by Julia Spencer-Fleming
I have a superpower as a writer. Since my last Clare
Fergusson/Russ van Alstyne book came out in 2020, you can tell it’s not
terrific speed. It’s not laser-like focus, either: I’m a late-in-life diagnosed
ADHD person which explains why I tend to start one task, switch to another, and
somehow wind up scrubbing my shower when I should be scheduling events.
No, my superpower is manifesting my plot elements. “Well,
Julia,” I can hear you say (superhearing is another power of mine, except in my
right ear, where I’m a tad deaf.) It’s not that hard to be timely as long as
you pay attention to the news, right? Yes, but here’s the thing – I tend to
come up with the plots for my novels years ahead of their publication.
I first learned one of the largest official offices of the
American Nazi Party is in Syracuse, NY back in, I don’t know, 2016? I went to
high school in a town right next to Syracuse, a town where my parents lived for
40-plus years. Trust me when I say Nazis are NOT what you think of when you
think of Syracuse. Basketball, yes. Insane amounts of snow, yes. Fascism – not
so much.
Then, a few years later, there was a lot of news here in
Maine about a group of white supremacists who decided to relocate to the
sparsely-populated northwestern reaches of the state and take over a local
small-town government. I guess their idea was it’s easier to create a
pale-people paradise in a spot that’s already well over 90% Caucasian. Much to
their surprise, the locals did NOT agree with their sentiments (Mainers don’t
take kindly to out-of-staters coming in and telling us how to live) and the group
was basically run out of town.
These factoids sloshed around in the cocktail shaker that is
my brain, and as I was finishing my last novel, HID FROM OUR EYES, I was
already coming up with the basic outline of AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY. I wanted
to do a Christmas book – everyone loves a mystery set during the Christmas
season, right? And what goes better with the holiday than a white supremacist
militia group bent on spreading their message through violence? (There is also
tree decorating, hot cocoa, and Santa.)
Did I have any idea domestic terrorism and political
violence would be major news items the same fall my book was coming out?
Absolutely not, and I wish to heck it wasn’t so! Did I think I was going to get
invitations to speak on radio talk shows because of my timely fiction? Again,
no! I would prefer the biggest issue of the moment to be Taylor Swift’s new
album. (Is it really as bad as critics are saying?) But you know, when you’re
given a superpower, you don’t really control how you use it. Maybe for my next
novel I can manifest a relaxing summer at a beach house…
Julia
Spencer-Fleming (@jspencerfleming.bsky.social) — Bluesky
Julia
Spencer-Fleming/ jspencerfleming.bsky.social (@JSpencerFleming) / X
Welcome to Writers Who Kill! Thanks for joining us today.
ReplyDeleteHi, Julia! How wonderful to have you join us here on Writers Who Kill! I can't wait to get my hands on your new book. All else will be postponed until I finish reading it.
ReplyDeleteIt does tend to be a tad eerie when something we wrote a year or more ago suddenly becomes timely at publication. I've had it happen, and it freaks me out a little. No, a LOT.
Brings to mind the C.W. McCall song "Crispy Critters" about a group of hippies and their 84 dogs who arrive in town in a purple school bus and take over the city council, including electing a space cadet mayor.
ReplyDeleteAfter I heard the emotional testimony of a trafficking victim whose sons attended high school with my daughter, I incorporated a similar story in my latest book. The victims would be transported to a women's shelter, no ICE involvement. How did I anticipate that? The whole visa situation keeps changing, too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely manifest a relaxing beach house vacation for all - except, will low tide reveal the gruesome murder? Can't wait for the book!
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating, Julia . . . but wherever your ideas come from, they always make for fascinating, intriguing stories. As always,, I'm looking forward to reading your book . . . .
ReplyDeleteWhat a great superpower, Julia! Looking forward to the book.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Julia. Lovely to see you here. I cannot wait for AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY's release. It is freaky when current events imitate plot. Cosmic consciousness????
ReplyDeleteHi Julia -- great to hear from you at WWK. When it comes to domestic terrorism and political violence, I guess we shared that superpower. I started my most recently published novel, Niki Undercover in 2019 - only took 5 years to finish, and yep, that's at the heart of it.
ReplyDelete