INTERVIEW

January 26, 2001

Carolyn G. Hart's 1983 mystery, THE RICH DIE YOUNG, has been reissued and brought back into readers' outstretched hands --- including Bookreporter.com's Ann Bruns, who was eager to review the book and interview the author. Known for her "Death on Demand" and "Henrie O" novels, Hart is a longtime fixture in the mystery community. Find out how this former reporter came to be an author, why she never rereads her books, and even hear a little about her upcoming Henrie O book, RESORT TO MURDER, due out in April 2001.

BRC: THE RICH DIE YOUNG is set in a small academy with characters and situations that are just as applicable to the year 2001 as they were in 1983. What is it about the small campus atmosphere that seems to invoke the perfect setting for mystery and intrigue?

CGH: It is a closed world and that is always perfect for a mystery. Any milieu can be used. The academic background is appealing, however, because readers know and understand that world. Everyone went to high school and a majority of Americans go on to college. Moreover, it is a time of life that is open to change and challenge and transformation, excellent breeding ground for trouble.

BRC: The feature character of THE RICH DIE YOUNG is a young woman who was a reporter before becoming a teacher at Friar's Academy. Later, you created the Henrie O character as a retired reporter, novelist and teacher. Is Henrie O a conscious reflection of yourself?

CGH: I always confess that Henrie O had the career I had hoped to have. I was convinced --- until I met and married a young law student --- that I would be a foreign correspondent. That dream didn't come true but other dreams did. However, I still think being a reporter is one of the most fascinating, interesting and socially useful careers possible. One of the great benefits of writing fiction is enjoying other lives a la Walter Mitty. Thanks to Henrie O, I've now been there, done that.

BRC: Do you ever feel the desire to resurrect your dream of a career in reporting?

CGH: No, I'm afraid the lure of fiction has snared me. I love writing fiction.

BRC: Your biography indicates that, aside from a few years in Washington, DC, you've spent most of your life residing in your native state of Oklahoma, yet your fictional novels take place everywhere but Oklahoma. THE RICH DIE YOUNG takes place in southern California, and other novels have been set in South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and San Antonio. Do you travel to research the locations for your novels?

CGH: Yes. I do a great deal of research, both in traveling and reading about the sites of books.

BRC: Why did South Carolina become the setting for both your "Death on Demand" series and your first "Henrie O" novel?

CGH: When I decided to write DEATH ON DEMAND, I wanted to set the story in a resort area and Hilton Head, SC was the resort I knew best. We have vacationed there since the mid 1970s. The Henrie O books can occur anywhere because her background has been so varied. The upcoming Henrie O --- RESORT TO MURDER --- takes place in Bermuda. Henrie O is there as a member of a wedding party and murder turns out to be an uninvited guest.

I love Oklahoma, but it has never seemed mysterious to me. However, I have written two short stories set in Oklahoma, "Spooked" in Murder on Route 66, and "Secrets" in Love and Death, an anthology which has just been released by Berkley. Both stories feature a 12-year-old girl named Gretchen in the summer of 1943 in a small northeastern Oklahoma town on Highway 66. I am now writing a full length story about Gretchen which is tentatively titled LETTER FROM EVA.

BRC: THE RICH DIE YOUNG is one of your earliest adult mysteries and among several that are being reprinted. When the first of these was reprinted 3 years ago, you stated you wouldn't reread them because you might be dismayed by those earlier works in comparison to how your writing has grown. Since readers have obviously enjoyed them, and there are more than a half dozen now back in circulation, have you changed your mind about rereading them?

CGH: No. I truly don't ever reread my books, including the long ago titles and the current ones. I am truly pleased that readers apparently like the earlier books as well as the newer ones. Probably the major difference between the books would be those written prior to computers. I started working on a computer in 1984 and it does indeed give you a chance to make every book better than it would have been on a typewriter.

BRC: In addition to your extensive list of novels, you've written numerous short stories, and a handful of children and young adult mysteries in the early years. Will you ever write more stories for the younger market or do you find they enjoy reading the more adult mysteries about Annie and Max Darling and Henrie O these days?

CGH: I do have a lot of young readers and that is wonderful. I don't know what the future holds but I never say never. The current book about Gretchen is intended as an adult novel but I would think it might be interesting also to younger readers.

BRC: In DEATH IN DEMAND, Annie runs a bookstore and each month commissions a watercolor depicting a mystery novel which her patrons are challenged to identify. Where did this intriguing idea originate?

CGH: I simply tried to think what I would enjoy seeing at a mystery bookstore and thought the paintings would be fun. Also it gave me another way to talk about some excellent mysteries. The paintings have been very popular with readers.

BRC: Your "Death on Demand" series and "Henrie O" series are both tremendously popular, and have earned you numerous writing honors including multiple Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. This must be immensely satisfying in the light of the rude rebuff you received in the beginning from the agent who told you there was no interest in publishing mysteries written by American women. Do you think the attitude in those days was specific to your genre, or was there a broad-based reluctance to accept women novelists?

CGH: I don't believe it was intended rudely. It was simply a reflection of the reality of mystery publishing at that time. The American mystery was the hardboiled male private eye and the traditional mystery was considered the preserve of British women writers. There was an underlying attitude, however, that works by men were more important than works by women. To some degree, I believe that attitude still exists, perhaps more among critics than publishers.

BRC: You've indicated that Henrie O was created, in part, as a backlash to those who felt the older woman wouldn't be viable as a strong, independent character. Despite the unflagging popularity of this character, there are still relatively few older women featured in today's mystery genre. Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax, and the classic Agatha Christie sleuth, Miss Marple, are the only two that come to mind. Are we still a long way from realizing the potential of women past the age of 35?

CGH: Yes. I think the effort by many (notably Tom Brokaw) to offer respect to the WWII generation has made some headway in dispelling the myth that anyone over 50 is negligible. But this is a youth oriented culture. The demise of "Murder She Wrote" reflects the disinterest by advertisers of anyone over 35. Oddly, most of the wealth belongs to older Americans and they do much of the purchasing, but the young ad executives ignore this fact. As long as Hollywood and Madison Avenue are controlled by thirty-something white men, I doubt older women will receive much attention or interest.

BRC: Henrie O is a widow who has yet to develop a "love interest" in any of her novels. Does this allow you more freedom to create different scenarios for Henrie O or is this more in keeping with her strong independent image? Given your feelings on the mature woman, it can't possibly be her age that's holding her back!

CGH: Definitely not. It's more keeping the focus on her actions rather than her emotions. Henrie O was reluctantly ending a love affair in DEATH IN LOVERS' LANE. I haven't been especially interested in creating a love interest because I feel that this is the core of Annie and Max.

BRC: You were described by at least one reviewer as a strong feminist. It seems to me that you simply recognized a lamentable void and worked to fill it, creating characters and storylines that quite naturally reflected your experiences and conveyed your feelings on the subject of women and age. Isn't that what any good writers does? Must women with a voice necessarily have a label?

CGH: I quite agree. I don't believe women should have to join any army, embrace any slogan. Every woman should create the life that she finds fulfilling. I admire independence but never at the price of commitment.

BRC: You were one of the founders of the organization Sister's in Crime. Could you explain to our readers a little about the origins and purpose behind it?

CGH: Sisters in Crime was organized to combat discrimination against women writers. At the time, mysteries by women were not reviewed at nearly the same level as those by men and conventions focused primarily on works by men. The group has done a great deal to share with readers and critics and publishers the wonderful news that women write great mysteries. Having faced discrimination, SinC welcomed men mystery writers as brothers in crime, knowing that every effort made to bring attention to women's mysteries also brought readers to the books by men. It has been a great success for all mystery writers and readers.

BRC: Annie Darling from the "Death on Demand" series would seem to be a direct contrast to Henrie O both in age and life style. But, I've noticed that several of the storylines have integrated some older women into the cast, not the least of which is Annie's colorful mother-in-law, and the delightful curmudgeon, Miss Dora. Will we continue to see these supporting characters playing even larger roles in the series?

CGH: You can bet on it. I've just turned in the Annie and Max that will be out in April 2002, APRIL FOOL MURDER (originally titled WHODUNIT DEAD) and Laurel plays a big and I hope intriguing role.

BRC: As a writer, you've defined some of your earlier works as suspense, and your current writing as cozies or mysteries. Police procedurals and hard-boiled detective stories would seem to be self-explanatory, but the line seems pretty blurred these days between cozy, mystery and suspense. Could you define those three subgenres from a writer's standpoint?

CGH: It is the publisher that terms the books as cozy. I've always thought of them as traditional mysteries, books that focus on what has gone wrong in the lives of those involved in a murder investigation. A cozy is simply a mystery that eschews graphic violence and sex although usually there is nothing at all cozy in the crime depicted, i.e., the murder in DEATH IN LOVERS' LANE. Mysteries and suspense do differ. A mystery solves the question of who committed a crime. A suspense novel focuses on whether the hero or heroine will climb the mountain, escape the tiger or rescue the kidnap victim. DEATH ON DEMAND is a mystery. BRAVE HEARTS (one of the early reprints) is a WWII suspense novel.

BRC: You've given generous credit to authors Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton for breaking new ground back in the late 70's and paving the way for women writers such as yourself to find success in the mystery genre. Are there any women writers today that you feel are conquering new frontiers? If so, can you give us an example or two?

CGH: Janet Evanovich and Margaret Maron. Janet has taken brash to the bank and Margaret has created characters as compelling as those of Josephine Tey.

BRC: Would you describe a typical writing day for us?

CGH: I try to write 5 pages a day when working on a book. I usually get to my office about 8:30 and quit around 5.

BRC: SUGARPLUM DEAD, a "Death in Demand" mystery was released in December and your next Henrie O novel, RESORT TO MURDER, will be released shortly. Do you have any plans for other novels or short story collections, or will these two series continue to occupy your writing agenda?

CGH: I hope to complete the book about Gretchen. LETTER FROM EVA will be a stand alone book and a departure from the two series. However, I still love writing about Annie and Max and Henrie O and will hope to do so for many more years, God and publishing willing. The next Annie and Max --- APRIL FOOL DEAD --- will be out in April 2002. The new Berkley anthology that I edited, LOVE AND DEATH, has just been published. If I may brag, I think it is a fantastic collection of simply wonderful short stories. I am very proud of all the authors who contributed.

BRC: What advice would you give to budding writers out there?

CGH: Write about something that matters enormously to you. If you care, readers will care.

BRC: Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few questions!

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