Debut novelist Cornelia Read shares some thoughts herewith.
Tell us about what moved you to write A Field of Darkness.
I would say the two main inspirations were seething angst and guilt, not necessarily in that order.
The angst was because I’d been laid off from a dot-com editing gig a month before my husband lost his job, and there was just no work in the Bay Area in 2001. I was virtually camped out on craigslist, scouring the employment listings all day long. About six months into our paycheck famine, I saw an ad for a new mystery writing group that was starting up here in Berkeley. I never thought I’d make any money at it, I just hoped it would keep me sane.
As for the guilt… well, I’m pretty much the self-hating WASP poster child. As my protagonist Madeline Dare says in Field, “my money is so old there’s none left.” I gave her my same Social Register/Puritan background stuff—an appalling ancestry of psycho Indian killers and evil robber barons. We’re both totally broke, but still struggle with the legacy of ill-gotten privilege we have entrée to.
How did you meet Lee Child?
I met Lee at the Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference in the summer of 2004. I’d signed up for a manuscript consultation with a faculty member, and was stunned when it turned out to be with Lee–my first choice.
He read the first twenty pages of the novel, then titled Sore Excuse, and was very encouraging about my prospects. I had an agent, Rolph Blythe at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, but we were still working on revisions together and hadn’t yet submitted it to publishers. Lee said he’d be happy to read the full manuscript when Rolph and I were happy with it, and offered to write me a blurb.
I sent it to him that November, and he not only wrote a very generous blurb, but listed it as one of his five favorite reads of the year for Mystery Ink Online’s annual survey of authors and readers. I know that was a tremendous help in getting the attention of publishers, when Rolph sent it out two months later. Huge.
I was even more gobsmacked when Lee asked me to go on tour with him this year. The man is a saint, though he’ll deny it vehemently.
Where will you be appearing on your tour?
Lee and I have four joint appearances scheduled:
Saturday, May 20, 2006
2:00 PM
The Poisoned Pen
4014 North Goldwater Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-947-2974 / 888-560-9919
sales@poisonedpen.com
www.poisonedpen.com
Sunday, May 21, 2006
2:00 PM
Murder By the Book
2342 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
713-524-8597 / 888-4-AGATHA
order@murderbooks.com
www.murderbooks.com
Friday, June 2, 2006
12:00 NOON
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
117 Cherry Street
Pioneer Square
Seattle, WA 98104
206-587-5737
www.seattlemystery.com
Monday, June 5, 2006
1:00 PM
Mysteries to Die For
2940 Thousand Oaks Boulevard
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
805-374-0084
www.mysteriestodiefor.com
I have a number of solo gigs scheduled as well:
Wednesday, May 10th
7 p.m.
M is for Mystery
86 East Third Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94401
650-401-8077 / 888-405-8077
www.MforMystery.com
Thursday, May 11th
7 p.m
Cody’s Books
1730 Fourth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-559-9500
www.codysbooks.com
FRIDAY, MAY 12TH
7 p.m.
BAY BOOKS & COFFEE
316 Alvarado St.
Monterey, CA 93940
831-375-1855
SATURDAY, MAY 13TH
3:00-5:00pm
MYSTERIOUS GALAXY
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
858-268-4747
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31ST
12:30 p.m.
STACEY’S BOOKSTORE
581 Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-896-1606
Some authors avoid reading contemporary fiction. What do you like to read?
My tastes are pretty eclectic, though crime fiction is my main jones. I adore Lee’s Reacher novels, and am a huge fan of Victor Gischler, Martha O’Connor, Joshilyn Jackson, Laura Lippman, Domenic Stansberry, Elaine Flinn, Harley Jane Kozak, John Lescoart, Nelson Demille, Ayelet Waldman, David Corbett, Ian Fleming, Ken Bruen, Sheldon Siegel, Jim Thompson, Denise Mina, and Cara Black—just for starters. In the meantime, I’m working my way through a 1945 edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette, and re-reading John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers.
My prize possession, however, is a beat-up paperback of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution to Brest-Litovsk that once belonged to Sean Connery. He loaned it to my first stepfather’s second wife when they took an acting class together years ago in L.A.—probably fifty years ago now.
A case of pork and beans is on sale, but the cans are dented. What do you do?
Buy the entire case, hide it from my mother, and then present it to her wrapped up in Chinese newspaper and a big fat red bow on Christmas morning–or her birthday, whichever comes first.
I would then gather my siblings around for a group prayer session, in the hopes that Mom will not serve the can-contents in question alongside her “gazpacho”—a soup that will live in infamy, made in the blender out of last night’s salad, a dented can of V-8, and parsley flakes.
Especially for Thanksgiving.
You seem at home in the first person POV. Is this where you think you’ll stay?
I once heard Ayelet Waldman say at a mystery writers’ conference that she was “too self-centered to write in third person.”
She’s moved on from that stance, since her excellent Daughter’s Keeper was written in third person. I’m not sure I’ll ever manage to make that leap.
I mean: I I I I I. It just looks so neat-o, that letter… it’s, like, the alphabet’s answer to the Doric column, aesthetically.
You have a wonderful eye for details that define economic status; will class warfare be a subtext in your future work?
It is such a huge subtext in my actual life, the whole enigma of class. As Madeline says in A Field of Darkness, “no snob like a poor relation.” Probably another thing I will have difficulty moving on from, in writing fiction. I’m fascinated by the subtleties of tribal identification in America. My husband was an anthropology major in college, and I’ve often told him he’s the only one who can make sense of my family’s bizarre kinship rituals.
Kristen Weber has left Mysterious Press. How has the transition to a new editor been for you?
I adore Kristen and miss her a great deal, but Les Pockell, who’s taken over for her at Mysterious Press, has been tremendously enthusiastic and supportive. He’s the one who came up with the final title for Field last fall, which was excellent as I am HORRIBLE at titles. It will be really interesting to see what he’s like to work with as an editor, after I turn in the second book in the series.
Is the Internet a part of your publisher’s marketing strategy? Do they call it the World Wide Web?
I think Time-Warner Book Group (now Hachette) does a great job with online marketing, though I did my website on my own with the fantastic Heidi Mack of xuni.com. Heidi also designed the new group blog I’m taking part in with Patricia Smiley, Jacqueline Winspear, James Grippando, and Paul Levine—http://www.nakedauthors.com. She’s amazingly talented.
Any thoughts for our fans in Japan and the Czech Republic?
You guys rule! Thanks for reading!!!!!
Thanks Cornelia.