Author and actor Herman Johansen is also a poet, playwright, and screenwriter. He added “novelist” to his bag of tricks in September 2026 with his debut release of Las Cruces: Blood Relative (Running Wild Press), a murder mystery/supernatural thriller involving an unsolved murder, a series of copycat murders, and a celebrity who provides the police with victims’ names before they’re killed. Look for Herman on his website HermanJohansen.com and IMDB, as well as on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and his Amazon author store. Las Cruces: Blood Relative is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
What is your elevator pitch for Las Cruces: Blood Relative?
A cold case, new murders, and a child knows who’s going to be next—before they’re killed.
What sparked the story idea for the book?
Sadly, a true story…a crime known as the ‘Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre.’ It happened in 1990 and it’s still unsolved. Among the dead were three children, one as young as two. My novel is NOT a true (or even a fictional account) of that event, but it got me wondering…what if the kids were the target? In my book, (spoiler alert!) that turns out to be the case. That’s where the idea came from.
Who are your main characters and why will readers connect to them? What was the process like to create strong enough protagonists to carry the story?
Two detectives discover a new series of murders that tie into a cold case. One detective is a middle-aged white guy (Det. Michaels) with a tortured past, and the other is a younger Native American female (Det. Talker) who is driven to be the best cop despite many obstacles in front of her. My family has some connection to the Native American culture and I respect it tremendously. However, that may not be important: hopefully, these polar opposites will give readers someone they may relate to. They can choose either Michaels, who showed all this promise when he was younger and is now struggling to hold it together, or Talker, who appears on the outside, at least, to have it all together, but is struggling inside. Or maybe both?
What challenges did this, your first novel, pose for you?
Continuity! I’m an actor and I know how important it is to keep the facts straight. I wrote this over a few years and two cities. During this time, I wrote two feature-length screenplays. I started the novel in Los Angeles when I lived there and stopped and started many times, for a variety of reasons, including a lack of confidence. I moved to Albuquerque and started to pick it up again, and then…I suffered an aortic dissection…spent twelve hours in surgery, eight days in an induced coma and another twenty days in ICU, followed by a few months of rehab, had to learn to write, speak and add again. All this gave me time to think about the things that were important to me: my children, my girlfriend, and finishing this doggone book!
Tell us more about the book and how it came together.
I researched it largely as I wrote, looking for specific details when I needed them. All in all, I spent about four years due to all the factors above. It was my first cop story, so there were things I needed to look up. I know some of it isn’t accurate, but it’s fiction! I used six beta readers, including a brother-in-law who has a background in newspaper editing. They were all helpful. I looked for a publisher starting three years ago, long before it was ready. I had only the first draft at that point. But I didn’t spend too much time on that. I think I pitched it three times with no success. Once I did connect with a publisher and started working with an editor, the first one didn’t work out. I was new to this world, so I was hesitant to complain, but when it looked like we were going to miss the deadline for 2026, I voiced my concerns and was assigned a new editor. We got along well and rushed through the editing process in two months. The publisher did the formatting both for the book and an eBook. I was asked to offer ideas for the cover design and that was produced by a firm they use. Book 2 took 1 year, and it was accepted for publication last month. I get to work with the same editor.
Why did you pick Las Cruces, New Mexico for the book’s setting?
It kinda picked me! I lived in LA at the time but I’m originally from Missouri and took the southern route to MO and spent a couple of days in Las Cruces. Got the feel of the place and loved it. I’m sure the real events played a factor, but not a big one in choosing the setting. There’s something about the spiritual imagery of Las Cruces (The Crosses) that draws me to it. The book, in my mind, was always set there.
What was your favorite part of working on this project?
I made two other trips to Las Cruces and seeing some of the places used in the book was great fun. In general, I love writing. Researching is one thing I’d like to do more of if I can afford it, especially if it involves travel. I wish I had more time and money to do more research before starting. It makes it so much more real to visit the setting.
Is there a scene in Las Cruces: Blood Relative that you’d love to see play out in a movie?
All of it! Seriously, it’d take some special effects, but the penultimate scene where Det. Talker confronts the killer in a disintegrating house would be amazing. And Michaels hacking his way out of a corn maze when he puts the pieces together might be fun. I guess from writing screenplays, I subconsciously wrote a book that would be readily adaptable to film.
How has writing screenplays and stage plays benefitted your short story and novel writing?
A college professor in a creative writing class told me my work was “cinematic.” I leaned into writing screenplays for the novel. Short chapters that could be scenes, present tense, multiple POVs, would all work for film. Stage plays are words, words, words. Love to write ‘em, but this novel wouldn’t work.
What first inspired you to be a writer? When did you actually consider yourself a writer?
As long as I can remember, I loved writing. I sold a couple of poems as a teenager. I wrote a variety show in high school as a charity project. We did two shows with great success. A short story and several poems were championed by Sharon Lewis, my high school English teacher, to whom I owe a great deal. A good friend, who has published books and plays, told me once, “a writer is someone who writes!” It took me a while to gain the confidence needed to say that but after my stage play was produced in the NYC Fringe Fest and I completed my first screenplay, I got used to it. And I recommend it!
How has the creativity and discipline you employ as an actor helped you in your writing journey?
I feel the creativity needed for both is, in many ways, similar. With acting, you’re using someone else’s words, but with writing, you’re (hopefully) using your own and creating your own world. Both require an active imagination. And both require teamwork; in the acting world it’s the director and other actors that you must collaborate with and in writing, it’s ultimately the editor that you need to trust.
What does a typical writing session look like for you? Do you have any writing rituals or something you absolutely need in order to write?
I always use music: I’ll loop one song (this drives my girlfriend crazy). It’ll be something that matches the mood of the scene. The song will fade into the background, but it puts me in the zone. And it must be a keyboard and a PC. Even before the surgery I never wrote longhand.
Who are some of your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
Lisa Gardner, John Irving, John Grisham, John Sanford and David Baldicci are people I read a lot. Irving creates vivid characters and allows the reader to spend so much time with them that it feels like you’ve lost a lifelong friend when you finish. I used to read everything James Patterson wrote but then they all started sounding alike. He’s still an influence for sure.
What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m still working part time, (made some crappy choices over the last 10 years) but we’ll start editing Book 2 in the coming weeks. I do intend to write a book or screenplay about the surgery and the hallucinations from being on opioids for four weeks. They were so real that I have trouble separating them from reality. And I have another novel that has been buzzing around my head over the last four years, and I need to write before I travel on to the great beyond. The title (yeah, I’ve already got the title, so DON’T steal it!) is Ashes and Rain. It’s literary fiction and not like this series at all. Hopefully!
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Buy my book! Cast me in your next film!
I’m the proud father of two great kids (which I don’t deserve) and two grandkids, and I love travel and hiking and adventures like skydiving, bungee jumping and ziplining. And reading!
KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has volunteered as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.
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