InterviewSistersinCrimeInternetSpotlight01-06

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Sisters in Crime Internet Chapter -- Spotlight Profile

January 2006

author of Too Close To Evil

""If you don't love your characters and, more to the point, allow yourself to express that love through the way you write them, you might as well abandon the ship they're on, because no one else is going to want to get on it with them." ~ Dickens

IC: How long have you been a member of Sisters in Crime?

Kit: I've been a member of Sisters in Crime since 2002. I first heard about the organization from a post on DorothyL, and I was delighted to learn that a chapter met locally, in Louisville, Kentucky. I joined the Ohio River Valley Chapter shortly before my first mystery, AT RISK, was released. I am forever grateful for the camaraderie and friendship, the amazing wealth of knowledge, and the ability to interact with other mystery writers and readers both at local chapter meetings and through the internet chapter. Beforehand, I felt like I was working in a vacuum.

It is wonderful to have that connection to other mystery writers that Sisters in Crime provides. The years before I learned about Sisters in Crime, I felt so isolated and disconnected as far as writing was concerned. Let's just say, non-writing friends have a difficult time empathizing with plot problems and the dreadful query process.

I try to spread the word wherever I go, because I've run into a lot of writers who don't know about the organization and feel similarly isolated and alone.

Not long after I joined the Ohio River Valley Chapter, I discovered that the group had decided to look into writing an anthology. Being located in Louisville, Kentucky, writing about the Kentucky Derby seemed a natural choice, and what an opportune choice for me since my mysteries are set in the horse world. That anthology, DERBY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, was released in 2004.

Another chapter has formed in the Indianapolis area, the Speed City Indiana Chapter. Since I live midway between Louisville and Indy, I feel especially fortunate to have access to two wonderful chapters that meet locally. I'm the newsletter editor for Speed City.

If you want to check out either chapter, here are their links.

Ohio River Valley Chapter, (Louisville)

Speed City, (Indiana)

IC: Your Steve Cline mystery series is set in the world of horses--specifically racehorses. Can you tell us a little about Steve?

Kit: Steve grew up wealthy and privileged, but his world turns upside down when he's kicked out of his father's house at the end of his sophomore year in college. A war of wills ensues, but Steve is too stubborn to give in and go home. Instead, he gets a job on a horse farm and finds it more to his liking that he ever would have imagined. He's such a fun character to write. Because of his youth (he's 21 in AT RISK) he's a bit rash and impulsive, and he still has so much to figure out--about himself, his relationships, his future. He's still finding his way in this world, and that opens up so many possibilities.

IC: What qualities make Steve an ideal protagonist for a mystery series?

Kit: Because of Steve's youth, he makes for a fun protagonist in a mystery series. He's energetic and courageous and stubborn. He also has an extremely well-developed sense of right and wrong. Part of his drive comes from the fact that he's always trying to prove himself to his father, often subconsciously, even though it's unlikely his father will ever know what he's done.

IC: In what ways are you like--and unlike--Steve (excluding the obvious difference in gender)?

Kit: Steve and I share a similar love of horses. We like the same music (classical as well as rock--Nickleback, Staind, Linkin Park, Matchbox 20, Three Doors Down). We both hold similar world views and have the same appreciation for worn jeans and T-shirts. We both have a liking for junk food, but darn it, he's young and can get away with it. We both drive crappy, old pickup trucks.

Where Steve and I differ--Well, he's in great shape, athletic, cute as hell, sexy . . . He's also more confident, self-assured, and assertive than I am. He doesn't get nervous like I do. That's one thing I love about writing in general. I get to write someone who possesses qualities I wish I had.

IC: As a woman writing in the first person perspective of a male character, how do you ensure that you get the details right?

Kit: Now that I'm on the fourth book, I don't even think about it, but when I was working through the earlier drafts of AT RISK, I took two writing courses with Writers Digest's Novel Writing Workshops, and I asked for male instructors. I was lucky to be paired with Steven Havill and Bill Tapply. Both were quick to point out when I got the male perspective wrong. I also have been known to ask my husband, nephew (who's around Steve's age), and general male acquaintances some awfully strange questions about how they would feel in certain situations.

One difference immediately came to my attention: How guys deal with pain in reality and how they perceive that they should deal with pain are often two very separate things.

I hate reading a book where a character gets hurt, oftentimes seriously, and in subsequent scenes, he moves around and does things like the incident never happened. So, I try to write in an ache here, a stiffness there, or a mention of bruises after Steve gets hurt. But I have to walk a very fine line. I need to be realistic, but I don't want my male character to come off sounding whiny, either. My husband will certainly let me know about any ache or pain he has, but writing a fictional character who is the "hero" of the story, Steve needs to be a little tougher. ;-)

The other thing I had to deal with is the whole sex issue. According to my husband, if I were to write Steve true to life when it came to sex, he would be thinking about it a whole lot more than I let him. But that wouldn't make for good fiction. After all, we are talking mystery, here. So, I find myself toning down that aspect of his personality a bit. Some readers would say not enough.

IC: Has writing from a man's perspective influenced your perceptions or understanding of other men? If so, in what way? If not, why not?

Kit: I've become more aware of the differences between sexes since I started writing a male protagonist, but I don't think the gulf is as wide as we might think. We still share very similar human wants and needs. It's in the expression of those wants and needs where we differ the most.

IC: Could you give a brief overview of your novels?

Kit: My plan with this series is to highlight a different aspect of the horse industry with each book. AT RISK, the first in the series, takes place on a posh hunter/jumper farm in Maryland where Steve gets dragged into the mystery by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. DEAD MAN'S TOUCH takes Steve to the racetrack where he works undercover in the barn area for very personal reasons. DMT is one of the most emotional in the series so far. COLD BURN takes the reader into the foaling barns of a thoroughbred breeding farm. Steve is beginning to get a "reputation" and is asked to look for a missing person. I've worked all these jobs, so the milieu came easily.

IC: What do you think sets your books apart from others in the genre?

Kit: The atmosphere and setting are a world away from most mystery settings. Setting is an extremely important factor in each book, and it's so much more than where the story takes place. Setting goes a long way toward dictating the kind of person you're going to find in a story. I also love to use setting and oftentimes weather to create a mood, especially a feeling of malice in what would normally be perceived as a benign setting.

The other thing that sets the series apart is Steve's age. The series, in general, is a coming of age story, at least that's how I view the first four to five books in the series. Steve is learning his way and evolving and finding out who he is as he goes about solving whatever mystery is set before him.

IC: Dick Francis was a great influence on your life, not only in your decision to become a writer, but in your choice to become involved with horses. What do you think your life would have been like if you had never read a Dick Francis novel?

Kit: That is a truly scary thought. I know for a fact I would live in a different state. I would probably live in suburbia instead of the country. I would have held totally different jobs. My husband's job might have changed. The scary fact is: every single aspect of my life would be different today if I hadn't picked up that Dick Francis book, IN THE FRAME, back in 1977.

IC: In what way do you think (or hope) your work influences others?

Kit: My number one goal is to entertain, and if I manage to do that, that's all I can ask for. I also hope to introduce the reader to a place they might not have a chance to visit. If someone reads one of my mysteries and gets involved with horses as a result, that would be a weird sort of kismet.

IC: The fourth Steve Cline mystery, TRIPLE CROSS, is due out in January of 2007.

Can you tell us a little about it?

Kit: Steve is back at the racetrack, at the mighty Churchill Downs as a matter of fact, for the two weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby. He's helping out in the barn, but he's also working on a class assignment for a private investigations course he's enrolled in. His assignment is to learn as much as he can about someone he doesn't know--basically an exercise in understanding what information is available to the public. He chooses a women he meets briefly in the barn and does the records' search only to discover that she mysteriously disappeared later that same day. She was involved in something she shouldn't have been, and her actions make Steve a target.

This book has been fun, not only because it's set at Churchill Downs, but because quite a few scenes take place in and around Louisville during the Derby Festival events that lead up to the big race.

IC: You've mentioned that Steve is unlikely to continue indefinitely in his career as a barn manager. In the excerpt from TRIPLE CROSS, Steve announces his intentions to take a private investigations course. Does this foreshadow a shift from amateur sleuth to professional private detective?

Kit: Steve will eventually become professional, but he's going to find a way to combine investigating and horses, either by working for a governing body in the horse industry or by working for an insurance company which underwrites equine policies or a combination of both. As you can see, I'm still exploring the possibilities.

IC: What else is in the works?

Kit: I'm hoping the next book will take Steve back to Foxdale Farm when one of the bad guys who got away makes a repeat appearance. Future books will take Steve to the thoroughbred sales at Keeneland, in Lexington, Kentucky. Others will take the reader to the polo fields, combined driving courses, eventing, and the World Equestrian Games.

IC: What kind of writer are you? (For example, do you have a writing ritual? Set a specific daily word count quota? Write for a pre-determined period of time? Are you an outliner or a "seat-of-the-pants-er?")

Kit: I outline like crazy, with each book being more heavily outlined than the one before. I do tons of research. There are usually a couple of equine details I need to research. For instance, I had to research artificial insemination and fertility testing for COLD BURN. But subplots often involve research that's not horse related, and even though this is an amateur sleuth series, I do lots of research on police procedures. I want my cops to be smart and efficient, and the only reason Steve solves the mystery is because he's observant and proactive and has insider's knowledge that guides him.

I seem to have a different writing schedule for each book, because I see that I'm evolving into a night writer, staying up to two or three in the morning, where I used to start at four in the morning. My daily page count for TRIPLE CROSS is five pages a day. For COLD BURN, it was eight pages a day. I'd love to do that now but can't seem to manage it.

My office is above the garage in what should be a walk-in closet. We moved the closet under the eaves, and the "closet" is now my office. I love it because it's secluded. You need to go through the master bedroom and master bath to get to my office, so that cuts down on noise, both ways. I listen to rock 'n' roll when I write. The boys might have a movie on downstairs (loud) and I won't hear it. I have an office kitty who covets my chair, and I sometimes give it up to her and sit in this horribly uncomfortable kitchen table kind of chair. I have skylights, which are great, but the room's cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

IC: What is the most rewarding part of being a writer?

Kit: I am thrilled when I hear from a reader that they enjoyed one of my books. That's the most exciting thing I can ever hope for.

IC: What's the strangest experience you've ever had at a book signing or writer's conference?

Kit: Oh, boy. Writers sure learn humility, if nothing else. The most embarrassing experience I've had so far, and I'm sure there will me more, was when I was scheduled to do a talk at a library, and no one came. This poor woman peeked in the doorway, and the director practically kidnapped her so that I could do my spiel for the director and this woman who was probably just looking for the restroom.

I once took a writing course at a local college, and the instructor was not impressed that I was trying to write a male protagonist. On the last night, he was to return a critique of our work. He told me he had critiqued my work, but he wasn't going to show it to me, and he threw it in the trash. He even hung around to make sure I didn't sneak back and try to get it out of the trash can, which I'd planned on doing.

A fun bit of serendipity occurred when I went to do a book-signing at the horse farm that Foxdale Farm is modeled after. The signing went very well and the staff was enthused because their farm was in a book. Then, one of the staff asked me if Steve Cline was a real person. When, I said no, she said that there was a guy who lived two streets away whose name was Steve Cline. He even spelled it the same way.

IC: Do you have any advice for aspiring mystery writers?

Kit: Don't give up. Be prepared to receive rejections. Take them in stride. You need to develop the ability to handle rejection, because that's part of the process, and it never goes away. You'll have readers telling you they don't read your kind of book. You'll have reviewers who are negative about your work. You'll need to change something in your career that puts you back into the position of querying once again, so there will be more rejections. You have to figure out a way to deal with that and move on. Have faith in yourself and don't give up.

Study the work of writers you admire. Many of your writing skills will be self-taught.

IC: You've been very successful in marketing your books. Can you offer any marketing advice to other published authors trying to carve out a market for their works?

Kit: If you can market to a niche, that's very useful because you're more likely to reach readers interested in what you write. Don't forget libraries. I market as heavily to libraries as I do bookstores. No matter how an event turns out, be genuinely thankful for the opportunity. Send a personal thank you card afterwards, always. Don't become discouraged because you didn't sell as many books as you'd hoped. I truly believe the key to promotion is the exact same key to getting published in the first place. Perseverance.

IC: Any words for our members who are primarily readers?

Kit: THANK YOU! Thank you for choosing to spend your time reading when there are so many forms of entertainment today. You are the best!

If you'd like to read an author's work but can't afford the book, ask your library to order a copy. We will be thrilled.

And lastly, if you've enjoyed a book, don't be shy about dropping that author a note to tell her so. Most authors' websites can be found with a simple internet search.

IC: You’re in the Spotlight. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Kit: When I first started writing, I didn’t look beyond the writing to imagine what it would be like to be published -- at first -- partly because I was so isolated. And I was so “green” going in, but one thing I didn’t consider (that I am SO thankful for now) is that I would meet so many wonderful, interesting people whom I NEVER would have had a chance to meet if I hadn’t begun writing. From the fascinating people I’ve met through research to the generous, fun, outgoing unimaginable variety of writers, booksellers, librarians . . .

What a wonderful experience!

COLD BURN FUN LINKS . . .

Story Photos

COLD BURN is set in Warrenton, Virginia. Much of my early research for COLD BURN was done on the Internet, but I followed up with a visit to Warrenton and fell in love with this quaint town set east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in the middle of Virginia horse country.

Speaking of horse country, here's a link to a wonderful tack store in Warrenton: Horse Country Saddlery. The photo on their home page says it all.

Warrenton, VA

Warrenton Volunteer Fire Company

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