Malice Domestic 2009: Saturday, May 2nd.
Unfortunately, by the time we got to the WSFA meeting, voted, caught up on business, got home, and wrote up the Malice Domestic report from Friday and got to bed, it was nearly 3 a.m. So we overslept this morning. We arrived in time to check out the silent auction and found that we’d been outbid on everything we had bid on. Looks like the auction is doing great work raising money for their charity (check the website for information on the charity Malice Domestic has chosen to assist.)
2:00 – 2:50: North, South, East, West – This is Where We Kill the Best: How Setting Impacts the Story.
Panel: Judy Cater (moderator), Deborah Sharp, Carole Nelson Douglas, JoAnna Carl/Eve K. Sandstrom, Cheryl Solimini.
NOTE: While answers are attributed to a speaker, remember it’s all from my notes and my not be exact or I might have misinterpreted what was said.
How do you decide on a place to set your series?
Deborah: I live in Florida and my part of Florida is not the usual part of state that people know about. It’s the rodeo part.
Carole: I traveled a lot throughout the country. For Midnight Louie, I need a certain type of activity and picked Las Vegas and had to then go do more research.
JoAnna: Used to work at a chocolate shop, my daughter does but in another state. Used to be chocolate was very expensive and couldn’t put in small town. So, I needed to find a place to put it. Husband’s family owned a cottage that is now in an area that is becoming popular and lots of rich people moving in so it could afford a chocolate shop.
Cheryl: My home town was 3 miles long and three blocks wide. Everyone knew everyone else and all went to school. Which now years later I realize was not that usual and that it would make a good spot for mysteries.
How was your setting an active part of the plot or a character in itself.
Carole: Las Vegas has changed much over the twenty years, and even though the characters over the books have grown by a year but I keep up with the changes in the city. It’s a fantasy city, so I can do pretty much what you want. Because of the restrictions in working with existing properties so the Las Vegas in my books is slightly imaginary.
JoAnna: People write and ask what town it is that is in my books. But my town is fictional, my towns are usual fictional so I can do what I want. Based on the town where my family cottage is located. (Michigan gold is peaches.) Lots of diversity of people living in the area and make it ideal for mystery.
Cheryl: New Jersey itself is a character in itself. Town in book is based on Edgewater across from New York City. It’s small town people living in view of metropolis and trying to hold onto their values. Set in 1992 because that was when town was going through transition when it was becoming a bedroom community for NYC.
Deborah: Character is part-time animal trapper and is based on an actual ranching town so the town is fictional. Threw in the South Florida that I grew up in — now that area is all strip malls and interstates. Town is a character itself.
Do you think the setting of your books helps to develop a fanbase?
Deborah: If I was thinking as a marketer rather than a writer I wouldn’t have sent the book in a place with more cows than people.
Carole: People always going to Las Vegas looking for Louie places but they are fictional and only exist in my mind. The apartment building that the characters live in was actually in Corpus Christie (recently found it and found out the name).
JoAnna: I get people who email to set me straight if I get something wrong about Michigan. Three types of people in Warner Pier: locals, tourists, and summer people (own or lease cottages long term). Hero in book is a guy who restores antique speed boats and thought it would be unique. Found out there are five of these guys in the town it’s based on.
Cheryl: Tried very much not to mention the name of the town or the state in which it is. I worried about being sued. I was told I had to give some geographical information so ended up mentioning New Jersey a couple of times and NYC. Hadn’t been back since I was twelve and when the book was coming out got contacted by many of the people from my childhood. Got back in touch with people I hadn’t seen for 40 years. Did use the name of the deli that it used to have.
3:30: Guest of Honor Interview: Nancy Pickart interviewed by Carolyn Hart.
There was a lovely introduction by Carolyn Hart detailing the writing history of Nancy Pickart (3 time Agatha winner, 17 novels).
Nancy introduced her agent (Meredith Bernstein) and editor (Linda Merrill).
Nancy Wolf – her maiden name, decided to use married name because she wanted to be at eye level in the bookstores. Now Pickart is at floor level and Wolf would be at eye level.
Grew up reading mysteries. Mother loved mysteries, earliest memory was of trying to mother attention when she was buried in a book.
Started as Journalism major. Graduate of U of Missouri school of Journalism. Always felt like a fish out of water and later realized because it was because she was a really a fiction writer. First job covered a large area and covered city council meetings. Covered a zoning meeting and tried to give it the flavor of the meeting, after it was published a council member called and said it was great coverage but the story says the voted “Yes” when they actually voted “No”.
Then wrote for anything that would pay for it. Saved money and quit job and went to Europe for a year. Came back and became freelance. Had a lot of little jobs and made a lot of connections.
See Nancy Drew as shining example for young women. When young lots of libraries wouldn’t allow Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys on their shelves. Years later among women mystery writers you’d find many were fans of the original (not watered down) Nancy Drew stories. Suspect that if you had a map of which libraries had the books you’d find a correlation between women writers and Nancy Drew.
When mystery writers described their sleuths they usually say she’s thinner, smarter, etc. than me. Jenny is much the same. She’s part of me because I made it up. Jenny would think snarky comments and not say them and fans would write that they thought those things and didn’t say them either. Now women Jenny’s age do say those things.
Virginia Rich diversion. Long story about writing a fan letter to her when first started writing and years later being asked to finish the books Virginia had started before her death (27 Ingredient Chili Con Carne Adventure).
Was on committee to pick best True Crime book of the year. Hoped reading these books would give them insight into why criminals did what they did. Found that this didn’t really happen because most of the criminals were alive and in prison and so didn’t really tell truth to the writers and the family didn’t either.
Lot of traditional mystery writers don’t want to get into the mind of the bad guys and readers don’t like it either. As a writer, I didn’t think I should feel that way and wanted to be able to understand that so started new series until I satisfied myself. (Ray Raintree) Then returned to the traditional mystery.
Virgin of Small Plains has won just about every award and has been nominated for most of the others. Realized that I’d set books in just about every other state and finally decided it was time to set a book in Kansas. Looked at my life and my family which now is my mother, me, and my son. Realized that I’m a midwestern girl and swept by a desire to write about Kansas. At this time Kansas was getting a lot of bad publicity and it was time to write about what I loved.
Two things happened: 1) Kansans are almost pathetically grateful. 2) people say I never realized that Kansas had such beautiful place and it makes me want to get off the highway and look at it.
Story is told from a point of view of a girl who loves Kansas.
Next books is Scent of Rain and Lightning. Set in another part of Kansas – not done and turned in yet.
Also writes short stories too. Sold first short story I ever wrote and one and half years later I hadn’t sold anything else and I was depressed and discouraged. Wondered what I was doing wrong. I always say that if you go to a writers conference and learn one thing it’s worth it. At a conference an instructor said, “Every short story must have an epiphany”–an aha moment when they learn something not about the crime but about themselves.
7 Steps on the Writer’s Path: unhappiness, wanting, commitment, letting go, emersion, fulfillment (I’m missing one but can’t remember what it was). Feel the most important one is letting go – let characters do what they are going to do.
4:30 – 5:20: Welcome to the Dark Side: Mysteries with Edge and Grit
Panel: Don Bruns, Carl Brookins, Stefanie Pintoff, Robin Burcell, Barbara D’Amato (moderator), John L. French.
Bad language doesn’t make a story dark.
Don Bruns: Bahama Burnout is based on a story a sound engineer told him about a studio that used to be magic (lots of great groups and hits), when rebuilt things didn’t go as well so went out of business. He wrote a story to go with these few facts.
Carl Brookins: Says every author absolutely must pay attention to their contracts and electronic writes.
Stephanie Pintoff: First book just came out (Shadow of Gotham), it’s turn of century New York City. Next book will also be about NYC, early Times Square.
John L. French: Is crime scene investigator with Baltimore City police department. When write that dark stuff he sees in his job comes out and that sort of makes it more real.
Robin Burcell: Forensic artist mysteries. Some of the incidents are things that happened when she was a police officer.
Satisfying to kill off someone you really hate.
Research often makes the writer very despressed but when you finally write it comes out better because you’re in the head of the character.
Stephanie writes historical fiction and likes the way you can blend what was with some new stuff. Need to do research to ground the world. Found about the beatings, and nastiness of the election for mayor at the time.
Carl Brookins: My detective tells me what to write and he’s dark.
What ever makes the book dark must be from the character — it’s the character that drives everything.
That’s the end of programming for Saturday. There’s to be a banquet tonight when the Agatha winners will be announced. We should have the list of winners for you sometime tomorrow.
Unfortunately, we won’t be at Malice Domestic for Sunday. Luckily for all your readers all the sessions were taped. I asked at the desk and the tapes will be available at some point. The information will be on the Malice Domestic website so check there for availability. If you can’t get to Malice Domestic listening to the session could be the next best way to enjoy the convention.