Earlier this month,
SerialSleuths, Volume 1: Haunted
hit the Kindle shelves. The brainchild of Jen Blood, author of the Erin Solomon
mysteries, this short story collection features five indie writers and their
series detectives, myself included:
Nineteenth-century Sicilian midwife
Serafina Florio defies the local inspector by setting out to prove a connection
between a missing orphan haunted by a hideous specter and the murder of an
affluent family’s butler.
In northern Arizona’s Navajo
country, on-the-run heroine Kate Jones lands in trouble once again when she
stumbles into the world of mysterious sorcerers called Skinwalkers.
Reporter Daniel Diggins finds
himself stranded overnight with nineteen-year-old protégé Erin Solomon while
investigating a two hundred-year-old mass murder in a haunted mansion in Maine.
Enterprising actress Isobel Spice
faces down a theater ghost to learn the truth behind an actor’s mysterious
death during a performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s gothic operetta Ruddigore.
When multiple UFO sightings are
reported around town, it’s up to wry and ever-reasonable Tennessee police chief
Sam Jenkins to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Instead of battling a calculator to split the royalties
five ways, Jen suggested we donate the proceeds from the $1.99 e-book to
charity. We enthusiastically agreed and selected
Doctors Without Borders
as our beneficiary. On the eve of publication, I sat down (virtually) with my
colleagues to discuss the genesis of our collaboration and its charitable bent.
What gave you the
idea for the anthology?
Jen: I started
thinking about all these authors out there with characters I love, and how much
fun it would be to see those characters in a shorter form that might reach
beyond the pure mystery/thriller structure. Once I started thinking about the
possibilities—ghost stories, romance, holiday themes—I realized it could be
something truly fun to play around with. I didn’t see anyone else doing
anything like it, so I decided to make it happen myself.
How did you solicit
stories for Haunted?
Jen: I
hand-picked the contributors for this one based on books I’d read by the
authors and interviews I’d done with them on my website,
BloodWrites. I’ve been so
impressed with their professionalism, and this is a wonderful way to showcase
their work in a new venue. To me, these short stories exemplify not only the
tremendous writing talent of everyone involved, but also the fabulous
characters who carry their respective series.
What did you find
challenging, different, fun or tedious about working in a short form?
Wayne: The challenge for me came with the paranormal
“haunted” theme. I’ve written fifteen Sam Jenkins mystery novelettes, so
presenting a short police story is nothing new. But I spent a fair amount of
time thinking about how I could take a problem generally referred to the police
and give it an “otherworldly” tint. I’m not much of a sci-fi or horror guy, so
I asked my wife for help. She gave me the basic idea for that potentially
unexplained, spooky ingredient.
Susan: I try to
limit the mystery to one murder, but also have my characters grow. Serafina’s
got to grow along her trajectory, which is pretty easy because (don’t tell her
I said this) she’s got issues, but the other characters need to grow, too. I
had a plot in mind, a first and a last scene pretty well thought out, and the
characters just worked mighty hard and wrote the in-between stuff for me: it
was their growth that created the plot.
Joanne: I had
to decide which of my secondary characters to include. Isobel is an office temp
as well as an actress, but there’s no reason for James, her temp agent and my
other POV character, to accompany her on a theater gig. Since she’s doing an
operetta, it made the most sense for her tenor friend Sunil to go, so that’s
who packed his suitcase.
DV: I love
writing a series character (I must, since I'm deep into a second series J).
Getting to know their foibles and strengths, knowing their personalities so
well, their stories practically write themselves.
Jen: The hardest
part was figuring out at which point in the series the story should take place
to make it interesting for both the readers who know Erin’s story and those
just being introduced to the characters. Initially, I wrote the short as having
taken place after the second novel in the series, but realized that was just
completely the wrong way to bring people into Erin’s life. The most fun part by
far was exploring different facets of the characters’ relationship and playing
with a new writing form.
How did you get the
idea for your story?
DV: A few years
back while on a lone cross-country trip, I stopped on the side of the road in
Monument Valley intending to sleep in my car so I could wake up before sunrise
and shoot some photos (I was an itinerant photographer back then). I had an
intense experience that night, involving what I learned later was a Skinwalker,
and have never forgotten how frightening and deliciously intriguing the whole
thing was.
Wayne: When you work as a cop for twenty years in an
overcrowded and always busy area, you encounter plenty of weird people and
strange incidents. I knew a real character like Willie Joe Ballantyne. And getting
complaints that sounded like an episode of the Twilight Zone happened all the
time. In this case, I coupled three real incidents together and added an
element native to the Smoky Mountains—and voilà.
Jen: The story is based on a mass murder that happened in Maine in
1806, so a lot of the details are true: a father went after his family one
night and murdered seven of his eight children and his wife, then killed
himself with a straight razor. I know—gruesome. From there I looked at ways to
make the story resonate more with Erin, who is still coming to terms with an
alleged cult suicide. I altered the details of the true crime a bit and changed
the setting to include Freeport Maine’s Stone House, a gorgeous estate where
the University of Southern Maine holds its workshops and readings for their
Creative Writing MFA. I love that place, so it was great fun imagining being
back there in this very creepy situation.
Joanne: I was
already planning to use the famous ghost scene in Ruddigore as a springboard for the fourth book in my series, but I
couldn’t resist trotting it out when Jen asked. I’m not sure whether I’ll let
it stand or spin out the idea into a novel—with a different ending, of course.
Susan: I had my characters in mind, especially Teo
who is new to the series. He is haunted for many different reasons and needs to
work out his pain. I happened to be thinking about Mahler, and how a circus
sound runs through much of his music—I love the image of life as a circus.
Have you ever had a
ghostly/paranormal experience?
Joanne: The
experience Isobel has seeing a person sitting on the edge of the stage actually
happened to me. I was singing a solo in a Sondheim revue Off Broadway at the
Harold Clurman Theater, and there was a man watching me. I couldn’t bring
myself to look at him head on, but I was really annoyed when I came offstage.
There was no one there, of course, but later the theater manager asked, without
my having mentioned it, “Was he wearing a brown plaid shirt?” When I said yes,
he told me it was the ghost of a director who’d worked there a lot, who had
been sighted by other actors before me. I just hope he liked my singing!
Jen: My family
has a long history of close encounters, particularly at my grandparents’ old
house. Rocking chairs would spontaneously start rocking in the night, household
items would mysteriously migrate from one place to another, and occasionally
you’d even see a shadowy figure holding a candle roaming the halls. Lots of
creepiness.
Susan: I
believe those who have gone before us walk the earth, and most of the time
we’re just too stupid to see them. But there have been desolate moments in my
life where they’ve reached out and revealed themselves, and it has been a
phenomenally healing moment. One of my favorite places is New York’s Lower East
Side. The streets and the tenements are totally haunted. I love to think of the
people who lived there, the overcrowding, their general feeling of dislocation,
but also their guts, all of them still giving to us with their striving and
their energy and their wisdom.
DV: The
aforementioned experience in Monument Valley. Totally freaky.
Wayne: I’ve met quite a few people who I thought
might have come from outer space, but, no, not in the traditional sense.
What are your thoughts
about donating the proceeds to charity?
Susan: To make
a story and, in a sense, to give it to people so that it goes to work for
them—it’s far more personal than just sending money.
DV: I've always
been as much of a philanthropist as my pocketbook would allow. This is a
fantastic way to draw attention to and support a valuable resource, with the
added benefit of introducing new readers to my work and the work of the other
authors. I think the idea is brilliant and may be a trend in indie publishing—thanks
to Jen.
Wayne: I’m happy to let my ego reap the figurative
proceeds by seeing another Sam Jenkins mystery in print and sending the cash to
a good charity. After I had a few novelettes under my belt and before my first
novel was published, I donated one quarter’s royalty check to The National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund when they were building a monument in
Washington DC to police officers and federal agents killed in the line of duty.
I’ve got a few pension checks coming in each month; I can afford to give
something to someone who needs a little help.
Joanne: I perform
with an amazing theater group, the
Blue Hill Troupe,
which has an 89-year history of donating its net proceeds to New York City
charities. We produce a musical and a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta every
year, so for me, making art to make a difference is a happily familiar
experience.
Jen: I love the
fact that all of these authors have come together to donate to a good cause,
and Doctors Without Borders is such an amazing organization that I’m thrilled
to do whatever I can to chip in.
How has it been
collaborating with other writers in your genre?
Jen: The
collaboration aspect of this was such a lot of fun. Writing is generally such a
solitary practice that it was nice to connect with these authors in a new way
and make the process more of a group effort for a change.
Joanne:
Everybody has been very generous and open, and really, there’s no better vote
of confidence than being welcomed into a project by your peers.
DV: I enjoyed the
process immensely and am looking forward to submitting work to be considered
for the next anthology. It was great fun, and everyone's input helped make the
project better.
Susan: It’s
really wonderful, and working on a single theme is close to writing a story
together. I think the amazing grace of social networking is the ability to meet
my colleagues from all over the world. This project takes networking into new
territory.
Wayne: I’m in the company of four beautiful women,
what’s not to like? And they all write extremely well. So I’m looking forward
to reading their contributions to this anthology. But since this is an e-book,
I’d better get out there and buy a Kindle.
What's next for
Serial Sleuths?
Jen: I’m already
accepting submissions for the next volume, a collection of romantic shorts for
the Valentine’s Day season due out in February. Right now I’m working to
determine which non-profit will benefit from sales. 100% of net proceeds from every
volume of
Serial Sleuths will be
donated to a different organization. Those interested in submitting a story can
find guidelines at
http://erinsolomon.com/serial-sleuths/.
The deadline is December 15, 2012.
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