C. E. Newsom was born in Chicago, the hometown of Jeffrey Sparks, the private detective in his stories. People describe Sparks as blunt, to-the-point, and sarcastic–all traits that Newsom says he shares, for better or for worse.

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Newsom remembers writing his first short story on a trip to Wisconsin with his brother to visit their cousins. They wrote a story together about a serial killer that keeps trophies of his victims in his cabin in the woods, including lampshades made out of the victims’ skins (look up Ed Gein and you’ll see the inspiration for the story). It was a horrific story, both in subject matter and quality of writing, but he knew he wanted to make up stories, especially mysteries, right then.

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He likes writing mysteries because, like Sparks, he hates Not Knowing, and will go to great lengths to find the answers to questions, or puzzles. Starting with reading Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid, he has always loved mysteries.

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When he's not writing, he likes to spend time with his family, follow the Green Bay Packers and Chicago White Sox, and look for the next opportunity to see a Billy Joel concert (or download a Billy Joel bootleg…). Newsom lives in Wisconsin with his wife, son, a dog he likes, and a dog he wishes would run away.

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• Follow C.E. Newsom on Twitter.

• See his Amazon author page.

• Follow C.E. Newsom on Quora.

• Read more on Goodreads.