thing about writing historical fiction, by the way,
regardless of whether it has a crime element or not,
it is fiction. But it is based on to one
degree or another, on historical fact. One of the challenges
I think that a writer of historical fiction always has
(23:14):
to deal with is not letting the historical facts get
in the way of telling a compelling story.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
But you yeah, and you want to make sure that
it sounds like a drill that it happened. We are
out of time, Mike. When your book comes out in April,
you'll come back. I would love to good all right,
Mike Comb has been our guest. He's the author of
The Devil You Knew and his current book. You will
(23:49):
know me by My Deeds and you can find out
more about Mike at what website.
Speaker 3 (23:56):
It's Mike Cobb Writer, All One Character String, Mike Cobwriter
dot com. My books are also available on Amazon and
Bornes and Nooble dot com.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Terrific.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I look forward to our next conversation. We are out
of time right now.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
We will be back in just a couple of moments.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
As Late Night Helps continues, tun
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