Susan’s Comments (group member since Jul 20, 2010)

Susan’s comments from the Q&A with Susan Albert group.

Miki wrote: "..Do you have a list of "to be written about" topics somewhere? When you are writing two or more series at once, do you ever find a character from one series screaming to be heard in the other? What advise would you give a beginning writer who wants to leave an interesting memoir for her grandchildren when they get old enough to be interested? "

Hi, Miki--and thanks for these thoughtful questions. Here are my answers--if you'd like more, ask.

1) I do have lists, for each series. These are usually situation sketches--for example, in the Dahlias series, I know I want to get into bootlegging, scrip (money substitute), a town canning kitchen, hoarding gold, race relations, etc. You can see that these aren't really plot ideas, but rather set-ups that will help me when I start scratching around for plot material.

2) No, my characters don't volunteer to be included in the other series, thank heavens. This is partly because I write historicals in two different periods (early 1900s, 1930) plus the contemporary. It would be a long commute.

That said, I do encourage characters to pop up and do unexpected things. I am always surprised and pleased when that happens, because it's a sign that they're willing to do some of the work, which leaves a little less for me. :) I remind them of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of An Author, and tell them that whenever they have an idea for a story, they know where to find me.

3) I have too much to say about this to even approach it in a Q&A. In 1997, I wrote Writing From Life: Telling the Soul's Story. It's long OOP, but you can find used copies on Amazon. Then I founded a non-profit organization (international, now) that encourages women to write their lives. Check us out at www.storycircle.org. We're just what you need.

Susan wrote: "Susan, I so appreciate that you aren't afraid to allow your characters to have strong views about current events, and to base stories on issues that may be sensitive for readers. Do you worry about offending fans?"

That's never been a huge worry with me, although I do have to say that China has modified her language somewhat since that first book (not so much "strong language," as my mother would say).

I have offended some readers who seem to have the idea that mysteries are light entertainment and that they shouldn't include political, environmental, or civil rights issues. There are some reader "reviews" of Holly Blues on Amazon right now that demonstrate that kind of attitude. For example, one reader objected to China's sad comments about sprawling suburbia and the MacMansions that litter the Texas hills.

But in my view, fictional characters come alive when they believe strongly in something and care passionately about what's important to them, their families, and their communities. It would be a pretty bland book if those beliefs and passions weren't a part of the story. China has always been "green," and she's going to get a whole lot greener as time goes on. But that will be in character for her, I think.

Interestingly, there have been only a few objections to the lesbian couple (Ruby's daughter and her SO). I expected to hear more about that.

Thanks, Susan. Good question.

You remembered, Betsy! How amazing.

Everyone: yes, I was Carolyn Keene, for a time in the mid/late 80s. I learned a lot from working on the series (mostly about the process of writing series in a really slick, fast-paced house--MegaBooks was the packager, at the time). But I left after I wrote a scene in which Nancy bursts into tears (over what, I don't recall)--the editor cut the scene and wrote in the margins, "Our Nancy doesn't cry." I couldn't make myself continue to work with a character who wasn't allowed to have a full emotional repertoire. But as I say, writing for that series taught me a lot, and I've put the lessons to use in the years since.

Lisa wrote: "What I truly love about the series (besides China, of course) is the way you so respectfully treat witchcraft and New Age mysticism. I've read so many authors, mystery and other, who obviously hav..."

Lisa, thank you. That means a great deal to me. (I usually hear from readers who don't want Ruby to be such a Pagan.) A character's belief system is a unique and vital part of his/her personality, and Speaking as an author, I've used Ruby's beliefs to characterize her and to make her more vivid. Speaking as myself, I've used her to explore some of my own beliefs.

(Sorry, Ruby: don't mean to treat you as an entity to be exploited. We all know how real you are!)

Lesley wrote: "I love the China Bayles series, not only for the characters, but also because I like mysteries with a strong regional setting, especially a setting I'm familiar with because I've traveled there. I..."

When I submitted the China series (she was rejected quite a few times!), one of the editors who rejected Thyme of Death suggested that I put my efforts into setting my mysteries on the east or west coast. She didn't think regionals had much of a chance, because in her view, that "narrowed" the potential readership. I'm glad that China proved her wrong!

I love settings that add substance to the characters, plots, and themes. (And am frustrated when an author does not take advantage of the setting--and when the action of the book could be set anywhere.)

I'm sometimes impatient with having to set books over and over in the same place (Pecan Springs), so I try to write an "away" book every so often. Readers enjoy Pecan Springs, though, and some complain when a China is set elsewhere. I know why--but I live with these books a lot longer and more intensively that the readers, and just can't keep repeating the same setting exclusively. Gotta get China on the road!

Dottie wrote: "I also enjoy the friendships of the women in the books"

Dottie & Vickie, did you know that I used to write YAs? I wrote Nancy Drew, Cheerleaders, Sweet Valley Twins, and a flock of other mass-market YAs in the mid-late '80s. For teens, friendships are vitally important, and that was always a critical subtext for the character relationships. "Being a good (bad) friend" defined one axis of every relationship. This was no literary convention: it's the way teens manage their world. Both women and men carry that over into adult life. We need friends and friend bonding--even though our culture mythologizes the independent Hero who meets the challenges of the world and succeeds, single-handed. That's BS, of course, but the myth is pretty powerful.

When I started writing China (Thyme of Death appeared in 1992), women's mysteries were built on male models, on the myth of the independent Lone Wolf Hero (Sue Grafton's early mysteries are a good example.) I wanted to write mysteries that reflect the importance of friendship, cooperative questioning, and the process of finding answers through joint venture.

This is part of what's behind the friendships in all my books. But only part--the characters themselves demand these strong relationships, and I'm glad to oblige.

I'm glad, Vickie. I hung out (well, lurked) on several listservs with breast cancer survivors. I learned a great deal about their courage and resiliency from reading their posts and exchanges.

In all the series, the body (or whatever kicks off the mystery) often doesn't appear until around p. 100. In fact, my DIL claims that she can open the books to p. 100 and find the body.

I do this because I feel that in cozies where the detective is an amateur, the author needs to set up the mystery situation and motivate its realistic occurrence in the detective's life. (Most of us don't stumble over bodies very often.) Also, readers really enjoy China's herb shop/gardens, and I feel it's best to put that material up front.

If I were writing a police procedural or working with a professional detective, it would be a different story--as it will be in the Pecan Springs books (to come) that feature Sheila or McQuaid as central characters. There, the protagonist's business is solving crimes, so the motivation isn't so necessary.

Everybody, I just uploaded a new blog post over at Lifescapes: http://bit.ly/bgJK42 Goodreads hasn't caught up with it yet, but probably will shortly.

The post is about making mesquite flour (a project for me last week), about the garden, and about the books. I haven't been doing much with the blog lately: life is very full these days!

Vickie wrote: "I enjoy hanging with China and Ruby and watching all that the two of them have been through with each other. I would say on their own, but their friendship allows them to share their lives, trials,..."

One risk with books like these (which focus on women's lives and loves) is that they tend to get "soap-opera-ish." The book that came closest to this, I think, was Mistletoe Man. I lightened that with humor where I could, but the subject of breast cancer is a serious one, and I wanted to treat it with the seriousness it deserved.

Vickie wrote: "And I check your blog to see what's blooming in your part of Texas. I get color mix ideas and more xeric plantings for my flowerbeds here near Boulder, CO."

My garden is pretty scrappy this year, Vickie. We're coming out of a disastrous drought, and with no assurances that the coming years will be better. I've gone to natives and xeric plants, but tend to pay more attention to the veg garden and let the rest get a little shaggy. Mine is no BHG garden, for sure!

You might check her out, Melodie: Gladys Taber I don't know if her books are still in print, but they're a favorite in the libraries and there are many used online.

I enjoy books that show me strong, capable women living close to the land, and Taber is certainly one. Another: Josephine Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephin...). I particularly liked The Inland Island

How funny, Fred! In England, land turtles are called tortoises--there are only a couple of native species. So people adopt them as pets when they can, and hope they will hang out in the garden and feast on bugs and slugs and the like. You're right: the book was Hawthorn House, which "starred" Jemima Puddle-duck and her nest of mystery eggs.

Glad to hear about Jeanne Dams new books!

Suzanne wrote: "I met you and Bill YEARS (it seems) ago at Tom and Enid's Historicon in Boulder where we talked abo..."

Bill and I remember Historicon fondly: it was fun and interesting and I always learned something new when we went. And of course, Boulder is a great place to go. Too bad it stopped happening.

Suzanne, when you're doing what you love (I know you know this!), there's always time to do just a little bit more--and the great value of the Internet is that it allows us to keep and make available some of that "little bit more." What a miraculous archive it is, of all our efforts--especially in these times, and in the change times to come.

Are you Josh's sister? I'm asking because Jim mentioned that Josh's mother was at Long Creek. If not, forgive. If so, small world!

The salt is tasty--all kinds of herbs work in those bagels, so do experiment, Dottie. I was surprised when I discovered how easy bagels are, but you do have to get set up to do them.

I've enjoyed all the Taber books and have gradually acquired almost all of them online: I admire her "soft eyes" which see so much and so deeply.

Re: my blog, and a collection of entries. In 2008, I kept a careful, extensive journal about what I was reading, thinking, learning, some of which showed up in the blog, most didn't. (The year was a turning point in my life, and I think in the lives of many Americans.) UT Press is publishing the journal in September. An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days You might ask your library to order it.

And yes, you're right about quiche! Our neighbor has chickens and we're lucky to have fresh eggs from her flock--LOTS of eggs right now, so quiche is on the menu frequently. I also make it without crust, which cuts down on the calories. :)

Oh, those bagels! I love them and really enjoy making them--would eat the whole batch if somebody didn't stop me. I just remembered that the lavender quiche recipe is on the website, in one of the tea party posts (no, not THAT kind of tea party!) I did a few years ago: http://www.abouthyme.com/China/TeaRoo...

I feel a little guilty about the blog. It's easier to be on Facebook and Twitter and here at Goodreads--the blog posts take quite a bit of time, and I haven't kept it up this summer. Glad you've enjoyed them.

The dishes are usually "standard," Kristin, since I'm not a great believer in exotic cookery, and the ingredients/recipes have been around for a long time, in various incarnations. The choices of the added herbs is usually my own. An example: the lavender/mushroom quiche that's featured in several of the books.

In the Cottage Tales series, the recipes are traditional dishes from Northwest England, redesigned for a modern audience. In the new series, The Darling Dahlias, the recipes are all Southern, most traditional.

I love putting recipes in books, because food says so much about who we are, our cultural traditions, and even what we think about the earth and its resources.

Fred wrote: "I think there was a saying: "the land of plenty", but we still want more..."

One of the lessons that's coming for us (IMO) is that we're going to need to learn to want *less,* not more. I'm just finished reading/reviewing Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, by Bill McKibben. He makes a strong argument for respecting limits (although it may be too late).

In the Dahlias series, I want to show people who are being forced by circumstances (the national economy) to live within limits but who intend to make the best of it.

I've been looking at pictures of grocery stores and meat markets from the 30s, and it's clear just how dramatically our food habits have changed. I wrote a review of Anna Lappe's Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It Obviously, our food choices are having a dramatic effect on the world we live in. Huge issue, IMO.