Spotlight Profile
January 2002
Special Announcement for the New Year:
Before beginning this month's Spotlight, we ask you to stand and give a round of applause for Pat Browning, who has been doing our Spotlight since August, 2000. Unless you do Spotlight yourself, you don't know the tremendous amount of work this page entails. Thanks, Pat, for your excellent work!
This year the Spotlight will be focused by the team of Jan Fudala and Ellen Westphal, who will be trying something a little different. Jan and Ellen would like to focus on SinC-IC members who volunteer their time for the internet chapter to keep our organization going. Some of these members are published, some are working to get there, and some support the mystery field in ways other than writing. What they have in common is the significance of their contributions to SinC-IC.
Jan and Ellen will be will be pleased to hear suggestions for the Spotlight from any of you.
Now for the January Spotlight Profile
Lonnie Cruse is a qualified teacher's aide, married, and the mother of three sons. She writes procedural mysteries. Her first novel, Murder In Metropolis, was a finalist in the Dark Oak mystery contest in September of 2001. She is currently working on the second book in the series, Buried in Brookport and hunting a publisher for Murder In Metropolis.
Murder in Metropolis is a mystery set around the gigantic Superman statue located at the Massac County, Illinois Courthouse. "I was nervous at first about writing a full novel, but Superman just wouldn't let go," Lonnie told us.
She serves on the Steering Committee for Sinc-IC, works on the PR committee, and is currently Alternate President for Marthe Arends. Lonnie also has been nominated for 2002 SinC-IC President.
IC
Lonnie, please tell us more about yourself and how you started writing mysteries.
Lonnie
I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada in the year ...well, let's don't even go there. I grew up there and my father made his living in the gambling casinos as a dealer and pit boss. Las Vegas was quite an interesting place to live. My friends and I were used to seeing famous people around town. Remember Victor Mature, the well-known actor in the late 40's-early 50's? According to Mom, before he became well-known he borrowed Dad's car to look for a job.
Las Vegas got pretty hot in the summer, up to 115 in the shade--if you could find shade. Visitors overcome by the heat were a common sight. As teenagers, my friends and I would ride up and down Fremont Street and watch the tourists. If you made any home movies in Las Vegas back then, that's me hanging out of the car window waving at you. Yeah, the one on the left with the pony tail and poodle skirt.
I would like to dispel one myth right here. People tend to think that if they opened their area to gambling it would bring in lots of revenue to the town, give young people more jobs and encourage them to stay home rather than move to bigger cities looking for jobs. I graduated with one of the largest senior classes ever. Very few of those students stayed in Las Vegas to marry and raise families. Las Vegas was interesting, but living there was tough. It has grown so fast in the past few years that the school system can't keep up. (Bet the sewer and refuse people aren't having much luck either.) Hundreds of people have moved there in the hope of getting rich quick. They haven't. And gambling has never brought out the best in people. Might want to keep that in mind before you vote "yes" to gambling in your area.
My husband and I got married while he was stationed at Nellis A.F.B. When he got out of the service, we moved to California. A family emergency brought us to Kentucky the next year and we stayed there and raised our family. We've lived in Illinois for several years now.
Metropolis is a small town in Southern Illinois (population about 7,000). We are located on the Ohio river just across the bridge from Paducah, Kentucky. Our primary claim to fame for many years has been Superman. In the early 1970s the town fathers adopted Superman. The Illinois House passed a resolution declaring Metropolis the Official Hometown of Superman in 1972. A fifteen foot statue of Superman is quite impressive.
IC
Murder in Metropolis has quite a ring to it. How did you come up with the idea?
Lonnie
Our grandson is partly responsible for the idea for Murder in Metropolis. He loves Superman and wants to drive by the statue every time we go downtown. I kept looking at that huge statue, thinking "What a lovely place for a dead body." That got me started. I began writing that mystery a little over a year ago. I've spent time with the coroner, the sheriff, his staff, and toured the Massac County Detention Center (very clean and well run, but I don't want to live there). I'm making the move from wannabe to gonnabe.
I have written off and on for many years, mostly off. I played around with writing by doing a family history in long hand, which I eventually turned into a small short story book that my family enjoys. I also wrote a booklet for brides, which I give as wedding gifts. I self-published these books while taking a Graphic Arts course at our local Adult Education Program. I learned to create a book from start (writing it, designing the cover, etc.) to finish (running the press, collating by hand and binding). The other female students hated the printing press, so I pretty much had the machinery to myself. I managed to sell a few copies and did a signing at a local bookstore. I write articles for a Christian women's newsletter, published by women in the south. I once wrote a play for Cub Scouts about socks that get lost in the washer and the uncharted Nowhere Land where they wind up. It was terrific, but unfortunately, lost to posterity.
I always wanted to do a novel, but didn't get serious about it until I learned to use a computer. I'm left handed, so writing longhand has always been very difficult for me. Even my own husband makes me print the grocery list. I'm a fast typist, but hate having to re-type mistakes. When I discovered the PC, rather late in life, it was love at first sight. I began to give serious thought to a novel when I read a mystery by a very well-known author with a HUGE plot error. That pushed me over the edge. I figured I couldn't do any worse!
IC
Your second book isn't in Metropolis. How did you come up with that one?
Lonnie
I was in the middle of writing MIM when the idea began to form for the second book. I could see an elderly lady lying on the ground in someone's back yard, and the sheriff standing over her. I had no idea what it meant, or where that book was going. Then I saw a news story about the accidental death of an elderly person. I started thinking "What if it hadn't been an accident, but murder?" I researched the news story, and saved the information.
There are several small towns in Massac County, all covered by the local sheriff. I decided to use the names of the different towns in the titles of the series and set the murders there. Brookport is a small town about ten miles from here.
When I submitted MIM to a contest, and couldn't make any changes to that manuscript for a couple of months, I started working the Brookport idea. With MIM, I knew the murderer and motive before I even began the first chapter. With the second, I had no idea who the killer was or why. My mind works like one of those cheap plastic funnels from the Dollar Store. Lots of ideas up top, where I can't see them, with a little information dropping down at a time. Once the first chapter was in the computer, the story began to open up and I could see right to the end.
IC
Where are you in your series at this point? Do you intend to stick with the same general cast of characters?
Lonnie
At this point, MIM is finished and being polished, Brookport is still in rough draft form, and I have an idea for the next one set in Dongola, Illinois. I can see the opening scene in my head, but nothing beyond that. When I run out of small towns to use, I figure I can send my sheriff on vacation, or have him change jobs or something. Or change to a new series. If I live that long. This DOES seem to take a while.
Fictional Sheriff Joe Dalton, his four deputies (three males, one female), his family, and a few minor characters will repeat in each book. That way, I can develop Dalton over time. I tend to get involved in series when I read and stick with writers I like, so I'm hoping to grow a fan base of my own.
I don't know why my protagonists always seem to be male. It just sort of happens, both in my novels and short stories. If I want a female protagonist, I have to make a conscious effort. No idea what that means.
IC
Can you tell us a bit about your writing day?
Lonnie
In the morning, I wake up and feel my way to the kitchen for a cup of decaf (as long as it's hot liquid, it wakes me up). I check e-mail to see what my writing buds are up to. Then I open the file and go to work. Right now I'm still polishing Murder In Metropolis, and looking for a publisher. I recently made the finals in the Dark Oak Mystery Contest, which has spurred me on. I have a rough draft completed for the second title in the series, but had to leave that while I find a home for Murder In Metropolis.
I prepare for the day by reading a print-out of my most recent chapter. Then I key in any changes. I keep a picture of the Superman statue on my desk and often look at it, as the body in my story is found there. It helps me focus. I collect memorabilia about the statue, and I did a lot of research on both the statue and the history of Metropolis. I'm a people watcher. I keep notes of anything interesting I see to include either in this book or a future one, so I usually check those notes. Sometimes I do research on-line. Sometimes I go to downtown Metropolis, or any nearby area for the scene I'm working on, and look around. I've learned that I wasn't nearly as observant as I'd thought. I'd have sworn the courthouse had four entrances. It has three.
If I'm stuck, I give up and go hit the shower. Usually the PERFECT idea will come to me. Only problem is, no notebook or pen in there. I have threatened to buy a waterproof set. I do try to rest a little in the late afternoon, ever since I read that Stephen King takes naps. If it's good enough for him...
IC
It sounds like you are off to a great start. Do you have any concluding words of wisdom for other writers or hopefuls?
Lonnie
If someone asks "Where do you work?" I say "I'm a writer" (even though the book isn't published yet). If you say it, it will happen.
That is certainly an encouraging thought! We will expect it to happen and watch for news of your first title in print. Thanks so much for taking time to chat with us and best of luck with the series.
This interview was conducted for the Internet Chapter of Sisters in Crime during the month of December 2001,
by Jan Fudala.
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Read an earlier Spotlight Profile
