Author Visit With Meg Gardiner

Author Visit! Our book for discussion this month was Austin author Meg Gardiner’s newest book, Into the Black Nowhere; some of us read more of her books before the meeting. I counted 13 lucky members who were able to attend. Gardiner began writing books when she lived in the Santa Barbara area of California and now enjoys living in Austin. She studied law, worked in civil law, and now writes crime mysteries with aspects of criminal law in them. Gardiner said that she always liked mysteries. Upon being asked about her favorite mystery author, she told us that Sue Grafton was her hero and inspiration. Grafton is a contemporary and is also from Santa Barbara. (The city is called "Santa Teresa" in Grafton’s books.)  

Our questions and Gardiner’s answers shaped and highlighted our discussion.

Question: Joyce M. asked how Gardiner learned about crime scenes and how the FBI works.

Answer: Gardiner wanted to keep technicality minimal in her books, so that readers would enjoy the books. She found that the FBI offers seminars for writers, through which she visited the FBI Field Office in New York City and learned what FBI agents do, how they act, what their lives are like, how they got into the profession, how cyber-crimes are investigated, and what’s happening in crime. The FBI included presentations about specific crimes and evidence. The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives offered an instructional day for writers. Gardiner also took an opportunity to ride with the Austin Police.

Question: Dennis asked whether Gardiner had interviewed convicts or mass murderers. 

Answer: Gardiner said she had decided to avoid that, because it has a reputation for being upsetting. Gardiner seems to understand that well, as her law-enforcement characters, e.g., Caitlin, struggle with psychological aspects that plague them when they interact with her criminal characters, e.g., Kyle. Gardiner said that the phone call Caitlin made to Kyle when he was manning the telephone crisis line was based on an idea she had after reading a famous true crime book about Ted Bundy: The Stranger Beside Me, by Ann Rule. Rule volunteered at a crisis hotline, where she answered phone calls alongside Bundy. According to Rule, Bundy was an effective crisis counselor, good at talking to people who called the hotline.

Question: Flo asked how Gardiner gets names for her characters and titles for her books. 

Answer: Gardiner first figures out what important characteristics are going to be necessary. The name has to be distinctive and not easily confused with another character’s name, and it has to fit the character. Gardiner tries different names to choose one. She said that editors often have title suggestions or ideas to help her choose the title. After creating a long list of possible titles, Gardiner thought of Into the Black Nowhere and wrote it into the book in 2 places: (1) where Caitlin said it during her fake call to Kyle, when he was manning the hotline phone and (2) near the end of the book, when Caitlin said it again to the trapped Kyle to let him know it had been her on the phone call. Gardiner also told us that her book, Crosscut, was going to be named “Coyote Road,” until the editor suggested she use a title more suggestive of a crime.

Gardiner also explained some details about organizing a book with an outline and using the outline to stay on track. She said the author has to know the turning points and the ending in advance, to make it work. Gardiner told us how some other crime mystery writers approach their outlines and characters. Several members enjoyed hearing how other of their favorite authors go about their writing.

We asked more questions, some detailed and some general, and Meg Gardiner was very open and fascinated us all with her answers. Several members commented to me later that they had very much enjoyed the author visit and liked Gardiner’s friendly and approachable manner.

Thanks to Meg Gardiner for a fun and memorable meeting!

And now, what we are all waiting for: The next book in the "UNSUB" series is titled The Dark Corners of the Night. The book is set in Los Angeles and will be published in February, 2020. We’ll look for Meg Gardiner at the 2020 Texas Book Festival!

Author Visit: Fred Burton, Author of Ghost

Amanda Eyre Ward Visits

Ward
We had a good turnout for a fun visit with Amanda Eyre Ward Monday. Amanda's books are unique and well-written. She hasn't yet been pigeon-holed to a specific genre. She says she'd like her books to be considered "literary fiction." Works for me!

Amanda told us about her reading and writing habits, how she got started writing, and her current goals. She says she structures her books by envisioning scenes and noting just the scene on an index card. Then she writes up the scenes and arranges them later. She says she knows that her books skip around, but that's just how she writes. She has created her style and it has stayed with her.

She did the work to become a writer. She has always been an avid reader and continues to read several hours most days. She took a prestigious and excellent writing class during her undergraduate years at Williams College. She has written a number of short stories and honed some of them for her newest book, Love Stories in This Town. She also wrote a long novel that didn't work; she says it just went on and on with nothing happening. Ward works hard to get her books "right," and she likes a good editor to make lots of suggestions for changes. She wants the reader to feel that everything converges at the end of her books. She currently is working on a book that already has an ending, but she says that hasn't made the book easier to finish. She says it takes her approximately 3 years to write a book. I think it's important for us to remember these lessons as we meet authors who make it look easy to write a good book and get it published.

Amanda Eyre Ward is a very bright and interesting young woman! She was delightfully open with us, answering all sorts of questions we asked. We wish her lots of luck finishing and publishing her newest book and also on that movie option that has Sandra Bullock starring in Sleep Toward Heaven!

Judge Ken Anderson Tells Us More About Dan Moody

We had a good group assembled to visit with Judge Anderson last week. Several spouses were there (I think of them as "spice") plus a friend or two. Anderson told us how he decided to write the book, Dan Moody: Crusader for Justice. It was when Judge Ken Anderson saw a portrait of Governor Dan Moody and thought to himself, "hmm, here is a man who went from District Attorney to Governor, and I am a D.A.;" that he became interested in Dan Moody's story. Scouring local libraries, Anderson learned that no biography had been written about Dan Moody, so he set out to fill that vacuum.

We readers always enjoy hearing authors tell how they write. Anderson said he read 7 years of newspapers on microfilm (dizziness notwithstanding) to get information about Moody. Without a biography, the daily news was the best place to learn about the career of the D.A./Governor. Then there were trial transcripts to read. Anderson compiled this dry material to create a very readable account of the history surrounding Moody. Anderson also created a book for children, called You Can't Do That, Dan Moody, which then became a play that is still performed at the Georgetown Courthouse. If you're interested, look for it next September.

We asked the author some questions and learned more about Moody and the strategic attorney work he performed to almost singlehandedly achieve the downfall of the KKK nationally plus clean up the corrupt Texas government. There may be some who feel that the Texas government can always use a little cleanup; but in the case of the Fergusons, a lot of cleanup was needed. Led by Patty, we requested that Judge Anderson consider writing a biography of the Ferguson's. Several of us found them fascinating!

It's always a special occasion when we have an author visit, and we thank Ken Anderson for his time with us.

If you love to read about Texas, note that there is a local book discussion group called "Books for Texans." Here's a link - click on Books for Texans Book Club They meet on the third Tuesday at 7:00 PM at the Georgetown Public Library. Several of us are members of that group. As the blogmaster, I guess I am allowed to say that from this New Yorker's point of view, our own RRNN Book Discussion Group reads just enough books about Texas to not be too many.

April Book Club book/author visit

By Pam. I vote to invite Ken Anderson and select his book for April because I think many would enjoy it. I read the book (and found it fascinating) and do think it lends itself to discussion ("I didn't know..., "I was surprised... "I recall....). As for date, Frank's email says he would be available on our regular day (4/20), 1 1/2 hours earlier than we normally meet, i.e. 11:30. That would be my first choice.

But I'm fine with any decision made about any of this. I got to ask him my questions when I saw him at the related film I went to last week, so if we don't select the book or have him visit, that's OK with me too.

Changing Schedule to Accommodate Author Visit

Ken Anderson, author of the Round Rock Reads selection, Crusader for Justice, is available to meet with our group on Monday April 27th at 1:00 PM. (He can't make our regular day.) Anyone who would like to comment about the idea of reading Crusader for Justice and discussing it on the fourth Monday instead of our regular third Monday, please do. We're almost surely going to make this schedule change just for April. I'll leave it open for your comments here on the blog and via my email for a few days before we commit.

Any comments on how you feel about discussing the Round Rock Reads book at our meeting? Pro? Con? Is an author visit worth changing our schedule? I know some of you have read this book - want to put your comments into print so the group can refer to them?

Again, to comment you can use the group email address & password. They should be among your saved email somewhere...or ask me!
Claudia