Here is our interview with the
talented Gwen Freeman, author of Murder, Suicide or
...Whatever:
Will
there be more Fifi Cutter mysteries? if so, when can we start
looking for it? Will Fifi go it
alone or have Bosco (her half brother) along as a side kick?
I am joyfully about 80% done with Fifi II
tentatively entitled Life's A Trial, and yes, Bosco is back and very
much part of the team, as well as Fifi's good friend V.J. Smith.
V.J., who made her appearance in Murder...Suicide...Whatever...as a
second year associate in the small law firm started by Fifi's father,
is now trying a very important wrongful death case and hires Fifi
to assist in locating an important witness. I hope to have
the ms. to Capital Crime Press by early June.
Are the characters fashioned or the relationship between Fifi and Bosco
fashioned after anyone in particular?
Fifi
is partly based on my mother, who selects the people she
cares about with great discrimination and the rest of the world
can go hang! She alienated many people by working for civil rights in
the South in the 60's, and I've always admired that complete
imperviousness to whether others like her. Bosco might bear some
resemblance to my younger brother, who is now a home-owning,
hard-working father of one ...but there was a time...
Capital Crime Press seems to be a perfect match for your book.
How did you get together with them?
I
sent the original manuscript to a number of publishers, including
Capital Crime. I had heard about CC from a fellow Sister In Crime
(LA). CC, of all the publishers, was the one who responded with
the best advice ever...they recommended an editor who specializes in
mysteries, Ellen Larson, and agreed to read the manuscript if (and when
) she passed on it. Ellen, thankfully, was very positive about the
book, and quite blunt about what I needed to do to improve it. She
was right on, Capital Crime liked the second submission, and I was on
my way.
Your book has moments that are quite non PC. How did you come up with
this slant?
As
for the non PC slant, I wanted Fifi to have her own voice, not dictated
by what a young woman of color is supposed to think, both because this
makes her a more interesting character and because she really does
exist in my head, and she really does have her own somewhat harsh world
view. Remember, she does not fit into the white world nor does she fit
into the black world. Neither group would claim her wholeheartedly, or
so she thinks. Fifi is, in that sense, isolated, which makes
her suspicious of the motives of others and cynical (perfect for a
detective!) But this also makes her need family, in the person of
Bosco, more than she wants to, which adds tension. Also PC isn't funny.
Your background is law. How did you get into writing?
I
have wanted to be a mystery writer since I heard the Beatles sing "I
Want To Be A Paperback Writer." They were singing my song, but I
needed to live a while before I had enough material.
What is your writing process?
I
jot down thoughts, jibes, jokes, and plot lines in an assortment of
spiral bound notebooks, and a few legal pads, and then sit down at the
computer at home, when no one is there but my dogs to keep
me company, and write chapters out of order, depending on what I
feel like writing that day. Morning is best for me.
What is your main piece of
advice for new writers?
My
main piece of advice for new writers is to have others read your work,
and then really listen to the opinions expressed. Listen carefully. If
you reject the suggestion, go back to it later and see if maybe you
weren't too hasty. And don't be thin skinned.
It must be hard to juggle work as
a lawyer, an artist and a writer. How do you find time for all your
talents?
It
isn't hard at all. I love to write and paint and I have to work.
If
you could give your book to one person who would it be and why?
I would like to give my book to Barak
Obama, because he has handled the color issue with such astonishing
grace, and he seems like he has a sense of humor.