Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

The Idiosyncratic Interview: Sandra Scoppettone and Vin Packer

This interview is a little different from what I've done before. I originally intended to interview Sandra Scoppettone to coincide with the publication of her latest novel (the marvellous THIS DAME FOR HIRE) but after reading several Vin Packer novels in succession, a brighter idea showed up: why not have a round-table discussion with both of them? As two of crime fiction's most important and longstanding female writers, I knew each would have a lot to contribute -- never mind that they've known each other for over 50 years.

For logistical reasons, the resulting interview between Scoppettone and Packer (also known by several names, including her real one, Marijane Meaker) was conducted over email. They get things started with their own versions of how the two originally met:

Marijane Meaker: I believe the year was 1953.  I was living with a gay man from my hometown who worked as a clerk for an airlines.  I knew very few gay people except some from the real butch/femme circle.  I met them at the old 82 club where the waiters were females in drag and Titanic, the transvestite entertainer came out nightly on a swing in an evening gown singing Balls! Balls! How I love balls!...I was despairing of meeting anyone, and as these people pointed out: I was ky ky.  I didn't fit in with their set...One night my "roommate" went for a drink after work with Sandra Scoppettone, who was also employed by the airlines. He called me to say there was this great bar called The Grapevine, in the Village, with all sorts of women, none into the femme pose...all welcoming.  He said I should meet his fellow employee, Sandra.  I got dressed and caught a cab downtown.  That is all I remember about our first meeting, except she was cute, funny, and smart. I liked that.

Sandra Scoppettone: It was 1955. I was working for the now defunct National Airlines as a phone reservation clerk.   There was this one guy, Bob, who was a very obvious gay man and we began to talk.  Nobody was intending to make a career of this job so he asked me what I wanted to do with my life.  I told him I wanted to be a writer.  He told me he had a very good friend who was a writer.  I asked who and he told me she wrote under the name of Vin Packer.  I almost fainted.  I had read her first novel Spring Fire and two others that were crime oriented.  I thought Packer was very good and I desperately wanted to meet her. He said he'd see what he could do.  It seems to me there was some negotiating on his part with Packer, who he told me was really Marijane Meaker.

I worked the 2-11pm shift so going directly home was out of the question. Eventually the night was set.  I was very nervous about this meeting.  She was an idol to me.  There was a bar in the Village called The Provincetown Landing.  We went there.  I believe Packer/Meaker was late so Bob and I got a table and I had two fast drinks while we waited a short time until she arrived.

She was so funny and smart.  I think we immediately started a sparring type conversation, but it was in fun.  I kept up with her and we both liked that.  She was the first published writer I'd ever met. I don't really remember, but I'm sure I asked questions about writing and her books, because that would be like me.  On the other hand, it would be like her to deflect them.

For the rest of their conversation, read on after the jump.

The Idiosyncratic Interview: Alexander McCall Smith

In the fall of 2001, just after I’d started grad school and begun my part-time thing at Partners & Crime, I noticed some handsome looking trade paperbacks on the shelves with beautiful illustrations of wide open landscapes, giraffes, and huts. One of them had an interesting title: the #1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY. Curious, I decided to pick it up and began to read, and I was instantly hooked on the delightful adventures of one Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only lady detective. Luckily, there were two more volumes available from Columbia University Press and I gobbled them up as well. I wasn’t the only one; most of my colleagues loved them, as did almost every customer who they recommended the books to. Independent bookshops all over the United States were doing the same thing. In early 2002, the New York Times featured the books in a page-long essay, and demand increased some more. And more. And that’s how the phenomenon that is Alexander McCall Smith was born.

Some find his manner too cutesy, others can’t abide the gentleness. As an avowed reader of more hardboiled fare, I sometimes want a mixture of both as an antidote, and McCall Smith just has an exceptional way with words and with character. I’m still not sure how he does it, but in almost everything he writes that is fiction, he taps into the universality of an issue, an emotional state or a moral quandary. His novels never exceed their grasp, but have an exceptional command of whatever’s within their reach. And his voice is an intuitive one, seemingly free of artifice and virtually pure. Or at least, that’s what comes across to me. But then, I’ve been known to say that he’s one of the few geniuses roaming the earth at the moment, and there’s little that would sway me from this opinion.

The same sort of gentleness and keen understanding of human behavior comes across in McCall Smith, the person. I first met him in May 2003 during his first major tour of the United States, and had a short but delightful conversation about his accidental foray into the mystery world. Later that summer I heard his lecture on the Forensic Aspects of Sleep in Harrogate that was almost SRO. When I learned he would be conducting a Canadian tour, I knew I had to interview him. It took some doing, and only came about after seeing him at his return to the store for a full-fledged event last month, but thanks to the efforts of Sharon Klein at Random House and Lesley Winton, McCall Smith’s PA, I got my wish. I spent a half-hour at the offices of Random House Canada chatting with him about his books, the demands of touring, why 44 SCOTLAND STREET is markedly different from a daytime soap, and what he still hopes to accomplish.

I had a lot of fun doing this interview, and probably only asked a tenth of what I would have liked to ask. But I think even if I’d had an entire day to speak with him, I’d have felt the same way. So enjoy this snapshot of one of the most unexpected and delightful success stories in the book world at the moment.

The Idiosyncratic Interview: Michael Connelly

It was with some trepidation, tempered with a bit of excitement, that I approached my subject, mostly because I'd never conducted a person to person Q&A before. But I like a challenge, and it helped that this writer is someone whose work I've long been a fan of, who has always tried to do a little something different with his books. A bit of serendipity helped, too.

Although I live in Ottawa at the moment, I'm woefully unfamiliar with the literary scene. I know it exists, but I don't much take part in it. So while perusing Michael Connelly's site one day in May, I came across a listing for an upcoming event in Ottawa. At first I laughed, because hardly any crime writers come to Ottawa (even if this is false, that's what I thought at the time.) And since I was about to revamp the blog and add new features, an occasional interview series seemed like a good idea. Also, I wanted to ask Connelly some stuff that I hadn't seen mentioned in prior interviews. So I jumped at the chance.

Several email exchanges later, the deal was struck, and on a sunny day in June I drove over to the Chapters near my house to wait for Connelly as his very first stop on a mini-tour of Canada. The staff were awestruck that he'd be coming to their store to sign books. I smiled inside, because I don't get starstruck much with crime writers anymore. I do, however, get tickled any time I see those folks who do.

Later that evening was the real reason for Connelly's appearance in Ottawa, a ticketed event held at the Chateau Laurier. I have been to many events and signings; I haven't seen this kind of crowd in ages, if ever. They gave him a standing ovation before he said a word. A cursory glance at various members of the crowd found eager, hopeful, and nervous looks. They were here to see Michael Connelly, Bestselling Crime Writer. And he put on a great show, first talking about THE NARROWS, then reading an excerpt, then answering questions from a local radio disc jockey. The best part was when Connelly related some journo anecdotes from his time as the crime beat reporter for the LA Times, and also when he realized he'd made the right decision in getting out when his successor was among those scrumming at O.J. Simpson's house after the car chase and infamous arrest.

I enjoyed it immensely, and chuckled at the signing line that went both ways. I had a long conversation with Kari Atwell, Connelly's Canadian publicist, about authors we knew, those we had yet to meet, the book biz in general, and (naturally) Bouchercon. Eventually, the signing line dwindled, and I said my goodbyes to Atwell and Connelly, who were on their way to another event in Montreal the next day. He cracked that I'd come to listen to the same questions I'd asked him earlier in the afternoon. Not exactly, I replied, because with every interviewer, it's different.

It's true. And it's also bloody hard work, but a lot of fun. Helped by the fact that Connelly, who's been through this a zillion times, is a class act throughout, whether with a nervous blogger or a crowd of hundreds, if not more. We spent three quarters of an hour talking about book tours, his work in progress, switching from first person to third and back again, inside jokes that pop up, his longterm relationships with his agent and US editor, and the two interviews that nearly caused him to file a complaint (with very good reason.) For those that have not read THE NARROWS yet, there are spoilers. You have been warned.

Thanks go out to Shannon Byrne at Little, Brown & co., Kari Atwell at H.B. Fenn and Jane Davis for help in setting this all up. And without further adieu, the interview starts after the jump.