Michael Harvey and THE THIRD RAIL

Since THE THIRD RAIL came out in paperback recently, I thought I'd re-run my interview with its author, Chicago's Michael Harvey.

Michael, thanks for chatting with me about The Third Rail.

Your narrator tells his story in first person, but we get a bad guy’s perspective in third person. Why did you choose a double point of view?

Good question. My first two books, The Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor, were both written in the first person, from Michael Kelly’s point of view. I enjoy writing in Kelly’s voice and wanted to keep him in the first person. My plot for The Third Rail, however, called for multiple crime scenes that unfold almost simultaneously across the city. In order to maintain and feed the dynamics of that story line, I felt it was critical to get into the killer’s head at certain points and allow him to drive the action forward. So I kept Kelly in the first person, and used the third person for my killer.

This decision is not without risk. But I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained. I will be interested in readers’ reaction to the switching. Did it bother them? Did they like it? Did they even notice? We’ll see.

Your plot involves some real-life events, including a 1977 el-train crash that I remember seeing on the news. Were you around when this crash happened? When did you decide you wanted it to be a facet of your novel?
I was a kid living in Boston, so, no, I don’t remember the 77 L crash. I first heard about it when I was working as a journalist for CBS in Chicago. At that time, I took the L just about every day and certainly recall many days when I thought our train was going off the edge as it negotiated a turn in the Loop.

I decided I wanted the accident to be part of the novel about halfway through writing it. I knew my spree killer was going to attack the city through the L system. I just didn’t know exactly how. Or why. As I ran through different possibilities, I remembered the old L accident. I was especially intrigued with the idea that the accident could be used as a vehicle to tie into Kelly’s childhood, and help strip away a little more of his character. Once I saw that possible tie-in, I knew the 77 crash was going to be part of the book.

Many a cop (both fictional and real) is willing to walk into danger despite the wishes of their loved ones. The same is true of Michael Kelly, a former cop and now a private investigator. What makes Kelly determined to do it despite his girlfriend’s desire for him to find a safer job?

The easy answer is... that’s just Kelly’s job. The better answer is... that’s his nature.

I have interviewed a lot of cops, firemen, EMT workers, military personnel -- people whose job it is to put themselves in harm’s way. They understand the risks inherent in what they do and, for the most part, don’t assume those risks lightly. Their comfort level comes from a belief in their own abilities and an implicit trust in the people they work with every day. They figure if everyone does their job, chances are nothing bad is going to happen. Do bad things happen? Yes. Do people die? Yes. Do these folks realize that? Yes. But they don’t dwell on it. Their nature allows them to tolerate a considerable amount of risk, and do the jobs no one else in society wants to think about.

Interesting! One of your more evil characters saw active duty in Afghanistan. Is the reader to deduce that he was twisted by war, or was he a warped individual before he went overseas?

That’s up to each individual reader to decide.

One of the great things about writing (and reading) novels is that each reader brings his or her life experiences to the novel, and essentially completes the story with their own interpretation of events and character.

I believe Robles was twisted well before he hit Mogadishu. As I said in the book, he was born in a toilet in a Greyhound bus terminal. And it went downhill from there. His experiences overseas probably didn’t help things, but he was already in trouble before he joined the military. At least, that’s my take.

The mayor of Chicago is fictionalized in your book, but he’s very similar to Mayor Daley—-especially with that intensity that seems to border on insanity. Did one inspire the other?

Wilson is based on my impressions of a number of different politicians. Most tend to be highly driven and a little paranoid, with an unsettling mix of ego and insecurity. These folks like the spotlight, crave power and know how to use it. Scary? Sometimes. Interesting? Without a doubt.



You paint a negative, almost a sinister vision of the Catholic church. Is this Michael Kelly’s perspective, or is it yours?

It’s Kelly’s experience, more than perspective. And it’s an evil that is not limited to the Catholic Church.

One of the subsets of the Kelly series is the idea that the major institutions of society -- government, big business, the Catholic Church etc., -- are morally bankrupt, act only in their own self-interest and are not to be trusted. I think this reflects a feeling many people have when they look at the real world these days. Katrina, the war in Iraq, Wall Street’s meltdown, the Catholic Church’s ongoing abuse scandal -- the examples are, unfortunately, almost too numerous to list.

Kelly, in some ways, represents the little guy whose job it is to jump in the water and swim with these sharks. He gets bitten a lot, and is understandably wary. But he wins some of the time. At least enough to pay the bills and keep him in beer.

Everyone in your book has an agenda, either political or personal. Is this Kelly’s cynicism, or is this the way you view Chicago?

Both. In my experience as a journalist and documentary producer, I have found most people in positions of power tend to act in their own self interest – with the prime directive being save one’s own skin at all costs. There are exceptions -- but that’s what they are....exceptions.

Did you study the history of Chicago’s elevated trains before formulating your plot, or after?

I knew about the 1977 train crash, but did not initially think I’d use it in the book. As I got into the writing, I kept coming back to the crash both as a way to tie Kelly’s past into the plot and as a tool to strip away more of his character.

Overall, I have always thought the L would make a wonderful crime scene. It’s a huge, mobile, daily undertaking that runs through the heart of the city and connects all its component parts. It’s a place where a killer can find anonymity – be it on a crowded platform, in a dark tunnel, or tucked up in a building that overlooks the tracks. It’s an exciting place, a place every Chicagoan recognizes, and, whether we like it or not, a sometimes dangerous place.

One of your scenes takes place in a ruined building in Cabrini Green. Did you visit this site? The details seem very specific.

I lived in Cabrini for three days as a journalist. We did a report documenting living conditions in the housing project in the early nineties. Cabrini was a dangerous place. It was also a place a lot of wonderful people called home...a place where a lot of families lived, loved and cared for each other. Gunfire be damned.

Such a sad truth. You have a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. Do you live in the Chicago area?

Yes. I live about a half mile from Wrigley Field. Another place of great tragedy in the city.

Haha. I'm married to a Cubs fan, and he's either angry or sad for most of the summer. :)

The Third Rail is the third Michael Kelly crime novel; will there be more in the series?

Yes. The Third Rail leaves a couple of story lines unresolved. Some people probably won’t like that, but it was done intentionally. Why? Because that, more often than not, is how life works. Even when a homicide detective clears a case, it’s rarely tied up into a nice, neat package. It might appear that way, but appearances can be deceiving. There are usually questions in even a closed file that linger; certain facts that still don’t make sense; suspects that might not have killed anyone...but are suspicious nonetheless. Homicide detectives look at all of this as extraneous and a headache. They usually just want to catch the killer, close the file and move on to the next case. As a result, these lines of inquiry often remain open, unresolved and, for lack of a better word, messy. That’s just how it is.

Anyway, the next book in the Kelly series takes one of these unresolved, messy story lines from The Third Rail and follows it to its logical...or perhaps illogical conclusion. I guess that’s the long way of saying the next book is a bit of a sequel to The Third Rail.

Kelly’s girlfriend is a judge, and sometimes in the narration she is referred to as “the judge” rather than by her name. Is this symbolic?

I don’t think so. “Judge” is just more likely to come up when Rachel is being talked about in her capacity as...you guessed it... a judge.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer said you have “done for Chicago what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles and Dashiell Hammett for San Francisco.” Wow! Were you surprised by this accolade linking you to the biggest names in crime fiction?

Hammett, Chandler and Ross Macdonald essentially created the private detective genre and were three of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. I could write another five lifetimes and not touch any of their work. But it’s a nice thought, and I appreciate it.

Your novel contains a great many details that only Chicagoans might recognize: Tom Skilling giving a weather report, someone reading Michael Sneed’s column, the typical behaviors of Irish south-siders. How do you decide which details to include? Do you ever put in homages to your personal favorites?

I own The Hidden Shamrock, Kelly’s favorite watering hole, and get my coffee at Intelligentsia, so I guess those are two favorites. Otherwise, I try to find places in the city that people might relate to, or find interesting. I especially look for scenes that convey the intangibles and atmospherics of Chicago. It’s a great city, so why not!

Good question! How can readers find out more about Michael Harvey and the Michael Kelly novels, especially The Third Rail?

They can go to my website www.michaelharveybooks.com or my Facebook page.

They can also follow me on Twitter at TheChicagoWay, and can go to Knopf’s home page.

Thanks for the conversation, Michael.

My Grandma

I posted about my grandmother, who was born on Valentine's Day in 1904, on Poe's Deadly daughters today.

An Ever Fixed Mark

Happy Valentine's Day. The most beautiful love poem I can think of was penned by William Shakespeare. So I offer this sonnet for the day. May you enjoy all the loves in your life.

SONNET 116

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."

--William Shakespeare

Exciting New Reading

I'm very lucky today, because I received some books in the mail that will provide me with some delicious weekend reading.

First, I've started a historical mystery--not usually my bag--called THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN JOHN EMMETT. I gave the first page a try and then couldn't put it down. This delicately written tale set after World War I focuses on a young man who has lost everything, including his wife and child, and therefore finds himself willing to take on a seemingly pointless task: to look into the suicide of a former school mate, at the request of that man's sister.

I've not yet gotten beyond the fifth chapter, but I can't wait to finish my chores and get back to this mystery by Elizabeth Speller, whose other books I will be investigating soon.

Also, in the mail today like a special gift, a book I had not yet heard of called HAUNT ME STILL. Macbeth fans will recognize this little snippet of this quote from the shattered MacDuff: "If thou be'est slain with no stroke of mine/My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still."

As a teacher of MacBeth and a lover of Shakespeare, I can't think of anything more fun than a mystery set in Scotland at the very foot of Dunsinane Hill! Looking forward to this seemingly moody mystery from Jennifer Lee Carrell, whom the book cover tells me is a Shakespearean scholar. Long live Shakespearean scholars!!

Okay--I'm off to read now. :)

After the Storm

The blizzard passed through Chicago last night, fierce and howling, cracking tree branches with its 60 mph winds. Today it is calm, but we're snowed in under feet of heavy white stuff. Only the Beagle seems to really enjoy it--something in a dog can't resist piles of snow.

Laugh for the Day

This is one of my favorites from the family picture file. My youngest enjoying his first experience with swimming (sort of) in a pool, and all the equipment that required.

Limerick Fun

Recently in my creative writing class, we learned just how fun and addictive writing limericks can be. I wrote three, but this was my favorite:





There once was a cat with two tails
Who longed for a cottage in Wales;
He wagged and he grinned
Till he made such a wind
That he flew there as if he had sails.


If you leave a comment, be sure it's in limerick form. :)

Lois Winston on Writing Well, Being Crafty, and Singing Broadway Classics

Hi, Lois! You have had a mighty busy year, and a look at your blog suggests that things aren’t going to be slowing down soon. Do you like the hectic pace of publishing?

I’ve always worked in industries where deadlines were the norm, and everything had to be done sooner, rather than later. So I’ve never known anything but a hectic pace. Not sure I could slow down if I tried.

You write a mystery series about a crafty woman named Anastasia Pollack. How did you come up with that name?

Ah, names…they’re the bane of my existence. I have to have the perfect name for a character before I can write about him or her. One of the most dog-eared books on my shelf is 35,000+ Baby Names. However, Anastasia was easy to come up with. I wanted a Russian name because of the antagonism between my protagonist’s mother, a woman who claims to descend from Russian nobility, and her mother-in-law, a flaming red commie. What better first name than that of a Russian princess? As for Anastasia’s last name, I came across it in something I was reading, and I liked the way the two sounded together.


You yourself are crafty. Did you craft all of your Christmas presents this year?

Not all but I did make some of them. Back before I was juggling so many deadlines, I made most of my gifts, but that was a long time ago in another life in a galaxy far, far away.

You’ve won lots of writing awards. Which one meant the most to you?

That would have to be the contest that led to the sale of my first book. It was a publisher-sponsored contest, and although I didn’t win (I was first runner-up,) I was offered a publishing contract at the conclusion of the contest.

One of your pet peeves is reality tv. I’m with you there, especially since there’s nothing realistic about it. On the other hand, your favorite all-time show is M*A*S*H. I’m with you there, too—I’m a big Alan Alda fan. But what’s your favorite currently on tv?

That would be The Good Wife. Between the multi-layered character development and intricately woven subplots, it feels more like reading a good novel than watching network TV. The writing is phenomenal. The storyline was ripped from recent real life political scandals, but the writers have gone well beyond that, creating something with considerable depth.

You love Broadway Musicals. If we were to meet and I started singing, say, “ . . . you and the world we knew will glow, till my life is through, for you’re part of me from this day on . . . and someday, if I should love, it’s you I’ll be dreaming of, for you’re all I’ll see from this day on,” what would you sing back?

Trust me, Julia, you really, really don’t want me to sing! But those lyrics are from Brigadoon, and the next lines are:

“These hurried hours were all the life we could share.
Still, I will go with not a tear, just a prayer
That when we are far apart, you’ll find something from your heart
Has gone! Gone with me from this day on.”

Yea! Now, on to the important question: If Andrea Bocelli and Pierce Brosnan both invited you for a romantic moonlit gondola ride at the SAME TIME and you could only choose one of those experiences, in whose gondola would you climb? I know you probably get asked that all the time.

Talk about an unfair question! How about if Pierce Brosnan is my date and Andrea Bocelli is the serenading gondolier? Pierce is definitely better looking, and since I don’t speak Italian, we wouldn’t have a language barrier, but have you heard him sing? What in the world were the producers thinking when they cast him in the movie version of Mama Mia and let him sing his own songs?


I have heard him sing, and I did giggle a lot. But I would still let him sing to me. All day, if he wanted. :)

What are you writing now?

I certainly hope by the time this interview is posted on your blog, I’m hard at work on book 3 of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries.

How are you enjoying the promotion of your book, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN?

Authors are supposed to enjoy promotion? I must have missed that memo. Seriously, though, in-between the nail biting of waiting for reviews and sales figures, I am enjoying the blog tour I’m on to promote ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN because it’s giving me a chance to connect with readers from all over the country and beyond. The tour began the end of December and will continue throughout January. By the way, anyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs where I’m guesting will be entered into a drawing for one of five copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. You can find the tour schedule at my website, http://www.loiswinston.com and at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers (Anastasia’s blog), http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

Today’s successful writer is a multi-tasker. Are you good at multitasking? Are you able to knit with your feet while you type your books?

Actually, I prefer to cross stitch with my feet while I type.

Fair enough. You love Manhattan, a place I have never been. Assuming I travel there, what should I absolutely see before I leave?

Hmm…that really depends on your interests. Manhattan has something for everyone. Let me know when you’re coming, and I’ll give you a guided tour designed especially for you. Given that you knew those lyrics from Brigadoon, I’m thinking you’d definitely want to take in a show, and I know how to score half-price tickets ahead of time instead of waiting in line for hours at the TKTS booth.

Awesome! That would make the trip worthwhile.

Where did you celebrate the holidays?

Our family is scattered all over the country, and many of them flew in the end of October for a family wedding. So 2010 was a small, intimate Christmas with just my husband and the newlyweds.

What are you reading right now?

Email and blogs. However, at the top of my towering to-be-read pile is City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin. I loved her Mistress of the Art of Death series and am hoping City of Shadows is just as good.

What’s your biggest wish for 2011?

Another one of those questions where I can only choose one answer? So not fair! Peace would have to top the list because war is not healthy for children and other living things. But I’d also like lots of zeros -- both in an advance on my next book contract and on my royalty checks.

That sounds good! Thanks for chatting, Lois!

Thanks for having me, Julia!

Julie Hyzy on Writing Well, Fitting in Family, and Reading Regularly

Julie Hyzy is an award-winning Chicago area mystery writer. Her current series are the White House Chef series and the Marshland Manor mysteries. Her latest in the White House books is called Buffalo West Wing, and it debuts today. Julie last visited this blog in 2006.

Hi, Julie! So much has happened since last you were on this blog. You have become the Stieg Larsson of cozy White-House mysteries. :) How do you feel about your meteoric rise to fame?

Ha ha ha. Don’t I wish!! Oh wait… on second thought, maybe not … he’s not here anymore and I’d like to stick around a bit longer. But you’re so sweet. I’d hardly say I’ve experienced a meteoric rise to fame, but winning the 2009 Anthony and Barry Awards did have me walking on clouds for a long time. (Want to know the truth? I’m still flying.) No complaints. Things have been good and I’m a very happy camper. And it has been a while since I’ve been here, hasn’t it? Love this blog. Miss talking with you!

Congratulations on your very big year last year! Your White House mysteries are very popular—what’s your writing schedule like? Are you working on a book right now?

I’m always working on a book. LOL. I heard a great quote (paraphrasing) “Writers don’t take vacations. They’re either writing or thinking about writing.” Is that true or what?

Right now I’m busy with getting the word out for Buffalo West Wing, but I’m also in the middle of copy edits for the second Manor House Mystery, Grace Interrupted. (They’re planning to include “Grace” in every title. I love it!)

As far as my writing schedule goes – I’m kind of in flux right now. I’m thinking about changing things up a bit. I had planned to write five days a week in 2010, leaving weekends and evenings open for family, but I had a lot of commitments during the year that threw my schedule way off. After having way too much fun (can you say “procrastination”?) I found myself under the gun in October and November, writing three to six thousand words per day. As it turned out, I cut about half of them, but they needed to be written first.

Believe me when I say I don’t want to be under that kind of pressure ever again, so this year I plan to write 2,000 words per day three days a week. Even if I miss a day here and there, it ought to be more than enough for the two books I’m under contract for, plus another book (or so). Promotion takes up a lot of time, so I’ll use Mondays and Fridays for that, and still try to keep weekends and evenings free. That’s the plan, at least. Check in with me at the start of 2012 and I’ll let you know if it worked!

Yeesh! There's only so much time in the day. Speaking of political leaders (as we were with your White House novels): you are a Chicago girl; what do you think of the fact that Chicago will soon have a new mayor?

Oh my gosh, how fun is this? My favorite story so far has been how the powers that be who are opposed to Rahm Emanuel talked the man living in Rahm’s Chicago residence into running for office just to screw up the works. Is this entertaining, or what?

I know that city finances are a mess, but I am sorry to see Richard Daley go – for a couple of reasons. I love Chicago--and love spending time in the city. Visitors always comment on how beautiful and how clean the city is. After touring a few other major cities around the world, I realize how right they are. Say what you will about his politics (and how much $$ he spent), but Daley really made the city sparkle.

I’m also very sorry to hear about Maggie’s health problems. I’m sure her battle with cancer played a big part in Richie’s decision not to run again.

It is a lovely city.

As you mentioned, you're working on another Manor House Mystery. Is one series easier to write than the other?

Hmm… interesting question. I guess I don’t think about it that way. I love writing for Ollie [in the White House series] because I know her very well now. She still surprises me from time to time but good friends do that in real life, right? Grace is newer to me. I’m still learning about her—about her hopes, dreams, and what makes her tick—and that’s endlessly fascinating. I suppose it’s been slightly easier to follow a printed floor plan of the White House than to create my own original as I did for Marshfield Manor, but I really enjoyed that project. And I keep adding rooms.

I think Grace and Ollie are equally easy and equally difficult. Both heroines have minds of their own and both refuse to cooperate if I try to push them to act out of character.

But I love questions that make me examine how I write and your question did just that. Thank you!

You blog at Mystery Lover’s Kitchen. Have you always been a foodie, or were you sort of forced to become one when you began the White House series?

If you count eating, I’m a foodie and always have been. Love, love, love going out to dinner. People want to know what I do when I’m not writing. You know, like a hobby?

I eat.

That doesn’t mean I like to cook. I usually try to avoid cooking if I can get away with it. I’m actually pretty good in the kitchen and I’m not afraid to experiment, but if it’s a choice of writing, reading, or cooking… kitchen duty always loses.

I make no secret of the fact that all the great recipes in the back of my White House Chef Mysteries are created by a professional chef. She is amazing. My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed every single one of the items she’s come up with. Delicious!

That said, I’ve been coming up with new and mostly original recipes for Mystery Lovers Kitchen once a week for over a year now. You know what? It’s been fun. To my great amazement, I’ve really enjoyed creating new dishes. My husband loves it and so do the kids (when they’re home). I’ve even started to amass kitchen gadgets. I now have a food processor, a potato ricer, and--my newest addition--a set of good kitchen knives. Real ones! With blades that actually cut!



Cool! Your website says that fiction is your passion. Do you feel passionate about it when you’re in the throes of revision? :)

Even when the passion manifests itself as hatred, it is there nonetheless.

Seriously, though, I love revising. Love it. It’s probably my favorite part of the process. I’m happily surprised when some of the stuff I’ve written isn’t always as bad as I remembered, and the stuff that is horrible gets tossed. Love that. That’s where I’m happiest.

Wow! That is a gift. I wish I could love revising. What are your plans for 2011?

I have two books to write—the third Manor House (the second, Grace Interrupted, comes out in June) and the sixth White House Chef (the fifth one is turned in, but no title yet). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that both series will continue beyond my current contracts. I also hope to write a third book in 2011. No solid plans on that one, though. Right now it’s just a jumble of ideas.

What are you reading these days?

Believe it or not, I’m finally reading the first Stieg Larsson – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I had such trouble getting past all that Swedish economy blather, but now the story seems to be taking off. I’m also reading a couple of books about the White House. Research for the next Ollie.

I just read the first one recently, too. You're not the only one who is tardy in experiencing the Larsson phenomenon. :)

You’re a busy mom; when do you find time to write?

Sniff… my baby just finished her first semester in college. Although the girls are all home fairly often, I have lots more time now than I used to. It’s nice, but if someone gave me the chance to go back to when they were 2, 5, and 8, I’d jump on that in a heartbeat.

I can relate. Even writers have their guilty pleasures. What’s your favorite tv show?

Oooh. Favorite now? Or all time?
What the heck – I’ll answer both.

Favorite recent TV shows:
Dexter
Criminal Minds
LOST

Favorites of all time:
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Worst Guilty Pleasure I’m almost afraid to admit:
1,000 Ways to Die


Interesting! I knew about the Star Trek passion, but the others are a nice potpourri.

Now on to a business question: Where do your books sell better—in stores, or on Kindle?

So far, they all seem to sell better in stores, but Kindle/Nook/etc. sales are increasing by the minute. E-readers were the big gift this holiday – or so I’d heard. I think they’re predicting a 70% jump in e-book sales in 2011. I bet it’ll be higher.

I don't doubt it (said the new owner of a Kindle). You’ve traveled a lot for your writing; is there anyplace you’ve discovered that you would consider moving to, or is Illinois the best place for you?

With family here, Illinois will always be home, but I would love (dreaming now…) to have a second place for the frigid winter months. I loved North Carolina when I visited there, but my husband (the accountant) prefers Florida because there’s no income tax. By the time we ever get there, we might not even have income, so I guess maybe he’s dreaming too!

I did not know that about Florida! Or maybe I did and forgot. Hmmm.

What environment do you need when you’re writing? Music on or off? Peaceful or chaotic? Good luck charms, or not?

Total quiet. In fact, I prefer writing when there’s no one else in the house. Music would drive me bonkers. No specific good luck charms, but I do have my writing room which is filled with wonderful little reminders of good times, happy writing, and special events.

What’s your best advice for people who want a writing career?

Read.
Write every day.
Submit.
Repeat.

Great advice! Thanks for chatting with me, Julie!

Thank you, Julia! It’s been too long!

Coming Soon . . . .

It's January, and the new slate of interviews is here! Coming on Tuesday, an interview with the wonderful Julie Hyzy, the author of the White House Chef mystery series and the Marshland Manor series.

Her new book, Buffalo West Wing, debuts this week.

Later in the month, I'll talk to Lois Winston about our shared love of Broadway musicals and her new book, Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun.

The Snows of Yesteryear

I'm feeling very grateful to my parents today, especially to my mother, who gave birth to me on this day in 1964.

She also took me out to lunch today in honor of my birthday--a tradition she has followed pretty much ever since I left home.

Look at us in the picture there--my mother a glamorous 1960s gal, and me a little bundle in footy pajamas. (Yes, my mother dressed up around the house. Look at those stockings! I wonder if my children will reminisce about my sweats? Or on special occasions, sweats with a racing stripe?)

As a late December baby, I have the honor of ushering out the old year and seeing in the new. We turn together, the calendar and I, and it seems more poetic and appropriate as I age.

Suspenseful Reading

I finished THE JANUS STONE today and can confirm that it's a book which should be read in one sitting. I took it to bed, then to my mammogram appointment, then back home, stealing a chapter or two whenever I could.

I loved Elly Griffith's first book, THE CROSSING PLACES, and this one continues with all the familiar characters from book one, specifically Ruth Galloway, who not only has to deal with more unearthed human bones (are they ancient? are they modern?) but with the more prickly problems of her personal life and the beautiful yet dangerous setting she lives in.

While THE JANUS STONE has a very similar format to the first book, the plot was still pleasing and suspenseful, and I am looking forward to the third in the series.

Moving on now to Ian McEwan's SATURDAY, which I've been meaning to read for ages, and then it's on to my brand new Kindle and an investigation of the possibilities of downloaded text.

Time to Read!

One of the best things about the holidays is the chance to read, something I don't always have during the work year. And one of the nicest things about blogging is that you sometimes get books in the mail that you absolutely weren't expecting!

I'm reading two books right now, kindly sent to me by HMH:

THE DIVINER'S TALE, which is not what I expected it to be. It's much more a study in character than it is a mystery, really, and yet the human psyche is compelling enough, and it is keeping me turning the pages of Bradford Morrow's delicately written novel about a woman with psychic leanings who happens upon what seems to be a crime.

I haven't yet opened THE JANUS STONE, but it is on my pillow; I loved Elly Griffith's first book, THE CROSSING PLACES, and I look forward to more adventures with her character Ruth Galloway, an archeologist who lives in one of the loneliest places I've ever encountered in a mystery.

A Christmas Mouse

 

The mouse is actually a small cat; she has snuck past the manger scene and stopped batting the low-hanging ornaments in order to steal some fresh pine tree-flavored water, which all three of my cats prefer to their plain ol' bowl water. This cat, Rose, is my littlest and shyest feline, but she manages to be in things that are none of her business on a regular basis. :)

Even cats like the holidays.

Writing In a Midwestern Maelstrom

My cat Mulliner looks mighty cozy while he scans the results of the storm outside; Chicago got hit hard today, with many inches of snow, a plunge in temperatures, and a soul-chilling wind. It died down briefly, but now it's picking up again, providing work for me and a fun, snowflake-dancing visual for my cat.

If I ever get finished with the shoveling and errands, I'll sit down to write, which is really all I want to do when winter blankets my house, my town, my world. As long as the PC still works and my brain can weave tales, I'll grab my cup of tea and start writing--probably about a tropical island somewhere in my imagination.

Suspense Magazine

John Raab, publisher of Suspense Magazine, has announced that they are giving 4 free electronic issues of their zine.

The magazine, he notes, is available throughout the United States and on their website.

This month's issue features the top writers of 2010 and a short story contest.

A Realist's View of Gratitude

This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. Thank you, Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-11-21/news/ct-met-schmich-1121-20101121_1_beauty-mother-cry-gratitude

Wandering Minds Aren't Happy

People spend almost fifty percent of their time thinking about something other than what they're doing, according to this article in Science Daily. In addition, the magazine reports that the less people focus on the tasks at hand, the less happy they are. The study's conclusion: a wandering mind is not a happy one.

How might this experiment be skewed by a group of writers? Their minds undoubtedly wander a great deal of the time, but those minds are immersed in the act of creation. Is that the same thing as daydreaming or lacking concentration?

The study suggests that the only act which receives a person's full attention is the act of making love (although don't many people say that they enjoy fantasizing during sex?)

The notion that we would be happier if we focused on our tasks is an interesting one. It backs up Camus' existential idea that one need only embrace immediate needs and desires because nothing else ultimately matters.

In an age of multitasking, we have apparently trained ourselves to do our many tasks without giving them much thought. Perhaps be reclaiming our thoughts we can improve the quality of our thinking--but this is where science meets philosophy.

Happy Halloween!

"One need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place."

- Emily Dickinson

A Kindle Debut

The first of my Madeline Mann mysteries is now on Kindle! This novel, originally titled Pity Him Afterwards, follows the plucky Madeline as she investigates the disappearance of an old high school friend.

Kirkus Reviews called it "a bright debut," while The Library Journal called me "a writer to watch."

For more information, check out my updated website: juliabuckley.com

Thriller Writer Alan Jacobson Shares the Work Behind the Works

My guest blogger is Alan Jacobson, the national bestselling author of the critically acclaimed thrillers False Accusations, The Hunted, Crush, Velocity, and The 7th Victim, which was named to Library Journal's "Best Books of the Year" list. Alan's years of research and training with law enforcement have influenced him both personally and professionally, and have helped shape the stories he tells and the diverse characters that populate his novels.

Alan's books have sold internationally, and both The 7th Victim and one of his forthcoming thrillers, Hard Target. are currently under development as major feature films. He lives in Northern California.

Visit Alan Jacobson at www.AlanJacobson.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter. Learn more about Velocity and the Karen Vail novels at www.KarenVail.com.

In the Trenches with the FBI Profiling Unit: First Female FBI Profiler Shines in Thrilling Series
By Alan Jacobson

Seventeen years ago, I was sitting in a room at the California Department of Justice with FBI agents, detectives, homicide investigators, and forensic scientists viewing blood spatter patterns. Gruesome crime scene photos filled the screen as the lead forensic investigator explained what we knew about the killer based upon how the blood was sprayed on the walls. I was beyond intrigued, and thus began my journey into the depraved minds of serial killers.

Before and after our blood spatter pattern instruction, I spent hours talking with one FBI agent in particular, Mark Safarik, who one day asked me if I'd ever fired a gun. I had -- a BB gun. I think he laughed -- and then said, "As a novelist writing about law enforcement, don't you think it's important to know what it feels like to shoot a gun?" That afternoon, he taught me how to fire pistols in the Department of Justice's indoor range. Though Agent Safarik was soon promoted to the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, he and I talked often, for hours at a time. Months later, I flew to Quantico for my first visit to the Academy.


Over the next 17 years, I attended several FBI Behavioral Analysis training seminars; I made numerous trips to the Academy; I viewed hundreds of crime scene photos and watched interviews with serial killers; I shot an MP5 submachine gun at the Academy, then disassembled and cleaned it under the direction of the head firearms instructor; I edited four published FBI research papers on serial offender behavior; and I became good friends with Agent Safarik and his partner. Several years into my "education," I'd amassed enough knowledge to create compelling, credible characters whose lives were touched by the most heinous acts of person-on-person violence humankind has seen.
My first novel utilizing this material (and third book overall) was The 7th Victim,featuring Karen Vail, the first female profiler in the FBI: a daring, compelling, bright and sometimes troubled soul.

Those who are familiar with my novels know that my characters are often people touched by hardship or tragedy, with problems, obstacles and challenges woven into and through the story. My primary goal is to emotionally engage the reader; I want her/him to care about what happens. That was one of my prime concerns when I began writing the Karen Vail series.

Though I'd created Karen Vail early on, after my third visit to the unit I met Agent Safarik's partner, Mary Ellen O'Toole, who, in one of those jaw-dropping moments of fact meets fiction, looked and acted much like Vail. Subsequently, Agent O'Toole's insight became instrumental in understanding how a female fits in (or doesn't) to the FBI as a whole and to the profiling unit in particular. Mandisa Manette, one of the characters on Vail's task force, came from conversations I had with detectives I'd met at FBI training seminars over the years. In the early nineties, there were detectives who felt that profiling was unsubstantiated guesswork that carried little value. Although their opinions changed over time, I used that sentiment to create the Manette character as a foil to the assessments Vail makes when creating her profile of the Dead Eyes killer.

The 7th Victim debuted to rave reviews from critics and readers -- including those in the law enforcement community, who appreciated that I'd done my homework and cared about portraying them accurately. As the early feedback came rolling in on 7th Victim, my publisher told me I had to make Karen Vail a series character. I'd never intended to write more Vail novels. Although I loved writing her, I felt I'd written the ultimate serial killer novel. Robert Ressler, a founding FBI profiler, said The 7th Victim surpassed The Silence of the Lambs, "redefined the genre, and brought it into the 21st century."

So I sat down and thought. I gazed at the ceiling, I gazed at my navel. And then it hit me. The ideas started flying from my fingertips -- and the concept behind the second Vail novel, Crush, took shape.

A key element is that Crush brings Vail to the Napa Valley. To keep Vail fresh -- and me fresh writing her -- I had to remove her from her comfort zone, take her to places she'd never been, to an environment she wasn't accustomed to functioning in . . . and have her encounter a type of killer she'd never before faced.

Although I was extremely familiar with the Napa Valley, I spent considerable time there searching for the right locations; I spoke with area professionals to uncover insider secrets about the wine industry. In addition to well known wineries, I worked with the Napa County Sheriff's Department and related agencies in the region. The result was Crush, a twisting, one-of-a-kind story that is unlike any other novel set in the wine country. I was determined to make Napa a character in the story, and the response has been tremendous.

When I conceived of Crush, I realized the story was too big for one novel. I decided to split it in two, with a defined story arc that concludes at the end of Crush-- but with threads that continue into the follow-up novel, Velocity . Thus, Velocity picks up where Crush ends, tying together the loose ends left over from Crush while taking us on a journey unlike any Karen Vail has yet encountered.

The research for Velocity was once again complex. It took me three weeks to get clearance for the federal agency I needed to work with. They're careful of who they share their knowledge and procedures with because their work is sensitive and their agents in the field could be jeopardized if anyone mishandled the information I needed. Approval went all the way to a Congressional committee and was granted. To be certain I didn't compromise anyone's security, I sent my contact in their Washington headquarters the final manuscript to review.

Velocity is a terrific ride, one that takes Karen Vail from the vineyards of Napa to the monuments of Washington, DC, the wealthy beach enclaves of San Diego and the bright excesses of Las Vegas. Along the way, secrets are revealed -- secrets Karen Vail may not be able to live with. It's a novel Michael Connelly calls "Relentless as a bullet"; Publishers Weekly, in a coveted starred review, says Velocity "sizzles with nonstop action and startling details."

Working with Agents Safarik and O'Toole these past 17 years has been an enriching experience that has shaped me as a writer -- and enabled me to forge longtime friendships I'll always cherish. And it's allowed me to write a series of novels of which I'm extremely proud. I hope you enjoy The 7th Victim, Crush,and Velocity as much as I enjoyed writing -- and researching -- them.
© 2010 Alan Jacobson, author of Velocity

Ode to Autumn

"No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face."
--John Donne

A Writer's Retreat

Yesterday circumstances brought me to Chicago's North Avenue Beach; it was cold and gray and windy--the perfect weather for contemplation. In my view were the skyline and--you can see it in tiny silhouette--the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier.

There's nothing like a beautiful landscape to get a writer thinking.

Farewell to Grace

On this day in 1982 the world learned that Princess Grace had died in an automobile accident. All sorts of speculation swirled around the incident, but the apparent reason that Grace's car plunged down a Monaco cliff was that she had suffered a stroke at the wheel. Both Grace and her daughter Stephanie were injured, but Grace far more so. The treatment that Grace received after being pulled alive from the wreckage is still controversial, as some experts think that Grace, for all of her fame and power, actually received shoddy medical care.

In any case, the world lost one of its loveliest stars that day--not only because Grace Kelly lit up the screen in several notable movies in her short Hollywood career, but also because Princess Grace did much for others, notably children, and was known more as a philanthropist than an actress by the time of her death.

image link here.

Lincoln's Wisdom

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."

"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day."

The words of Abraham Lincoln, quoted here, seem most applicable to our inability to comprehend the events of September 11th, then and now.

Sleepless Night Suspense Reading

I am re-reading RED LIGHTS, by Georges Simenon, which I read two years ago and have thought about many times since. It's as much a psychological exploration as it is a suspense tale, but Simenon really kept me--well, not on the edge of my seat, since I was lying on my tummy, but AWAKE until the end of the book. (And that is a feat that is harder and harder to accomplish). :)

This mystery is all about MOOD and the city at night and all of the scary possibilities of the dark . . . .

The story begins when Steve Hogan and his wife Nancy are getting into their car to pick up their children from camp. It's dark on the road, and Steve is distracted by the lights on the highway and by his strong desire for a drink (he had two before he started). On the radio they hear of the predicted fatalities for the weekend, because it's a holiday. Steve eventually stops at a bar, against his wife's wishes, and hears that a man has escaped from prison.

The more Steve drinks the more he wants a drink, and when he stops at yet another bar his wife, who has been arguing with him, tells him that if he goes in, she will drive on without him. Maliciously (and drunkenly), Steve takes the keys from the ignition and goes in. He drinks more whiskey, and when he comes out, his wife is gone . . .

This was the first Simenon I'd read (I might have read a couple of Maigret novels in high school) and I was impressed. I've been meaning to look up a biography of this writer, but in the meantime RED LIGHTS is going on my most-suspenseful list.

The Had-I-But-Knowns of Ogden Nash

The wonderful Ogden Nash, who was born on this date in 1902, once wrote a whimsical poem about detective fiction called "Don't Guess, Let Me Tell You." The speaker of this particular poem complains of mystery novelists who "belong to the H.I.B.K. School--" that is, the "Had I But Known," and suggests that too many mysteries fall into this category of rather ridiculous plotting.

The poem appeared in the April 20th, 1940 issue of THE NEW YORKER, and for nostalgia's sake, and in Nash's memory, I spent five dollars to read the poem online. I won't plagiarize from the magazine, but I will give you the link if you're a Nash fan: click here to get the specific issue.

Nash was always playful, but sometimes in a pessimistic way; he started his poem "A Bas Ben Adhem" with

"My fellow man I do not care for.
I often ask me, What's he there for?"

Nash had more than one poem about mysteries, so I assume that, like me, he was a fan of the genre. All of his poems were rhymed verse, and Nash said he had tended to think in rhyme from the time he was small.

Thanks to his tendency to think in couplets, we are blessed with an abundance of Nash poetry.

(Image: The Ogden Nash postage stamp, 2002. Link here).

Why Thomas L. Cook Reigns Supreme

When I started reading Thomas L. Cook's THE LAST TALK WITH LOLA FAYE, I thought, slightly disappointed, "Oh, the action is all going to take place in one hotel bar."

Then I kept reading, and the suspense layered on, and I thought excitedly, The action is all going to take place in one hotel bar!

Such is Cook's control: he can take a relatively mundane setting like a St. Louis hotel and make it a place of growing tension, of intriguing revelation, of horrifying possibilities. And LOLA FAYE, like the other Cook novels I've read, is everyday life laced with potential menace.

At the root of a story is the murder that binds Lucas Page and Lola Faye Gilroy together, and though the crime happened in the distant past, one chance meeting makes the details come back with surprising new dimensions.

When I interviewed Thomas L. Cook at the end of 2009, he spoke of his fiction as opposed to his non-fiction, suggesting that the latter "freed [one] from the very different rigors of the imagination." But it is Cook's imagination which rules the mystery world, because he writes not only about crime, but about the many dimensions of the people who commit them and the victims who suffer them. In his poetic prose one can read Cook's sympathy for flawed humanity even as his story proves that people can be nothing but flawed.

The Impact of Writing

For all you writers and aspiring writers out there:

9TH ANNUAL FUNDSFORWRITERS ESSAY CONTEST

FundsforWriters.com and Literary Database team up to co-sponsor the 9th Annual FundsforWriters Essay Contest.

Theme: Writing that made a difference.

Both entry fee and no entry fee categories. First place winner receives $300. Six awards given. Limit 750 words. Deadline October 31, 2010. Winners announced December 1, 2010.

www.fundsforwriters.com/annualcontest.htm / www.literarydatabase.com

Beth Groundwater Chats about Distant Stars, Whitewater Rapids and Beautiful Colorado

Beth Groundwater writes the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series (A REAL BASKET CASE, nominated for the 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award, and TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET, May, 2009). Beth also writes the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventure mystery series (the first, DEADLY CURRENTS, will be released March, 2011). Her science fiction novella, THE EPSILON ERIDANI ALTERNATIVE, was published December, 2009, and she has published eight short stories. Beth lives in Colorado and enjoys its many outdoor activities, including skiing and whitewater rafting. She enjoys meeting with book clubs in person or via Skype or speakerphone to discuss her books. To find out more, please visit her website at bethgroundwater.com and her blog at bethgroundwater.blogspot.com.

Thanks for chatting with me, Beth!

I’ve always been curious about your surname. Does it have Native American roots?

That’s what a lot of people think, people who haven’t met my husband, that is, who is a light-skinned, freckled guy. The name and his family originate in Scotland. The legend behind the family name is that the Groundwaters fished and farmed, making their living from the ground and the water. I like having the name because it’s fairly unique, so if you Google my name, all you find are references to me. And so far, there’s only one Beth Groundwater on Facebook!

That's handy. Your first mystery series is about a woman who owns a gift basket business. Have you ever worked at a place like this?

No, but a hobby of mine is making gift baskets for family members, friends, charity auctions, etc. To learn more, I read how-to books and trade magazines for gift basket business owners. Also, I interviewed two women who owned a gift basket business and toured their warehouse/work area, so I could become more familiar with the “behind the scenes” aspects of the business. Now that I’ve written two books in the series, people think I’m an expert at it and I get asked to make gift baskets more often. I’m not as creative at making them as Claire Hanover is, though!

How did you come up with the idea for the “basket” mysteries?

I wanted to write a cozy mystery series and thought a craft-based series would work, since craft cozies are so popular. I’m a klutz when it comes to most crafts, though. Making gift baskets, however, was one of the few crafts I’ve tried that I thought I could do well and write knowledgeably about.

All of your fiction is set in Colorado, where you reside. Is this an example of “write what you know?” Or maybe “write where you know?”

Yes, and it’s also an example of “write what you love.” My husband and I chose to move our family to Colorado because we fell in love with its scenery and opportunities for outdoor recreation. We’ve never regretted our decision!

Your science fiction novel is particularly intriguing to me. When you wrote The Epsilon Eridani Alternative, were you trying to choose the title with the most syllables ever?
Very funny, Julia! Actually, the “Epsilon Eridani” part of the title was a given, since the space colonists are sent to establish a colony on one of its planets. It is a real star, and it is one of the closest stars in our galaxy which space scientists have discovered has at least one planet. This mission is one of a few missions to different near-by planets, trying to find one or more that are hospitable for humans, so that’s where the word “alternative” came from.

Seriously, though, I love the premise: “Space colonists from Earth crash-land on a planet orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani and immediately wrestle with an ethical dilemma. They emerge from their stasis pods 33 years older than when they started and must decide whether or not to harvest stem cells from alien infants to counteract the effects of human aging... even though the process will kill the infants.”

Obviously you’ve done a great deal of thinking about the stem cell debate and its moral complications. What made you take this modern-day ethics issue and put it on a distant star?

That’s almost like asking “Where do you get your ideas?” ;-) Every fiction author struggles with that question, because in reality we don’t usually know the answer. Our subconscious works on problems, issues, and ideas while we sleep, and when we wake up, scenes start appearing in our heads. At least that’s the way it works for me! I started this novella with the “What if?” question of “What if space colonists woke up from their statis pods after a long journey and discovered that they were all old, that the pods hadn’t worked?” The moral issues of stem cell use, evolution, and natural selection, all fell out of what those colonists had to do to survive and perform their mission.

You’ve recently sold a new Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures mystery series about Mindy Tanner, a whitewater ranger. Are you a whitewater rafter?

Yes, I am a true “river rat” and love the adrenaline highs I get from running rapids. I started paddling canoes filled with floatation bags down whitewater rivers back east in the 1980s. Those were the days before self-bailing rafts were invented, which have now replaced canoes on whitewater rivers. The “river rat” language, subculture and techniques for reading the water and finding routes through the rapids has remained the same, though!

Did you interview rangers while you were researching these books?

I interviewed two river rangers who worked for the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, where Mandy Tanner works. One of them teaches the spring Swiftwater Rescue course that new seasonal river rangers take each spring, along with local firefighters and other rescue personnel. He invited me to audit a class, and I observed the last day of the three-day course. Most of that day was spent practicing techniques on and off the river for rescuing people and rafts from rocks and “keeper” holes in the river. I chatted with some of the students during breaks, including the female river ranger trainees, to get even more information.

What’s your biggest challenge when you’re writing a novel?

Nowadays, it’s staying on schedule. With my recent Midnight Ink contracts, I’m now on a book-every-eight-months production schedule, and I’ve never taken less than a year to write a book before. My children are grown and I don’t have a “day job,” so I certainly should be able to meet that schedule, but I’ll have to crack the whip on my own back to do it.

Do you follow a particular process when you’re in the midst of a writing project?

As a retired software engineer, as one would suspect, I tend to “engineer” my mysteries. Before writing the first draft, I spend 2-3 months doing research, creating character profiles, and creating a scene-by-scene outline. That doesn’t mean I don’t allow for innovation to occur during the writing process, but by knowing where I’m headed, I can veer that innovation in the right direction to still arrive at the ultimate ending I planned. When I’m writing the first draft, I try to produce about 20 pages a week, which requires me to spend 1-2 sessions lasting 2-3 hours at the computer every workday (Monday – Friday). After finishing the rough draft, I spend 2-3 months editing.

Very organized! Who are some authors whose work you love to read?

Since I’m working on an outdoor-oriented mystery series, I’ve been reading authors with similar sleuths/settings, such as C.J. Box, Dana Stabenow, William Kent Krueger, Nancy Pickard, Craig Johnson, and Margaret Coel. I’ve really been enjoying all of these authors.

You’ve already written in two genres—do you plan to explore others?

I think I’ve bitten off plenty right now—almost more than I can chew! I hope to be able to focus on and write books in my two mystery series for quite awhile. After experimenting with the hard science fiction genre, I’ve decided that it requires too much research. Mystery is the genre I really feel comfortable writing now.

I can think of a million things that seem appealing about Colorado, but you live there—what’s the best? Are there any drawbacks to living in this apparent paradise?

What I like best about living in Colorado is the outdoor ethic among the people who live here. Most try to keep in good-enough shape to enjoy being active outside. The only drawback is the need to protect your skin from the sun when you’re outside in Colorado. Because of our altitude and the thin-air, sunburn and skin cancer are major concerns.

If you had to relocate but could pick anyplace on earth, where would you go?

After living near skiing, but having to travel to go to the ocean, I think I’d try the reverse, living on a beautiful beach in Hawaii, with access to flights to Utah or Colorado to feed my appetite for skiing.

Lovely choice! What’s your favorite hobby aside from writing?

It’s too hard to pick just one! In the winter, I like to be out on the snow skiing, and in the summer, I like to be in the water, either on a river in a raft/tube/duckie or in the ocean snorkeling.

Do you have fun plans for the last of summer?

I’ve already had my three weeks of summer fun with a trip to the Hill Country of Texas, followed by a couple of whitewater rafting trips and my two grown kids coming for a visit over July 4th. Now it’s time to buckle down and get to work on the third book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series.

Thanks for chatting with me, Beth!

About Beth's book, Deadly Currents: When Mandy Tanner, a 27-year-old river ranger for the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area in Salida, Colorado, rescues a man who fell out of a raft on the upper Arkansas River and he dies on the river bank, she feels driven to find out what—or who—killed him.

RIP Dick Buckley, jazz radio legend

RIP Dick Buckley, jazz radio legend This is a good listen--it helps one appreciate jazz, their loved ones, and the transitory nature of things.

Farewell to a Jazzman

My father-in-law passed away early this morning. He was a Chicago legend, a jazz deejay popular with true jazz fans; I can't even begin yet to formulate a tribute to him. Much to our family's pleasure, Chicago is making the tributes for us.

According to the Chicago Tribune, "Author-broadcaster Studs Terkel once told the Tribune, "Dick is in the tradition of the old-time jazz critics I loved so much. There's always that thread running through Dick's commentary, the connection of past and present, respect for those long gone." "

WBEZ, his employer for more than 30 years, wrote in their tribute, "If microphones could speak, they would sing the praises of Dick Buckley."

And Justin Kaufmann of Vocalo said that "He was the gold standard for music radio in Chicago."

Best of all are the comments from the fans--many, many comments from people who listened to his show way back in the 70s and became loyal followers of Dick's "Jazz Showcase." As one of my friends put it today, "Everything I know about jazz, I learned from Dick Buckley. Everything."

Nothing is more comforting in a time of loss than the knowledge that your loved one will be remembered. Based on what we're reading, Dick will be remembered by many.

Inger Ash Wolfe on Ghost Crime, Human Cops, and Canadian Bacon

Inger Ashe Wolfe is a pseudonym used by a renowned Canadian writer. THE TAKEN is the second in the Hazel Micallef mystery series.

Inger, thanks for chatting on my blog. I’m curious about the name Hazel Micallef; even in the book people mispronounce it, and Hazel corrects them (and, in the process, the reader who might have gotten it wrong). How did you choose this distinctive name?

Names are hard! I chose Hazel’s first name easily—she just struck me as a Hazel from the get-go. The name suggests hardness and intelligence to me (a hard-won kind of wisdom, too), but there’s also something lonesome and soft about the name too. The last name was more calculated: it’s originally a Maltese name that spread across the globe and is found especially in British Isles. You find it in Wales and Scotland now, tough places to prosper. So the last name also suggests a hardness I like. I like, also, that it means “judge” in Maltese.

Hazel pleases me because she’s a female cop who possesses qualities that mystery fiction usually only bestows on male cops: she’s older, divorced, lonely, battling a physical ailment, tied to her job despite its miseries. This seems realistic, yet few of mystery’s female heroes are allowed to be old. Were you consciously trying to address this double standard when you created Hazel?

Well, there is Miss Marple, and Jane Tennison is in her forties, but yes, there are few female detectives in their sixties in continuing series like this one. I wasn’t trying to right a wrong when I created Hazel, but I did hope she would feel new to readers. Also, breaking away from the template of who detectives tend to be in modern crime fiction, I thought I’d feel more freedom to innovate, and I do.

Yes! In the prologue, a nameless person reflects upon suicides, and the distinctive way that they dress themselves for death. Is this a well-known truth, or is it simply a fictional reflection of one individual?

It’s a fictional reflection, although I also know it happens.

In this book, Hazel must not only battle crime and bureaucracy, but also advanced technology. We know that technology is changing the way that we solve crimes, but is it changing the way that criminals commit them, as well?

Absolutely. People will use whatever is at hand to beat the odds, and criminals are especially savvy in this regard. Technology introduces new challenges to both the detection and resolution of criminal activity. Stealing money without entering a bank or a private home? Sounds good. Communicating anonymously with either your victim or your co-conspirators? Much safer. Modern law enforcement is dealing more and more with ghosts and it takes considerable effort to stay one step ahead of them.

There is an obvious prejudice against Hazel’s more rural police force in Fort Dundas when she visits the 21st Division, where Superintendent Ilunga suggests they should “return to fining people who have too many trout in their coolers.” On the one hand, this seems like the basic distrust one law enforcement group may have for another; but I’m wondering if there’s something distinctly Canadian in this particular clash of forces?

Well, I want to be careful here. Ilunga is fictional, as is the entire Port Dundas OPS attachment. (And the OPS is fictional, too.) Is there an urban/rural divide in general in Canada? Yes. So it’s not a stretch to consider that it might exist within different police forces, too. But The Taken is not meant as an exposé of the thoughtlessness of Toronto police, nor is it a condemnation of anyone or any institution. But to make it believable, it had to be written in terms that, particularly, Canadian readers could identify with. The conflict with Ilunga and his division is entirely plausible. But would it have panned out the way it did in The Taken? It’s highly unlikely.

Hazel is burdened by many family issues; her lingering love for her divorced husband, her worry for a grown daughter, her continued dependence upon an elderly parent. Just as it is inevitable that cops take work home, is it also inevitable that cops take home to work?

Cops are no different than anyone else, except that playing a very public role, the public tend to believe that they’re not like everyone else. But the stresses of home and the stresses of work take their toll on cops just as they do on you and me. With Hazel, these stresses are perhaps a bit more literary than they are in life, but I think they resonate fairly accurately.

In some ways, Hazel puts me in mind of Linda La Plante’s DCI Jane Tennison (to whom you alluded earlier), except that Hazel’s subordinates are more accepting of her authority. In THE TAKEN, I don’t get the sense that Hazel’s gender is a problem for men on her staff; will this be different in other books?

I think it’s a possibility, but I don’t want to get too deep into that territory because it strikes me as being too easy. Also, after two books, I think I’ve established pretty firmly that if someone tries to put Hazel “in her place,” they’re in for a blast of reality. She’s not the kind of person to even take part in that dynamic. If she meets someone with those attitudes, Hazel’s more likely to do an end-run around them than she is to engage with them (although they’ll know in short order what she thinks of them).

Hurrah for Hazel! Will there be more books in the Hazel Micallef series?

As of this writing, I’m planning the series to be between ten and a dozen books. Inger Ash Wolfe may write other books as well.

One of my favorite scenes with Hazel involves her doing something that an action hero would do in some blockbuster movie—except that it doesn’t seem unrealistic, tied as it is to what she does and to the particular criminal she is tracking. Does Hazel’s heroism emerge from a desire to do her job, or from the basic morality of her nature?

Hazel is, at base, a fighter. She will do what it takes to get the outcome she wants, even if it means bending the rules, risking her neck, or pissing off someone she cares about. She cannot stomach failure, which is why the end of her marriage and the breaking down of her body drives her as crazy as it does. So yes, she’s doing her job, and her nature is basically moral, but Hazel is mostly driven by the urge to win, and because she sees her role in her community as an inalienably moral one, she allows herself all kinds of leeway in how she gets her results.

I like the relationship between Hazel and Wingate. Does she view him as the son she doesn’t have?

No, but it’s a nice idea.

Some parts of this book read like horror fiction. Are you a fan of the horror genre?

Not really. I’ve read some of it, but I don’t like horror divorced from its human roots. The things people are capable of doing to each other deserve to be shown in fiction in a completely honest and realistic way. I don’t need vampires and telepaths to help me grasp how deep human cruelty can go. The horror in my books are intended to show how significant the stakes are in solving the crime, not to disgust or titillate.

At one point Hazel requests a “peameal bacon sandwich.” This sounds delicious, but I’ve never heard of it before. What is it? Can I get it in America?

Ask for “Canadian bacon”. It’s unsmoked back bacon that’s been rolled in cornmeal (altho it used to be rolled in peameal.)

In your own reading of mysteries, which novels were most influential?

Well, this is a hard question. I go for character over plot, although I have been known to gobble down potboilers. My main touchstones are Patricia Highsmith, Henning Mankell, Ruth Rendell, P. D. James, Richard Stark (and the rest of Westlake, but I adore Parker), Elmore Leonard, James Ellroy, the Martin Beck books, Ed McBain, and early Thomas Harris. I dip in and out of the pocketbooks just for fun—Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Mo Hayder and company.

A stellar group. What are you reading now?

Just finished Found in the Street, one of the Highsmiths I missed, and I’m reading Ian McEwan’s new novel, Solar, and finding it absolutely hilarious.

There has been some controversy about your pseudonym, Inger Ash Wolfe, and the name of Danish crime writer Inger Wolf. Do you think that the name similarity will continue to be a problem in the way that it was for John D. MacDonald and John Ross MacDonald (who eventually became Ross MacDonald)?

It was made into a problem; it never was one. I’m glad we distinguished my eventual pseudonym from Ms. Wolf’s, and she was very gracious and undistressed about the whole thing, but there has never been any confusion or conflict apart from that which was created in the media prior to the publication of The Calling.

Thank you so much for chatting with me, Inger!

My pleasure.

The Cat Problem

When you like cats and you like flowers, you often have the problem of the former trying to eat the latter. Here a certain malefactor named Mulliner is caught in the act, and he was not at all repentant; in fact, he posed proudly for some photos.

A Room With A View

My writer friend recently made herself an office in her home. She chose one of the smallest rooms available, but the view out of its window allows one to see into the house where Ernest Hemingway grew up. From her creative space, she can see into his.

Sure, a writer can write anywhere. It shouldn't matter where she does it. Yet I found myself feeling envious of her writer's space--clean and white, with book-lined walls and creative little writery toys on the desk--and a view of Hemingway's house!

A writer needs a lot of things: talent, determination, a work ethic, and a willingness to spend time alone. But it never hurts to have an extra little something: classical music, maybe, or a burning candle, or--just maybe--the knowledge that you live next door to the home of one of the greatest American writers ever.

What else sparks a writer's creativity? In my case, it's playing Lexulous on Facebook. Something about that scrabble-like game really stimulates my brain.

How about you?

(pictured: Hemingway's childhood home).

A View of Independence

“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.”

– Albert Camus