How difficult is it being a writer firstly, a crime writer secondly?

I think being a writer is extremely difficult, especially if one can never remember how one wrote a book in the first place!!! I think that mysteries deserve more recognition than they get. Many mysteries today, in my opinion, have all the attributes of what passes for literary fiction--good writing, characterization, description of place and time. In addition, a mystery writer has to be concerned with plotting, procedure, and credibility of motivation. Seems to me it almost makes a literary fiction writer's job look easy!

Lots of US mystery authors, whether established or not, have their own web site, more than other European writers. How important and how useful is a personal web site to writers?

I think this type of thing is difficult to substantiate, but I think the internet is becoming more important all the time. I was literally dragged into putting up a website by the person who did it for me (engineers aren't big self-motivators on promotion!) but now I'm really grateful I have one.

Which is the first mystery book do you think someone should read?

I'm a big believer in people reading what appeals to them! All I can share is my own personal taste - PD James is the author who first got me hooked on mysteries, and I remain a fan to this day. My very favorite mystery writer is James Lee Burke.

Which book has surprised you more either positively or negatively?

Hmmm. I find my memory becomes more and more short term. One of my recent discoveries is Carol O'Connell and her Kathleen Mallory series. I was impressed by the novelty of the characters and the sheer beauty of the writing. I thought there were some plotting inconsistencies, but that they were totally overwhelmed by the strength of the writing and the characterization. This fascinates me, because I am always trying to figure out how certain writers can make the incredulous seem credible.

What five books would you take with you to a desert island?

Well...being an engineer, if I was going to be there for a while, I'd take a book on desert island survival! If I were going to a desert island resort for six months, and could only take five books, I would probably choose some of the classics to take, as there are many I haven't read, and I never get caught up on current reading, so I don't know when I'll have time to improve my grasp of classic literature. I guess one of the five books would be a huge dictionary, then a collected works of Shakespeare (I've only read about four or five of his plays in entirety), a collection of Jane Austen books, works by Thomas Dunne - I know one poem of his that was made into a hymn and it fascinates me so I'd love to read more by him, and maybe collected works by Scott Fitzgerald. See, by choosing the classics, I'm hoping to cheat by getting more books into five volumes!

What countries/cultures fascinate you more?

France, esp Paris - have been there once and hope to go back, also hope to go to Spain this summer for Semana Negra (need to start saving those pennies now!) I would also love to visit New Zealand and/or Australia. My travel lust is matched only by my horror of plane travel! I am really hoping to attend Left Coast Crime in Alaska in 2001 and visit a Bush community, and all this in spite of the fact that I am a Texas native and hate COLD.

What do you think of the Bastulli Mystery Library?

It's a cool site, the graphics are especially impressive. I'm looking forward to it growing and growing, and maybe someday I'll even replace my antique lap top so that I can access the site from my own computer, instead of having to use one at work!

Thank you very much.

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