MLC: Do you remember the first mystery you ever read? If so, what was it, and what pulled you into it?
AUTHOR: Nancy Drew, Secret of the Hidden Staircase. I was fascinated with the girl like me who had to satisfy her curiosity. Her father was concerned about her, but he always respected her intelligence and good judgment.
MLC: When did you first decide you wanted to write a mystery, and what led you to that decision?
AUTHOR: I had published a few poems, two nonfiction books, Jose Vives-Atsara: His Life and His Art, and Book Publishing in Texas, and numerous magazine articles. I had a strong desire to write fiction, so I studied English literature in graduate school (my undergrad degree was in Business Administration). I read great literature and got the MA, which sadly did not include studying techniques that writers use to craft their stories. I read twenty books on the craft of fiction and worked on Nine Days to Evil. Every time I learned something new, I had to go back and rewrite the novel.
MLC: Do you write in any other genres? If so, which ones?
AUTHOR: At emotional moments, I’m compelled to write a poem. When a friend reached a milestone birthday, I wrote Time to Lie for “Theme and Variations,” which was broadcast on NPR. My rare articles deal with writing fiction.
MLC: Which comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
AUTHOR: Either can generate
a story. My husband mused about what could
happen at the San Antonio medical center. I
read a newspaper account of a bizarre
incident in California and combined the two
ideas to create the plot for Nine Days to
Evil. I thought about the type person who
would be most affected by those events and
created my protagonist, Meredith Laughlin.
To quote writer
Marilyn Wallace: Something gnaws at you and
refuses to go away. It’s like a grain that
serves as an irritant….As a writer, I am
compelled to probe it, consider it, and
expand it.”
MLC: When you are all wrapped up in the story, do you feel like you could solve the crime, or maybe even solve all the world’s mysteries?
AUTHOR: I have been wrapped up in Forever Fatal, my second mystery, which features characters from the first book. I’ve been in Aggie Mundeen’s head, intrigued by her unorthodox sleuthing methods as she sniffs out a killer and creates pandemonium at Forever Fit Health Club. At age forty-two, Aggie is dangerously curious, smart, humorously cynical, and klutzy—a combination of “Miss Congeniality” and Jessica Fletcher. She probably can solve the world’s mysteries, if she doesn’t get herself killed first. I just finished this book, but I’ll be wrapped up in Aggie’s antics for a long time.
MLC: Do you write every day, or what kind of a schedule do you have? Do you write fulltime, or do you have a “day job”?
AUTHOR: I write full time, which averages two or three eight-to-ten hour days per week. I’m a marathon writer. I don’t sprint, but when I get started, I never want to stop.
MLC: Other than your writing, what do you enjoy doing? What is the most important thing to you in your day-to-day life?
AUTHOR: Family and friends. Reading good books. Listening to music. Playing the guitar. Making tiled tables. I love to talk to writers and readers in person or through my web site. I exercise every morning whether I want to or not.
MLC: Who are your favorite mystery authors? Do you try to emulate them in your own writing?
AUTHOR: For authors who
write in more serious veins, I like Elizabeth
George, Michael Connolly, Barbara D’Amato,
Jan Burke, Carol O’Connell, and Tess
Gerritsen. For those who move between soft
and serious, I like Carolyn Hart, James Lee
Burke, Jay Brandon, and Rick Riordan. For
humorous mysteries, I like Janet Evanovich
and Elaine Viets. I don’t emulate them, but I
learn from them.
There are many other
good authors whose books I want to read.
MLC: In your present book, is this part of a series, or is it a standalone book?
AUTHOR: Nine Days to Evil and Forever Fatal can stand alone, but they work as part of a series because both novels spotlight three characters. Future novels will include all three, but the focus may shift from one to another, just as Jan Burke shifts from Irene’s point of view to Irene’s husband’s point of view in her novels.
MLC: If you are doing a series, do you see an end to it sometime, or do you plan to go on for several years with it?
AUTHOR: I see Aggie Mundeen bumbling into murders, doggedly trying to solve them, and creating chaos for years. Meredith Laughlin, star of Nine Days to Evil, is Aggie’s friend. Detective Sam Vanderhoven is the man Aggie loves, despite the fact that he views her as an old friend. Meredith and Sam will always be there for Aggie, trying to keep her, usually unsuccessfully, out of trouble.
MLC: Do your characters ever drive you a bit crazy by going off in their own direction? If so, how do you rein them in, or do you just let them run off on their own?
AUTHOR: I think of a situation and a setting that will challenge their beliefs, fears, curiosity, and quirks. I decide on the crime, how it will occur, and how it will be solved. Then I turn Aggie, Sam, and Meredith loose and see what they’re going to do.
MLC: Do you pattern your sleuths after yourself or someone you know? If so, do you let that person know they were your “pattern”?
AUTHOR: OK. I admit it. There’s part of me in all my characters…the good, bad, quirky, scared, stubborn, ridiculous, and klutzy. There are undoubtedly parts of my family and friends in my characters, too, but I don’t consciously put them in the books.
MLC: How long did it take you to get published? How many rejections did you have to suffer through first? Were you ever tempted to give up? What do you think made the difference when it was accepted?
AUTHOR: It didn’t take long
for me to get nonfiction and poetry
published. For fiction, it took several
years. I made every mistake possible. I sent
the manuscript out when it was too short,
under-plotted, and unpolished. By the time
the manuscript was a mystery novel, a lot of
agents and editors had read embryonic drafts
and were not interested. I could paper my
bathroom with rejections.
I never considered
giving up. I love to write. The quality of my
days correlates to how much time I spend
writing. I knew I could write a novel as good
as some I was reading, and I kept working to
improve my craft. I was, however, getting
pretty discouraged by rejections. Then I got
a letter from the late, great editor of
Mysterious Press, Sara Ann Freed. She held
the manuscript for five months, and wrote:
“It’s not for us, but if it were not so good,
I would not have held it for so long.”
Attached to her comments was a two-page
critique from one of her readers with
suggestions to improve the novel. I worked on
Nine Days to Evil until I knew it was
publishable. I worked until I knew it was the
best book of its kind that I could write.
MLC: Do you ever attend any conferences? If so, which ones?
AUTHOR: I love Malice Domestic, MWA’s New York conference, Writers’ League of Texas conferences, Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats (Southwest Chapter, MWA), and Left Coast Crime. I want to go to Bouchercon, Murder in the Grove, Mayhem in the Midlands, The Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave, Sleuthfest, and the Maui Writers’ Conference. When I’m not writing.
MLC: Do you have to promote your own work, or does your publisher do that for you?
AUTHOR: I do nearly everything. The publisher tracks my store sales though Ingram, lists my book on their website and with major online book sellers, and sends me royalty checks. They make marketing suggestions, but they don’t plan promotional events.
MLC: If you have to do marketing, what methods have worked the best for you?
AUTHOR: I like speaking to
reading groups who have read Nine Days to
Evil. I prepare discussion questions for
them to consider beforehand. When we meet, I
spend at least an hour telling them how the
book was written. No matter where the group
is located, I set up pre-arranged times to
meet with them, either by phone or email.
On my website, I
have contests, first chapters, and links to
reviews of my book. I encourage readers to
contact me and review NDE for my
website. I like to learn from readers.
I teach a course,
“Writing the Mystery,” in the fall, and do
book events/signings at stores and libraries
when I can.
MLC: Do you have any idea how your book is selling?
AUTHOR: For a debut novel, it’s selling very well. I’ve built up momentum, so my second mystery featuring Aggie Mundeen should really take off.
MLC: What has been the best review you have gotten, and why?
AUTHOR: My first reviews
were cover blurbs for Nine Days to Evil,
written by well-known authors whose
opinions I value: Barbara D’Amato and G. Miki
Hayden.
I’ve been thrilled
with reviews from Midwest Book Review,
Murder and Mayhem Book Club, The Blue Iris
Journal, Reviewing the Evidence, Seguin
Gazette-Enterprise, and this review site,
Mystery Lovers Corner. The first
review a writer receives is the most
exciting: mine was from The Book Review
Corner (www.lorieham.com)
by Cynthia Chow, a librarian in Hawaii.
I wrote Nine Days
to Evil to entertain readers, but I also
like to give them bonuses. In NDE,
readers learn how to recognize sociopaths,
and they gain insight about evil when
Meredith studies Shakespeare. Because of
these bonuses, NDE is being reviewed
in England by Mystery Women, UK, and
in Singapore and India.
I also love readers’
reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com.
MLC: Have you won any awards, either as an author or for your books? Please tell us about them.
AUTHOR: Yes. Nine Days to
Evil won
The Blether Gold Award:
“A truly exceptional read, the finest example
of a genre, a book with which the reviewer
can find no fault, and which will usually
have universal appeal.”
Blether, The Book
Review Site, reviewed 2500 mysteries and
chose about twenty percent of them to receive
The Blether Gold Award.
MLC: Is there any one certain thing that a reader has written to you that made you just want to jump up and shout “Yes!!!!”?
AUTHOR: Discovering that my book received The Blether Gold Award made me shout, “Yes!!!!”
MLC: What is your next project, and when will it be out?
AUTHOR: With the right agent and publisher, I hope Forever Fatal will be released early in 2006.
MLC: If you could write anything at all, ignoring what editors and publishers say they want, what would it be?
AUTHOR: Exactly what I’m writing…more stories about Aggie Mundeen, Meredith Laughlin, and Detective Sam Vanderhoven. I think they will encounter murders on a cruise ship, a dude ranch, and in Las Vegas.
MLC: Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring mystery authors?
AUTHOR: Write about people, topics, and locales that fascinate you. Work to improve your craft. Never, never give up. Be thankful that you can do what you love.
MLC: Do you have any teasers for your readers and fans about the next book?
AUTHOR: FOREVER FATAL. Aggie Mundeen, a combination of “Miss Congeniality” and Jessica Fletcher, is dangerously curious, physically klutzy, and in love with a detective who views her as an old friend. Aggie decides to get herself in shape and consider other men. She joins Forever Fit Health Club and stumbles into murder.
MLC: If a genie suddenly appeared and said they would grant you just one wish for your books, what would you wish for?
AUTHOR: An agent and publisher who love Aggie, Sam, and Meredith as much as I do and want to publish novels about them for years.
MLC: Please give us your website url and your email address where people can contact you.
AUTHOR: Website:
www.nancygwest.com
Author’s email:
intrigue101@sbcglobal.net
Thanks for asking!
MLC: Thank you so much for giving us a little glimpse into your books and your life. We look forward to a lot more books from you.