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Hold on. I’m just getting started.
Visit the author's web site at www.barbarafister.com.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Writing VS Re-writing, sigh...
By Lonnie Cruse
Oh, the dreaded first draft. So much harder than re-writes/edits. I recently finished the first rough draft in the fifth book of the Metropolis Mystery Series. Throughout the writing process, I always struggle to turn off what writers call “The Inner Editor” which tells me my work stinks (Maybe it does? Eeeek!) That nobody will read it. (Maybe they won’t??? Eeeek!) That I should give up writing and go back to needlework. (Maybe I should? But then I’d miss writing! Eeeek!)
During the rough draft process I keep thinking how much easier the re-writing/editing process is, and I can’t wait to get there. Because while I know the beginning of the story, and usually the ending, I don’t have a clue how to fill the two hundred to three hundred pages between! What am I going to write? Where will I take my characters? What will happen to them? Can I pull it all together? Will it make any sense if I do? Yes, the re-write/edit will be MUCH easier. Can’t wait to get there. So, I plod along, trying to write a story that does make sense, that will catch the reader’s attention. I make notes along the way to remind me what to research and which errors to fix when I realize I’ve made them. And I worry and fret. Then the story is done and I write those magic words THE END.
Someone on the DorothyL discussion list recently asked if writers always type the words, THE END. Nearly all said they type something to indicate that the story is finished. Might be the words, or it might be some journalism sign, but they do type it. It gives the author closure, indicating the story really is done, and now it’s time for re-writes/edits.
Oh, the dreaded re-writes/edits. Once I’m in that stage, I suddenly remember how easy it was to write the first draft and how difficult to edit it. How long will the edit take? Can I make my deadline? Can my critique group critique it by my deadline? Will my publisher love it or reject it? What if I miss something that the reader catches, after the book is in print, for the whole world to see? What if people fall in the floor, laughing at my stupidity? Eeeeek!
Whatever stage I’m at in my writing, that stage seems to be the toughest, and other writers seem to feel the same. And I hate writers who swear their first draft is always suitable to send to their editor. Without editing it (they claim they edit out errors as they type) without anyone critiquing it first. Nearly ready for publication. I rank them with women I’ve met who didn’t have stitches when they gave birth to their children, and who swear those same children slept all night from the very day they came home from the hospital. Snort.
Well, sigh, time to get back to the dreaded edits. But, I do have an idea for a new manuscript I’d like to start. Perhaps I should do that first? Surely that first draft will go quickly? Maybe I won’t even have to edit it?
Wow, anyone else see the pig that just flew by my window?
Oh, the dreaded first draft. So much harder than re-writes/edits. I recently finished the first rough draft in the fifth book of the Metropolis Mystery Series. Throughout the writing process, I always struggle to turn off what writers call “The Inner Editor” which tells me my work stinks (Maybe it does? Eeeek!) That nobody will read it. (Maybe they won’t??? Eeeek!) That I should give up writing and go back to needlework. (Maybe I should? But then I’d miss writing! Eeeek!)
During the rough draft process I keep thinking how much easier the re-writing/editing process is, and I can’t wait to get there. Because while I know the beginning of the story, and usually the ending, I don’t have a clue how to fill the two hundred to three hundred pages between! What am I going to write? Where will I take my characters? What will happen to them? Can I pull it all together? Will it make any sense if I do? Yes, the re-write/edit will be MUCH easier. Can’t wait to get there. So, I plod along, trying to write a story that does make sense, that will catch the reader’s attention. I make notes along the way to remind me what to research and which errors to fix when I realize I’ve made them. And I worry and fret. Then the story is done and I write those magic words THE END.
Someone on the DorothyL discussion list recently asked if writers always type the words, THE END. Nearly all said they type something to indicate that the story is finished. Might be the words, or it might be some journalism sign, but they do type it. It gives the author closure, indicating the story really is done, and now it’s time for re-writes/edits.
Oh, the dreaded re-writes/edits. Once I’m in that stage, I suddenly remember how easy it was to write the first draft and how difficult to edit it. How long will the edit take? Can I make my deadline? Can my critique group critique it by my deadline? Will my publisher love it or reject it? What if I miss something that the reader catches, after the book is in print, for the whole world to see? What if people fall in the floor, laughing at my stupidity? Eeeeek!
Whatever stage I’m at in my writing, that stage seems to be the toughest, and other writers seem to feel the same. And I hate writers who swear their first draft is always suitable to send to their editor. Without editing it (they claim they edit out errors as they type) without anyone critiquing it first. Nearly ready for publication. I rank them with women I’ve met who didn’t have stitches when they gave birth to their children, and who swear those same children slept all night from the very day they came home from the hospital. Snort.
Well, sigh, time to get back to the dreaded edits. But, I do have an idea for a new manuscript I’d like to start. Perhaps I should do that first? Surely that first draft will go quickly? Maybe I won’t even have to edit it?
Wow, anyone else see the pig that just flew by my window?
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Interview with Rhys Bowen
Interviewer: Elizabeth Zelvin
You have a Welsh name, Rhys. In your various mystery series you have a Welsh protagonist, an Irish protagonist, and now you’ve added an English one. To top it off, you live in California. Will you tell us something about your family background, where you grew up, and where your loyalties lie?
I was born in Bath, England. My father was English, my mother’s family Welsh, so I had exposure to both cultures growing up. I grew up mainly in England and attended school and university there, so obviously the English aspect of my upbringing was important, but so were the visits to relatives in Wales.
As to where my loyalties lie—I suppose there is a pull in both directions. I never forget that the English invaded Wales and that all things Welsh have been suppressed for centuries. I identify myself as British, which encompasses both sides! In writing Her Royal Spyness I used my experiences with upper class friends, and then I married into a very upper class family, that goes back to Edward 111, so I know all about stately homes, weird nicknames and aristocratic quirks.
You’ve received at least seven major mystery awards and been nominated for many more. Even before you started writing mysteries, your work, including children’s books and young adult novels, was very well received. Besides good writing and hard work, to what do you attribute your consistent success? Have you had any disappointments along the way? What strategies have you used to publicize your work? Have you had any lucky breaks?
One thing I’m proud of is never writing the same book twice. There is a temptation to repeat something that has worked well and indeed the publisher and bookstores would like nothing better than a repeat of a successful book. I’ve tried to stretch myself throughout my writing career and I’m still constantly wanting to try new things. This isn’t always good for a writer, as fans get annoyed when a writer doesn’t deliver what they want and respect. I’d never been allowed to write noir, for example (even if I wanted to).
Disappointments? Of course I’ve had plenty. I’ve found my whole career has been a case of one step forward, two steps back. Things I have counted on haven’t worked out and things I haven’t expected have come to fruition. So one thing I’ve learned is to enjoy every success and count it as miraculous and never to expect things to remain unchanged. Editors move, publishers drop books…there are so many pitfalls. I have been truly blessed in that I’ve been able to earn a constant living from my writing for 30 years.
I’ve worked equally hard on publicity from day one. I’ve made a point of visiting as many mystery bookstores as possible, going to conventions, sending out newsletters to fans. I’m not sure how much publicity actually works, but it’s better than doing nothing. Unless the publisher has a vision of a writer as the next best seller, that book is not going to the top. But I keep plodding along, hopefully.
Lucky breaks? Not the kind a miraculous break in which Steven Spielberg happens to pick up my book at an airport, but some good reviews and some great award nominations. They’ve been fabulous.
Are you equally fond of Constable Evans and Molly Murphy? In what ways, if any, is either of them like you? Is either of them more fun or easier to write? And how on earth do you turn out at least two high quality books a year?
I’m fond of them both, of course. I enjoy spending time with each of them. Evan annoys me sometimes because he is so polite and not driven enough. Molly is much more like me—impulsive, outspoken, strong sense of justice. I do find her easier to write, as her first person voice is very much like mine. The Evan books are more multi layered with several stories going on in them, making them more complicated to write.
As to writing two books a year. Put it down to insanity. I push myself very hard. When I am writing I am totally focused. I find it hard to switch off.
What are your work habits? Are you an outliner or an into-the-mist writer? Do you write every day? In solitude or with people around you? Do you love or hate the first draft? Is there any significant difference in the way you go about writing the Evans and the Molly books? Do you work on more than one manuscript at once? How do you research your books, and do you like or dislike doing research?
Wow, that’s a lot of questions!
1. I work very intensely until I have a first draft completed. Usually this takes about 2 months. During that time I write every day and sometimes get up during the night as well. Then I give it to various people to read and digest their reactions and suggestions. Then I work on polishing and off it goes.
2. I need peace and quiet in my office. I can’t have music or distractions (apart from husband bringing me coffee!)
3. I don’t outline. I find it doesn’t work for me. I start knowing very little—what kind of environment Molly is going to operate in, for example. I usually know who is going to get killed and why. Then I start and see where the story takes me. It is terrifying each time and I am in full panic mode until I’m about half way through. But not having a clear direction means that I can go off on wonderful tangents and end up with a much stronger story.
4. I can only work on one ms at a time. It would be too disruptive to have to pull myself out of Wales, or out of 1902. And I do loads of research for the Molly books. I read and visit and study in advance of each book, so that I have the background down pat. I really love the research. New York is such a great city to write about and I’m constantly learning fascinating new details. I go to NY a lot. I have collected a large library and also I use photographs. And when I write about Wales my research often has to do with hanging around in Welsh pubs, eating in restaurants, listening to gossip—my kind of research, in fact!
Beyond the ongoing series with their devoted following, how do you decide what to write? Does a new project spring directly from your imagination, or do you think in terms of career and marketplace? How involved does your agent or editor family get in any part of this process?
I write what I’d like to read. I choose characters I’d like to hang out with. Evan started because I wanted to write about Wales and relive happy moments from my childhood. Molly started with a desire to write about Ellis Island and my emotions when I visited it for the first time. And Her Royal Spyness was my reaction to my editor telling me she needed me to write a big, dark standalone. I thought about this and wrote the opposite.
So you can see I write to please myself. I don’t think about market or career. I do work closely with my agent, however. We thrash out every step of the way until the book goes to my editor.
The one disadvantage to writing a series is that I have no time to try new and different ideas as they spring into my head.
Where does family fit in for you? Is your husband or any of your children a writer? Do they read your work in manuscript?
My family is my wonderful writing team: my eldest daughter reads my ms first and has a great feel for pacing and plot. My third daughter reads it next and has a great empathy for character. My husband then reads for picky details. By the time I’ve had input from the three of them the manuscript is really polished. All of my children write well. None is published yet but that is only a matter of time.
You’ve been on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, you appear at many conferences, and you do a lot of touring. Do you enjoy the travel, networking, and promotion part of being a writer today? Do you have any particular techniques or tricks for making it work for you and not spreading yourself too thin?
I wish I knew how not to spread myself too thin!!
I do travel a lot. I really enjoy the conferences, as I enjoy hanging out with my friends and meeting fans. I enjoy the travel to a certain extent. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming (as this month with 8 flights). Book tours, signings etc, can be wonderful when the store is packed and everyone says they love my books. When there is an audience of 3 earnest people they’re not so much fun! But they are necessary and if it weren’t for the mystery bookstores, I would still be an unknown quantity.
What books influenced you to become a writer and, in particular, a mystery writer? What did you read as a child? What do you read today? Did you ever read, write, or flirt with literary fiction or any other genre?
As a child I read all those mystery/adventure books: The Famous Five, Swallows and Amazons, then moved on to Agatha Christie who is still my favorite writer. I have also read widely in literary fiction, which I still enjoy. Writers like Margaret Atwood and A.S. Byatt are among my favorites. I still love most mystery novels and read as often and as widely as I can. I find it hard to read when I am writing, however. The thing I like about mystery novels is that they come to a satisfying conclusion. And for me the best mystery novels are superior to any literary fiction!
What are your words of wisdom for emerging or aspiring writers? What do you wish you’d known or done differently? Have you made any egregious mistakes you’re willing to talk about?
For emerging writers: read and write as much as possible. Learning to put words on a page is the same as learning the tools of any other craft form.
Network and build a relationship with other writers. And above all, only write what you are passionate about, not what you think the public or editors want. You have to live with your characters for a long time!
No egregious mistakes. I’ve been lucky in many ways and always fallen into things. What I wish I’d done differently? I spent too long writing YA books—necessary at the time as my husband was jobless and I had 4 kids to put through school and college, but I wish I could have started my mystery career earlier.
Is there anything you haven’t done, any dream on your to-do list, as a writer or in general?
I’d like to write that one definitive novel—my Gone with the Wind, for which I’d be identified through generations to come. That would be most satisfying.
And I’d like to go on a Safari. Oh, and own a cottage in England.
Finally, please tell us what’s next for Rhys Bowen and where you’ll be in the next few months.
I’ve just launched Her Royal Spyness and I’m currently busy touring and promoting that book. And I’m just finishing up the next in that series, called A Royal Pain. In September I’m on vacation in Prague and Budapest. Then in October speaking in Tucson AZ. After that a breather while I start on my next Molly book.
Anyone interested in my upcoming schedule can always check my website at www.rhysbowen.com. And visit my blog at www.theladykillers.typepad.com.
You have a Welsh name, Rhys. In your various mystery series you have a Welsh protagonist, an Irish protagonist, and now you’ve added an English one. To top it off, you live in California. Will you tell us something about your family background, where you grew up, and where your loyalties lie?
I was born in Bath, England. My father was English, my mother’s family Welsh, so I had exposure to both cultures growing up. I grew up mainly in England and attended school and university there, so obviously the English aspect of my upbringing was important, but so were the visits to relatives in Wales.
As to where my loyalties lie—I suppose there is a pull in both directions. I never forget that the English invaded Wales and that all things Welsh have been suppressed for centuries. I identify myself as British, which encompasses both sides! In writing Her Royal Spyness I used my experiences with upper class friends, and then I married into a very upper class family, that goes back to Edward 111, so I know all about stately homes, weird nicknames and aristocratic quirks.
You’ve received at least seven major mystery awards and been nominated for many more. Even before you started writing mysteries, your work, including children’s books and young adult novels, was very well received. Besides good writing and hard work, to what do you attribute your consistent success? Have you had any disappointments along the way? What strategies have you used to publicize your work? Have you had any lucky breaks?
One thing I’m proud of is never writing the same book twice. There is a temptation to repeat something that has worked well and indeed the publisher and bookstores would like nothing better than a repeat of a successful book. I’ve tried to stretch myself throughout my writing career and I’m still constantly wanting to try new things. This isn’t always good for a writer, as fans get annoyed when a writer doesn’t deliver what they want and respect. I’d never been allowed to write noir, for example (even if I wanted to).
Disappointments? Of course I’ve had plenty. I’ve found my whole career has been a case of one step forward, two steps back. Things I have counted on haven’t worked out and things I haven’t expected have come to fruition. So one thing I’ve learned is to enjoy every success and count it as miraculous and never to expect things to remain unchanged. Editors move, publishers drop books…there are so many pitfalls. I have been truly blessed in that I’ve been able to earn a constant living from my writing for 30 years.
I’ve worked equally hard on publicity from day one. I’ve made a point of visiting as many mystery bookstores as possible, going to conventions, sending out newsletters to fans. I’m not sure how much publicity actually works, but it’s better than doing nothing. Unless the publisher has a vision of a writer as the next best seller, that book is not going to the top. But I keep plodding along, hopefully.
Lucky breaks? Not the kind a miraculous break in which Steven Spielberg happens to pick up my book at an airport, but some good reviews and some great award nominations. They’ve been fabulous.
Are you equally fond of Constable Evans and Molly Murphy? In what ways, if any, is either of them like you? Is either of them more fun or easier to write? And how on earth do you turn out at least two high quality books a year?
I’m fond of them both, of course. I enjoy spending time with each of them. Evan annoys me sometimes because he is so polite and not driven enough. Molly is much more like me—impulsive, outspoken, strong sense of justice. I do find her easier to write, as her first person voice is very much like mine. The Evan books are more multi layered with several stories going on in them, making them more complicated to write.
As to writing two books a year. Put it down to insanity. I push myself very hard. When I am writing I am totally focused. I find it hard to switch off.
What are your work habits? Are you an outliner or an into-the-mist writer? Do you write every day? In solitude or with people around you? Do you love or hate the first draft? Is there any significant difference in the way you go about writing the Evans and the Molly books? Do you work on more than one manuscript at once? How do you research your books, and do you like or dislike doing research?
Wow, that’s a lot of questions!
1. I work very intensely until I have a first draft completed. Usually this takes about 2 months. During that time I write every day and sometimes get up during the night as well. Then I give it to various people to read and digest their reactions and suggestions. Then I work on polishing and off it goes.
2. I need peace and quiet in my office. I can’t have music or distractions (apart from husband bringing me coffee!)
3. I don’t outline. I find it doesn’t work for me. I start knowing very little—what kind of environment Molly is going to operate in, for example. I usually know who is going to get killed and why. Then I start and see where the story takes me. It is terrifying each time and I am in full panic mode until I’m about half way through. But not having a clear direction means that I can go off on wonderful tangents and end up with a much stronger story.
4. I can only work on one ms at a time. It would be too disruptive to have to pull myself out of Wales, or out of 1902. And I do loads of research for the Molly books. I read and visit and study in advance of each book, so that I have the background down pat. I really love the research. New York is such a great city to write about and I’m constantly learning fascinating new details. I go to NY a lot. I have collected a large library and also I use photographs. And when I write about Wales my research often has to do with hanging around in Welsh pubs, eating in restaurants, listening to gossip—my kind of research, in fact!
Beyond the ongoing series with their devoted following, how do you decide what to write? Does a new project spring directly from your imagination, or do you think in terms of career and marketplace? How involved does your agent or editor family get in any part of this process?
I write what I’d like to read. I choose characters I’d like to hang out with. Evan started because I wanted to write about Wales and relive happy moments from my childhood. Molly started with a desire to write about Ellis Island and my emotions when I visited it for the first time. And Her Royal Spyness was my reaction to my editor telling me she needed me to write a big, dark standalone. I thought about this and wrote the opposite.
So you can see I write to please myself. I don’t think about market or career. I do work closely with my agent, however. We thrash out every step of the way until the book goes to my editor.
The one disadvantage to writing a series is that I have no time to try new and different ideas as they spring into my head.
Where does family fit in for you? Is your husband or any of your children a writer? Do they read your work in manuscript?
My family is my wonderful writing team: my eldest daughter reads my ms first and has a great feel for pacing and plot. My third daughter reads it next and has a great empathy for character. My husband then reads for picky details. By the time I’ve had input from the three of them the manuscript is really polished. All of my children write well. None is published yet but that is only a matter of time.
You’ve been on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, you appear at many conferences, and you do a lot of touring. Do you enjoy the travel, networking, and promotion part of being a writer today? Do you have any particular techniques or tricks for making it work for you and not spreading yourself too thin?
I wish I knew how not to spread myself too thin!!
I do travel a lot. I really enjoy the conferences, as I enjoy hanging out with my friends and meeting fans. I enjoy the travel to a certain extent. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming (as this month with 8 flights). Book tours, signings etc, can be wonderful when the store is packed and everyone says they love my books. When there is an audience of 3 earnest people they’re not so much fun! But they are necessary and if it weren’t for the mystery bookstores, I would still be an unknown quantity.
What books influenced you to become a writer and, in particular, a mystery writer? What did you read as a child? What do you read today? Did you ever read, write, or flirt with literary fiction or any other genre?
As a child I read all those mystery/adventure books: The Famous Five, Swallows and Amazons, then moved on to Agatha Christie who is still my favorite writer. I have also read widely in literary fiction, which I still enjoy. Writers like Margaret Atwood and A.S. Byatt are among my favorites. I still love most mystery novels and read as often and as widely as I can. I find it hard to read when I am writing, however. The thing I like about mystery novels is that they come to a satisfying conclusion. And for me the best mystery novels are superior to any literary fiction!
What are your words of wisdom for emerging or aspiring writers? What do you wish you’d known or done differently? Have you made any egregious mistakes you’re willing to talk about?
For emerging writers: read and write as much as possible. Learning to put words on a page is the same as learning the tools of any other craft form.
Network and build a relationship with other writers. And above all, only write what you are passionate about, not what you think the public or editors want. You have to live with your characters for a long time!
No egregious mistakes. I’ve been lucky in many ways and always fallen into things. What I wish I’d done differently? I spent too long writing YA books—necessary at the time as my husband was jobless and I had 4 kids to put through school and college, but I wish I could have started my mystery career earlier.
Is there anything you haven’t done, any dream on your to-do list, as a writer or in general?
I’d like to write that one definitive novel—my Gone with the Wind, for which I’d be identified through generations to come. That would be most satisfying.
And I’d like to go on a Safari. Oh, and own a cottage in England.
Finally, please tell us what’s next for Rhys Bowen and where you’ll be in the next few months.
I’ve just launched Her Royal Spyness and I’m currently busy touring and promoting that book. And I’m just finishing up the next in that series, called A Royal Pain. In September I’m on vacation in Prague and Budapest. Then in October speaking in Tucson AZ. After that a breather while I start on my next Molly book.
Anyone interested in my upcoming schedule can always check my website at www.rhysbowen.com. And visit my blog at www.theladykillers.typepad.com.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Catching Up with Erin Hart
Interviewed by Sandra Parshall
Erin Hart has been one of my favorite writers since I read her first mystery, Haunted Ground. Her second book, Lake of Sorrows, is equally powerful. Set in
Ireland and rich in local color, Erin’s novels feature Nora Gavin, an American anatomist with a special interest in bog bodies -- human remains perfectly preserved in peat bogs -- and Cormac Maguire, an Irish archeologist. Both books have been published around the world and honored with numerous nominations and awards. Erin and her husband, Irish musician Paddy O’Brien, live in Minnesota.
SP: Let’s get right to the burning question that’s on the minds of your fans: When will we see your third novel?
ER: I’m still in the throes of writing book three (working title, False Mermaid), but my deadline is the end of the year. I suppose that means the book won’t be out until sometime in late 2008 or even 2009. I really appreciate all the people who’ve been holding out so patiently for book three, but I want it to be worth the wait.
SP: Your first two books are set in Ireland, but you’ve said the third will be set in the U.S. Has it been a challenge to move Nora to a new setting? Does writing about the U.S. feel markedly different to you? Will any part of the book be set in Ireland?
ER: False Mermaid starts in the U.S., with Nora Gavin returning to Minnesota to re-open her sister’s unsolved murder, but Cormac is still back in Ireland, so part of the story takes place there. It’s a new Irish setting for me as well, the southwest coast of Donegal—heavy-duty fiddle country!
It has been different, trying to write about the place where I live. One of the things that drew me to writing about Ireland in the first place was that it seemed so foreign—almost other-worldly at times. You see a place quite differently when you actually live there—it’s hard sometimes to appreciate all the nuances of a landscape when you’re just driving through it on the way to the dry cleaners. I’m finding that places I’ve taken for granted simply because they’re within a stone’s throw are just as strange and exotic as a foreign country; it’s all a matter of perspective.
SP: You've said in interviews that you write slowly. Have you felt any pressure to speed up and produce a book a year, as many mystery writers do?
ER: Oh, I feel pressure—it just doesn’t have much practical effect on my progress. For me, writing a novel is a gradual process of discovery—I’m uncovering the mystery along with the characters—and I can’t seem to force that. Fortunately, I’ve got a wonderful agent who is interested in quality over quantity, and I feel very fortunate in that regard.
After years of squeezing creative time into early mornings, evenings and weekends, I am able to write full-time now, for which I’m extremely grateful. Of course there are distractions—exercising and cooking dinner and going to the movies are all distractions from writing.
SP: Does promotion interfere with your writing schedule?
ER: You can always do more in the way of promotion, and staying in touch with individual readers, touring, visiting book clubs and libraries. But isn’t that what life in the 21st century is all about—keeping a staggering number of balls in the air at once?
SP: You came to writing late -- you didn't grow up wanting to be a writer. Why did you settle on mysteries as your genre of choice? What does the mystery form offer you as a writer that you wouldn't have in mainstream or literary fiction?
ER: I’m not sure that crime writing offers any more than mainstream or literary fiction, but the genre certainly offers as much as so-called mainstream or literary fiction, if that makes sense. Crime novels are an ideal place to wrestle with human psychology and behavior, with knotty social problems and philosophical questions. Whenever people ask whether I’d ever consider writing a ‘real book’ (and they do ask!) I always find myself wondering, ‘If no one dies, what will the people actually do?’ I enjoy the life-or-death aspect of crime fiction, the inherent conflict and drama that’s built right in. And I really, really enjoy creating suspense, pulling readers deeper and deeper with each chapter into a complex riddle.
SP: How long did it take you to write Haunted Ground? Did the mystery aspects -- clues, red herrings, motives -- come easily or did you struggle with them?
ER: After hearing the amazing true story of the severed head found in an Irish bog, I spent about ten years thinking about how it would make a great opening for a mystery. When I actually sat down to write, it took six years, start to finish, before it was ready to send out to publishers.
The mystery aspects are difficult for me. I’m not a puzzle-solver by nature, and some days it does feel like I’m not quite clever enough to be a crime novelist. But on a good day, I’m content to work my way through the plot along with the characters, getting to know them, letting them take the lead where they will.
SP: Reviews almost always praise the beauty and lyricism of your writing. Do comments of that sort make you self-conscious as you write? Do you find yourself trying to live up to that assessment in your new work?
ER: What some see as beauty and lyricism, others see as flowery overwriting (I believe ‘ornate romanticism’ was the phrase Marilyn Stasio used in her review of Haunted Ground!), so I actually try hard not to overdo it. I’m not even conscious of having a particular style of writing. It’s just what emerges when trying to capture people or places, and in particular, those fleeting moments in every person’s experience that by their very nature are difficult to describe. It’s important to represent those moments as accurately as possible—to me, that’s what great writing is at its core. I keep telling myself that it can’t all be poetry.
SP: It’s difficult to imagine prose like yours coming from the keyboard of a computer. Do you write in longhand and transfer the pages to your computer, or do you use the computer from the beginning?
ER: For some mysterious reason, I have to begin with pen and paper. I have no firsthand experience of it, but from what I understand, some people can work through sentences and even whole paragraphs in their heads and then write them down; I have to go through that whole process on paper. The physical act of writing becomes part of the process of discovery, and the pen seems to be a conduit to my subconscious. I tend to write and rewrite the same words and paragraphs over and over again, until they’re ready to type. (Then the challenge becomes deciphering all those scribbly notes with cross outs and circles and arrows!) A first draft in longhand ends up being an interesting record of how one’s brain works. To quote the great Jackie Mason, “Oy, it’s busy in there!”
SP: What crime fiction authors do you read? What literary or mainstream authors do you enjoy?
ER: Some of my favorite crime writers are P. D. James, Elizabeth George, Martin Cruz Smith, Ian Rankin, Minette Walters, and Iain Pears, among others. I’ve also been enjoying recent books by Leslie Silbert, Michael Connelly, Denise Hamilton, Mark Billingham, Natsuo Kirino, John Connolly, David Hewson, Janet Gleeson—there are so many others I’ve been meaning to read, too, but haven’t had a chance yet. I seem to have a weakness for historical crime novels, and stories that are grounded in very specific places or cultures.
To me, there’s an element of mystery in all great fiction writing; there may not be a murder or a swindle at the heart of the story, but not knowing what will happen next keeps you turning the pages. My taste in mainstream fiction is pretty eclectic, but I’m extremely fond of A.S. Byatt and Edna O’Brien. The list could go on and on—Roddy Doyle, John Fowles, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Alice Munro, Tim O’Brien, Michael Frayn. For sheer glorious entertainment, you still can’t beat Dickens, Austen, and Tolstoy. And I’m a theater person at heart, so of course you must include Shakespeare, Shaw, and Chekhov, along with contemporary writers like David Hare, Michael Frayn (again), Brian Friel, August Wilson.
SP: What aspects of your writing have you worked hardest to improve? Have you learned from reading the books of other mystery/suspense writers?
ER: Character development and description of place have never been particularly difficult, but I’d have to say that plotting, action, and dialogue have all been a challenge, and the reason I spend such a LOT of time rewriting and editing—probably too much!
SP: How often do you visit Ireland?
ER: My husband is from County Offaly in the Irish midlands, so we go back fairly often to visit family and friends—and for traditional music, of course. But it’s been almost three years since we were over, so I’m looking forward to a trip at the end of this summer, which will include research time for the current book. The Irish countryside always provides unexpected inspiration, whether it’s an interesting detail of light or landscape, a newspaper story, or the atmosphere of a great pub session.
SP: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
ER: Two words: Read. Write. Read everything—good writing, execrable writing, and everything in between. Study stories you love, and stories you hate; pick them apart until you understand what works and what doesn’t, and why. And write, write, write. Then write some more—journal entries, news stories, reviews of other people’s work. Get comfortable with words, learn to use them as tools, play with them. If you have no idea what you think, or how you think, writing is actually a great way to figure that out. Write about what pleases you, what angers you, what fascinates you, what moves you, what makes you laugh.
Don’t be afraid to show your work to other people. Learn how to respond to criticism—it’s a practical skill you’re going to need if you ever want to get published. Be brave. Don’t look before you leap. Figure out whatever you’re most afraid of, and try that next.
Visit the author’s web site at www.erinhart.com.
Erin Hart has been one of my favorite writers since I read her first mystery, Haunted Ground. Her second book, Lake of Sorrows, is equally powerful. Set in
Ireland and rich in local color, Erin’s novels feature Nora Gavin, an American anatomist with a special interest in bog bodies -- human remains perfectly preserved in peat bogs -- and Cormac Maguire, an Irish archeologist. Both books have been published around the world and honored with numerous nominations and awards. Erin and her husband, Irish musician Paddy O’Brien, live in Minnesota.SP: Let’s get right to the burning question that’s on the minds of your fans: When will we see your third novel?
ER: I’m still in the throes of writing book three (working title, False Mermaid), but my deadline is the end of the year. I suppose that means the book won’t be out until sometime in late 2008 or even 2009. I really appreciate all the people who’ve been holding out so patiently for book three, but I want it to be worth the wait.
SP: Your first two books are set in Ireland, but you’ve said the third will be set in the U.S. Has it been a challenge to move Nora to a new setting? Does writing about the U.S. feel markedly different to you? Will any part of the book be set in Ireland?
ER: False Mermaid starts in the U.S., with Nora Gavin returning to Minnesota to re-open her sister’s unsolved murder, but Cormac is still back in Ireland, so part of the story takes place there. It’s a new Irish setting for me as well, the southwest coast of Donegal—heavy-duty fiddle country!
It has been different, trying to write about the place where I live. One of the things that drew me to writing about Ireland in the first place was that it seemed so foreign—almost other-worldly at times. You see a place quite differently when you actually live there—it’s hard sometimes to appreciate all the nuances of a landscape when you’re just driving through it on the way to the dry cleaners. I’m finding that places I’ve taken for granted simply because they’re within a stone’s throw are just as strange and exotic as a foreign country; it’s all a matter of perspective.
SP: You've said in interviews that you write slowly. Have you felt any pressure to speed up and produce a book a year, as many mystery writers do?
ER: Oh, I feel pressure—it just doesn’t have much practical effect on my progress. For me, writing a novel is a gradual process of discovery—I’m uncovering the mystery along with the characters—and I can’t seem to force that. Fortunately, I’ve got a wonderful agent who is interested in quality over quantity, and I feel very fortunate in that regard.
After years of squeezing creative time into early mornings, evenings and weekends, I am able to write full-time now, for which I’m extremely grateful. Of course there are distractions—exercising and cooking dinner and going to the movies are all distractions from writing.
SP: Does promotion interfere with your writing schedule?
ER: You can always do more in the way of promotion, and staying in touch with individual readers, touring, visiting book clubs and libraries. But isn’t that what life in the 21st century is all about—keeping a staggering number of balls in the air at once?
SP: You came to writing late -- you didn't grow up wanting to be a writer. Why did you settle on mysteries as your genre of choice? What does the mystery form offer you as a writer that you wouldn't have in mainstream or literary fiction?
ER: I’m not sure that crime writing offers any more than mainstream or literary fiction, but the genre certainly offers as much as so-called mainstream or literary fiction, if that makes sense. Crime novels are an ideal place to wrestle with human psychology and behavior, with knotty social problems and philosophical questions. Whenever people ask whether I’d ever consider writing a ‘real book’ (and they do ask!) I always find myself wondering, ‘If no one dies, what will the people actually do?’ I enjoy the life-or-death aspect of crime fiction, the inherent conflict and drama that’s built right in. And I really, really enjoy creating suspense, pulling readers deeper and deeper with each chapter into a complex riddle.
SP: How long did it take you to write Haunted Ground? Did the mystery aspects -- clues, red herrings, motives -- come easily or did you struggle with them?
ER: After hearing the amazing true story of the severed head found in an Irish bog, I spent about ten years thinking about how it would make a great opening for a mystery. When I actually sat down to write, it took six years, start to finish, before it was ready to send out to publishers.
The mystery aspects are difficult for me. I’m not a puzzle-solver by nature, and some days it does feel like I’m not quite clever enough to be a crime novelist. But on a good day, I’m content to work my way through the plot along with the characters, getting to know them, letting them take the lead where they will.
SP: Reviews almost always praise the beauty and lyricism of your writing. Do comments of that sort make you self-conscious as you write? Do you find yourself trying to live up to that assessment in your new work?
ER: What some see as beauty and lyricism, others see as flowery overwriting (I believe ‘ornate romanticism’ was the phrase Marilyn Stasio used in her review of Haunted Ground!), so I actually try hard not to overdo it. I’m not even conscious of having a particular style of writing. It’s just what emerges when trying to capture people or places, and in particular, those fleeting moments in every person’s experience that by their very nature are difficult to describe. It’s important to represent those moments as accurately as possible—to me, that’s what great writing is at its core. I keep telling myself that it can’t all be poetry.
SP: It’s difficult to imagine prose like yours coming from the keyboard of a computer. Do you write in longhand and transfer the pages to your computer, or do you use the computer from the beginning?
ER: For some mysterious reason, I have to begin with pen and paper. I have no firsthand experience of it, but from what I understand, some people can work through sentences and even whole paragraphs in their heads and then write them down; I have to go through that whole process on paper. The physical act of writing becomes part of the process of discovery, and the pen seems to be a conduit to my subconscious. I tend to write and rewrite the same words and paragraphs over and over again, until they’re ready to type. (Then the challenge becomes deciphering all those scribbly notes with cross outs and circles and arrows!) A first draft in longhand ends up being an interesting record of how one’s brain works. To quote the great Jackie Mason, “Oy, it’s busy in there!”
SP: What crime fiction authors do you read? What literary or mainstream authors do you enjoy?
ER: Some of my favorite crime writers are P. D. James, Elizabeth George, Martin Cruz Smith, Ian Rankin, Minette Walters, and Iain Pears, among others. I’ve also been enjoying recent books by Leslie Silbert, Michael Connelly, Denise Hamilton, Mark Billingham, Natsuo Kirino, John Connolly, David Hewson, Janet Gleeson—there are so many others I’ve been meaning to read, too, but haven’t had a chance yet. I seem to have a weakness for historical crime novels, and stories that are grounded in very specific places or cultures.
To me, there’s an element of mystery in all great fiction writing; there may not be a murder or a swindle at the heart of the story, but not knowing what will happen next keeps you turning the pages. My taste in mainstream fiction is pretty eclectic, but I’m extremely fond of A.S. Byatt and Edna O’Brien. The list could go on and on—Roddy Doyle, John Fowles, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Alice Munro, Tim O’Brien, Michael Frayn. For sheer glorious entertainment, you still can’t beat Dickens, Austen, and Tolstoy. And I’m a theater person at heart, so of course you must include Shakespeare, Shaw, and Chekhov, along with contemporary writers like David Hare, Michael Frayn (again), Brian Friel, August Wilson.
SP: What aspects of your writing have you worked hardest to improve? Have you learned from reading the books of other mystery/suspense writers?
ER: Character development and description of place have never been particularly difficult, but I’d have to say that plotting, action, and dialogue have all been a challenge, and the reason I spend such a LOT of time rewriting and editing—probably too much!
SP: How often do you visit Ireland?
ER: My husband is from County Offaly in the Irish midlands, so we go back fairly often to visit family and friends—and for traditional music, of course. But it’s been almost three years since we were over, so I’m looking forward to a trip at the end of this summer, which will include research time for the current book. The Irish countryside always provides unexpected inspiration, whether it’s an interesting detail of light or landscape, a newspaper story, or the atmosphere of a great pub session.
SP: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
ER: Two words: Read. Write. Read everything—good writing, execrable writing, and everything in between. Study stories you love, and stories you hate; pick them apart until you understand what works and what doesn’t, and why. And write, write, write. Then write some more—journal entries, news stories, reviews of other people’s work. Get comfortable with words, learn to use them as tools, play with them. If you have no idea what you think, or how you think, writing is actually a great way to figure that out. Write about what pleases you, what angers you, what fascinates you, what moves you, what makes you laugh.
Don’t be afraid to show your work to other people. Learn how to respond to criticism—it’s a practical skill you’re going to need if you ever want to get published. Be brave. Don’t look before you leap. Figure out whatever you’re most afraid of, and try that next.
Visit the author’s web site at www.erinhart.com.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Knox Once for Murder
Sharon Wildwind
Monsignor Ronald Knox (1888-1957) was British; as a Catholic priest, spiritual retreat leader, and writer he had a knack for expressing religious values with empathy, kindness, and humor. He had a particular interest in ritual and ceremony.
In addition to being a religious scholar, he also wrote mysteries, at a time when the puzzle mystery—long on complex, twisty plots and short on characterization—was all the rage in Britain. In 1928 he published his Decalogue of the Mystery: The ten rules of detective fiction.
1. Introduce the murderer early but the reader should not be allowed to know the murderers thoughts.
It’s not hard to imagine that this first rule was a direct result of reading Chrisie’s infamousThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which had been published just two years before. Today—with the multiplicity of narrators and styles in mysteries—it’s hard for us to imagine just how unfair many readers felt the Dame had been when she tricked her readers with the unreliable narrator, Dr. James Shepherd.
2. All super natural or preternatural agencies are to be ruled out.
Interest in spiritualism had a huge resurgence in Britain, and to a lesser extent, in the United States after the Great War. Popular fiction was awash with ghosts, seances, open tombs, and strange visions on mist-shrouded nights. I suspect that Knox, given his strong religious beliefs, found those conventions far most distasteful than the average reader did.
3. No accidents or unaccountable intuition.
I think he objected to this because it broke the rules of ritual. Detection must be carried out in an orderly fashion.
4. Only one secret passageway is allowed.
For me, this one conjures up a house like the one on the Clue board, awash with secret passages from the kitchen to the library, from the master bedroom to the secret garden gate, or from the attic to the cook’s bedroom. And all of the characters roaming around all night and not getting a whit sleep.
5. All clues must be shown at once.
He probably didn’t mean all the clues had to be out in the open by the end of page three, but rather that all clues did need to be out in the open sometime before the detective said, “And the killer is. . .”
6. Never make the detective the killer.
Not playing fair. Playing fields of Britain and all that. Very British.
7. No Chinamen.
Sorry, not at all politically correct, but that’s what he said. All too often people from exotic, distant locations were looked upon as good possibilities for killers. They were sinister, had access to exotic poisons (see rule #8 below), and were thought to be unencumbered by good British morals.
8. No undiscovered poisons.
9. No unprepared-for twins or doubles.
Darn. That eliminates the old family retainer, now half-blind and living in a grace-and-favor cottage on the grounds, who looks up at the heroine at precisely the right moment and says, “Why didn’t you know, missy, Lord Randall had an identical twin. His brother went off to Canada,* and we ain’t heard from him in years.”
*Why is it always Canada?
10. The stupid friend (of the detective) must never conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind, and his intelligence must be very slightly below that of the average reader.
Ah, this eliminates our beloved Dr. Watson saying, “What does it all mean, Holmes?” And Holmes—for me always Jeremy Brett, holding that long, aristocratic finger against his lips—replying, “It means, Watson, that treachery and deceit are afoot. We must go to the British museum immediately. There’s not a moment to lose.”
Can we update the decalogue? What are the things you’d like eliminated from the modern mystery? Here’s my pet peeve:
No intelligent, strong woman will be trapped alone with the killer because a) she didn’t bother to tell anyone she was going to the deserted mill alone and b) she forgot to charge her cell phone.
_____
Writing quote for the week:
There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~W. Somerset Maugham, English novelist
Monsignor Ronald Knox (1888-1957) was British; as a Catholic priest, spiritual retreat leader, and writer he had a knack for expressing religious values with empathy, kindness, and humor. He had a particular interest in ritual and ceremony.
In addition to being a religious scholar, he also wrote mysteries, at a time when the puzzle mystery—long on complex, twisty plots and short on characterization—was all the rage in Britain. In 1928 he published his Decalogue of the Mystery: The ten rules of detective fiction.
1. Introduce the murderer early but the reader should not be allowed to know the murderers thoughts.
It’s not hard to imagine that this first rule was a direct result of reading Chrisie’s infamousThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which had been published just two years before. Today—with the multiplicity of narrators and styles in mysteries—it’s hard for us to imagine just how unfair many readers felt the Dame had been when she tricked her readers with the unreliable narrator, Dr. James Shepherd.
2. All super natural or preternatural agencies are to be ruled out.
Interest in spiritualism had a huge resurgence in Britain, and to a lesser extent, in the United States after the Great War. Popular fiction was awash with ghosts, seances, open tombs, and strange visions on mist-shrouded nights. I suspect that Knox, given his strong religious beliefs, found those conventions far most distasteful than the average reader did.
3. No accidents or unaccountable intuition.
I think he objected to this because it broke the rules of ritual. Detection must be carried out in an orderly fashion.
4. Only one secret passageway is allowed.
For me, this one conjures up a house like the one on the Clue board, awash with secret passages from the kitchen to the library, from the master bedroom to the secret garden gate, or from the attic to the cook’s bedroom. And all of the characters roaming around all night and not getting a whit sleep.
5. All clues must be shown at once.
He probably didn’t mean all the clues had to be out in the open by the end of page three, but rather that all clues did need to be out in the open sometime before the detective said, “And the killer is. . .”
6. Never make the detective the killer.
Not playing fair. Playing fields of Britain and all that. Very British.
7. No Chinamen.
Sorry, not at all politically correct, but that’s what he said. All too often people from exotic, distant locations were looked upon as good possibilities for killers. They were sinister, had access to exotic poisons (see rule #8 below), and were thought to be unencumbered by good British morals.
8. No undiscovered poisons.
9. No unprepared-for twins or doubles.
Darn. That eliminates the old family retainer, now half-blind and living in a grace-and-favor cottage on the grounds, who looks up at the heroine at precisely the right moment and says, “Why didn’t you know, missy, Lord Randall had an identical twin. His brother went off to Canada,* and we ain’t heard from him in years.”
*Why is it always Canada?
10. The stupid friend (of the detective) must never conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind, and his intelligence must be very slightly below that of the average reader.
Ah, this eliminates our beloved Dr. Watson saying, “What does it all mean, Holmes?” And Holmes—for me always Jeremy Brett, holding that long, aristocratic finger against his lips—replying, “It means, Watson, that treachery and deceit are afoot. We must go to the British museum immediately. There’s not a moment to lose.”
Can we update the decalogue? What are the things you’d like eliminated from the modern mystery? Here’s my pet peeve:
No intelligent, strong woman will be trapped alone with the killer because a) she didn’t bother to tell anyone she was going to the deserted mill alone and b) she forgot to charge her cell phone.
_____
Writing quote for the week:
There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
~W. Somerset Maugham, English novelist
Monday, July 30, 2007
Cats and Mysteries
by Julia Buckley
I'm wondering at the preponderance of cats in fiction, especially mystery fiction. What is it about cats that sells books? I am a cat lover, although until recently I had only one, who bears the unfortunate name of Pibby Tails because a very insistent two year old named him. My husband suggests that one of the reasons our eldest cat fights so much is that the other Toms in the neighborhood are outside mocking him, calling "Pibby Tails! Pibby Tails!" with great glee.
Now he's restricted to the indoors, thanks to his belligerent streak, and is being forced to adapt to two new kittens (as is our Beagle). One of the kittens, pictured above, is named Rose, and is rather dainty, while her brother Mulliner, pictured here, is more aggressive--but they both bear the undeniable air of mystery that imbues all cats.
So I'm curious--is it that mystery which makes cats so naturally loved by those who love literature? Is it because cats have always loyally sat upon us (and our books) while we read? Is it because of their natural grace and beauty, or what T.S. Eliot called their "unashamed felinity?"
So far cats have not worked their way into my books, but I'm guessing it's just a matter of time. Right now, perhaps because my children are still at home and very loud, I tend to put children into my fiction. But when they leave home, perhaps my eye will stray to my cat, and suddenly the ideas for feline-inspired fiction will flow.
I'm wondering at the preponderance of cats in fiction, especially mystery fiction. What is it about cats that sells books? I am a cat lover, although until recently I had only one, who bears the unfortunate name of Pibby Tails because a very insistent two year old named him. My husband suggests that one of the reasons our eldest cat fights so much is that the other Toms in the neighborhood are outside mocking him, calling "Pibby Tails! Pibby Tails!" with great glee.
Now he's restricted to the indoors, thanks to his belligerent streak, and is being forced to adapt to two new kittens (as is our Beagle). One of the kittens, pictured above, is named Rose, and is rather dainty, while her brother Mulliner, pictured here, is more aggressive--but they both bear the undeniable air of mystery that imbues all cats.
So I'm curious--is it that mystery which makes cats so naturally loved by those who love literature? Is it because cats have always loyally sat upon us (and our books) while we read? Is it because of their natural grace and beauty, or what T.S. Eliot called their "unashamed felinity?"
So far cats have not worked their way into my books, but I'm guessing it's just a matter of time. Right now, perhaps because my children are still at home and very loud, I tend to put children into my fiction. But when they leave home, perhaps my eye will stray to my cat, and suddenly the ideas for feline-inspired fiction will flow.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
One of the Good Days
Anne White (Guest Blogger)
Book talks can be murder.
I’m not trying out a title for a new mystery here – although this might make a good one – I’m telling it like it is. The accepted thinking in the book world seems to be that, if you want your mystery series to meet with even a modicum of success, you’ve got to promote it, hit the pavement and talk it up. And with these efforts come a range of experiences, some rewarding and some downright humiliating.
With four Lake George mysteries under my belt, I’ve experienced both kinds.
In my efforts to promote, I’ve gone the book talk route, given the speeches and readings and sometimes attracted a respectable number of people who responded in positive ways. But I’ve also conducted signings in bookstores, hotel lobbies and beautiful lakeside parks where people galloped past, eyes averted, as if fearing I would offer pornographic materials to their children.
I’m experienced enough to know that talking about my books to a group of women at Wiawaka Holiday House on upstate New York’s fabulously beautiful Lake George, the setting for my series, will be one of the good times. Wiawaka, which in Abenaki means the Great Spirit in Women was founded early in the last century by Mary Wiltse Fuller, daughter of a Troy, NY industrialist, who used her position and wealth to help immigrant women working in the mills in Troy and Cohoes escape the city for an affordable one-week vacation. Located on the southeastern shore of Lake George, Wiawaka with its spacious grounds and neat frame houses is believed to be the last surviving example of a women’s retreat from the progressive era still in use for its original purpose.
Director Wendy Littlefield has invited me a number of times for programs with different groups and I’ve taken advantage of several of its beautiful settings – a screened porch on one of the lakeside cottages, a cozy, old-fashioned living room and the wide wrap-around porch of its main building, Fuller House. When I spoke there recently on a perfect summer day, I stood on the Fuller House steps, addressing several dozen women seated in rows of folding chairs on the lawn, looking past the grassy compound ringed by the other buildings in the summer colony to the lake beyond.
My Lake George mysteries have many connections with Wiawaka, and I was eager to point them out. Georgia O’Keeffe, a former guest and occasional visitor here, provided me with the idea for the first one, An Affinity For Murder. O’Keeffe spent 15 summers with legendary photographer Alfred Stieglitz at his family’s summer home near Lake George Village a short distance across the lake. There O’Keeffe painted some of her best-loved works, the giant flowers she made large enough to fill an entire canvas, paintings my mystery writer’s brain thought well suited to forgery.
Not far off shore here are the sunken remnants of the bateaux, the French and Indian War gunboats, featured in Beneath The Surface, the second book in the series. Talking about the bateaux gave me a chance to recount my misadventures at a local dive shop where I’d gone a few years ago to inquire about these priceless artifacts.
“You can see them yourself,” the buff eighteen-year-old clerk told me. “There’s one space left in the first scuba diving class of the year and it starts next week. We’re not even waiting for the ice to go out of the lake.”
Caught up in his enthusiasm, I almost signed up before I came to my senses and turned the incident into a light-hearted piece for Mystery Scene Magazine instead.
The other books in my Lake George mystery series, Best Laid Plans (2006) and this year’s Secrets Dark and Deep, take place a short distance away in my fictional town of Emerald Point. The sights and sounds there mimic those I’m enjoying today – glimpses through the trees of slate blue water sparkling in the sunlight, the deep blast of a lake steamer as it passes close to shore, the great arch of azure summer sky dotted with puffy white clouds, the archipelago of islands, large and small, strung along the lake’s thirty-two mile length.
The lake’s history permeates everything, from its discovery in 1646 by St. Isaac Jogues through the bloody French and Indian War battles, the exploits of men like Robert Rogers and his Rangers, the forts, both French and English on opposite ends of the lake, the nineteenth century growth of the hotels and summer resorts, and now the present-day tourism and environmental concerns. On every visit here I’m caught up in my enthusiasm for the lake and its stories, and feel the spirit of renewal Wiawaka promises.
Anne White's Secrets Dark and Deep this year's addition to her Lake George Mystery Series, follows An Affinity For Murder (a 2002 Malice Domestic Best First Nominee), Beneath The Surface (2005) and Best Laid Plans (2006). She's a retired high school librarian, married, and has six children. Learn more on her website at www.annewhitemysteries.com.
Friday, July 27, 2007
What's Up With That House?
By Lonnie Cruse
Anybody watched that show on HGTV? I've seen it a few times, and the houses they feature ARE pretty weird. The picture on the right is one I took in a nearby town several years ago. If you look closely, you'll see it's shaped like a tow boat. I presume the owner worked on a tow boat for most of his/her life. I've always liked this house, and I'd love to see what it looks like on the inside. And whenever I pass an odd house, particularly an old, abandoned one, I find myself wondering about the people who built it and lived in it. Who were they? What were they like? And, sometimes, why was the house abandoned to gradually fall into ruin?
My particular "bulletin board" is pictured to the right. It's an antique message board from a mollasses company, and I love that thing. Holds tons of inspiration.
One of the things I love most about my fellow writers is that we seldom have the SAME vision. You can give a group of writers a picture, a paragraph, a sentence, or a word, and tell them to write about it, and rarely will two have the same take on it. Or should I say take off? As in letting the fingers fly and the story tell itself? Variety, something readers crave and writers strive for. Which makes me wonder: What kind of story would you write about the house in the picture to the right? Hmmmm? I found this one while bike riding on a wonderful trail near Tunnel Hill, IL.
So if you are lacking inspiration, take a camera with you everywhere, and snap photos of whatever captures your attention. I once took pictures of Kudzu covering an object so thoroughly that I couldn't tell exactly what WAS underneath the heavy growth. That lead to an article that appeared in a newsletter. Inspire yourself with pictures, and write, write, write.
Okay, I've gotta quit playing around on here and get my character out of the latest mess I've written him into. But it's such a pretty day, maybe I'll . . . .
Anybody watched that show on HGTV? I've seen it a few times, and the houses they feature ARE pretty weird. The picture on the right is one I took in a nearby town several years ago. If you look closely, you'll see it's shaped like a tow boat. I presume the owner worked on a tow boat for most of his/her life. I've always liked this house, and I'd love to see what it looks like on the inside. And whenever I pass an odd house, particularly an old, abandoned one, I find myself wondering about the people who built it and lived in it. Who were they? What were they like? And, sometimes, why was the house abandoned to gradually fall into ruin?
Which brings me to the subject of today's blog . . . INSPIRATION!
Lots of authors take pictures of people, places, or things that inspire a story line. Then we post them on some sort of bulletin board near our desks so we can stare at those pictures rather than at THE BLANK PAGE when our current story line screams to a halt. And stare, and stare. But having a picture of someone who represents a character, or a place where we're setting the scene, or a particular object, (Machine gun, anyone? Bloody knife?) is an excellent way for a writer to visualize what we're writing without having to give the reader a description that is soooo detailed, the reader falls asleep halfway through, just to make sure we've covered all the bases. And readers are very vocal about the fact that they like to visualize some things in our books for themselves: how a character looks, or a place, things like that. Too much information from an author is . . . um . . . well . . . too much information.
Lots of authors take pictures of people, places, or things that inspire a story line. Then we post them on some sort of bulletin board near our desks so we can stare at those pictures rather than at THE BLANK PAGE when our current story line screams to a halt. And stare, and stare. But having a picture of someone who represents a character, or a place where we're setting the scene, or a particular object, (Machine gun, anyone? Bloody knife?) is an excellent way for a writer to visualize what we're writing without having to give the reader a description that is soooo detailed, the reader falls asleep halfway through, just to make sure we've covered all the bases. And readers are very vocal about the fact that they like to visualize some things in our books for themselves: how a character looks, or a place, things like that. Too much information from an author is . . . um . . . well . . . too much information.
My particular "bulletin board" is pictured to the right. It's an antique message board from a mollasses company, and I love that thing. Holds tons of inspiration.
One of the things I love most about my fellow writers is that we seldom have the SAME vision. You can give a group of writers a picture, a paragraph, a sentence, or a word, and tell them to write about it, and rarely will two have the same take on it. Or should I say take off? As in letting the fingers fly and the story tell itself? Variety, something readers crave and writers strive for. Which makes me wonder: What kind of story would you write about the house in the picture to the right? Hmmmm? I found this one while bike riding on a wonderful trail near Tunnel Hill, IL.So if you are lacking inspiration, take a camera with you everywhere, and snap photos of whatever captures your attention. I once took pictures of Kudzu covering an object so thoroughly that I couldn't tell exactly what WAS underneath the heavy growth. That lead to an article that appeared in a newsletter. Inspire yourself with pictures, and write, write, write.
Okay, I've gotta quit playing around on here and get my character out of the latest mess I've written him into. But it's such a pretty day, maybe I'll . . . .
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I've got to know the ending!
Elizabeth Zelvin
When I was a kid, my parents frequently invited company for dinner. They had interesting friends. Long past our bedtimes, my sister and I used to sneak halfway down the stairs and hang over the banister so we could hear the conversation. This was back in the days before conversation became a spectator sport, something celebrities did on televised talk shows while everybody else just listened. (To this day, I don’t watch talk shows. When I hear a good conversation, I want to participate.)
My father was a wonderful raconteur, as were some of their friends. They would tell stories—extended jokes that drew us in till we could hardly wait to hear the punch line. And then they would tell the punch line in Yiddish! All the adults would howl with laughter. It always sounded hilarious, since Yiddish is an innately comical language to the anglophone ear. Mind you, neither of my parents spoke Yiddish. My father’s native language was Russian, my mother’s Hungarian. But everybody always understood the punch line—except us. “What does it mean? What does it mean?” we would clamor. They would invariably reply, “It’s untranslatable!”
This intensely frustrating experience left me with an imperative need to know the ending of any story. In mysteries, the ending is of crucial importance. In fact, it’s what distinguishes them from most literary novels. They start with a setup: a crime is committed, but we’re missing some key information: we don’t know whodunit. Or in a thriller, something will happen if it isn’t stopped, and it’s a race with the clock—or an obstacle course—to prevent disaster. We keep reading—often long past our bedtimes—to find out how they’ll end.
I had a thriller-like dream last night. It took place in West Africa, in a country that might have been Burkina Faso, just north of Côte d’Ivoire where I lived in the Sixties as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In the dream, I was part of a group of people, black and white, who loved Africa and had spent years there helping the surrounding countries get rid of oppressors. We had just discovered that some hidden airports in the bush were international airports. At first we thought they were brand new and couldn’t understand why the Africans hadn’t told us about them. Then we realized they’d been there all along. In the dream, this meant that once they’d finished ousting the oppressors with our help, they planned to get rid of us as well. We were outraged. Each of us talked in turn about how betrayed we felt. I gave quite a speech—probably out loud, as my husband swears I often do while dreaming.
We knew we had to leave at once, before our enemies arrived. A plane was waiting. As we began to board, a plane or helicopter landed. Armed men rushed out and headed toward us. We tried frantically to get everybody into the plane. As they reached us, we all made it on board, but we still had to take off before they could attack. Through a kind of transparent bubble, we could see them aiming their weapons at us.
At that moment, my husband woke me up. “You were having a nightmare,” he said. I was furious. “No, I wasn’t. Why did you wake me?” “You were,” he insisted. “You were saying, ‘Please don’t shoot us.” “I was not! I was saying, ‘Please don’t hurt us.’ We just wanted them to let us leave.” I tried to explain the dream, not doing it very well since I tend not to remember my dreams in any detail. He couldn’t understand why I thought it wasn’t a nightmare. But it wasn’t. I wasn’t scared, or at least not with the dread or terror that characterize nightmares. What I felt was more of a sense of intense urgency. I certainly didn’t want to be rescued at that moment. I wanted to know if we made it into the air before they started shooting. Dammit, I wanted to know the ending!
When I was a kid, my parents frequently invited company for dinner. They had interesting friends. Long past our bedtimes, my sister and I used to sneak halfway down the stairs and hang over the banister so we could hear the conversation. This was back in the days before conversation became a spectator sport, something celebrities did on televised talk shows while everybody else just listened. (To this day, I don’t watch talk shows. When I hear a good conversation, I want to participate.)
My father was a wonderful raconteur, as were some of their friends. They would tell stories—extended jokes that drew us in till we could hardly wait to hear the punch line. And then they would tell the punch line in Yiddish! All the adults would howl with laughter. It always sounded hilarious, since Yiddish is an innately comical language to the anglophone ear. Mind you, neither of my parents spoke Yiddish. My father’s native language was Russian, my mother’s Hungarian. But everybody always understood the punch line—except us. “What does it mean? What does it mean?” we would clamor. They would invariably reply, “It’s untranslatable!”
This intensely frustrating experience left me with an imperative need to know the ending of any story. In mysteries, the ending is of crucial importance. In fact, it’s what distinguishes them from most literary novels. They start with a setup: a crime is committed, but we’re missing some key information: we don’t know whodunit. Or in a thriller, something will happen if it isn’t stopped, and it’s a race with the clock—or an obstacle course—to prevent disaster. We keep reading—often long past our bedtimes—to find out how they’ll end.
I had a thriller-like dream last night. It took place in West Africa, in a country that might have been Burkina Faso, just north of Côte d’Ivoire where I lived in the Sixties as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In the dream, I was part of a group of people, black and white, who loved Africa and had spent years there helping the surrounding countries get rid of oppressors. We had just discovered that some hidden airports in the bush were international airports. At first we thought they were brand new and couldn’t understand why the Africans hadn’t told us about them. Then we realized they’d been there all along. In the dream, this meant that once they’d finished ousting the oppressors with our help, they planned to get rid of us as well. We were outraged. Each of us talked in turn about how betrayed we felt. I gave quite a speech—probably out loud, as my husband swears I often do while dreaming.
We knew we had to leave at once, before our enemies arrived. A plane was waiting. As we began to board, a plane or helicopter landed. Armed men rushed out and headed toward us. We tried frantically to get everybody into the plane. As they reached us, we all made it on board, but we still had to take off before they could attack. Through a kind of transparent bubble, we could see them aiming their weapons at us.
At that moment, my husband woke me up. “You were having a nightmare,” he said. I was furious. “No, I wasn’t. Why did you wake me?” “You were,” he insisted. “You were saying, ‘Please don’t shoot us.” “I was not! I was saying, ‘Please don’t hurt us.’ We just wanted them to let us leave.” I tried to explain the dream, not doing it very well since I tend not to remember my dreams in any detail. He couldn’t understand why I thought it wasn’t a nightmare. But it wasn’t. I wasn’t scared, or at least not with the dread or terror that characterize nightmares. What I felt was more of a sense of intense urgency. I certainly didn’t want to be rescued at that moment. I wanted to know if we made it into the air before they started shooting. Dammit, I wanted to know the ending!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Summer Reading
Sandra Parshall
Why do booksellers and reviewers talk about “summer reading” and “summer books” as if everyone spends June, July, and August lazing by a pool or on the beach, book in hand? Do you know anyone that lucky? For most of us, life and work go on pretty much as usual during the hot months. My summer reading is a lot like my winter reading -- relegated to little snatches of spare time. I’m more likely to listen to an audio book for an hour or two while I do other things than I am to settle in a chair with a book for an entire evening.
Here are some of the books that have been getting my seriously divided attention this summer.
Hide by Lisa Gardner: I will read anything Lisa Gardner writes, and this new book has become one of my favorites. Bobby Dodge, the Massachusetts state cop from Alone, returns, and he’s investigating the murders of six girls whose skeletons are found in a pit at an abandoned mental hospital. Evidence points to a killer Bobby had believed to be long dead. To complicate matters, after one skeleton is publicly identified as that of Annabelle Granger, the real Annabelle, now an adult, appears to correct the mistake and explain how the victim came to be wearing her necklace. The investigation widens to include Annabelle’s background. She grew up in hiding, her parents whisking her from place to place to escape a danger she never understood. In the course of Bobby’s investigation, Annabelle learns the truth about her family’s dark past and realizes that she is still in danger. Gardner has a delightfully twisted mind, and the complications and surprises she produces are many and convoluted. An unusually good suspense novel.
Trashed by Alison Gaylin is pure fun from beginning to end. The author’s first hardcover, after two paperback originals and an Edgar nomination, Trashed introduces accidental Hollywood tabloid reporter Simone Glass. She moves to Los Angeles to work for a respectable publication, but when that prospect evaporates, she’s desperate enough to take a job on a sleazy tabloid. She quickly learns that her editor doesn’t share her perception of what is newsworthy. Her first assignment, searching a star’s trash, turns up evidence that connects the actress to a murder, but Simone’s editor dismisses this development as uninteresting. What readers really want, he says, is proof of the star’s drug abuse. Simone stubbornly pursues the murder clues that keep popping up and ultimately puts her own life in danger. Trashed will be available from NAL Obsidian the first week of September, and in August I’ll have an interview with author Alison Gaylin in this space.
The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco is an impressive debut mystery. Set in San Francisco, the story begins minutes before the massive earthquake and the resulting fire that destroyed much of the city in 1906. Sgt. Randall Blackburn is walking back to police headquarters after his night shift when the earth cracks open beneath his feet and chaos erupts. At the same time, in a relatively unscathed part of the city, a serial killer slaughters the Nightingale family while twelve-year-old Shane, an adopted son, hides in a cupboard. In the days following the earthquake and the Nightingale murders, Blackburn and the psychologically damaged Shane team up to find the killer. Flacco’s descriptions of the earthquake and its aftermath are superb and the plotting is clever. I look forward to the second book in this series. The Last Nightingale is published by Ballantine in trade paperback, so you can take a chance on this new mystery writer at relatively low cost.
A while back, I vowed to overcome my bias against mysteries set in foreign countries where English is not the dominant language. I promptly relapsed and didn’t make good on my pledge until advance copies of two books, one Swedish and one French, fell into my hands. Although they’re very different stories, each excellent in its way, they have a common element: like Gardner’s Hide, they bring back killers the detectives have faced in the past.
Never End by Ake Edwardson is latest in a bestselling series of Swedish police procedurals set in the coastal city of Gothenberg. As the city suffers through a brutal heat wave, Chief Inspector Erik Winter recognizes in several new cases the work of a rapist-murderer he failed to catch years before. In a spare style, with few literary flourishes, the author creates a forboding atmosphere and builds suspense in both the professional and personal ordeals of the sympathetic, realistic characters. Trade paperback from Penguin.
Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand by Fred Vargas is the latest winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s International Dagger and the third in this bestselling French series to be published in the U.S. Commissaire Adamsberg, chief of police in Paris’s 7th Arrondissement, believes that serial killer Judge Fulgence is long dead -- but a new murder bears his unmistakable mark. Adamsberg’s insistence on chasing a ghost eventually makes him a suspect in the murder. Vargas (who is female, in case that matters to anyone) writes quirky characters who view the world from an ironic and often darkly funny perspective. Even if it didn’t have a compelling story, this book would be worth reading for the prose and the characters. Trade paperback from Penguin.
Books on my must-read list for the rest of the summer are Giles Blunt’s By the Time You Read This and Ruth Rendell’s The Water’s Lovely.
What are you reading this summer? Have you discovered any great new-to-you writers? Do you have more time to read in the summer than in other seasons?
Why do booksellers and reviewers talk about “summer reading” and “summer books” as if everyone spends June, July, and August lazing by a pool or on the beach, book in hand? Do you know anyone that lucky? For most of us, life and work go on pretty much as usual during the hot months. My summer reading is a lot like my winter reading -- relegated to little snatches of spare time. I’m more likely to listen to an audio book for an hour or two while I do other things than I am to settle in a chair with a book for an entire evening.
Here are some of the books that have been getting my seriously divided attention this summer.
Hide by Lisa Gardner: I will read anything Lisa Gardner writes, and this new book has become one of my favorites. Bobby Dodge, the Massachusetts state cop from Alone, returns, and he’s investigating the murders of six girls whose skeletons are found in a pit at an abandoned mental hospital. Evidence points to a killer Bobby had believed to be long dead. To complicate matters, after one skeleton is publicly identified as that of Annabelle Granger, the real Annabelle, now an adult, appears to correct the mistake and explain how the victim came to be wearing her necklace. The investigation widens to include Annabelle’s background. She grew up in hiding, her parents whisking her from place to place to escape a danger she never understood. In the course of Bobby’s investigation, Annabelle learns the truth about her family’s dark past and realizes that she is still in danger. Gardner has a delightfully twisted mind, and the complications and surprises she produces are many and convoluted. An unusually good suspense novel.
Trashed by Alison Gaylin is pure fun from beginning to end. The author’s first hardcover, after two paperback originals and an Edgar nomination, Trashed introduces accidental Hollywood tabloid reporter Simone Glass. She moves to Los Angeles to work for a respectable publication, but when that prospect evaporates, she’s desperate enough to take a job on a sleazy tabloid. She quickly learns that her editor doesn’t share her perception of what is newsworthy. Her first assignment, searching a star’s trash, turns up evidence that connects the actress to a murder, but Simone’s editor dismisses this development as uninteresting. What readers really want, he says, is proof of the star’s drug abuse. Simone stubbornly pursues the murder clues that keep popping up and ultimately puts her own life in danger. Trashed will be available from NAL Obsidian the first week of September, and in August I’ll have an interview with author Alison Gaylin in this space.
The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco is an impressive debut mystery. Set in San Francisco, the story begins minutes before the massive earthquake and the resulting fire that destroyed much of the city in 1906. Sgt. Randall Blackburn is walking back to police headquarters after his night shift when the earth cracks open beneath his feet and chaos erupts. At the same time, in a relatively unscathed part of the city, a serial killer slaughters the Nightingale family while twelve-year-old Shane, an adopted son, hides in a cupboard. In the days following the earthquake and the Nightingale murders, Blackburn and the psychologically damaged Shane team up to find the killer. Flacco’s descriptions of the earthquake and its aftermath are superb and the plotting is clever. I look forward to the second book in this series. The Last Nightingale is published by Ballantine in trade paperback, so you can take a chance on this new mystery writer at relatively low cost.
A while back, I vowed to overcome my bias against mysteries set in foreign countries where English is not the dominant language. I promptly relapsed and didn’t make good on my pledge until advance copies of two books, one Swedish and one French, fell into my hands. Although they’re very different stories, each excellent in its way, they have a common element: like Gardner’s Hide, they bring back killers the detectives have faced in the past.
Never End by Ake Edwardson is latest in a bestselling series of Swedish police procedurals set in the coastal city of Gothenberg. As the city suffers through a brutal heat wave, Chief Inspector Erik Winter recognizes in several new cases the work of a rapist-murderer he failed to catch years before. In a spare style, with few literary flourishes, the author creates a forboding atmosphere and builds suspense in both the professional and personal ordeals of the sympathetic, realistic characters. Trade paperback from Penguin.
Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand by Fred Vargas is the latest winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s International Dagger and the third in this bestselling French series to be published in the U.S. Commissaire Adamsberg, chief of police in Paris’s 7th Arrondissement, believes that serial killer Judge Fulgence is long dead -- but a new murder bears his unmistakable mark. Adamsberg’s insistence on chasing a ghost eventually makes him a suspect in the murder. Vargas (who is female, in case that matters to anyone) writes quirky characters who view the world from an ironic and often darkly funny perspective. Even if it didn’t have a compelling story, this book would be worth reading for the prose and the characters. Trade paperback from Penguin.
Books on my must-read list for the rest of the summer are Giles Blunt’s By the Time You Read This and Ruth Rendell’s The Water’s Lovely.
What are you reading this summer? Have you discovered any great new-to-you writers? Do you have more time to read in the summer than in other seasons?
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