Noir Friday

by Alexandra Sokoloff

One place you will NOT find me today is in a mall. Instead, we're having Noir Friday here on Murderati.

So I've professed my undying love for Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, many a time on this blog, but I do have a serious beef with this year’s line up.

The noir panel was all men.

I mean, really? In 2012?  When Megan Abbott and Kelli Stanley and Cornelia Read are attending? When Christa Faust is not only in the room, but up for an Anthony?

I guess all the women were stuck in binders or something.

(Kudos to the one panelist, John Rector, who knows a little about noir himself,  who jumped to point this absence out.)

Bouchercon was over a month ago and this noir sans femme thing is still rankling me, so I decided to blog about it.

 This is also partly because I was asked (multiple times) to take part in the latest author blog hop, The Next Big Thing, in which authors post their answers to a set of ten questions about their latest books on their blogs and then tag five more authors for the next week, and possibly Kevin Bacon is involved, and then we take over the world. 

So my horror/thriller author pal, the wildly dark, or darkly wild, Sarah Pinborough, tagged me two weeks ago, ad I did my ten question interview on Huntress Moon last week - here -  and now it’s my turn to tag five authors and link to their interviews this week. 

And because I am still seething over the noir panel, I chose a theme of fantastic dark female characters, and tagged my authors accordingly:

- Michelle Gagnon is a thriller writer who has recently brought her powerhouse female perspective and adrenaline-charged storytelling to the YA thriller genre with her latest, Don't Turn Around. Noa is a terrific tenage role model; I hope we'll see more of her.  Read her Q & A here

- Christa Faust knows noir backward and forward, and has virtually created a whole new direction for the genre and its characters. Angel Dare is an alt heroine who brings OUT everything that noir anti-heroines like Gloria Grahame were doing in a coded sense, and Butch Fatale takes the "two-fisted detective" archetype to a new meaning.  Read her Q & A here

 - Wallace Stroby. As Anyone who reads this blog knows, I am VERY picky about men writing "strong women", and on the dark side, Stroby is as good as it getts, both shattering and reversing noir gender stereotypes. His Crissa Stone series presents a thief who doesn't just hold her own, but leads and controls motley collections of male gangsters. And I'm even more fond of Stroby's Sara Cross, who mirrors the classic noir paradigm; she's a truly good woman whose near-fatal flaw is a tragically bad man.

in the Charlie series is set in New Orleans! http://zoesharp.com/  

- Zoe Sharp needs no introduction here. As we know, she actually DOES write a kick-ass female lead, Charlie Fox, who works as a bodyguard and makes the physical reality of her job perfectly plausible (I've learned a lot about self-defense from these two...) while she battles uniquely feminine psychological demons. And her new installment in the Charlie series is set in New Orleans! http://zoesharp.com/

(Right, that’s only four.  I can count, at least up to ten, but getting authors to do anything on deadline is like heding cats.)

I really encourage you all to click through to their interviews, especially for the fun question on who they would cast in a film or TV version of their books. Always a good exercise for any writer, you might get inspired!

So not everyone above is writing noir, exactly. Stroby, definitely. Faust has a lot of noir influence but I’d say her work is more like female-driven pulp, with a strong emphasis on camp humor, too. Sharp and Gagnon write dark and intense, but it’s not noir any more than I’m writing noir, which is not at all.

I’m also no way a noir scholar, and let’s face it, the lines are blurry (Is it noir? Pulp? Neo-noir? Just a good old B movie?) and I’d like to leave the question open for David - I mean everyone - to jump in and define it for us in their own words.  Personally, I know it when I see it!  No, really - for me, the key difference is that, for example, in Zoe’s and Michelle’s story worlds, there is the possibility and even probability of redemption, while in the classic world of noir, there is none, or very little. Doom and fate figure predominantly.

I liked  John Rector's capsule summation on that B'Con panel: “Noir pushes people to extreme circumstances and there is no happy ending. The hero/ine is fighting the good fight... but loses.”

So I guess the personal line I draw between “noir” and “dark” is about that possibility of redemption and at least temporary triumph. You can win the battle even when you know the war rages on. In my own books, there’s plenty of dark, but not noir’s overwhelming sense of inexorable fate; my own themes are more about the people caught up in a spiritual battle between good and evil. And no matter how dark it gets, there’s always the presence of good. 

In fact, some of my favorite dark thriller writers: Denise Mina, Tana French, Mo Hayder, Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid, seem to me more fixed on exploring that spiritual evil than fate. As dark as they get, I wouldn’t call what they’re writing “noir”, because it IS more spiritual, they’re dealing with a more cosmic evil.  Or maybe the evil they depict is so rooted in a feminine consciousness and feminine fears and demons that it doesn’t FEEL like noir. But that could be me splitting hairs, you tell me! That’s what this blog is about.

And there’s another element that I consider classic noir:

Threatening women.

Threatening to men, anyway, apparently! 

But the presence of shadowy – or maybe the word I mean is shaded – women is key. For my money some of the most interesting women ever put to page or celluoid are noir femmes, and part of that is because quite a few noir writers and filmmakers and actresses actually made a point of exploring the dark sides of women.

And noir takes on significantly different meaning when the leading roles are played by women instead of men. These days Sara Gran, Megan Abbott, Gillian Flynn, Christa Faust and Wallace Stroby are all doing really exciting work genre-bending by putting women in the protagonist’s seat and then absolutely committing to what it would look like and feel like and mean for a woman to take that lead in circumstances we don't usually see women in.

I was enthralled by Sara Gran’s Dope, which explores a noir standard, addiction, and the noir paradigm of the tarnished white knight committed to a hopeless and destructive person - all from a completely feminine point of view. Likewise Wallace Stroby’s Sara Cross (in Gone Til November) is a committed knight... lawman... lawperson... who very nearly falls because of a fatally seductive man, and any woman who’s ever been tempted will understand her struggle. 

Gran has created another classic yet entirely unique noir heroine in her latest, Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead; I can’t think of another noir character so reliant on my favorite force in the world: synchronicity. But also, back to addiction: is that synchronicity drug-induced?  Claire’s pot habit might be useful juice for her detecting instincts, but one gets the feeling it’s playing hell with her personal life.

Megan Abbott layers a specifically feminine addiction, the pathological narcissism that anorexia can be, into her latest, Dare Me - to chilling effect. And I’ve never seen anyone else portray the feminine counterpart of criminally sociopathic male athletes, but you better believe these cheerleaders are exactly that.

Abbott, Gran and Flynn (in Sharp Objects) are also sometimes writing female protagonists battling female antagonists, with men relegated to secondary roles. I find it a deliriously welcome reversal of the traditional order.

I suspect it's easier, or really I mean more natural, for women to achieve a genre bend with noir and thrillers because we're working against a very entrenched male tradition. If we're just fully ourselves, it's going to look new to the genre.

But men can get there. I think Dennis Lehane did a brilliant genre bend with his male characters in Mystic River by going places that men don't usually go in their own psyches  - they'd rather assign that scary stuff to female characters to distance themselves from the experience instead of having to put themselves into those vulnerable positions. Which  personally I think is cheating.

And as Stroby is proving, consciously committing to the physical and emotional reality of a complex female protagonist is possible for a male author, too.

By looking at crime through a specifically feminine lens, these authors are creating a new genre. I don’t know what to call it, but I know I love it.

I know there are more of these authors and books out there, and I want to hear about them, so let’s have it. Who are your favorite dark female leads – and villains? Which authors in our genre do you think are portraying ALL the facets of women, black, white, and every shade of gray in between?

And yes, what is your definition of noir?  I'd love to know.

- Alex

Christmas Eve(sdropping)

by JT Ellison

Well, Merry Christmas Eve! I don't know about you, but I'm taking a bit of a break. A few days of no work, and all play. Of wrapping and cookies and family. My blood relatives, that is, I feel like all of you are family too. If you celebrate, may I wish you a very merry Christmas. And to all - a brilliant New Year!

Two of my favorite writers have new books out, and I thought it would be nice to share them with you. Libby Fischer Hellman and I go way back - we've run into each other at conferences for years. And Michelle Gagnon and I debuted together at Mira back in 2007. Libby's new book, SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE, has been garnering praise from all quarters. Michelle's newest thriller, KIDNAP AND RANSOM, is ripped from the headlines of the drug wars in Mexico. These are two seriously talented chicks, my friends.

           

I owed them both a gust spot here at Murderati, so I thought it would be fun to have a chat between the three of us. We managed to cover a lot of ground. Without further ado, here is the chick chat.

 This is now a group chat. Libby Hellmann has joined. Michelle Gagnon has joined.

JT: We're all here!

Michelle: Yay! Just an FYI, there might be a few pauses if I have to deal with a testy 4 year old. I forgot school would already be out. But I'll do my best to keep them brief.

Libby: I love technology when it works! Hi, Michelle.

Michelle:  Hi Libby!

JT: I thought we could talk a bit about each of your books, what's going on in your writing lives, how you're coping with all the crazy changes (if you're seeing any on your end, our main bookstore just closed)

Michelle: I just saw that the B&N on Fisherman's Wharf is closing, so it's not just the indies...

JT: Scary

Michelle: So scary. Ed at M is for Mystery gave the most depressing State of the Industry talk ever at the Xmas party.

Libby: I think the B&Ns and Borders are next on the list of dinosaurs. Actually, I think indies might, if they're still around, be okay. There are still a lot of readers out there who want the direction and guidance of indie booksellers.

Michelle: I wonder if the new Google books app will help them?

Libby: Especially now that Google is making their ebook store available to indies... Great minds, Michelle...

Michelle: Ah, Libby, great minds... lol

Libby: Jinx

JT: Will ebooks from Google save the indies? Or will they be the place we go to get all nostalgic fro the ways things used to be?

Libby: Both.

Michelle: I think possibly both. I'm not entirely clear on how the Indies get paid via Google.

Libby: I'm not sure of the profit structure between Google and indies, and frankly I'm not sure if there might not be a backlash against ereaders sometime soon...

Michelle: I think that part of the problem is that as everything moves online, online groups will fill the void indies now occupy in terms of finding lesser known books. Wow, Libby, we really do think alike!

Libby: We do. It's scary. The issue about moving online.... Here's what I still don't get. How will people KNOW where to go to find lesser known authors? I think it's still TBD

JT: Are you both purposefully seeking out new authors through the indies to help counteract the ebook revolution?

Michelle: I don't know. I have to say I never would have heard of Lenny Kleinfeld's fantastic debut if it weren't for the Amazon group Libby and I both subscribe to. Because it was published by 5 Star, few indies knew about it either, even Lenny's local bookstore. I have to say, most of the new authors I've discovered have been online or via word of mouth. Sad but true.

Libby: They are, btw, some of the most knowledgeable people I've ever communicated with. But even the most popular thread for us only has 300 plus members on it.

Michelle: I still think the internet is a fad.

JT: LOL. I just read Hamlet's Blackberry, and Powell talks about how in times of great change, there's always this feeling that things won't last. Like the written word during Plato's time. It was just catching on, but Socrates thought it was a disaster and wouldn't last. I think that's what's happening with ebooks.

Libby: Boy, would I like to believe that, Michelle, but I'm not convinced. I'm looking at the promotion I'm doing for STNOF and I have to say that 80 per cent of it is online.

JT: I agree.

Michelle: Almost all of the promotion for my last thriller was done online. Although the only personal appearances I made were at independent bookstores.

Libby: Me too. And a few libraries.

Michelle: Exactly

JT: Interesting. Any particular reason you didn't hit chains?

Michelle: Honestly, there are more indies here than chain stores. And I haven't had great luck touring the chains. I always end up sitting at a table directing people to the bathroom.

Libby: For me it's easy. I'm with a small publisher and getting them to carry my books is like the myth of Sisyphus. They just won't do it.

Michelle: I think that people aren't as likely here (in San Francisco) to attend events at the chain stores.

JT: I've had the exact opposite issue. Many indies haven't carried me in the past, but the chains sold me like mad.

Libby: Which is one reason I like internet promotion. Every book, every author, starts out with equal footing online.

Michelle: Interesting...

JT: Yeah. You're both on ebook, right?

Michelle: Yes, on Kindle but not the iBookstore yet.

Libby: Yes... all my books are on Kindle and Smashwords and the other etailers.

JT: Are you seeing any uptick in sales?

Libby: Absolutely. But it it's the result of conscious ebook promotion on my part.

Michelle: At least on Amazon, my ebook sales outpaced physical book sales three to one for the latest release. It was actually pretty staggering.

Libby: Wow. That's impressive, Michelle!

JT: Holy crap.

Michelle: I know. And I have to say, those ebooks are a godsend in terms of the backlist.

Libby: Actually, that's happening with STNOF too, although it's only been out a few weeks.

Michelle: I really think those Amazon discussion groups make a big difference.

JT: I haven't gotten my ebook numbers for my October release, you're talking about your November release, right? Kidnap and Ransom?

Michelle: Yes - but I use Novelrank to keep track of Amazon sales. Supposed to be fairly accurate.

Libby: They must be, Michelle. Or something.

JT: Novelrank? I've never heard of it. Will be signing up for THAT asap.

Libby: I don't know Novelrank.

Michelle: It's amazing. And sadly addictive. It tracks all of your books and estimates sales based on changing rankings minute by minute.

Libby: Well, we can add that to the list. Have you seen the new stuff on Author Central at Amazon? Amazing.

Michelle: Yes, I love that we can finally access Bookscan numbers. Amazon must have paid a fortune for that.

JT: Love that. It's so nice actually getting a snapshot. I use Publisher's Alley, but that's just Baker & Taylor.

Libby: I heard a rumor they may be buying it.

JT: Amazon buying Bookscan?

Michelle: Really?

Libby: And I heard Bookscan is only 25% of your total sales.

JT: I've heard 60%

Libby: Yes. That's what I hear.

Michelle: Much less for ours, actually- have you found the same, JT?

Libby: Gee, are you surprised?

JT: So Libby, you go first. Tell us about your new book, SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE, and the fabulous new PW review you just got!

Libby: Well, the review called it a "first rate stand-alone thriller". Not that I’ve memorized it or anything. It went on to say it was "insightful and fascinating..." I can live with that.

JT: A fitting description, of both the book, and the author. Michelle, you reviewed Libby. What do you think, does PW capture it?

Michelle: Absolutely- it's a fantastic read!

Libby: It's the story of past and present and how the repercussions of the past still influence events in the present.

Michelle: Loved it.

Libby: Thanks, Michelle. I'm so happy you did. I was really, really nervous about this one... because it's a standalone. My first. And because there are more characters than I usually have in my novels.

Michelle: So different writing a standalone, isn't it? My new book is a standalone. You did a wonderful job of developing even the more minor characters, though, Libby.

Libby: I really like the freedom of a standalone.

JT: Oooh, talk about that. What's different?

Libby: You can plot the character development more carefully and not have to think about future arcs, for one thing. You can also have incredible obstacles thrust at your protagonists and not have to worry if you're "using them all up"...

Michelle: I've discovered that it took some time to really hear the voices. Starting the series books where I knew at least two of the characters really well was like starting on first base. That's true about future arcs, though. And about "using them up."

Libby: That's true Michelle... but for me it was liberating not to have to write in Ellie or Georgia's voice.

Michelle: It was a nice break. In some ways felt like I'd spent the past six years at a continuous cocktail party with a group of people who I largely loved. But six years is a long time to be with anybody.

Libby: I can relate. The other thing I love about the standalone format is that I can make the characters anyone they want to be. They don't necessarily start out being heroic... or assertive... or even noble. I don't have to worry about their interior make-up. Their actions on the page will show readers what they're made of. And then they're gone! Poof... I don't have to deal with them anymore.

Michelle: I've been writing a lot slower - partly because I'm not on a strict deadline, so I have the luxury of time, but also because I want to give the story time to simmer. With the series books, even though I don't plot them out in advance, I always kind of knew what was coming. With the new book, I've constantly been surprised. You did have some very noble characters in STNOF though, Libby. I liked that by and large everyone's motivations were very clear.

Libby: Thanks for your comments, Michelle, about the FIRE characters. What I love about your writing, Michelle, is your relentless sense of pacing. At least in KIDNAP AND RANSOM, there wasn't a wasted page. I don't know how you did it! How did you come up with all the obstacles and permutations?

Michelle: I actually ended up trimming about 10,000 words off the first draft.

Libby: You're kidding.

Michelle: Thanks for saying so - I did aim for that with K&R. I tend to overwrite, then go back and get rid of any extraneous scenes

JT: Michelle, tell us about KIDNAP AND RANSOM, your new thriller.

Michelle: So basically the idea for K&R came to me when I was researching US/Mexico border issues for The Gatekeeper. I stumbled across a story on the recent kidnapping of the world's foremost hostage negotiator.

Libby: Irony of ironies...

Michelle: And I was struck by the irony of the hero becoming the victim (which ended up as the tagline on the cover) The most ironic part was that he was in Mexico to give a speech at a conference on the recent uptick in kidnappings. Yet oddly there was no ransom demand, and none of the drug cartels claimed responsibility. So K&R is about the attempt to rescue him, and a (fictionalized) reason for why he might have been taken in the first place.

Libby: Did he ever turn up in reality?

Michelle: Not yet. It's been two years this month.

Libby: He's gone.

Michelle: I think so. It's been terrible for his family not to know for certain. I received an email about a week after the book came out from another guy who had been at a restaurant with him the night he was taken.

JT: Michelle, does that make you uncomfortable, being right in the mix with a crime, or did it enhance the story?

Michelle: A bit. I received a few other emails too regarding the negotiator. However I (hopefully) made it very clear in my author's note that I write fiction, and this was not intended to reflect him in any way, shape, or form. It's just where the idea originated. I like starting with something grounded in reality, however. I've done that to some degree with each book.

Libby: Me too. I do that also.

Michelle: And Libby's latest is all about that. What I loved was learning more about a time period that I didn't know very well.

Libby: I lived through it. Many of the scenes actually happened.

Michelle: That's amazing! Where did the young Native American boy story come from?

JT: background, please!

Libby: That was pure fiction. I knew I needed something to tie Alix and Dar together, and the boy served his purpose. Background: Parts 1 and 3 take place in the present. Part 2 starts in 1968 and goes thru 1970 in Chicago.

The protagonist in Part 1, Lila Hilliard, is a 30s something professional who finds out her parents are not the people she thought they were. Part 2 is the backstory of who her parents really were and how they were all connected. It's basically about 6 people who lived together in a commune after meeting at the Democratic Convention. Part 3 is what Lila does as a result of knowing her parents' history.

Michelle: It was a fascinating story, very intricate and yet really well woven.

Libby: Thank you, Michelle.

JT: I can't wait to read it! It sounded fascinating when we were talking back in Nashville in October. So let's talk a bit about the community. Best places to meet and mingle with writers?

Libby: Google chat?

Michelle: Good one, Libby! Bouchercon, hands down. Facebook too, for the day to day. I have to put myself on a Facebook diet. If I had a real job, I'd probably spend 75% of the day at the water cooler. It's a problem.

JT: That's the fun of the conferences, I think. The essence of being in a huge office building with all your peers.

Libby: Actually, I'm not so high on big conferences anymore. Sure, you can say hi, how are you... but it's fairly superficial. I learned more about you JT in Nashville than any other conference that we've both attended. So I guess I like the smaller venues.

JT: I like the small ones too. It's easier to get to know people.

Libby: What gets to me at conferences is the need to be on all the time. I'd rather chat informally, either on line or on Skype... or, now that I have my iPhone, Facetimes!

Michelle: Oh, how is Facetime? I haven't used it yet.

Libby: Facetime is amazing! My daughter and I use it all the time... like of like a mini Skype.

Michelle: I haven't been to a lot of smaller conferences. Aside from Book Passage in Marin, which is amazing.

Libby: I’ve heard. What do you have to do to get invited? Sell your first-born?

Michelle: Pretty much. They gave mine back, though.

JT: Favorite book you read this year (aside from each others, of course)

Michelle: FAITHFUL PLACE by Tana French

Libby: That's a tough one. Probably Daniel Woodrell’s WINTER’S BONE. I loved it. Also enjoyed SAVAGES by Don Winslow.

Michelle: I haven’t heard of Woodrell! (See how useful the online word of mouth can be?)

JT: There’s a new movie made out of Woodrell's. I just bought the book, It looks...deep.

Libby: The movie was beautiful too. Really well done.

Michelle: Which movie?

Libby: WINTER’S BONE

Michelle: Great, thanks

Libby: It's set in Appalachia, in the middle of meth labs and extreme poverty.

Michelle: These are a few of my favorite things...

JT: Any predictions or resolutions for 2011?

Michelle: I always make the same resolution - to learn one new thing.

Libby: Stop procrastinating. I'm a wizard at it.

Michelle: This year...back handsprings. Because that window is surely closing for me. Oh, and less procrastinating on Facebook.

Libby: I used to be much more disciplined in my writing. Not any more.

JT: Why does that seem to happen? I've had that issue too. Is it because we're stretched so thin across the online world, having to do marketing and promotion, that we have less time?

Michelle: I've been trying to just shut off my internet connection when I'm writing, because it's far too easy when the writing lulls to think, "I wonder if any new email came in?" Or, "What's happening on FB?" And then I'm off and gone...

Libby: I think so. And there are so many worthy distractions. FB, Twitter and all the links that follow... online reviews... I have to shut it off. Otherwise, I'm just fooling myself.

JT: Freedom. Works like a dream. I use it religiously.

Libby: Btw, JT, your husband hit the nail on the hammer with the elections.

Michelle: ?

JT: I know. Michelle, he's a pollster.

Libby: See how ADD I've become?

Michelle: Exactly, we're rapidly becoming an ADD nation

JT: Read Hamlet's Blackberry. Truly fabulous look at how this has happened so many times in history.

Libby: oops.. it's the hammer on the nail. Or something.

Michelle: Link?

JT: http://www.williampowers.com/hamlets-blackberry

Libby: See, I've learned two new things today... Novelrank and Hamlet's Blackberry. I'm good for the next hour.

Michelle: Thanks! All I can say is don't get involved with Angry Birds. You'll lose hours every day

Libby: So I hear.

JT: Random - do you get dressed in the morning to write, or are you slovenly like me and work in yoga pants? And what's your writing schedule like?

Libby: I LOVE days when I don’t have to shower or get dressed and all I have to do is write. Or pretend to. I write in my bathrobe half the time.

Michelle: Totally slovenly. To the point where the UPS guy thinks our place is a halfway house.

JT: Mine too.

Libby: I won't even answer the door...

Michelle: It tends to be the only human interaction I get most days, so I make the most of it.

JT: LOL. Don't you work in an office though, Michelle?

Michelle: Not anymore. Honestly, I get less work done when there are people around. I need total silence and a fridge nearby. I usually exercise first, and deal with minutiae in the mornings. Then I start writing after lunch.

JT: That's my schedule too. I can't do the coffee shop thing, I need solitude.

Libby: I try to write fresh material in the morning. Even if it's only half done. Then I can spend the rest of the day refining it. My best writing sessions are when I set a timer for 45 minutes. I don't answer email, the phone, the door, or anything. I just write. Not edit. Just write. Sometimes I feel like a monkey typing drivel. But eventually something worthwhile emerges. That may be all I do for the day, but putting it in shape takes the rest of my writing time.

Michelle: That's a great idea, Libby. I've heard there's actually a program that will prevent you from accessing email etc for periods of time

Libby: Then at the end of 45 minutes I give myself permission to check email, etc.

JT: I do that with Freedom. Set it for 60 minutes. Write my tail off. Then take a 5 minute break to check email. You can easily write 3K a day that way

Libby: Really? That much?

JT: Yeah. Writing, not editing.

Michelle: Signing up for it right after this. Oh, and after I check my email. And Facebook. And play a Lexulous move.

JT: It's a great tool, if you use it.

Michelle: I aim for 2000-2500/day. About eight-ten pages. And I've decided that rather than feel guilty about it, I'll just try to get as much done whenever that window opens up. Sometimes that means working at night

JT: Do you write every day, 5 days a week?

Michelle: I try, but that's simply not always possible.

JT: Well, you have a toddler. That's a challenge to creativity, right?

Michelle: Preschooler now. Great, but challenging. Plus I'm trying to get her into Kindergarten right now, which is a part time job in and of itself.

JT: I'm not up on the kid lingo

Libby: I try for 5 days a week. But my kids are grown and out of the house.

Michelle: That must make it easier...

Libby: Easier, and when I don’t do it, guiltier too.

Libby: OK. So that's my resolution. A 45 minute session every day. Whether it ends up 3K words or not.

JT: I can't even imagine. What are we missing here?

Libby: I don't know, but if you find you are missing things, just let us know by email....

Michelle: Absolutely- email is the easiest way to reach me. And I'm around this week.

Libby: Boy, now you have to make this seem like a logical, intelligent conversation. I'm sorry for you...

Michelle: This was great, JT. Thanks so much again.

Libby: It's been fun. Really. Have a great holiday, ladies.

Michelle: I know, I was thinking the exact same thing Libby! Happy holidays!!!

JT: Have a fabulous week, ladies, and Happy New Year! Don't forget to stop by Murderati and answer questions Friday! xoxox

Libby: I’m so glad this worked... it was my first time using Google chat!

Michelle: Definitely. See you both then... xoxoxo

Libby: Will do, JT. See youse both.

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With the release of SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE, Libby Fischer Hellman will have published seven novels by the end of 2010. About her fifth novel, EASY INNOCENCE, the Chicago Tribune said, "There's a new no-nonsense detective in town... Tough and smart enough to give even the legendary V.I. Warshawski a run for her money." They were referring to Georgia Davis, Libby Hellmann's PI protagonist in the thriller. Davis returned, paired with amateur sleuth Ellie Foreman, in Hellmann's sixth crime fiction thriller, DOUBLEBACK (2009), which was selected as a Great Lakes Booksellers' Association "2009 Great Read."

Michelle Gagnon is a former modern dancer, bartender, dog walker, model, personal trainer, and Russian supper club performer. Her bestselling thrillers have been published in North America, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Australia. BONEYARD was a finalist for a 2009 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She lives in San Francisco with her family.



Wine of the Week: Hot Spiced Christmas Wine

Ingredients

• 2 oranges
• 2 (750 milliliter) bottles red wine
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle white wine
• 1 (3 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, or to taste
• 1/4 cup brandy (optional)

Directions

1. Use a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the oranges in strips, being careful to remove only the orange part, leaving the pith behind. Then, juice the oranges into a large, heavy-bottomed pot.
2. Pour the red wine and white wine into the pot with the orange juice. Place the strips of orange zest, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and brown sugar into the pot with the wine mixture; stir to dissolve the sugar.
3. Cover and heat over medium-high until heated through, but not boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and heat for an hour or longer to bring all of the flavors together. Adjust the sweetness by adding more brown sugar, as necessary. Strain and serve hot with a splash of brandy, if desired.

Please welcome Michelle Gagnon!

Today I'm - thrilled is the word - to welcome one of my favorite author colleagues, sister thrillerchick Michelle Gagnon.   Michelle is not only a kick-ass writer, she's a hell of a good time at conferences - from 8-hour bike rides through the Alaskan wilderness to truly appalling after-midnight karaoke (and all on the same day, mind you...), Michelle is about the total experience, and her take-no-prisoners approach to life is reflected in her page-turning, keep-you-up-all-night books.

Alex:  The Gatekeeper is the latest in your Special Agent Kelly Jones series, after The Tunnels and The Boneyard.   What’s this one about?

Michelle:  The Gatekeeper has two parallel storylines-one for each of my main characters. FBI Special Agent Kelly Jones starts off in Phoenix, where a right wing Senator is found brutally murdered in front of the State Capitol building. The method of his dismemberment points to a gang that might have been angered by his anti-immigration stance; although Kelly suspects there’s more to it, since it all seems a bit too pat. Meanwhile, Jake Riley is trying to track down the sixteen year-old daughter of a nuclear physicist who has been kidnapped. The ransom demand is not monetary, however- it comes at a cost that no American can afford.
 
Alex:  That’s kind of a big departure in arena and style of thriller for you.   What possessed you?

Michelle:  The initial idea for the story came to me while I was having dinner with a veteran FBI agent. Ho said that he thought it was more likely that there would be another terrorist attack along the lines of the Oklahoma City bombing, rather than another 9/11. Hate groups have doubled their membership in the past decade, but after 9/11 most of the resources allocated to monitoring them were diverted to watching foreigners on US soil. So: twice as many people, but no one is keeping track of them. I found that terrifying, especially when I started to dig deeper and discovered that one source of low level radioactive waste (the kind the could be incorporated into a dirty bomb) is lost, stolen, or abandoned, EVERY WEEK in this country. That all ended up coalescing into the plotline.

Alex: Yike, that is terrifying.  Perfect story seed!

This is something I've always meant to ask you, so just pretend we're in the bar at Thrillerfest or Bouchercon and have been drinking for a while, now.   (I know it's a stretch...)   You have about as eclectic a background as I do – modern dancer, dogwalker, personal trainer… So what the hell made you start writing to begin with?   And I want real details.   What was the "click"?

Michelle:  I’ve always written- in fact, for years I made a living as a freelance journalist. I worked on fiction on the side, mostly short stories. In 2000 I set out to write a novel. My original idea was to write a college coming of age story- but I kept stalling out twenty pages into the book. One night I was typing away, and suddenly (inadvertently) killed off my main character. I decided to see what happened next- and THE TUNNELS spun out from there. I finished the first draft in a little over a month.

Alex:  Okay, now I'm going to ask you the question I always get:  Why are there so few women out there writing thrillers successfully?  

Michelle:  I actually think that recently, there have been a lot of truly impressive entries in the crime fiction field written by women. Tana French, Gillian Flynn, and Chelsea Cain are masters of dark storylines and intricate plots, and they have all proven that you don’t have to go by your initials anymore to get men to read your books. However, in terms of true thrillers, there is still a deficit. I’m not sure why, but it’s an interesting question. And even when awards are handed out (with the exception of your win for best short story last year, Alex!) I find it depressing that women tend to be underrepresented in the thriller category.

Alex:  I completely agree – I have many more favorite women thriller authors than men, and yet you look at the awards lists…  and reviews… depressing is the word.

So in a vaguely related way, here's a dreaded topic - marketing and promotion.   What are you doing these days that feels like it's working for you?   What have you given up on?

Michelle:  I honestly wish I knew. I’ve done something a bit different with each book, and I can never tell what works and what doesn’t. I think that especially for a mass market paperback, what matters most is distribution-if your publisher gets behind the book, and puts a lot of copies out there, it will sell well. I don’t honestly know that anything a writer does makes much of a dent when you’re talking about a five figure print run. However, this time around I am running a drawing for a MacBook laptop computer. So far I’ve received a lot of entries, so it seems to be working. (By the way, the contest runs through Dec 31st- more entry details are available on my website).

Alex: Does blogging actually work?   Enquiring minds want to know.

Michelle:  I know that by blogging on The Kill Zone with six other talented writers, we’ve built up a shared fan base of people who might not have discovered us otherwise. I think it’s a great blog, with lots of excellent posts on craft, marketing, and the life of a writer. Plus we’ll be selling a collection of short stories on Amazon soon, which we hope will bring more people to the blog.

Alex: What's the next book?

Michelle:  The next book is tentatively entitled “Racing the Devil” (although I suspect I’ll have to change that- I usually do). It takes place in and around Mexico City, and is based on the real life kidnapping of the world’s foremost Kidnap and Ransom expert Felix Batista. Last December he was the keynote speaker at a security conference in Mexico City. He walked out of a restaurant, was pushed into the back of a white van, and hasn’t been heard from since. He’s personally responsible for negotiating the release of more than 100 kidnap victims, and now he’s a victim himself. I’ve based the story largely on that incident.

Alex:  And what are you reading now, for yourself?

Michelle:   Currently I’m reading Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I’m in awe of her writing skills, it’s an amazing book.

Alex:  Oh, agreed – what  a great heroine!

Since it’s – yike – December – what are you looking forward to in the New Year?   Do you have any resolutions?

Michelle:  As far as New Years, no plans- but if it turns out to be anything like the past few years, I’ll be in bed by ten :) And I have the same resolution every year—to learn something new. One year I learned to knit, the next to ride a motorcycle. I’m not sure what to put on the docket this year, although I’ve been considering taking up the piano again.

Alex:  Hmm, the piano is one of my resolutions, too… something in the air, I guess.

Thanks a million for stopping by, today, Michelle – and I’m sure the Rati have other questions.
 
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 Michelle Gagnon is a former modern dancer, bartender, dog walker, model, personal trainer, and Russian supper club performer. Her bestselling novels have been published in North America, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Australia.  In her spare time Michelle runs errands and indulges a weakness for Sudoku and Hollywood blockbusters. She lives in San Francisco with her family.