Jean Henry Mead, author of both fiction and nonfiction books, says that featuring other writers on her blogs is one of her greatest pleasures. Five of Mead’s 17 books are collections of her interviews. The latest, The Mystery Writers: Interviews and Advice, is a collection of different postings that originated at her Mysterious Writers blog site. “They were so informative that I didn’t want them to disappear into cyber space after their initial appearances,” Mead says.
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| Jean Henry Mead |
I was most interested in how such books
evolved, so I asked Jean if she would answer a few questions. Much to my
delight, she agreed:
JK: Jean, would you tell us how you
first came up with the clever and interesting idea of interviewing celebrities
and then publishing these pieces in an anthology?
JHM: I began my career as a news
reporter, so the first book I wrote—and published in 1982—was a collection of
interviews with well-known Wyoming residents, such as Dick Cheney, country
singer Chris LeDoux, U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, attorney Gerry Spence, some
governors, artists and other interesting people. The Mystery Writers is my fifth book of interviews.
JHM: I was fortunate to interview Elmore
Leonard before he became so famous. (We were both members of Western Writers of
America at that time.) So when I emailed other bestselling authors for
interviews, I mentioned Elmore Leonard, which probably gave me some
credibility. I think the fact that I was also a member of Mystery Writers of
America helped as well.
JK: What was the hardest part of
compiling and editing so many articles and interviews?
JHM: Compiling all those interviews was
very time consuming and took me away from working on my novels. I had to send
out sixty manuscripts for updates, ask each author to write a short piece on
the craft of writing, and then, when everything started coming back, I felt as
though I were at the bottom of an avalanche. But it all worked out eventually
at 406 pages.
JK: Do you plan to do another volume of
this series in the future?
JHM: I don’t plan another. The Mystery Writers is the second volume
of mystery writer interviews I’ve done. The first, Mysterious Writers, was published in 2010 by Poisoned Pen Press in
ebook format and is still available. I wanted to also publish a print edition,
which I did with the second volume. I hope the interviews and advice are
valuable tools for fledgling writers.
JHM: Carolyn Hart, Jeffrey Deaver, Lawrence
Block, J.A. Jance, Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard, Vickie Hinze and James Scott
Bell, to name just a few. They were all great interviewees and I wish I’d had
access to their advice, writing successes and failures, when I first began
writing fiction.
JK: The entire volume has been a help to
me. Like all writers, I’m forever striving to improve my skills. It’s a book I’ll
keep and reread from time to time.
Thanks a million for your time and
patience in answering my questions. I think your wisdom will help my readers.
Readers, Jean’s blog is Mysterious Writers.
Blog url: http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/
Her website:
www.jeanhenrymead.com
