Writing Light and Dark

by Susan, Addicted to Both

One of the best things about being a writer is the chance to get under someone else’s skin, to be someone very different from who you really are.  My mind is constantly taking me to darker places than I would ever visit in my real-life.  As a mystery writer, I tend to dwell on the bleaker side of human nature, on the desperation and/or evil forces within an otherwise “normal” person that would cause him (or her) to take a life.

Maybe I like the fact that I get away with things in my writing that I’d never get away with otherwise.  I'm told I have that girl-next-door appearance, which apparently proved confusing when my first two books were published by a small traditional press.  AND THEN SHE WAS GONE and OVERKILL feature a police detective named Maggie Ryan and a small town setting in Texas.  Both are on the dark side, the endings far from happy, which caused readers at mystery conventions to approach, shake their heads and say, “Susan, you laugh and smile way too much to have written these books.  You should be writing humor.” 

Rather than feel insulted that anyone would link an author’s looks to her writing ability, I took their words as a challenge.  I figured I’d see if I could pull off writing lighter mysteries with a more edgy humor than the typical cozy novel dared.  So I came up with Andrea “Andy” Kendricks, a debutante dropout from Dallas, a thirty-year-old woman who’d dared to buck the system, refusing to debut when she was 18 and breaking the heart of her dyed-in-the-wool Chanel-wearing mother Cissy.  Andy’s an artist who lives in blue jeans and revels in her independence.  In BLUE BLOOD, the first of the Debutante Dropout Mysteries from Avon, Andy’s dragged into a murder investigation when her best friend from prep school, Molly O’Brien, is accused of killing her boss at a restaurant called “Jugs” (think Hooters with a hillbilly theme).  In the second book, THE GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER, a Texas version of Martha Stewart named Marilee Mabry gets her goose cooked.  Talk about cathartic!

Yes, I did hear from the readers who'd told me I didn’t look like the kind of author who’d write dark books; not surprisingly, they found it perfectly suitable that I’d write about a debutante dropout and her society matron mom…despite the fact that I’m no debutante (dropout or otherwise) and my mom is as down-to-earth as you can get.  The only Chanel she's ever worn comes in a bottle.  The best part, however, was what I'd learned about myself and the ways my literary muscles can stretch.  I really love writing humor and putting my natural-born sarcasm to good use!  How I adore word-play and constructing funny scenes that reveal more sides to my characters than drama alone ever could.

Still, I felt an itch after finishing the third Deb book, THE LONE STAR LONELY HEARTS CLUB, and I knew I needed to write something dark again.  So I got to work retooling the third Maggie Ryan novel, WALK INTO SILENCE, which my agent had been waiting patiently to get her hands on.  I must confess, it was heaven, flexing my muscles in the other direction.  In WALK, Maggie’s on the trail of a missing woman who turns up murdered…or was it suicide?  As the case progresses, Maggie learns more about who the victim was and what she’d lost, and she begins to wonder if past sins are at the root of the woman’s disappearance and death.  I loved getting back into a bleaker, more straightforward style and doing the research required to make the forensics details real. 

After seven years as a published author, my Rolodex is full of “consultants” who answer my questions about crime scenes, blood spatter patterns, ballistics, and postmortems.  I even toured the Frisco, Texas, police station while I was down in Dallas a year ago in April, and I scribbled notes like crazy as Sergeant Crump showed me around.  The place was so much smaller than I’d imagined, which was perfect for my book.  The holding pen was in the center of the locker room and the area where officers type up their reports.  Needless to say, there was a very unpleasant odor permeating that section of the station.  I don’t always have to see things to write about them, but it definitely helps me get the details right. 

Which is why I also had my friend Dan Hale take me to a few bars in Big D:  one very nice, the other a joint.  The fourth Debutante Dropout book, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB, also “required” that I visit a gentleman’s club to soak in the, er, ambience.  I think Dan was more embarrassed than I was, as I felt like I was on a movie set and stared wide-eyed, taking everything in.  (I still remember him saying, "Susan, stop!  You can't take notes in here!")  The things I do for my art.  Believe it or not, I used every bit of those experiences in LIVING DEB.  You can see for yourself when it comes out late in January of 2007. 

Ideas for the fifth Deb novel are already swirling around in my brain.  The book's due at year's end, and I normally wouldn't start it until September or October (I know, I'm insane); but I have a feeling I'll begin working on this one a whole lot sooner.  I'm seeing characters already, and I must make use of "The Beautiful Room," which I mocked in an earlier blog.  Strange, but it seems I'm incorporating more and more dark elements into my lighter books, although the humor will always be at the forefront.  (And, if you've ever met me, you'll know why!)

Maybe it’s because reality isn’t always light or dark that I enjoy both so much.  I love reading books across the spectrum, so why not write novels that go to different places; that explore the sunny side of human nature as well as the ugliness?

Or maybe I just like testing myself to see how far outside the lines I can color before somebody takes away my crayons. 

Cheers,

Susan

P.S.  I've got highlights of my March events with plenty of photos up on my LowDown page!

Comments

[Nancie aka Gun Tart]

Don’t worry Susan, if someone takes away your crayons I’ll buy you a new set. I’ve enjoyed both of your series, and look forward to the next installments. Great post!

P.S. The photos are awesome!

[Susan McB]

Thanks, Nancie the Gun Tart! I could always use a new set of crayons. ;-) Glad you like the pics! We sure had a good time, despite the unexpected detours!

[harley]

Bar-hopping with Dan Hale! Ah, I envy you, Susan.

[Kiaduran]

Hi Susan, just finished the Debutante books(darned tax season). Loved them, loved them, loved them! They brought a lot of laugher to a very stressed person. Can't wait for the next one or two or three.

[Susan McB]

Thanks for making my day, Kia! (And I needed it, after picking up tax stuff from the CPA and seeing what I owe...gulp!) Now I just have to get up the courage to write the checks. Ugh. So glad my books de-stressed you during tax season! Yay!

Bar-hopping with Dan was lots of fun, Harley! He is such a sweet dude, and he had plotted out everything so beautifully that it made it easy on me. And seeing his face turn purple at the strip club was something I'll never forget!

[Daisy]

Great post Susan, it really hit home for me. People are so ready to pigeonhole you, but why shouldn't a normally cheerful person take a turn for the dark and gritty? Do nice shoes really preclude an interest in the evil that lurks in the hearts of men (and women, of course)? I think not.

[Susan McB]

Pigeonholing is the name of the game in this biz, unfortunately...Daisy, you are so right about that! Tho' I'm with you...there should be no direct correlation between cute shoes and what type of books one writes. (Oh, speaking of, I bought a new pair o' high-heeled strappy thongs, just to dull the pain of owing taxes...and I do feel a little better for it.)

[Dionne Farrow]

Who cares about The Beautiful Room? This is so typical of Dallas. But then Dallas has always been a microcosm of life. There was a time when the hottest ticket in town was the Cellar at Sipango. When that fizzled, everybody went off to the next place. Every few years, something, or somebody comes along and everyone wants a piece. The same frenzy surrounded Tristan Simon’s Sense on Henderson Ave. When it first opened, there was huge speculation and conjecture about what went on behind the frosted glass doors. Reputed to be open to only 400 members of Dallas’ finest (they all had gold keys to let them in), mere mortals imagined a fully fledged sex club, brimming with coke-snorting, semi-naked übermodels, guzzling champagne in private rooms. The truth was something far more sedate. The same can be said of The Beautiful Room; this virtual club that is reputed to be the brainchild of husband and wife team Chris & Tanja Martini. Well known in Dallas swinging circles, each “member” is personally approved by one of them. So they meet every so often in make-shift locales to take pictures. That’s all fine and dandy, but does it get you into Candleroom? I think not! Hardly seems worth the effort!

[Anon]

Have you seen the article in DETAILS Magazine?

www.thebeautifulroom.com/details/Details.htm

[Molly MaGee]

No, I had not seen that. But, that's SO typical of Dallas. I wouldn't expect anything less. When I first moved here last year, it seemed as though half the men were gay and the rest bisexual!

Take, for example, the following quote from the Details article.

"A few of the guys end up at a men’s spa for a pre-party shave and manicure. They lean back in silver chairs, drinking blue margaritas and nibbling on focaccia while several of the women cheer them on. “It’s so nice to see men get pampered for a change!” they say. One guys high-fives a friend with his right hand as his left hand gets vigorously buffed."

How gay is THAT?

MM