HANK: Such fun to meet a new pal. And such fun to meet a new pal whose books are kind of like yours--and whose life is kind of like yours and whose interests are kind of like yours. And--amazing fun to have someone says: Oh, when I went to a bookstore with my new book, they compared it to yours! Wonderful on so many levels.
Which is why I am delighted and thrilled to introduce you to Clare O'Donohue, who, turns out, is a lot like a lot of us around here. Who, sometimes, are seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.
And see below for a book giveaway! Thanks, Clare!
A Question of Character
My first three books, all part of the Someday Quilts series, were light mysteries. People were murdered, sure, but it wasn’t anything to get upset about. My main character from that series, Nell Fitzgerald, is nosy but she’s polite. She makes quilts, she hangs out with a multi-generational group of woman, and she’s dating a guy that anyone would be happy to bring home to meet the folks.
My fourth book, Missing Persons, features Kate Conway. Kate is nothing like Nell. In fact, my guess is she wouldn’t even like her. Kate is sarcastic and a little bitter. She covers her vulnerability with cynicism, and she isn’t afraid to lie or manipulate if it gets her what she wants.
One of the comments I’ve heard from friends, reviewers and fans of my first three books is that it’s hard to believe both series are written by the same person. If characters are extensions of the writer’s personality, my friends say, then I must have multiple personality disorder.
I’m fine with that. Just as I don’t think most actors want to play the same part their whole careers (except maybe Susan Lucci), I don’t think most writers want to write from the same point of view all the time. Even a series that goes on for years grows and changes, and the author introduces new characters that bring different life experiences, different attitudes, different methods of getting rid of a body….
And isn’t that the fun of it? I love my Nell character, and her genesis may be in my years of quilting and my fantasies about small town life, but she isn’t me. Kate shares my profession (TV producer) and a tendency to make a joke out of everything, but she isn’t me either.
My characters live in different places (Nell in the fictional small town of Archers Rest, and Kate in the very real Chicago) and they have different interests (Nell quilts with a group of close friends, Kate tries to avoid human contact through TV and take-out).
The fact that these women see the world through very different eyes, isn’t the hard part. It’s the fun part. Through my characters I can have new experiences, or relive old ones – I can be 26 again, worried about my career and sharing a first kiss, or I can be facing down the cop who thinks I might be a killer. I can be rude, virginal, angry, generous… I can be smarter than I actually am. And much, much braver. One mystery series couldn’t do or say everything I want, so why not have two?
Like a pretzel dipped in chocolate, the opposite tastes actually improve each other. Which only makes me wonder what perhaps a third series, with another new character could bring to the mix. Or a fourth….
My friends may be right. Maybe I do have multiple personality disorder.
Clare O'Donohue is the author of Missing Persons; A Kate Conway Mystery and the Someday Quilts Mysteries. She is also a TV producer and writer, working on programs for A&E, The History Channel, truTV, Food Network and others. She lives in Chicago.
MISSING PERSONS:
The cause of death is "undetermined", but the cops peg Chicago television producer Kate Conway as the main suspect in the death of her about to be ex-husband, Frank. To make matters worse, and weirder, Frank's new girlfriend wants to be friends. Kate distracts herself with a new work assignment for the telelvision show, Missing Persons, and the story of Theresa Moretti, a seeminly angelic nursing student who disappeared a year earlier. As All Kate wants is a cliched story and 22 minutes of air time, but when the two cases appear to overlap, she has to start her own investigation, before a third body turns up. Her own.
Bet you can't wait to read MISSING PERSONS--
An edgy new mystery about lost love, unsolved cases, bad television, and the dead husband’s girlfriend, who keeps getting in the damn way. Here's the scoop--a lucky commenter will get a free copy!
Do you ever become your character? Or--which fictional character would you like to BE? Give us your choise--and you'll be in the drawing for this wonderful mystery.
As a big fan of Hank's, I would love to read a book by Clare O'Donohue. I am also a Chicago girl at heart. I haven't lived there for years though.
Posted by: Sally Gawne | June 22, 2011 at 07:57 AM
Well, Sally! You have made my day! Thank you so much...you know I'm from Chicago, too..
Now, living in Boston, when I say: Go SOx! Who knows what I really mean.. :-0
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 22, 2011 at 08:00 AM
There are so many characters I would like to be! Some of my favorites are the female protagonists in Anne Perry's Victorian mystery series (both Monk, and the Thomas and Charlotte series) because I love the period and the clothing etc. Or, I would love to be a character in one of Ms. Sefton's knitting mysteries set in Colorado, or a dragon rider in Pern (Anne McCaffery)--regardless of the fact that I am terrified of heights, or someone who lives in the world of Darkover and has a special gift of some sort...
I love on-going series where the world (and the characters) adapt, grow, and change with the world around them. It's like visiting back home after an extended absence each time a new book comes out, and I look forward to each new addition by my favorite authors, whether they write about familiar characters or brand new ones.
I look forward to checking out Clare's books. Thanks for introducing her!
Posted by: Reina | June 22, 2011 at 09:51 AM
Wonderful interview. Thank you, Hank.
Posted by: Pj Schott | June 22, 2011 at 10:40 AM
I would love to be a character in a period cozy, like an Agatha Christie or Rex Stout. In fact I would love to be a femme fatale in a Nero Wolfe and have Archie Goodwin take me dancing and defend me when Wolfe wants to throw me out. :) To this day Nero Wolfe is one of my favorite series.
Posted by: Kelley | June 22, 2011 at 10:44 AM
My fictional character would be Eloise and I would live at The Plaza.
Posted by: Pj Schott | June 22, 2011 at 10:49 AM
This is wayyyyyyyyy too easy...:)
"Bond.... James Bond." (The Connery version)
Posted by: William | June 22, 2011 at 11:45 AM
William, you are so right. I'd LOVE to be him.
Also--Emma Peel.
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 22, 2011 at 02:42 PM
Sharon McCone from Marcia Muller's amazing PI series. Or Scarlett O'Hara. Maybe Jean Valjean. I must have Clare's multiple personality disorder!
Posted by: Laura DiSilverio | June 23, 2011 at 07:08 AM
My kids still dream of waving a wand, and flying on a broomstick. This is ok, because I still do too. Thanks for introducing me to a new author.
Posted by: karla | June 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM
Writing different series is the way I get to be different people without the necessity of reincarnation.
Posted by: Charlaine Harris | June 25, 2011 at 07:29 AM
Agatha Christie, I do think I read, got fed up with "being" Marple or Poirot and found Poiot unappealing after awhile. I'm surprised she didn't write more than she did about excavations in her mysteries. My current heroine (I MUST finish this tome and bring completion to the project) is, like me, a photographer who writes poems and occasional songs. I think most of us use what we know.
Posted by: Carol-Lynn Rössel | June 25, 2011 at 05:08 PM
The odd thing about writing is that I think every character is me...or, someone I wish I were. I find it very hard to distance myself from my characters. My next rewrite is to bump up the female lead and I am really struggling finding things to write about her that aren't autobiographical.
Posted by: Victoria Allman | June 27, 2011 at 02:34 PM
I thought I'd weigh in - though I don't need to win a book ;) My favorite character to be would be Nora Charles - she's tough, smart has a great guy, can hold her liquor and has great one-liners.
Posted by: Clare O'Donohue | June 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Me, too, me too!!!
And now: the winner of Clare's book is: Sally Gawne!!
Sally, please contact he via my website with your mailing information!
Posted by: Hank Phillippi Ryan | June 28, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Congrats, Sally and thanks Clare and Hank!
I'd like to be one of Miss Marple's sidekicks and Emma Peel too. And a detective in the Peculiar Crimes Unit so I could work with Bryant and May. Multiple personality disorder sounds like a lot of fun to me. :)
Posted by: Mary | June 28, 2011 at 06:48 PM
Congrats Sally! I hope you enjoy the book. Please email and let me know - and anyone else who wants to get in touch! Clare
Posted by: Clare O'Donohue | June 29, 2011 at 12:16 PM