In Which I Appear to Guess Wrong

So I wrote this speculative piece for Maclean's* and it ruffled enough feathers that a retraction will be printed in the January 17 issue. Of course, the "all publicity is good publicity" edict still applies, but I'd also like to point out three things that may get lost:

First, THE CALLING is a very good book.

Second, if I hadn't guessed, someone else would have.

Third, and most importantly, mystery readers are the savviest readers I know, and I'm not sure that starting a genre career with the subtle implication that said genre is beneath him or her is the best way to go about things. But I'm curious to hear what others think...

*Good while the link lasts, which may not be for much longer.

Comments

[Ingrid (I.J.Parker)]

Ruffled what feathers? They loved it! The whole thing smacks of a cheap publicity stunt started by the publisher.

Having said this, I wonder why I can't get a bit of underhanded publicity.

[Laura Benedict]

I wonder if the writer perhaps wanted to have a fresh start in a new genre, and had a notion to see if she/he could succeed without resting on past laurels. It doesn't quite match up with the sell job on the flap copy, though that may have been driven by the publisher's goals rather than the writer's.

I say, keep digging!

[Jen Miller]

Oh, that's silly. It's speculation, and to suggest that the genre is beneath him or her? Absurd. Just look at what Ian Samson's done with his fun little Mobile Library Mystery series. It's not beneath him.

[Sarah]

Jen - yes, Sansom's Mobile Library series are generally awesome (I'm most partial to the first one) and he clearly couldn't give a toss if he's literary or genre. John Banville's clearly having a good time writing as Benjamin Black, and Kate Atkinson not only understands the genre trappings, she fused together phenomenal literary mysteries with CASE HISTORIES and ONE GOOD TURN.

But Wolfe, whomever she is, seems to be eating and having her cake at the same time, as evident by the byline she uses which trumpets her North American literary writer past (present?). Had this been phrased as "Inger Wolfe is a writer living in a major North American city" or whatnot, then I wouldn't have given a crap and just evaluated THE CALLING on its generally good merits. The last time I engaged in spot-the-pseudonym with Tyler Knox and William Lashner, I never red-flagged it until USA TODAY revealed Knox was a pseudonym, then it took all of five minutes for me to come up with a reasonable guess, get it confirmed with his agent and eventually follow up with the author.

There are valid reasons for using a pseudonym, mostly to do with tricking the chain bookstores' computers. I don't believe Wolfe is such a case, if, as Laura posits, she wanted to start fresh in a new genre without resting on her laurels, then referring to her previous life isn't the best way to do so. Or to get mystery readers, many of whom get their knickers in a knot about the so-called genre wars, any more riled up.

[Middle Browser]

Inger Wolfe is an anagram of Wiener Golf. Is he anyone?

[Charles Ardai]

Not to mention of "Flog Weiner," but perhaps we shouldn't go there.

[sparkle]

Has Margaret Atwood been ruled out? She loves genre fiction. And isn't Ellen Levine her agent? I took a course form the late Marian Engel who commented that Margaret (she called her Peggy) seemed to have an intimate knowledge of genre fiction in Lady Oracle. She said that Atwood once suggested they write a romance together under a pseudonym,.

[David Thayer]

Sarah, I read your article and found your deductive reasoning impeccable. I enjoy these mystery author gambits, and let's not overlook another suspect, Garth Malloy of Waco, Texas. Garth has been impersonating Canadian women for years, his aunt is named Inger, and he drives a VW, built in Wolfsburg!