I know and read Jan Burke because she brings together two things that interest me, journalism and mysteries.
More specifically in her Irene Kelly series she has a protagonist who
is a newspaper reporter who solves mysteries. It doesn't hurt that
Burke lives in Southern California – where I grew up – and bases her
stories there as well.
A few months ago I requested a copy of Burke's next book and an interview, not knowing this book was a bit of a one-off.
I figure I voiced the questions many readers have, which is one of my goals in my Newsvine interviews (another being that I ask some questions which the authors do not normally get asked, figuring – rightly I think – that they like some surprises).
Why switch now from a successful mystery series to a supernatural thriller? Is this just a temporary break from the Irene Kelly series?
I haven't really switched, since I'm in the process of writing another Irene Kelly book now.
I like stretching as a writer, and I've had other adventures outside the series: Flight, a spin-off written from Frank Harriman's point of view; Nine, a standalone thriller; and Eighteen, a collection of short stories, including a couple of ghost stories. So The Messenger isn't even my first foray into supernatural fiction.
The Messenger is my first attempt at a novel-length supernatural story, though. It's easy to explain why I wrote it. The idea for the story came to me and wouldn't let go.
What do you like about writing a stand alone story versus part of a series?
Each has its own attractions. A series allows you to explore a character and build that character's world over time and through many different situations. As a writer, you come to trust those characters, to know the sound of their voices.
However, if you have a story idea that won't fit that character or fit into the world you've built for that character, it's madness to try to force it. Irene is a newspaper reporter who lives in a Southern California beach city. If I try to make that beach city become Los Angeles, I'm going to be in trouble. If I suddenly try to convince my readers, a dozen books into the series, that many years ago she had secret training as a CIA operative, they aren't going to be too happy with me.
In a standalone, of course, the characters are new, and you can give them any attributes you choose. You can develop a story that goes no further — so there are certain freedoms in that as well.
That said, I'm not sure that Nine will remain a standalone. I also have lots of ideas for further adventures for the characters in The Messenger.
Your bio says you are part of the Crime Lab Project. What is it and
what is your ongoing role with it?
The Crime Lab Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of public forensic science. I founded the CLP in late 2003, and continue to serve as its director. I had the help of Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, William Link, and many others.
At first we were a group of writers and producers who were committed to raising awareness about the problems facing public forensic science in the U.S. People were watching television shows and reading books that portrayed crime labs as supermodern facilities that turned tests around in a few hours. People believed coroners and ME's ran their local offices like the ones they saw on Crossing Jordan and other shows.
The truth is, many crime labs are in cramped and aging facilities not designed for use as a lab, are forced to use outdated and inadequate equipment, and are woefully understaffed. At the time the CLP was founded, over half a million cases backlogged in labs all across the country – and the backlog was growing.
Many of the over 2,000 coroners and medical examiners offices are on paper systems -- records are not kept on computers. Over a quarter have no set system regarding evidence collection and preservation in cases of unidentified bodies.
Many states require little or no training of their coroners. Death investigations are being led by people who have 40 or fewer hours of coursework. In Indiana, for example, coroners are only required to be 18, reside in the jurisdiction for one year, and have no felony convictions. (After a recent mistaken identity case, the state legislator voted they could not be paid unless they had taken a minimal number of courses, but in that same year a high school student was named a deputy coroner.) In South Dakota, district attorneys serve as coroners.
There is an extreme national shortage of forensic pathologists, and little is being done to encourage more people to go into this field.
These problems with forensic science cause untold suffering for victims and their families, leave criminals free to harm other victims, cause innocent individuals to be denied their freedom, and result in many other problems – as well as increased costs.
We have also created the Crime Lab Project Foundation, a 501(c)3 which supports the charitable and educational activities of the CLP. We welcome members of the public who are concerned about these issues. We have sponsored educational programs and materials, alerted our members about legislation that will help labs, and created a Web site that gives information about the project. Almost every week, we send out a collection of links to news stories about forensic science through the CLP News, which helps our members to stay informed.
Also it says you are on the California Forensic Science Institute board. What is that and what do you do with it? I ask partially because while I interview about an author a week most aren't part of
such boards.
The CFSI is an arm of the fabulous new Hertzberg-Davis Laboratory – that's the formal name of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, which serves the LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department. It's on the California State University, Los Angeles campus. The organization helps with in-service training, career development, research, public awareness, and other educational aspects of the lab.
I'm surprised to hear that other authors you've talked to aren't involved in such boards. I know a number of authors who work hard to give back to their communities through charitable and other activities. Scott Turow, for example, has been very active in justice issues; Patricia Cornwell has made major donations to forensic science training facilities; Linda Fairstein has served on boards or forensic science organizations as well.
What have been the high and low points of your career?
I have had so many high points. Each time I hold the first copy of a new book, I can't believe my luck.
The whole process of imagining, writing, revising, and then having that reach the reader and — sometimes — hearing from those readers about their responses to what I've written — I'm still in awe of it. I do this for a living. That seems unbelievable.
I won't say that it has all been sunlight and roses. But I prefer to focus on the positive, and the truth is, the good that has come my way has far outweighed any negatives.
Which character in your new book is most like you?
I think of all of them as very separate from me, each as an individual in his or her own right.
What would you say to those writers who might be saying, "I like her
but how do I know I'll like this one?"
Take a chance. This question can be asked even of books within a writer's series, I suppose. So far, I find my readers are embracing this new book and enjoying it, for which I'm grateful.
Why do you think so many good writers - Robert Crais, you, T. Jefferson Parker, James Ellroy - come out of So. Cal?
While I have met good writers from everywhere, and I am honored to be named in the company you list in your question, I do believe that Southern California has a number of traits that are helpful to a writer of crime fiction. From the time of Chandler and probably before, crime writers have been exploring the dark side of our sunny paradise. The contrast between our glittering facade (Hollywood, for example, is not a city, but a district of Los Angeles) and the mean streets gives a writer lots of fodder.
But there is much more to Southern California's attractions for a writer than that, I think. The population here is large and diverse -- within the LA school district alone, over 150 languages are identified by students as their first language.
It's an exciting place, a place where one never knows what may happen next. The landscape itself is varied -- within a short distance of L.A., there are snowy mountains and forests, vast deserts, farmland, major harbors, and an island with non-native bison roaming on it (the descendents of buffalo brought to Catalina by crews filming a Western there some decades ago.)
There are many resources available for crime writers here, among them a supportive community of other writers. I love L.A.
A few months ago I requested a copy of Burke's next book and an interview, not knowing this book was a bit of a one-off.
I figure I voiced the questions many readers have, which is one of my goals in my Newsvine interviews (another being that I ask some questions which the authors do not normally get asked, figuring – rightly I think – that they like some surprises).
Why switch now from a successful mystery series to a supernatural thriller? Is this just a temporary break from the Irene Kelly series?
I haven't really switched, since I'm in the process of writing another Irene Kelly book now.
I like stretching as a writer, and I've had other adventures outside the series: Flight, a spin-off written from Frank Harriman's point of view; Nine, a standalone thriller; and Eighteen, a collection of short stories, including a couple of ghost stories. So The Messenger isn't even my first foray into supernatural fiction.
The Messenger is my first attempt at a novel-length supernatural story, though. It's easy to explain why I wrote it. The idea for the story came to me and wouldn't let go.
What do you like about writing a stand alone story versus part of a series?
Each has its own attractions. A series allows you to explore a character and build that character's world over time and through many different situations. As a writer, you come to trust those characters, to know the sound of their voices.
However, if you have a story idea that won't fit that character or fit into the world you've built for that character, it's madness to try to force it. Irene is a newspaper reporter who lives in a Southern California beach city. If I try to make that beach city become Los Angeles, I'm going to be in trouble. If I suddenly try to convince my readers, a dozen books into the series, that many years ago she had secret training as a CIA operative, they aren't going to be too happy with me.
In a standalone, of course, the characters are new, and you can give them any attributes you choose. You can develop a story that goes no further — so there are certain freedoms in that as well.
That said, I'm not sure that Nine will remain a standalone. I also have lots of ideas for further adventures for the characters in The Messenger.
Your bio says you are part of the Crime Lab Project. What is it and
what is your ongoing role with it?
The Crime Lab Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of public forensic science. I founded the CLP in late 2003, and continue to serve as its director. I had the help of Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, William Link, and many others.
At first we were a group of writers and producers who were committed to raising awareness about the problems facing public forensic science in the U.S. People were watching television shows and reading books that portrayed crime labs as supermodern facilities that turned tests around in a few hours. People believed coroners and ME's ran their local offices like the ones they saw on Crossing Jordan and other shows.
The truth is, many crime labs are in cramped and aging facilities not designed for use as a lab, are forced to use outdated and inadequate equipment, and are woefully understaffed. At the time the CLP was founded, over half a million cases backlogged in labs all across the country – and the backlog was growing.
Many of the over 2,000 coroners and medical examiners offices are on paper systems -- records are not kept on computers. Over a quarter have no set system regarding evidence collection and preservation in cases of unidentified bodies.
Many states require little or no training of their coroners. Death investigations are being led by people who have 40 or fewer hours of coursework. In Indiana, for example, coroners are only required to be 18, reside in the jurisdiction for one year, and have no felony convictions. (After a recent mistaken identity case, the state legislator voted they could not be paid unless they had taken a minimal number of courses, but in that same year a high school student was named a deputy coroner.) In South Dakota, district attorneys serve as coroners.
There is an extreme national shortage of forensic pathologists, and little is being done to encourage more people to go into this field.
These problems with forensic science cause untold suffering for victims and their families, leave criminals free to harm other victims, cause innocent individuals to be denied their freedom, and result in many other problems – as well as increased costs.
We have also created the Crime Lab Project Foundation, a 501(c)3 which supports the charitable and educational activities of the CLP. We welcome members of the public who are concerned about these issues. We have sponsored educational programs and materials, alerted our members about legislation that will help labs, and created a Web site that gives information about the project. Almost every week, we send out a collection of links to news stories about forensic science through the CLP News, which helps our members to stay informed.
Also it says you are on the California Forensic Science Institute board. What is that and what do you do with it? I ask partially because while I interview about an author a week most aren't part of
such boards.
The CFSI is an arm of the fabulous new Hertzberg-Davis Laboratory – that's the formal name of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab, which serves the LAPD and LA County Sheriff's Department. It's on the California State University, Los Angeles campus. The organization helps with in-service training, career development, research, public awareness, and other educational aspects of the lab.
I'm surprised to hear that other authors you've talked to aren't involved in such boards. I know a number of authors who work hard to give back to their communities through charitable and other activities. Scott Turow, for example, has been very active in justice issues; Patricia Cornwell has made major donations to forensic science training facilities; Linda Fairstein has served on boards or forensic science organizations as well.
What have been the high and low points of your career?
I have had so many high points. Each time I hold the first copy of a new book, I can't believe my luck.
The whole process of imagining, writing, revising, and then having that reach the reader and — sometimes — hearing from those readers about their responses to what I've written — I'm still in awe of it. I do this for a living. That seems unbelievable.
I won't say that it has all been sunlight and roses. But I prefer to focus on the positive, and the truth is, the good that has come my way has far outweighed any negatives.
Which character in your new book is most like you?
I think of all of them as very separate from me, each as an individual in his or her own right.
What would you say to those writers who might be saying, "I like her
but how do I know I'll like this one?"
Take a chance. This question can be asked even of books within a writer's series, I suppose. So far, I find my readers are embracing this new book and enjoying it, for which I'm grateful.
Why do you think so many good writers - Robert Crais, you, T. Jefferson Parker, James Ellroy - come out of So. Cal?
While I have met good writers from everywhere, and I am honored to be named in the company you list in your question, I do believe that Southern California has a number of traits that are helpful to a writer of crime fiction. From the time of Chandler and probably before, crime writers have been exploring the dark side of our sunny paradise. The contrast between our glittering facade (Hollywood, for example, is not a city, but a district of Los Angeles) and the mean streets gives a writer lots of fodder.
But there is much more to Southern California's attractions for a writer than that, I think. The population here is large and diverse -- within the LA school district alone, over 150 languages are identified by students as their first language.
It's an exciting place, a place where one never knows what may happen next. The landscape itself is varied -- within a short distance of L.A., there are snowy mountains and forests, vast deserts, farmland, major harbors, and an island with non-native bison roaming on it (the descendents of buffalo brought to Catalina by crews filming a Western there some decades ago.)
There are many resources available for crime writers here, among them a supportive community of other writers. I love L.A.
No comments:
Post a Comment