David Unger is the author of the new mystery novel A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder, the latest in his A Lesson in series. A psychologist, he has taught at the California School of Professional Psychology and at Antioch University in Los Angeles.
Q: What inspired you to write A Lesson in Woo-Woo and Murder, the latest installment in your series?
A: There is a whole world of people who are highly invested in “unconventional” practices, some of which will eventually become conventional. I know very little about those approaches and wanted to learn more. I thought it would be fun to enter that world and see how those forces could help me solve a mystery.
Q: How would you define “woo-woo,” and what role do you think it plays in healing?
A: Woo-woo is defined as those beliefs that are generally regarded as having little or no scientific basis, especially as they pertain to spirituality, mysticism and alternative medicines.
A healthy part of healing comes down to belief systems. If you believe something will be good for you it significantly increases the chances of it helping you. Every doctor will tell you that hope is a healing ingredient. If more orthodox healing methods have not assisted you, knowing there are alternative methodologies gives you hope.
Q: The protagonist in your novels is a psychologist named David Unger; you’ve been asked about why you chose to write from the perspective of a character with your name and profession, and you said, “I don't know anyone better than I do me.” Can you say more about that?
A: I want readers to relate to my character, so I endeavored to be as truthful as possible. As I wrote I’d ask myself what would I feel, think and do in this situation. I wasn’t guessing what a fictional character would do.
I don’t always have the best answers to those questions, but I hope how I go about arriving at them and dealing with the consequences will resonate with readers. Ideally, observing my process will provide some tips to help others upgrade their own skill set.
Q: Do you think your protagonist has changed from the beginning of the series to this latest book?
A: I’d like to think so. My character has weaknesses and blind spots, and they tend to be pointed out to him. The books are titled A Lesson in… because I knew I had lessons to learn. Hopefully my character continues to gain awareness into himself and is able to put that to good use. But, while perfection is a goal to strive for, he, like the rest of us, won’t achieve it.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: The next book in the series is A Lesson in Dogs and Murder. My character gets hired to attend the Beverly Hills Kennel Club Dog Show and fortunately all the dogs make it out alive, but others are not so lucky.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: My hope is that while people get caught up in the mystery, they would have a smile on their face most of the time, as there is no violence and I endeavor to be amusing.
Since I’ve been a therapist and educator most of my career, I would hope people would pick up some relationship pointers that can help them out in their life. I also hope they’d not really realize they were picking up those pointers till a week or so down the line when they do something and wonder where that came from and then get a little smile of recognition.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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