Tributes: Mary Stewart and P.D. James

Two of my favorite novelists left us this year: Mary Stewart, age 97, and P.D. James, age 94. 

 

I discovered Mary Stewart during the last semester of my senior year in college. I had already signed a contract to teach Spanish in Las Vegas, Nevada and was eagerly awaiting to graduate and head west. One weekend when most of the students had gone home, I found myself bored and needing something to do. Another girl tossed me a couple of books and said, "Here, read these." I glanced at them and thought they didn't look like my type of reading. After all, I was used to reading "the classics". One looked like it might be a tawdry romance novel but the back cover blurb (at that time I didn't know what a blurb was nor had I ever read a tawdry romance novel) appeared intriguing nonetheless. So, I read My Brother Michael that weekend. And my life changed forever.

 

A decade or two later, I became familiar with P.D. James through the PBS series featuring her sleuth Adam Dalgleish. Then while visiting my mother and stepfather at their home on Lake Texoma, I discovered the Adam Dalgleish books. Because I had seen a few of the TV programs, the actor Roy Marsden who portrayed Dalgleish formed the fictional character in my mind. But my stepfather insisted the casting had been wrong. The actor, according to him, was nothing like the fictional character. Apparently Ms. James had similar thoughts of the casting. It didn't matter to me. I began to read the books and the actor's portrayal stayed in my mind. There are only two or three left that I haven't read and I look forward to them. Her last published novel was in 2011.

 

But I digress. I went to Las Vegas and discovered a world completely different from the Oklahoma small town where I grew up. My teaching load was very easy. I had four high school Spanish 1 classes and 2 study halls. And I started to read pop fiction. I bought all kinds of paperbacks but when I saw a book titled Decision at Delphi I bought it because the setting of My Brother Michael took place near Delphi. And thanks to Mary Stewart I fell in love with the books of Helen MacInnes, which lead to my love of Robert Ludlum and I could go on and on with each new favorite author. I also skipped school a lot. We were given 13 sick days that year--something unheard of in Oklahoma back then. Every time I discovered a new Mary Stewart novel, I took a sick day and stayed home to read. And because her novels of romantic suspense took place in "faraway places", I headed for Mexico soon after school was out. Mexico wasn't really a faraway place but it was different and exciting and tropical. A few years later I spent four exciting years in Puerto Rico. Spain, Portugal and England loomed in the distant future.

 

My first published novel, The Pig Farm, was inspired by my adventures in Puerto Rico, which also inspired me to write my first romance novel, A Caribbean Summer. And many more books followed. My short story Margarita (from The Doorbell Rang, Four Twisted Tales) was inspired by my adventures in Mexico. Would I have written these books if I hadn't read My Brother Michael? I have no idea. The irony is that not long ago I reread that book and was astonished at how low key it was and how the romance, if there was one, barely appeared. But the suspense was there and the locale was intriguing.

 

I hope the "magic of Mary Stewart" and the mysteries of P.D. James live on forever. 

 

Mary Stewart obituary | Books | The Guardian  P. D. James - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Writing Humor

First of all, let me explain. I haven't the foggiest idea of how to write humor. And, of course, what's funny to one person may not be funny to another. Although many of my books are called humorous, I don't start them out that way. And if they do produce laughs or a grin, some kind of subconscious thinking on my part took over. Who'll Kill Agnes? is considered to be quite funny according to many of the reviews it has garnered. But when I started writing it, my intention was the opposite. I had intended to write a serious little mystery with the two policemen as intelligent and thoughtful but as I started writing, I realized I couldn't create characters smarter than I. Also, for reasons I don't understand, their characters just sort of took over and the words that came out of their mouths surprised even me.

The husbands in Death by Salsa were inspired by real friends. The scene in the book where they compare each other's salsa and say something like, "My salsa is hotter than yours." and the reply is, "No, mine is hotter," was part of a real conversation. When I started writing the book, I again planned a serious murder mystery with different adventures for the two husbands. But when they started an adventure without their wives and turned off the main highway going in a different direction, their fictional personalities apparently had a different perspective than my original one. Many readers have told me how much they enjoyed the antics of the husbands and could identify with the wives. I'm glad these fictional personalities were able to entertain.

In my novel The Pool Lizards, which is a satire of middle aged people trying to stay young, I created the characters from many years of living in apartments, particularly Las Vegas, Nevada, Colorado, Texas and Florida. The crazy antics of apartment dwellers provided no end of stories and entertainment. The story and characters are fictional but are typical of the experiences I observed. Also, I was an assistant manager of one apartment complex and had an inside view of a lot of craziness.

But don't get me wrong--I love all of these characters, even the ones who commit fictional murder. But not every reader finds them funny. Many fail to see the humor and I understand that but for those who do get a laugh once in a while, the writing is worth it whether I intended it or not.

Favorite characters are not always the main characters

Let me clarify my title a bit. Yes, I love my main characters. I couldn't write about them if I didn't. But sometimes a supporting or minor character will pop up out of nowhere and that character will dwell in my mind for a long time.

Although I love the male and female protagonists in my romantic novel A Caribbean Summer, my favorite characters are two supporting ones, namely Amos, the brother of Peppy, and the mysterious "Johnny" who doesn't appear until close to the end. From my point of view, "Johnny" puts everything into perspective.

In my mystery novel The Chameleon Chase, one of my favorite characters is the one and only murder victim! Originally, I had not planned to kill that character but there was a time and place when I needed a victim so I had to make the sacrifice. I do realize that particular character might not be endearing to the reading public or seemingly all that important.

And I can never forget Nutty Norma in The Pool Lizards. She isn't exactly my favorite character in that book but she provides a lot of entertainment. I even brought her back, briefly, in The Groundhog Lounge.

And in my mystery novel Death by Salsa, I kill off four supporting characters whom I really, really like. I also kill off some despicable ones also. To tell the truth I like most of the characters in that book, especially the two married couples: Hannah & Clay and Sherylynn & Marty. But the mysterious Tex is the one who intrigued me the most.

In Who'll Kill Agnes? the police chief's wife is one of my favorite characters. She plays a small role but always seems levelheaded next to her bumbling, misguided husband. I may bring her back in a short story or two.

In my short story titled Margarita (the first story in The Doorbell Rang), the title subject is my favorite of all the characters I've created so far. Her life is the life that sometimes I wish I had had. I created her in my mind soon after my own adventures in Mexico and had a premise for a story or novel. But I never wrote the story until last year. As most of my stories go, it went in a slightly different direction than I had intended. And at the moment, not only is the title character one of my favorites but so is the story.

My Favorite Books of 2013

The following books are the ones I enjoyed the most. This was a strange year for me and I didn’t come close to my annual goal of reading 100 books. In fact, I only made it through 42 books. But there were some exceptionally good reads among them.

I discovered many new-to-me authors and look forward to more of their books. I had never heard of Lee Child until a Facebook friend mentioned seeing him on TV. I immediately researched him and a friend gave me one of his books: One Shot. Needless to say, I am now hooked on his novels. Perhaps the most exciting discovery was Ben Rehder’s Bone Dry. He has been described as the Texas answer to Carl Hiaasen. High praise indeed and I tend to agree. For international adventure and intrigue I was blown away by Max Tomlinson’s Sendero, a thriller set in Peru. Paul J. Levine’s To Speak for the Dead also blew me away with a surprise ending. And Andrew Mcallister’s Unauthorized Access was a page-turner with a rip-roaring climax.

I have read three of Andrew Peters’ books and this year The Saundersfoot Suicides was a clever and hilarious tale of murder with unexpected twists and turns. Joan Conning Afman never disappoints and her Kingsley Woods was a fun and spooky read that had elements of Stephen King and Dean Koontz.  And another all-time favorite who never disappoints was P.D. James in her novel The Private Patient. With a complex but satisfying plot, I barely noticed that her protagonist Adam Dalgleish was not the principal player.

But amidst all the murder and mayhem, romance had its place also. For romantic suspense Marie-Nicole Ryan’s Broken Promises resulted in a very sensual, exciting story with surprising twists and turns. Under the Midnight Moon by Jean Joachim was a sweet and spicy love story. Caskets and Corruption by Cindy A. Christiansen, a humorous and romantic suspense novel, was fun from beginning to end.

For cozy mysteries, Marja McGraw’s They Call Me Ace was an intriguing character-based story. To Have and To Kill (The Wedding Cake Series) by Mary Jane Clark, finds the heroine in the midst of a killing spree. Another very new to me author, Jinx Schwartz, introduced her entertaining protagonist, Hetta Coffee, in Just Add Water. I can’t wait to read the next installments in this series. In Over Her Dead Body, Karen Vaughn demonstrated a wacky sense of humor.

I read two of Marilyn Levinson’s books for young readers and found them enchanting, intriguing and insightful: Getting Back to Normal deals with the death of a parent; Rufus and Magic Run Amok is about a boy with magical powers and his experience with bullying.

I ended the year with nine short stories by Elmore Leonard. The last story was one of the best stories I’ve ever read. And that’s not because it took place in my birth place of Okmulgee, Oklahoma. I have no idea if he really visited Okmulgee but he got his facts right and the characters were not only good ole boys, Oklahoma style, they were also Elmore Leonard style. The title was Tenkiller and anyone from Oklahoma would know what that meant.

Tributes: Elmore Leonard, Tom Clancy, Barbara Park

This is the time of year I pay tribute to authors who have left us and left an indelible mark on my reading life. Elmore Leonard is one of my all time favorite authors. His quirky but realistic style of writing is like no other. Tom Clancy’s international thrillers were just that: thrilling. And Barbara Park influenced reading for children like no other author could.

About a decade ago I saw an interview by Larry King with Tom Clancy who said he couldn’t believe how lucky he had been because he got to lead a life of make belief in creating scenarios where the good guy always won, usually his hero Jack Ryan who has been portrayed on screen by three actors, Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck or his second hero Mr. Clark who has been portrayed by actors Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber.  The last novel by Clancy that I read was The Bear and the Dragon. He collaborated with other writers in continuing his war games. He died of an undisclosed illness at age 66 but one of his friends suggested that his heart wore out.

Barbara Park was the complete opposite of Clancy and Leonard but her influence in inspiring young girls to read goes without parallel. Sometime in the late 1990s, I was looking for books for my then youngest granddaughter Mallory. I had no problem finding books for her older sister Brittany. But Mallory was just learning to read and all I could find were simple books about animals. Then one day as I was standing in the book section of Wal-Mart and wondering if I would ever find something cute for Mallory, it happened. Out of nowhere Junie B. Jones appeared! Of course, it wasn’t like that exactly but Junie B., a mischievous kindergartner, stood out like no other fictional character. I bought one of the books and sent it to Mallory and she was off and reading! Barbara Park’s sense of humor and creativity have helped instill a love of lifetime reading as no other author could have done. She died at age 66 of ovarian cancer but Junie B. and other characters she created will live on forever.

Elmore Leonard's sense of humor and quirky style captivated me the moment I started reading his work.  The first of his novels that I read was Glitz where his “hero” goes to Puerto Rico (a place where I lived for four years) and in it he mentions the Carmen Apartments where a friend of mine lived with her young son. But it wasn’t just Puerto Rico that captured my attention, it was the characters and the plot. I have now read twenty-two of his books, the last one a compilation of nine short stories titled Fire in the Hole. And the last story in that series, Tenkiller, is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read. First of all it takes place in Okmulgee, Oklahoma where I was born. Second, he gives a hilarious portrait of the town and its inhabitants. The ending literally left me laughing out loud. He died at age 88 still at the height of his popularity.

I could go on forever extolling the virtues of these three writers. Each was unique and each contributed literature without parallel. 

The Best Books Read in 2012

It’s time of my annual wrap-up of the best books I read in 2012. Although mysteries (all sub-genres) dominate, I did read several enticing novels from other genres that captivated me.

I fell short of my goal of reading at least 100 novels last year but did manage to read 78 novels, novellas and short stories.

I began the year with Janet Evanovich’s Fearless Fourteen and ended it with her Finger Lickin’ Fifteen . I also read two books by another favorite author Carl Hiaasen and both made my favorites list: Striptease and Star Island. It’s pure joy when I pick up one of their books. Sue Grafton’s V is for Vengeance was not only one of my favorites this year but my favorite from her alphabet series. The ending was perfect.

I have tried to divide the rest of my favorites into categories:

Thrillers and Detective Procedurals:

Secret Prey by John Sandford. The murderer was a surprise although the clues were there but I love being surprised.

First Family by David Baldacci. Not wanting to give anything away, I will say there was exceptional suspense and climax.

Trial Junkies by Robert Gregory Browne. Excellent twists and turns from an author new to me. I look forward to more of his books.

Two outstanding novels by Iain Edward Henn: Disappear and The Delta Chain. This is another author new to me this year. Disappear is one of the best page turners I’ve read in years. In The Delta Chain, an array of characters, good and evil, lead to one of the longest, most harrowing climactic scenes I’ve ever read. Both are fantastic reads.

Solo by Jack Higgins. This author is one of my all-time favorites but beautiful scenes from the Greek Isles make this novel a stand-out. It is a cat and mouse hunt from England to Greece and back again.

Thicker Than Water by G.M. Ford. This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and it is a great rollicking but brutal adventure.

The Chalk Girl by Carol O’Connell.  A psychological thriller in which I can only say, wow! It is part of a series but the first I’ve read by this author. Superior plotting and writing.

The Matarese Countdown by Robert Ludlum. This is the sequel to The Matarese Circle, which I read years and years ago. I love Ludlum’s books and this one didn’t disappoint with an exciting convoluted plot.

Secrets to Die For by LJ Sellers. A violent story of rape and murder with twists and turns and an unbelievable traumatic climax. A real page turner.

Fire and Ice by Dana Stabenow. This is the first Liam Campbell mystery. The action goes from spotting herring in a plane to stumbling over bodies in a small Alaskan settlement. An excellent, thrilling read.

Cozy Mysteries:

Where There’s a Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart. This was an old-fashioned, hilarious romp, very different from many of her mysteries.

Chile Death by SusanWittig Albert. There are lots of suspects, red herrings, an unexpected villain and a rip-roaring climax. Lots of chile folklore also.

Giving Up the Ghost by Marilyn Levinson. This is a ghost story with a rousing ending to a well-plotted mystery.

Bogey’s Ace in the Hole by Marja McGraw. A thoroughly engaging cozy mystery with a climax that left me laughing out loud.

Divine Inspiration by Jane Langton. A Homer Kelly mystery that had a slow start but when the pieces finally came together, it reached a clamorous climax.

Romance:

A Stolen Chance by Linda LaRoque—romantic suspense. Outstanding storyline and one of my favorite settings: the American Southwest.

The Marriage List by Jean Joachim. I read many wonderful romances by Jean Joachim in 2012 but this one was my favorite. I truly loved it. It is a very sensual love story with plenty of yummy food to add to the spiciness of the romance.

Valentine’s Gift by Marie-Nicole Ryan. This is a sequel to See You in My Dreams, which takes place ten years later. It is a lovely follow-up of the main characters and how their lives changed but their love remained despite suspicions and unexpected illness.

Paranormal:

The Cheetah Princess by Joan Conning Afman is a beautifully written novel of love and suspense in another world setting.

Rereading:

I reread My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart. I first read it when I was a senior in college and at that time I was blown away by it. It influenced me, not only in my reading habits but also to become a world traveler. Rereading it I realized how far romantic suspense has come since then because although there was suspense, the romance was very understated. But it still remains at the top of my list of all time favorite novels.

REAL HALLOWEEN MONSTERS?

Once upon a time Halloween was a most enjoyable and safe holiday for children. My childhood memories of Halloween trick or treating in the late 1940s through the early 1950s are among the happiest that I have. It was the one time of the year when all the kids in the neighborhood could roam from house to house and stay out very late (even on a school night if that was when the holiday fell) without any adult supervision. The most fun, along with collecting candy, was trying to fool the adult neighbors as to who we were when we knocked on their doors. And oh what candy! My favorites were peanut butter logs, peanut butter kisses, candy corn and wonderful homemade popcorn balls. Nothing to worry about—it was a time of fun and freedom.

 Strangely though, the first Halloween that I can remember was very scary. We lived on an Oklahoma farm with Kerosene lamps for light and a coal-burning stove for heat. On that typical evening of the last day of October, my little brother Mike and I were seated on the divan with our mother between us. Our father had not yet come home from work. Mother began to read one of our favorite stories, The Poky Little Puppy. The story scared me because I felt sorry for the puppy who was always late coming home and missing his supper. I wanted him to be safe and sound at home with his brothers and sisters.

 Suddenly, someone knocked at our door. That in itself was strange. Certainly our father wouldn’t knock. Mother went to the door and we heard her laugh. Then—a monster walked into the living room! My brother and I huddled together and almost cried at the sight of this strange apparition. “It” was dressed in shirt and jeans and boots but its head was made out of a paper sack with the eyes cut out. We started to cry because we had never seen anything like that before. We couldn’t understand why our mother was laughing. The monster said, “Boo!” and we jumped. He sounded like our twelve-year-old cousin who lived up the road on another farm but we knew it wasn’t him because that wasn’t his head. Mother gave him an apple and the monster left. We were happy to see him go and hoped that he wouldn’t come back. But we couldn’t understand why our mother didn’t return to finish reading the story. Immediately, another monster came into the room and we both screamed and began to cry. The monster was dressed like our mother but had a paper sack head just like the other monster. It also spoke with our mother’s voice. Finally this monster left and our mother came back into the room, saying there was nothing to be afraid of. She said that people dressed in costumes on Halloween and tried to scare other people, especially children. She didn’t fool us—we knew that two monsters had visited us.

 First Published in Seasons for Writing October 2002