Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Edwin Hill

Edwin Hill is the Edgar- and Agatha-award nominated author of Little Comfort, The Missing Ones, and Watch Her.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title for my latest novel, Watch Her, came from the text. I noticed the phrase reappearing in the prose, and that it had different meanings depending on where it was being used. The story is about long-held secrets and the power we have over those who trust us. There’s a character who appears to be stalking an ex-girlfriend. There’s another character who’s entrusted with watching over a child in danger. I thought it was evocative of the overall story, too. Thankfully, my editor agreed!

What's in a name?

I name characters very, very quickly, especially when I’m in the early stages of drafting, otherwise I can lose an afternoon on a baby naming web site looking for the perfect name. Some of the names stick, and others get changed as I get to know the characters better.

Hester Thursby is the main character in my series, and she was named Hester from the very start. When I conceived her, I knew very little about her – only that she was 36-years-old woman responsible for a small child. I quickly named her Hester and the child Pearl after the main characters in The Scarlet Letter. That was too pretentious to keep in the final novel, so I changed Pearl to Kate, but Hester somehow stuck!

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

When I was a teenager, I wanted to write traditional mysteries, like Agatha Christie. I think I’d be surprised by the psychological nature of my writing. I also think I’d be surprised by how much I lean into sexuality and identity.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

The answer here really depends on the book! For Watch Her, the beginning came very easily. My first draft of the prologue is very similar to what wound up in the final book. Sometimes I begin a book and see a very clear ending, one that I simply have to work toward as I draft. Not so, with Watch Her! I changed the end a number of times, including who the murderer is.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I would say that all the characters are me, and at the same time none of them are. I write my novels from multiple points of view and will sometimes borrow aspects of my own personality or experience to help build the characters. For example, in Watch Her, one of the point-of-view characters, Maxine Pawlikowski, is an executive at a for-profit college. To make my life easier, I made Maxine my own age so that I would understand her cultural references and wouldn’t have to figure out where she was and what she was doing at various times in her life. I also worked as an executive at a large organization, and while it wasn’t a for-profit college, I could pull from my experiences as a manager.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Hester Thursby is a librarian at Harvard’s Widener Library where she serves as the Americana expert, and she loves entertainment like vaudeville, movies, and television. I try to work pop culture references into each book, and in Watch Her, the ‘70s cop show Police Woman plays an important part in the plot.
Learn more about the book and author at Edwin Hill’s website.

My Book, The Movie: Little Comfort.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Cass Morris

Cass Morris works as an educator in central Virginia and as a bookseller on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She holds a Master of Letters from Mary Baldwin University and a BA in English with a minor in history from the College of William and Mary. She reads voraciously, wears corsets voluntarily, and will beat you at MarioKart.

Morris's new novel is Give Way to Night.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Give Way to Night is definitely more atmospheric than directly descriptive. As this is the second book in the Aven Cycle, things are getting darker and more dire for Our Heroes. It’s a creeping threat, though, not something sudden: the darkness bleeds into the world from the edges, like afternoon falling into twilight falling into night.

The phrase comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The quote I adapted it from doesn’t really relate to anything in the book, although it does set a mood that I find appropriate: “It would take too long to tell what wickedness I found everywhere, for rumors were less than truth. I had crossed Maenala, those mountains bristling with wild beasts’ lairs, steep Cyllene, and the pinewoods of icy Lycaeus. Then, as the last shadows gave way to night, I entered the inhospitable house of the Arcadian king.”

What's in a name?

Most of the names in Give Way to Night are taken out of history in some way or another. It can be a lot to wrangle! Naming conventions in the Latin language are tricky, particularly since people tended to be known by their family names, fathers tended to pass on their first names and even nicknames to sons, and daughters were invariably called the feminine version of their father’s name. I’ve chosen to lean heavily into nicknames to reduce confusion: the three daughters of Aulus Vitellius are known as Aula, Latona, and Alhena, though their given names are Aula Prima, Aula Secunda, and Aula Tertia.

The name with the biggest story behind it is that of the city itself: Aven. We know the place as Rome, named for its founder Romulus. So why is my alternate version called Aven? It’s named for the Aventine Hill, which in my alternate reality was the location of the city’s original founding. As the myth goes in our world, Romulus wanted to found a city on the Palatine Hill, while his twin brother Remus favored the Aventine. The brothers quarreled, and eventually Romulus killed Remus over the dispute. Things fell out differently in my world, where Remus, a mage granted a vision from the gods, wins that particular argument. Rather than falling to fratricide, the brothers divide their responsibilities: Romulus the military man and statesman; Remus the mage and priest. But the city and the nation take their name from that first place of founding, on the southernmost hill.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

Very little. She was taking Latin at the time, after all, so it would seem perfectly natural to her that we’d write a book set in a fantastical version of ancient Rome! The magical system, too, would seem natural to her: it’s one I’ve been developing since I was her, although it’s had a lot of shifts and permutations since then. She’d recognize the seeds she’s planted, though, in the garden that eventually bloomed.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I find the middle harder than either, but I think my endings tend to change a bit more than my beginnings on the whole, and that was certainly true for Give Way to Night. An earlier pass on this novel ended in a completely different place, but the opening scene stayed essentially the same from first draft to last.

A major conflict in Give Way to Night involves a banished cult, devoted to the goddess Discordia, returning to the city of Aven and beginning a campaign of chaos and torment. They begin their efforts, however, in the countryside -- testing out their curses and attacks on a smaller population before bringing them to the main stage, as it were -- and my first pass of this story lingered there much, much longer. Too long. Not enough happened for the characters involved with that plotline, so in revision, I tightened up the suspense and got to the action faster. The incident that originally ended the book now takes place about two-thirds of the way through: a discovery that Latona makes about her own magic and what she might be capable of. It’s a change I’m very happy with; tightening her arc not only improved the pacing of the whole book, but it allows that discovery to propel her through the third act.

And where Give Way to Night ends now? Oh dear. Early readers have been quite upset with me for the predicament I’ve left a major character in. It’s worth noting that one of my favorite movies is The Empire Strikes Back, but to say more would give too much away.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Latona is so, so very much me. An aspect of me, at least, a facet. I always knew that to a certain degree, but it wasn’t clear to me until late in the process of writing the first book in the Aven Cycle that I was, through her, writing my way through some of my own past trauma. Latona’s major character arc involves finding the courage to take up the space in the world that she deserves, even though people around her have encouraged her to make herself small. Not to make trouble. Not to make a spectacle of herself. Not to shine too brightly. Not to be ambitious. Breaking free of restrictions, both those imposed on her from the outside and those she internalized, is a hard process. She has to recover a lot of faith in herself and pluck up a lot of courage. Her story isn’t a direct analog for my own life, to be sure, but Latona and I resonate on the same frequency.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

The thing which inspired the Aven Cycle was a piece of artwork: Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s “Baths of Caracalla.” It’s a neoclassical painting of Roman baths. It’s lush and gorgeous, and there are all sorts of naked people frolicking in the background, but in the foreground are three well-dressed women on a bench. One is leaning in, clearly about to impart some delicious gossip; one is reclining, looking a bit skeptical, waiting to be convinced; one is hesitant, scandalized but intrigued at the same time. That’s where the Vitelliae, the trio of sisters at the heart of this story, sprang into life.
Visit Cass Morris's website.

My Book, The Movie: Give Way to Night.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Susan Cox

Susan Cox is a former journalist. She has also been marketing and public relations director for a safari park, a fundraiser for non-profit organizations, and the president of the Palm Beach County (Fla.) Attractions Association. She considers herself transcontinental and transatlantic, equally at home in San Francisco and Florida and with a large and boisterous extended family in England. She frequently wears a Starfleet communicator pin, just in case. Her first novel, The Man on the Washing Machine, won the 2014 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition.

Cox's new novel is The Man in the Microwave Oven.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Title are famously difficult, and they’re not copyrighted, so I could have called my mystery The Sun Also Rises or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Quite often a title comes late in the process, prompted by something that happens in the book, but in the case of The Man in the Microwave Oven I thought of the title first. It came to me as a joke, really, while making a short presentation at Bouchercon. But once I got my laugh, I decided I really liked it and then I went about writing the scenes that made the title work. It’s quirky, but it follows up with the sinister appliance theme from the first book (The Man on the Washing Machine), and microwaves have always had this rather dangerous reputation. They’re in everyone’s kitchen and they’re such a benign little tool until you accidentally put the wrong thing in it and all hell breaks loose. That’s why I liked it—my novel is a traditional mystery with a bit of a twist, and I think the title is the same way.

What's in a name?

My main character is Theo Bogart. She lives a very quiet, almost undercover life in San Francisco, but she had a very high profile past in London and she’s the granddaughter of an English Earl. The British royal family has always had close ties to the Greek royal family (and Prince Phillip is actually Prince Phillip of Greece as every viewer of The Crown knows), so I thought a Greek name made a certain amount of sense. I’ve always been fond of the boyish nicknames English girls were given in books of the 30s and 40s, names like Nicky or Teddy. So—Theo. And Bogart was easy—Humphrey Bogart stars in one of my favorite movies (Dark Passage), which takes place in San Francisco. Some of my other characters were actually named after the members of my master of arts program, which is where I wrote the first version of my first book.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

She wouldn’t be surprised at all. I fell in love with Agatha Christie when I was fifteen and never looked back.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are toughest for me because they set the tone, and often introduce the plot complexities, for the rest of the book. I write and rewrite and rewrite again until I’m fairly content, then I go on to the rest of the book. I often still use the completed version as a draft, which means the first chapters get revised again, but they’ve done their job of being the scaffolding for the rest of the book. By the way, I’m a pantser, not an outliner, so writing a book for me isn’t a smooth, linear process; it's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

My heroine sleuth is English and a redhead, but other than that we don’t have much in common. She’s far more inquisitive and much braver than me!

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I’ve always been a devoted, even compulsive reader, so my influences have all been writers. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Nicholas Blake, Ngaio Marsh, Dick Francis, Peter Lovesey, Sue Grafton—they’re my mentors, at least in my own mind. I do find that the news finds its way into my plots, but not usually the specifics. Homelessness is a sad reality of modern city life, and one character in The Man in the Microwave Oven is a homeless man who unwittingly becomes embroiled in the mystery and entangled in Theo’s life.
Visit Susan Cox's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Man in the Microwave Oven.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, December 21, 2020

Tessa Wegert

Tessa Wegert is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, The Huffington Post, Adweek, and The Economist. She grew up in Quebec near the border of Vermont and now lives with her husband and children in a hundred- year-old house in Coastal Connecticut. Wegert writes mysteries set in Upstate New York while studying martial arts and dance, and is the author of the Shana Merchant series, beginning with Death in the Family.

Her new novel is The Dead Season.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Like Death in the Family — the first book in this mystery series — The Dead Season has a double entendre. The series is largely set in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York, and “the dead season” refers to the time of year when there are fewer tourists and the locals are left to themselves. But this is also a story about a law enforcement agent pursuing a killer, their fixation with each other, and the killer’s attempts to invade and disrupt her small-town life. For Senior Investigator Shana Merchant, who’s been trying to flush out serial killer Blake Bram and is starting to sense that he’s hunting her, the upcoming winter season is a harbinger of doom. When she learns that her estranged uncle has been found murdered back in her hometown of Swanton, Vermont, the dead season takes on another, more literal meaning.

What's in a name?

It isn’t a conscious decision, but when I’m naming characters I tend to use literary devices like assonance and alliteration: Shana Merchant, Trey Hayes, Robbie Copely, Blake Bram. I go for a mix of common names and unusual ones similar to what you’d find in the real world, and consider where the characters were born and raised. Since some of the action in The Dead Season takes place in Vermont near the border of Quebec, I gave some of the minor characters in that area French surnames. The goal is to make the players as authentic as possible.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I don’t think my teenage self would be particularly surprised by my novels or choice of genre. I’ve always read and loved mysteries. That said, the first book I tried to write (I was thirteen and only got about twenty pages in) was a NeverEnding Story-style children’s fantasy, so my teenage self might wonder how and why I settled on crime fiction. The answer is simple: it’s what I know best.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are easy for me; I have a whole file of those on my laptop. The trouble comes after that, when I have to decide how the story should end. I’ve started outlining in more detail so there’s no danger of painting myself into a corner, but I always make changes along the way, sometimes rewriting the final chapters two or three times. An ending can appear sound when it’s in my mind, but turn out to be shaky or unconvincing on the page. Endings can really impact the enjoyment of a book, so I’ll fuss with them for as long as it takes to get them right.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I’m always inspired by films and crime series; when I write, chapters play out in my head like movie scenes. Traveling inspires me, too. I’ve been visiting the Thousand Islands every summer for close to twenty years, and the place always leaves me awestruck. When it comes time to write, I try to channel my memories and recreate the atmosphere I experienced first-hand in the books.
Visit Tessa Wegert's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Dead Season.

The Page 69 Test: The Dead Season.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, December 19, 2020

C. S. Friedman

photo credit: Bianca Moody
An acknowledged master of dark fantasy and science fiction alike, C.S. Friedman is a John W. Campbell award finalist, and the author of the highly acclaimed Coldfire trilogy, New York Times Notable Book of the Year This Alien Shore, In Conquest Born, The Madness Season, The Wilding, The Magister Trilogy, and the Dreamwalker series. Friedman worked for twenty years as a professional costume designer, but retired from that career in 1996 to focus on her writing.

Friedman's latest novel is This Virtual Night.

My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title’s primary purpose is to draw the interest of the reader—in brick-and-mortar terms, to get him to pick up the book and look at it. It needs to be appealing to the type of reader you are writing for, perhaps reflecting a particular genre.

Since this book is a followup to something I wrote 20 years ago, we wanted the title to suggest a connection, so we use the same form. “This (Adjective) (Noun).’ That also allowed us to use similar cover designs, as the title was easy to arrange in the same configuration. The story revolves around virtual technology turned against its creators, so Virtual Night provided the subject and mood.

DAW meanwhile redesigned the cover for TAS so it could match TVN, and similar designs and titles will be used for all books in the Outworlds series.

What's in a name?

A lot, both in this book and in This Alien Shore.

The books take place in a deep space civilization peopled by descendants of Terran colonists. Earth had by that point gone global, its minority cultures assimilated into a greater whole, ancient languages and customs existing only in archive files. The members of one colony felt that was a mistake, and they decided to honor the diversity of ancient Earth by naming their new planet Guera, derived from the Germanic “Guerra”, meaning war. All Guerans take last names that commemorate the conflict between ancient Terran cultures: pivotal battles, demonstrations, revolutions. They accommodate diversity in their population as well, celebrating neural variations that Earth would have considered “disabilities,” wearing symbols called kaja that represent various cognitive styles. Those are named in the forgotten languages of Earth, and may reflect the folklore of eons past.

One of the protagonists of my new book is a young Gueran woman named Ruisa. She is a misfit in Gueran society, a rebel and a troublemaker, as a symbol of which she chose a last name that reflects the ultimate human conflict: Gaya, meaning Earth. Humanity turning upon itself. It is both a statement of character and a foreshadowing of plot to come.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Not very. I used to write science fiction in high school, when classwork bored me. Teachers saw you writing in your notebook and figured you were taking notes, so they left you alone. Since this book reflects a return to the kind of book I started out writing—space opera with substance—it would not surprise my teenage self at all.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

When you write the beginning of a book you can pretty much let the muse possess you; the novel has no rules or structure yet. By the time you get to the end, you have already written several hundred pages of text establishing details of your setting, characters, plot. At the very least, the ending must not conflict with anything that came before; at best, it will be a culmination of all your themes and storylines. So while both are fun to write, the ending is more difficult to craft.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

No, they are really a world apart. Doubtless my own worldview is reflected in my work—that’s unavoidable-- but I’ve almost never based characters on real people, and never on myself. Writing for me is an act of pure creation; I must step outside myself before I can even begin.
Visit C.S. Friedman's website.

The Page 69 Test: This Virtual Night.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Karen Brooks

Australian-born Karen Brooks is the author of numerous novels, an academic, a newspaper columnist and social commentator, and has appeared regularly on national TV and radio. Before turning to academia, she was an army officer, and dabbled in acting. She lives in Hobart, Tasmania.

Brooks's latest novel is The Lady Brewer of London.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title progresses readers into not only the heart of the story, but catapults them towards its conclusion. It’s indicative of the aspirations of the lead character, Anneke Sheldrake, who when the book opens, is forced, through family tragedy, to fall back on her Dutch mother’s craft of brewing ale to support her household. While women in medieval times were brewers, to make a business of it as Anneke does, a woman of good birth (hence “lady), is both unusual and dangerous – especially when she moves to the city. So, I like to think the title is evocative and the juxtaposition of “lady” and “brewer” raises questions in a reader. London, of course, gives us a place. The original title of the book (in Australia) was The Brewer’s Tale (which has a raft of meanings). The title was changed for the US/UK market. I really like it.

What's in a name?

I think there’s a great deal in the names of characters and I spend a lot of time considering their realism (in terms of the era and cultural origins), but also the meaning and sound. Anneke is a Dutch name, so it indicates her cultural background. Leander, the “hero” is also a character from Greek myth, who braved the waters of the Hellespont every night to visit his beloved Hero. Inferred (apart from the name rolling of the tongue so beautifully), is a man who will do whatever it takes to be with his love – or will he? I also like subverting myths.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think she would be very surprised first, by the subject matter: beer/ale, something I still don’t drink, but also by how brutally and dismissively women especially have been treated through the ages and that this is something this book doesn’t flinch from exploring. Never mind the fact I wrote the damn thing!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings. Always beginnings. I know how my book will end – that hasn’t changed in 14 books – but the beginnings I write, rewrite and alter a great deal. Talk about blood, sweat and tears – they happen mostly in the early stages. That’s mainly because I’m very linear, so I have to have the first chapters right before I can proceed!

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Sometimes they do – I think that’s inevitable because in order to give them authenticity, you try and put yourself in their (in this case medieval) shoes, and imagine how I (or another woman or man) would react in a given situation. But mostly, they’re an invention, a composite of historical truths and humanity. For all we’ve advanced as a society (and haven’t!), emotions and reactions, especially within families and relationships, are still fairly consistent. We love, laugh, grieve, anger, hurt, seek revenge, feel disappointment, sorrow etc. That’s universal across time and cultures, so my characters are closer to who I am than not.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Music definitely – I listen to period music while writing. I burn scented candles to evoke a mood. I think everything influences and often inspires me – family, friends, news, politics, films, TV shows. I don’t live in a vacuum, so it would be impossible for things not to, even if I didn’t intend it to happen.
Visit Karen Brooks's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Lady Brewer of London.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Darcie Wilde

Darcie Wilde is the award-winning author of the Rosalind Thorne Mysteries, a Regency-set historical mystery series inspired by the novels of Jane Austen.

The new book in the series is A Lady Compromised.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Like the cover, I think the title sets the tone for the entire book. It’s the first thing the reader sees, and it needs to tell them what they’re getting themselves into when they pick up the book. Classic mystery? Suspense? Romance? The title is the first clue.

What's in a name?

A name is like a title. It creates a first impression. It’s an indicator of gender, but also class, nationality and heritage. My main character is Rosalind Thorne because I wanted to give her a classic Englishwoman’s name with a hint of the upper crust, but also a hint of whimsy.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Really surprised. My teenage self read science fiction and fantasy pretty exclusively, and when she started working on becoming a writer (I got bit by the bug at thirteen), that was all she wanted to write.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Neither. It’s the middle that takes the most work. Not only because it’s the longest section, but it’s the most complicated, and does most of the work of the story. It’s where the development and the suspense all happens and it has to be constructed carefully, or the whole book falls apart. I spend more time angsting over and rewriting the mid-section than anything else

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

My lead characters tend to be women, so there’s that connection. I suspect that, as with a lot of authors, there’s an element of — call it hopeful thinking in my leads. I like smart, competent characters, and in general they are smarter and more competent than I feel most days. But writing about best selves helps me uncover what I think a human’s best self should, and can, be.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Movies, definitely. I am a huge fan both vintage and modern film. The same with theater. Because I write historicals, the history of the period is hugely inspirational. As we all know, reality is always more complicated, and a lot stranger than fiction. I tend to mine the news of the present day as well. It may not be exactly inspirational, but it is a source of a lot of ideas.
Visit Darcie Wilde's website.

My Book, The Movie: And Dangerous to Know.

The Page 69 Test: And Dangerous to Know.

The Page 69 Test: A Lady Compromised.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Andrea J. Johnson

Andrea J. Johnson is a former court reporter turned freelance entertainment writer for the women’s lifestyle website Popsugar. This love for insider gossip has inspired her to take real-life headlines and turn them into mind-bending mysteries. The Victoria Justice Series is a perfect example of this dynamic as it uses Johnson’s legal background to explore what would happen if a trial stenographer took the law into her own hands.

Johnson resides on the Delmarva Peninsula near the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays—the backdrop for her mystery series. She also holds a certified shorthand reporter certification in the State of California and is a member of the National Court Reporters Association, the Mystery Writers of America, the Maryland Writers Association, and the Eastern Shore Writers Association. Moreover, she’s earned a copyediting certification from UC San Diego and an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

Johnson has also written several articles on the craft of writing for websites such as LitReactor, Submittable, Funds for Writers, and DIY MFA. When she isn’t developing her stories, Johnson enjoys cuddling up with a piping hot mug of ginger tea and poring over the latest supermarket tabloids.

Her new novel is Poetic Justice.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

The title Poetic Justice speaks more to an overall theme than one specific aspect of the story. Each character faces a dilemma that underscores the old adage “what goes around comes around.” This may not be apparent to readers from the first page, but the idea becomes quite clear once the book reaches its climax. In fact, the ending helped inspire the title. I knew how I wanted the novel to end long before I had the courage to sit down and write the first word. So when it came to publication, I was adamant about the name despite my mentor and critique partners insisting I change it. Their concern rested on the vast number of books and films with an identical title. Regardless of the similarities, I believe the name works because it hints at the novel’s legal setting and acts as a play on words that includes the sleuth’s last name. Character puns and repetition of this nature are common in cozy titles, so expect to see others in this series include the word “justice” and a nod to a larger theme.

What's in a name?

My main character, Victoria Justice, is the story’s moral compass, so I devised a name that would leave no doubt about her ethics. She will always do what is right, and she will always prevail against evil. Sure, the moniker is a little on the nose as are most of the names in the series. I think that’s the best way to help readers quickly acclimate to the setting and identify the conflict. Of course, there’s also some backstory to the name. In the sixth chapter, Victoria reveals that she’s adopted and that her birth mother was a teen hooked on drugs. Doctors had expected her to die from neonatal opioid addiction, but she survived and her adopted mother named her Victoria in honor of her victory over death.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage counterpart would be stunned by the release of Poetic Justice. I’m not one of those writers who has been working on manuscripts since they were twelve years old. This profession came about very late in life because, although the desire existed back then, I didn’t believe I could write compelling dialogue that moved the story forward. To be honest, that’s something I still struggle with to this day. Thankfully, I now realize that facing one’s fears is part of the long road to success.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

As mentioned earlier, I clearly saw the ending to Poetic Justice before I started writing. But even if that weren’t the case, the “begin with the end in mind” concept is key for any mystery writer— even those pantsers who don’t like to spend a lot of time plotting. Having a clear idea where you want the story to go, even if you don’t exactly know whodunit or whydunit, affords you an opportunity to reverse engineer the story by asking, “What clues do I need to provide in order for someone to solve the crime in the manner I’m envisioning?” I find it takes the headache out of creating an intricate mystery puzzle. Of course, that means I have to spend a lot more time tweaking the beginning to create the perfect setup, one that balances likeable characters with a compelling hook.

Do you see much of yourself in your lead character? Do she have any connection to your personality, or are you worlds apart?

All of my friends assume that Victoria Justice is my alter ego because I spent nearly ten years as a shorthand stenographer and because she’s a Black female like me. However, that’s really where the similarities end. If anything, we are polar opposites. Victoria loves her job and, despite the early childhood hardships of adoption and bullying, she is optimistic about working in the court system since that’s all she wants out of life. I, however, wasn’t a cheerful or disciplined court reporter because I knew my destiny lied elsewhere. I am much happier as a writer, but love that the time I spent in the steno world will be memorialized in this series. Other than that, any crossover audiences think they see between Victoria and me is merely coincidental.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Poetic Justice has a number of non-literary inspirations, but the timeliest reflection thereof is the story’s recreation of an event known as Return Day, a festival held the Thursday after Election Day to celebrate the announcement of the results. This tradition is unique to Delaware (where my story is set) and involves a parade that concludes with the candidates vowing to put aside their differences to engage in the ceremonial burying of the hatchet. Quite naturally, my murder mystery subverts this cozy tradition in unexpected ways, but with each book in the Victoria Justice series, I plan to introduce my readers to other unusual regional practices that add color and culture to their reading experience.
Visit Andrea J. Johnson's website.

My Book, The Movie: Poetic Justice.

The Page 69 Test: Poetic Justice.

--Marshal Zeringue

Friday, December 11, 2020

Rachel Mans McKenny

Rachel Mans McKenny is a writer and humorist from the Midwest, recently published in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Electric Lit, The Rumpus, and The New York Times.

The Butterfly Effect is her first novel.

My Q&A with the author:

What's in a name?

This is the only novel I've ever written where the character's name came first. While reading about butterflies, I came across a beautiful insect called the glasswing with the scientific name Greta oto. "That sounds like a person's name," I thought. And now it is.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Teenage me would be surprised that my debut novel centered around science, when that was objectively not 'my thing' in high school. My oldest brother is a particle physicist, and my other brother dissected computers for fun, so I always liked to set myself apart by being the theatrical child.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings! The expectation level is so high by the end of the novel. They end up changing much less, though, once I've figured out how the puzzle pieces fit together. For The Butterfly Effect, my beginning changed six significant and separate times through drafting and final edits, but those changes felt natural and I was glad for the editorial guidance.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Greta is very different than I am-- she is brusque, where I am 'Midwest nice.' She is rooted in science; I thrive in the arts. She doesn't want to have children; I am a mom of three little kids. For me, part of the pleasure of writing Greta was inhabiting someone who thought so differently than I did for a while. We both love our brothers, though, and this book is dedicated to the memory of mine.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

For this book: Star Trek, for sure. There's a lot of Easter eggs for Trekkies in this novel, but if you're not a fan, you'll still enjoy it. Midwestern culture is also a touchstone for me, as is, of course, the world of entomology. I loved doing interviews with entomologists to help inform this work.
Visit Rachel Mans McKenny's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Butterfly Effect.

--Marshal Zeringue

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Tessa Arlen

Tessa Arlen is the author of the critically acclaimed Lady Montfort mystery series—Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman was a finalist for the 2016 Agatha Award Best First Novel. She is also the author of Poppy Redfern: A Woman of World War II mystery series. And the author of the historical fiction: In Royal Service to the Queen.

Arlen lives in the Southwest with her family and two corgis where she gardens in summer and writes in winter.

Her new novel is Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers, the second title of the A Woman of World War II series.

My Q&A with the author:

Your title refers to two Attagirls, female civilians who pilot planes from factories to military airfields all over Britain, who die in suspicious circumstances. Are these incidents wholly a product of your imagination, or did something like that actually happen during the war?

Complete fiction on my part! But I read that one ATA volunteer in ten suffered fatal accidents delivering planes during WWII. Seasonal fog, ice storms, and the hazard of barrage balloons were very real dangers, especially as ATA pilots flew without radios to prevent them from blocking RAF communications. They also flew no higher than 1,000 feet above ground level so they could recognize the landmarks: railways lines, bridges, and rivers, shown on their maps. Not all new planes were reliable either. The Ministry of Transport was churning out aircraft like kitchen appliances, sometimes with very few test pilot hours on a new mark before production, which made flying in wartime doubly dangerous. So, I thought “How easy would it be to commit a murder by plane?”

Readers can click here to learn why you gave Poppy her name. What is her boyfriend Griff's name meant to convey about his character?

Poppy’s American fighter pilot boyfriend is Griff O’Neal—Griff is from an Irish family that immigrated to southern California during the Potato Famine and became successful orange farmers. Griff is a shortened form of his first name: Griffith, but he prefers the informality of Griff. He is easy and outgoing in his manner, a live-for-the now type of fighter pilot who probably did not count on there being a tomorrow. He indulges life’s pleasures as completely as he is able to: pretty women, perfectly delicious food, and driving a high performance car at speed are all part of who Griff appears to be. But underneath the dash is a man who is very much aware of what is going on around him. He is often sensitive and considerate and despises pretension. If he prefers rare roast beef to Woolton pie it is because he is discerning in his tastes rather than an entitled monied American. 

Please tell us about Bess, Poppy's corgi sidekick, and what dimensions she adds to Poppy's character.

Bess is Poppy’s rescue dog from the early days of the Phony War (September 1939 to April 1940) when the Brits rushed to do what they believed to be the right thing and euthanized their dogs, because of the very real threat of wartime food shortages.

Bess is very much a female mammal: she is naturally deadlier than the male of the species, and in her own quiet way Poppy has a very strong sense of survival too. Both Bess and Poppy are independent, although Poppy is not quite as stubborn as Bess.

However loyal Bess is to Poppy she adores Griff and provides us with an insight into the reserved Poppy’s true sentiments for her American pilot friend. Poppy often expresses regret that she holds back and covers her emotions, unlike her dog’s honest display of affection and approval for Griff.

Bess is really my dog, or rather she represents the many female dogs I have loved and have been privileged to share my life with over the years. She is direct, logical, and true—how I wish people were more like dogs!

Discussing Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders, the first title of the A Woman of World War II series, you called Poppy “a thinking introvert” and said you hoped “she grows out of some of her reserve.” How’s that going?

Poppy is a boarding school girl, completely unused to the company of boys of her age and is often careful around groups of women because a bunch of girls can be very intimidating to some of us.

Losing our childhood reserve or shyness is often all about gaining confidence as we go forward in our adult lives. And the over-protected Poppy Redfern of the Midnight Murders is doing quite well in the adventure of the Fatal Flyers. She is not quite as comfortable in the world of nightclubs and high ranking Admiralty officials as her sophisticated alter ego Ilona, but thanks to Poppy’s move from rural Little Buffenden to London and her prestigious war time job with the Crown Film Unit, she is up to dealing with some of Griff’s more urbane pursuits, and on one or two occasions, recently, she has even told the worldly Ilona to pipe down.

Going over your top five historical novels, I think I can detect connections of four of them to the Poppy Redfern stories. There's the flying and village life in Kate Atkinson's books about the Todd family, and the clever and heroic character of Jack Aubrey in Patrick O'Brian’s novels. The one book where I cannot see a connection is I, Claudius by Robert Graves. Of course, not every book you like has to touch on the books you write; but am I missing how that one influenced yours? Is there an historical novel (or two) that has influenced your storytelling more than these five?

I admire Robert Graves’s writing and if there is no trace of him in anything I have accomplished it must be because I write women’s commercial fiction and let’s not go into what publishing and literary agents require of authors in the mystery genre!

I have racked my memory as to what book or author influenced the Poppy Redfern mysteries, and I can’t think of one! The greatest influence on Poppy’s Homefront WWII adventures is my father. He was fifteen when Britain went to war with Germany in 1939 and none of its real atrocities seemed to have touched his youth at all. The war was like one huge Biggles adventure out of the Boy’s Own comic book to my father.

His family lived in Greenwich before they went to stay with a great aunt in Blackheath to escape the Blitz. His favorite story was when he and his cousin Dave climbed onto the roof of their Greenwich house, during a daytime air raid, to watch a Messerschmitt and a Spitfire in a dog fight. They took some jam sandwiches with them, which gives you an idea how clueless they must have been about the very real dangers involved, and my father said that they could see the pilots quite clearly in their cockpits. When I asked him if he was in danger he said “Of course not!” He was always very dismissive about the horror of the Blitz, probably because fifteen is an invincible age, but perhaps this was the way Londoner’s kept morale up and managed to endure through those terrifying times.

Through my father’s eyes the Spitfire became a character in its own right in the Poppy Redfern adventures.
The Page 69 Test: Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders.

Q&A with Tessa Arlen (April 2020).

The Page 69 Test: Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Monday, December 7, 2020

Kristy Dallas Alley

Kristy Dallas Alley is a high school librarian in Memphis, Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, four kids, three cats, and an indeterminate number of fish. She studied creative writing at Rhodes College in another lifetime and holds a Master of Science in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership from the University of Memphis. In an ideal world, she would do nothing but sit on a beach and read every single day of her life, but in reality she's pretty happy reading on her front porch, neglecting the gardens she enthusiastically plants each spring, and cooking huge meals regardless of the number of people around to eat them.

Alley's debut novel is The Ballad of Ami Miles.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Figuring out the title of this book was a huge turning point for me. A ballad tells a story, often tragic but occasionally happy, and ballads are an enduring form of oral tradition and entertainment across cultures and time. The Ballad of Ami Miles is set in a future that feels like the past in some ways, and it's about a girl who has to process tragedy and trauma before she can become the owner of her own story. And actual ballads play a part in the story as well. So I think the title does a good bit of the work of setting the tone for what readers can expect from this story.

What's in a name?

Ami is raised on a religious compound so I wanted her to have a Biblical name that would have been meaningful to the people who named her, but also a name that fits her and doesn't feel stuffy. Ami is actually a man's name that is briefly mentioned in the Bible, but can also be seen as a diminutive of the Hebrew word for "mother." Considering the pressure on Ami to carry on the family line, that interpretation of her name is very significant.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

I think she would only be surprised that it took me this long to write it. And she might be surprised that Ami is as soft as she is. I have always been defiant and rebellious, and I really chafed against rules and a religious upbringing that felt oppressive to me growing up. So the themes in this book have been important to me all my life, and anyone who knew me as a teenager will see echoes of that girl very much in these pages.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Definitely endings on both counts. The beginning of this story came to me early on, and it was the start of Ami's voice really speaking her into existence in my mind. I polished the beginning many times, but it stayed pretty constant through the entire editing process. The ending, on the other hand, changed completely. I really struggled with choosing between an ending that emphasized the forces outside of Ami that seek to control her, or one that would reinforce her ability to navigate difficult choices and be at peace with her own decisions.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

I see little pieces of myself in several different characters. Ami is probably the least like me in her desire to please authority figures and keep the peace, but her willingness to eventually question the things she's been taught and open her mind to new ideas is very much me. Jessie is sort of the girl I'd like to be, or the way I imagined myself at that age even though there was definitely some bravado and wishful thinking involved. There's a boy named Will who is kind of a know-it-all and a blowhard and I think he's like the worst parts of myself, or the way I think I sounded when I replay conversations with regret. And of course there is a librarian who wipes tears and makes tea, and that's who I sometimes get to be now in my adult life.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Being from the south is probably the biggest thing. There is so much wrapped up in the idea of being southern, and for me that is a very complicated identity. The south gets a bad rap and a lot of it is well deserved, but southerners are not a monolith and I honestly can't imagine who I would be if I had grown up outside the southeast, and specifically outside of Memphis. A lot of the themes in this book and the conflicting ideas about gender roles, religion, race, and sexual identity, all really come from my experience growing up as a girl in the south.
Follow Kristy Dallas Alley on Facebook and Twitter.

My Book, The Movie: The Ballad of Ami Miles.

The Page 69 Test: The Ballad of Ami Miles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Saturday, December 5, 2020

S.J. Rozan

Photo credit: Charles Kreloff
S. J. Rozan has won multiple awards for her fiction, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity, the Japanese Maltese Falcon, and the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. She was born and raised in the Bronx and now lives in lower Manhattan.

Rozan's new novel is The Art of Violence.

My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

A lot. Right away you know that art and violence are tangled together in this book. On page 1 you see the threat of violence. The art follows very quickly. (Side note: When we signed the contract the book had no title yet, so the contract refers to it as "UNTITLED #2." Any painter would use that for a canvas so I thought it would be a great title for the book. My publisher threw cold water all over that idea.)

What's in a name?

As opposed to a book title, not much. I like certain names, either the way they sound or people they remind me of, and I tend to give those to characters I like. The same is true of names I don't like and characters I don't like. Of course I'm not going to tell you any of those here because then you'd know who's who, but in a general sort of way I'd advise you not to trust anyone in my books whose name is George.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

Some of my books my teenage reader self would be scratching her head at and wondering what she got up to in her later years, but with this one she'd be pumping her fist and saying, "Yeah! What took you so long?"

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Beginnings are easier in the sense that I don't start a book until I have a beginning -- about a page, in my head -- that seems to work to open out the story and give it a choice of directions in which to go. My beginnings don't change much, except in technical terms: sentence structure, word choice, etc. Endings, though, are always a surprise to me. I generally know the direction of the story, which becomes clearer as I write, but the actual shape of the ending is something I never know until I'm there. I always fear, by the way, that I won't ever get there. 17 novels in and that still happens.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Oh, they're all me. One of the joys of writing is to take a small, sometimes wonderful, sometimes regrettable part of yourself and blow it up, create a character for whom it's the dominant trait. We all can be jealous, grandiose, insecure, generous, forgetful, inspired... whatever it is, you can make it the motivating force for a character. You can take parts of yourself you're ashamed of -- or proud of but ashamed to admit it -- and explore them deeply and deliberately.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

My actual writing -- the sounds of sentences, how I reveal character, how I create action, that sort of thing -- is influenced by reading other writers. But my thinking, which gives me subject matter and especially my slant on that subject matter, is influenced by art, classical and world music, sports, and the sights, sounds, and smells of New York and of every other place I've ever walked, watched, and eaten street food in.
Visit S.J. Rozan's website.

The Page 69 Test: Paper Son.

The Page 69 Test: The Art of Violence.

--Marshal Zeringue

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Caroline Kim

Caroline Kim was born in South Korea. She has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award and an MA in Fiction from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She was nominated by Jellyfish Review for a 2019 Best of the Net award. Kim lives in Walnut Creek, California with her husband and three children.

Her new book is The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Choosing a title for my collection of short stories was challenging because there was no one story title that could entirely represent all of the disparate stories, which take place in different countries and in very different time periods. The one I chose ultimately came closest because the idea of mournful thoughts reflects the Korean concept of han. Han is difficult to define and has no direct translation into English but comes out of a feeling of hardship that the Korean people have suffered historically. I’ve seen it described variously as resentment, regret, and even hatred. But I think of it more as an emotion that encompasses grief, resignation, endurance, and sorrow. Humor can come from sorrow too — just ask any comedian — so I chose the title because the feeling of han and the laughter that makes it bearable runs through my stories.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Endings are so much harder for me than beginnings. I love beginnings because anything could be a beginning — an image, an idea, a character, a joke, a bit of overheard conversation, etc. If I get the tone just right at the beginning, I probably won’t make too many changes to it later. Endings are a different beast — the right ones usually come to me after I’ve written the initial draft and put it away for awhile.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Yes and no. My characters are not autobiographical per se, but they all contain elements of who I am, what I think and believe. Because even if a character is very
different from me — say a middle-aged man — he’s coming through my imagination which is formed by my personality and experiences. My characters are more of a representation of the people I’ve met and interacted with in my life, and whatever I’ve learned about human nature.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Television! TV has played a huge part in my life. As a kid, my parents not only let me watch as much TV as I wanted but encouraged me to because it was a way of learning English quickly. I’ve been told that I enunciate quite clearly when I talk; maybe that comes from learning English through the TV. Later on in my life, I began watching Korean dramas as a way to re-learn Korean and be more immersed in the culture, and it influenced my story writing. It pushed me to think differently about things like form, pace, characterization, and tension, as well as to not be afraid of going deeply into emotions. Because, as a writer, first and foremost, my goal is to entertain the reader.
Visit Caroline Kim's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Josh Swiller

Photo by Heather Ainsworth
Josh Swiller is the author of Bright Shining World, a YA eco-thriller published by Knopf. He is the author of The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa. He lives with his family in the forest in Upstate New York.

My Q&A with the author:
How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Bright Shining World is a straightforward title that right away gets mysterious as it doesn’t at all fit the action at the opening. But that is kind of the book in a nutshell: not what it seems to be. The title makes more sense at the end of the book for sure.

What's in a name?

I just liked the name Wallace, back from the character in the absolutely magnificent HBO show The Wire. Conveys a decency. In the book his last name is Cole but his placeholder last name through the early drafts was Coleslaw, which was fitting because in German, “Kol” translates as cool and “Slav” as dude. He was Wallace Cooldude. I just made that up.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

He’d be like, damn slav, finally. I was always looking for books like this -- engaging books about the meaning of life without heavy-handed preaching or rainbow farting unicorns, with sly humor and big feeling. Sorry, teenage self, I wanted to get it to you earlier, but got sidetracked. Watch your credit more closely.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

A very good question I have no answer for. I knew the first and last line of this book before I started. That hasn’t happened before or since. Inspiration strikes and you have to grab it. The harder part, for me, is putting in the time when inspiration refuses to get out of bed and all the coffee in the world won’t rouse it. To put it another way, I had the first line and last line of this book before I sat down and it took over five years to write the lines in between.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

For sure, I give characters parts of myself, parts of people I know and see what they do with those parts. Often so they can handle those parts with a little more tact and grace than I’m doing! One thing that really informs Wallace, the main character of Bright Shining World, and that might not be apparent to many readers, is my deafness. Growing up deaf, I had to constantly be a detective, figuring out what people meant, what they felt, who was a danger. It was tremendously isolating and I’ve spent many years learning to find and build and trust connection. That is the basis for much of Wallace’s journey.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Well, I was a hospice social worker for years, and besides being humbling, heartbreaking work it was also a great literary teacher. When you’re alone in the room with someone leaving this world, the great questions come. What matters? How can you honor others? How can you honor this act of breathing? I live in the woods, surrounded by state forest, and the trees are always asking the same questions. My dog, on the other hand, knows the answers and looks on my ponderings with great pity and mild annoyance.
Visit Josh Swiller's website.

The Page 69 Test: Bright Shining World.

--Marshal Zeringue