Jon St. Denis

Jon St. Denis (pseudonym for J. Sydney Jones) is a former journalist in Europe, filing stories from Austria, Italy, France, Greece, and Ireland. Formerly a college professor in California, St. Denis writes compelling historical mysteries with thriller and international espionage elements.

St. Denis's new novel is Killer Art.

My Q&A with the author:

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

Titles are always hard for me. Not hard to come up with, but hard to weed and finally come up with the right one. Killer Art was no different.

I am reluctant to list its initial title—so utterly bland, so non-descriptive.

Pictures at an Exhibition.

See what I mean? I just could not come up with something more specific, and besides, the music to that Mussorgsky piece sticks with me. So guilty twice: bland, non-helpful title plus plagiarism (though titles do not have copyright—in which case, why didn’t I just call it War and Peace?)

I stuck with that bland title for several months, opening the file daily to those dreary words at the top of the MS. Adding a tweak here and there to the body, wondering why it was so hard to sell this one.

Then it just came to me, something with more zip that could actually give the reader an idea what the book is actually about.

Killer Art.

Using ‘killer’ in its double meaning. Good art and literally deadly art. Which is at the very center of the novel, Killer Art. Once I was there, I also toyed with Art to Die For, but…

I immediately felt that this new title could give readers a better idea about what the novel is about, where it’s going. And publishers clearly felt so, as well. Repackaged with a new title, Killer Art sold within a couple of weeks. It didn’t hurt the book also has an AI angle to it.

What's in a name?

My protagonists in Killer Art are a youngish couple, the guy Anglo, the woman of Chinese ancestry. I wanted the male to be a largish nice guy, with professional chops as a former journalist for the New York Times. I’ve always liked the name Sam, very down-to-earth. And I gave him a family name that is a bit more distinctive: Worthing. He’s worthy, valued. My female protagonist has a first name that sounds a bit different, maybe even foreign, Vika, though she was born and raised in the US. Last name of Chen, to make it clear of heritage. And she is as equally talented as Sam, one of the youngest ever curators at MoMA.

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

My teenage self would be absolutely dumbfounded by my novel, and by my chosen career. My teenage self played golf and football, and opened books only for school reading. I was a good student, but I was not a reader. At all. When I wanted entertainment, I turned on the tube. My current self is still a bit dumbfounded at my choice of career.

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

Beginnings, for sure. Many years ago, I was what people call a pantser. Flew by the seat of my pants. No outlines. Let inspiration reign. I enjoyed the sudden inspirations that came as a book developed organically and originally in first draft. But that sort of flying blind does have drawbacks, such as completing a damn book. I am in the plotter camp now, so I know where the book is going. I can build creative juice for each new daily installment. I know how it will end. But beginnings now are hard for me as I want to draw readers in immediately. I need to create a sense of urgency or wonder or at least interest. And that sort of takes the pantser mentality. Every book is its own animal and there are no recipes to follow.

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

Actually, I was going to mention this above under the What’s In a Name question. Killer Art has a couple at the center that is somewhat drawn from my own life, a first for me. Sam has a bit of me in him, while Vika more than a bit of my wife in her.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I take inspiration wherever I can get it. With some works, such as my Viennese Mysteries series, it was most definitely history and the city of Vienna itself that inspired me. At other times I might read some news that acts as a trigger. Music helps, but as a daily inspiration, not for the entire arc of a novel. Killer Art was inspired by some of my own teaching experiences both in Europe and the US, and also by the rise of AI, of which I must admit I am no great fan. Here, AI- generated artworks are at the center of the murder mystery.

Visit Jon St. Denis's website.

The Page 69 Test: Killer Art.

Writers Read: Jon St. Denis.

--Marshal Zeringue