Susan and Me

by Kathleen George, author of the newly released AFTERIMAGE, published by St. Martins.

She's Susan Elizabeth George.  I'm Kathleen Elizabeth George. She started out with Bantam.  I started out with Bantam.  (Delacorte.) Her first trip to England was in 1966.  So was mine.

Okay, the similarities end there. She has two dogs and lives on the West Coast (for a long time in California, but more recently near Seattle.) I have no dogs and live in Pittsburgh (chosen as #1 in Places Rated Almanac, chosen as a great travel destination, actually on lots of "best" lists this year.)

Once, many years ago, I got a check written to Elizabeth George. (I wonder why it hasn't happened since, and I certainly hope the money isn't going in the other direction. Who needs it more, right?) The check was for $500--from Denmark, I think it was--for an essay or a short story in a journal. I had only published short fiction at that time, so perhaps that contributed to the mix-up. Somebody in some office was assigned to look up an address and found. . . me. I was listed, full name, with the Author's Guild and Poets and Writers.

I am nerdily honest. I immediately called Bantam, explained what happened, got the name of an editor to whom I could forward the check with a letter---all to be forwarded to Elizabeth. Or Susan. I had just happened to read FOR THE SAKE OF ELENA, which I like very much and so I added this compliment to the letter that accompanied the check. A month or two later, I got a brief thank you note for the check.  That was it. No sisterly hug through the mail.

I don't think it had occurred to me to write a mystery--that is, to write something like the book I had just read and liked.

Not long after that, I got two fan letters intended for Elizabeth. One said, "You are so fantastic, my favorite author. How can I get your previous books. I live in ______"  This one might have been Finland. Or Germany. I had the impression of an overly thin, bookish man, shy, fantasizing about a writer. He gave his name and address; he seemed to hope for a letter back.

The second fan letter was a bit creepier. "You are so beautiful and wonderful.  I look at your picture . . . . " That kind of thing.

In both cases, I sent the letter off to her publisher to forward them.

Then without ever planning it, I wrote a book that caused a check to come to me in the mail. What a feeling! I even got a few fan letters---no creepy ones, thank heaven.  This is a pretty fun trade to be in.

But I wonder, do people mix us u? Do they ever go to a bookstore, looking for me and buy her? Or vice versa? And worse, does she ever get a check meant for me?

I'm a bit saddened that she uses the name Elizabeth. I like my middle name. When I was a freshman in college, I signed a story Elizabeth Borge. My teacher freak out. "Why don't you want to be yourself," he asked. But that was one of my selves, my middle name and my family's real last name. If tehre's not an Elizabeth Borge out there, who knows, I may use it some day.

Kathleen George writes page-turning thrillers.  "(The) skillfully rendered characters draw you into their lives. And excellent procedural. "  Kirkus.

Comments

[Mary Storyteller]

Good karma comes from honest deeds -- I'm sure she'll send back your checks and letters as well ;-)
I once taught in the same building with Jim Garrett, and no matter how much we tried to differentiate our mailboxes in the workroom, we'd consistently get each other's mail and have to resort it. Students would insist that we were a couple (and both SO NICE!), and other teachers would get tired of trying to correct them, especially when they added the so nice part. (now the story gets sad -- fair warning) Our insurance company accidentally mailed me some of his health insurance claims -- I noticed unfamiliar doctors, and then noticed his name, and had a sense that this was something serious. When he passed away, the NEA national office somehow managed to mix us up one final time, declaring me deceased and leaving his file active, until our building rep. noticed the mistake a few months later and fixed it. I wrote a poem about this exaggerated "news of my death," and I still miss a very fine teacher.

[Nancy Martin]

Thanks for being our guest, Kathleen. Or Elizabeth. Or--wait, you're not Susan, are you? Nice to see you here! I'm loving AfterImage.

[ramona long]

Hi, Kathleen. My name is not very common, so I never get anyone's checks by accident. However, the Y sends mail to me by the name Romoda Lon. I think of it as my Star Trek name.

George must be a lucky last name for mystery authors. There's you, and Elizabeth, and one of my favorites, Anne George. You are in good name company.

[Harley]

Oh, Kathleen, I so relate. If I had a dollar for every time someone meets me and is disappointed, having expected a motorcycle . . .

I studied with Elizabeth George at the Maui Writers Retreat and loved her -- and love her books. But I get her confused with herself. A friend of mine who knew her as Susan George (not to be confused with the British actress back in the 70's) always refers to her as Susan, or as Susan Elizabeth and then it takes me about 5 minutes to remember what her names is.

Hail, Romoda! Live long and prosper.

[Kathleen George]

Harley,
I'm really glad to hear Elizabeth is nice. She is certainly talented, for sure. And so, bloody hell, are you!

Ramona,
Beautiful name! Shame it gets boggled. My husband is named Hilary and even though we have plenty of problems with it on an ordinary day, the funny thing is how many ways it get spelled on pieces of mail. Hilars. Hila Musti. It probably has something to do with his handwriting, but I keep threatening to name a character Hila Musti.

And I've been asking around about who the other George is and you have answered it for me. I even asked at the famous Mysterious Bookshop in NY and they didn't know. Anne. Okay.

And Mary,
I think your incident with the other Garrett is the seed of a novel. OK, maybe a long short story, but it's so rich with possibility. The whole thing is unfolding before me. Darn, another of those stories I don't have time for!

Nancy,
Thanks for inviting me. Some day (if you want) I will tell the story of the Pittsburgh #1 Ladies Detective Agency.

Wishing all a merry and mysterious Christmas.

[Kathleen George]

Harley,
I'm really glad to hear Elizabeth is nice. She is certainly talented, for sure. And so, bloody hell, are you!

Ramona,
Beautiful name! Shame it gets boggled. My husband is named Hilary and even though we have plenty of problems with it on an ordinary day, the funny thing is how many ways it get spelled on pieces of mail. Hilars. Hila Musti. It probably has something to do with his handwriting, but I keep threatening to name a character Hila Musti.

And I've been asking around about who the other George is and you have answered it for me. I even asked at the famous Mysterious Bookshop in NY and they didn't know. Anne. Okay.

And Mary,
I think your incident with the other Garrett is the seed of a novel. OK, maybe a long short story, but it's so rich with possibility. The whole thing is unfolding before me. Darn, another of those stories I don't have time for!

Nancy,
Thanks for inviting me. Some day (if you want) I will tell the story of the Pittsburgh #1 Ladies Detective Agency.

Wishing all a merry and mysterious Christmas.

[Kathleen George]

Harley,
I'm really glad to hear Elizabeth is nice. She is certainly talented, for sure. And so, bloody hell, are you!

Ramona,
Beautiful name! Shame it gets boggled. My husband is named Hilary and even though we have plenty of problems with it on an ordinary day, the funny thing is how many ways it get spelled on pieces of mail. Hilars. Hila Musti. It probably has something to do with his handwriting, but I keep threatening to name a character Hila Musti.

And I've been asking around about who the other George is and you have answered it for me. I even asked at the famous Mysterious Bookshop in NY and they didn't know. Anne. Okay.

And Mary,
I think your incident with the other Garrett is the seed of a novel. OK, maybe a long short story, but it's so rich with possibility. The whole thing is unfolding before me. Darn, another of those stories I don't have time for!

Nancy,
Thanks for inviting me. Some day (if you want) I will tell the story of the Pittsburgh #1 Ladies Detective Agency.

Wishing all a merry and mysterious Christmas.

[ZaZa]

Hi, Kathleen! Another mystery writing George. I, too, loved Anne George, and I wish she were still here to write more Southern Sisters.

There are actually three women out there with my same exact name, first, middle and last. And, drat it, it's not that common of a name, I'd have thought. One of them is really old, well, probably dead by now. One I never hear about. But the last one, the one who kites checks and never pays her bills? Yeah, she's the one I get mixed up with. Credit app turned down? "Why?" I ask. Because you've been writing bad checks in this state for six years. "Uh, until SIX DAYS ago, I lived on the other coast." Made no difference.

So, if you have to be confused with someone, another best selling mystery writer is probably a good choice. I love the title of your book, gives me all sorts of ideas. I'm going to go look for it.

Happy hols and best of luck!