Spotlight Profile
March 2003
Kit Sloane's third Margot O'Banion novel, Bad Actors, is now on bookstore shelves. O'Banion is a Hollywood film editor. Margot's lover, and the father of their son, Luis, is Max Skull. He is also her boss, a successful screenwriter and director.
G. Miki Hayen's PR for Kit says,
"Author Sloane's greatest gift lies in her creation of an unsettling atmosphere. Her characters become shrill and threatening, while buildings and the shadows cast upon their walls inspire dread and loathing in the reader. But this isn't horror for those fearful of that. We're still in the realm of the humanly mysterious and, with time, and Margot's dogged determination, we'll see what's what in the cold light of day."
A graduate of Mills College, Kit has published numerous short stories as well as many articles on the art of writing. She is an unabashed movie buff who lives on a Northern California ranch with her college professor husband, four horses, two goats, four cats, and a boxer named Sally.
Let's learn more about Kit and her writing.
Welcome to the Spotlight, Kit Sloan!
IC
Your second novel, Grape Noir, is set in the wine country of California. How did you decide to combine murder and wine?
Kit
We live in Northern California in the middle of wine country. Many of our friends are in the business as growers. They think of themselves as farmers for this product that brings the tourists around in droves and includes many wealthy movers and shakers. The industry is this dichotomy of hard workers and chi-chi offshoot industries. I like the dichotomy!
IC
Several of the questions I asked Kit had already been answered in an interview she sent me for Mystery Women of the UK. "No one in the UK will know or care if my answer is the same." She suggested I use appropriate answers from that interview for some of the questions. The following comment is one of those.
Kit
The wine trade is a traditional business which is a collaborative industry aiming toward the goal of great wine. It's fun to take an established organization and throw a wrench into their well-oiled gears. Plus the ambiance of wineries is so beautiful. I like the idea of mayhem in those tranquil surroundings. [paraphrased UK interview]
IC
I understand the cover of Grape Noir, was nominated for an award at last year's Boucheron.
Kit
My daughter Annie Sperling, an artist in Los Angeles, does my covers. This cover was nominated for an Anthony for Best Cover Art 2002. Annie is not a graphic artist and the covers are extremely colorful and highly original. We didn't WIN the Anthony, but for an independent publisher to be nominated was great fun!
IC
Kit also sent me a copy of her interview in Book Browser. As with anyone who does many interviews, similar questions keep popping up. The following was a response for an interview in Book Browser.
My publisher Margo Power feels the author is best able to decide on what their cover should be like. After all, we write 'em, we know how we want the cover to look! Annie's covers are paintings and, I like to think, as individual as the stories inside. [paraphased from Book Browser interview]
IC
Tell us about your writing day.
Kit
I live on a small (seven acre) horse ranch and my writing day
revolves, by necessity, around the needs of the ranch (particularly since my husband is busy teaching in the Bay Area). In his spare time he teaches horseback riding to people with disabilities. We live on a hilltop with the greatest views I've ever seen from each window. I can usually take a few hours after lunch for my writing. The business part of being an author I can handle between chores. I do think the physical activity is GOOD for me, though. Otherwise, I'd be a slave to my beloved iMac! But I write!
IC
Bad Actors was published in late fall. What is your next project?
Kit
The fourth in the Margot O'Banion series is called Last Words. It is a literary mystery concerning a famous dead author and his very alive, famous cult-classic novel that Max has turned into a screenplay—then he starts receiving editing advice from the dead!
I'm working on a fifth tentatively titled Extreme Cuisine where I bring back one of my favorite new characters from Grape Noir.
IC
You are obviously ahead in your planning new Margot O'Banion novels. Where do you get your ideas?
Kit
I generally have the idea of the next novel before I've completed the one I'm working on. I get my ideas from curious stories in the newspaper and from listening to conversations out of context. Mostly, I think about what's going to happen. By the time I sit down to write, it's pretty clear in my head where I want the story to go. . . . Now as for thinking up ideas, there's another thing. I do that everywhere. [BB]
IC
What writers do you feel have major influences on your writing?
Kit
Since I didn't begin writing full time until I was forty-five, I had already read a great deal of everything! My favorite writers are an eclectic bunch, from Graham Greene (I think his opening paragraph in Brighton Rock is my favorite first paragraph, period!) and John le Carre and C.P. Snow, to Jane Austen, Dorothy L. Sayers and P.D. James. In many of their books, they have continuing characters. There seems to be a theme here! [UK]
IC
Was there an event or person who inspired you to write mystery fiction?
Kit
My step-mother handed me Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time when I was eleven. It had just come out and was a great hit in the United States. I adored the book and was hooked on mysteries in general and on British writers specifically! [UK]
I have always wanted to write. When my husband got his Ph.D. and landed a job, I immediately gave two weeks notice to my job as a medical office manager. I decided to take a year off and see if I COULD write a book. That was years and years and many manuscripts ago
Since I loved mysteries, I decided to try the genre. I love the idea of puzzle-solving. And since my books are heavily slanted on characterization, I liked the idea of several books involving the same people. I never thought I'd finish one novel, must less a series! [UK]
Of course, getting published was another business altogether. But while dutifully querying publishers, I wrote a few short stories that were published here and there. ("The White Knuckle Riding Club" was published in Horse Illustrated Magazine, showing that there are many different places to shop your work!)
I worked on articles, newsletters and eventually joined Futures Magazine as its first fiction editor. I published a column called "An Editor's Eye" where I discussed aspects of writing.
Now I concentrate on my own writing. Most everything I do is about writing! My husband and I are great movie buffs, too. We love films, old, new, foreign and domestic. In fact, it was a film editor friend of mine who got my curiosity going about that particular profession and led to my creating shy, talented Margot O'Banion, film editor.
IC
It sounds as if you plan to continue to write in the mystery genre
Kit
The idea of a mystery plot where everything has to make sense appeals to me. I've been reading mysteries and everything else forever, but no other fiction demands logic! I love creating and then solving the puzzles without cheating. I am not a fan of red herrings. I like to get the reader's mind working. [BB]
I write a lot of articles on writing and the writing game. I occasionally do a mystery short story. My interest is in my characters and novel length gives me ample opportunity for working on that. [BB]
IC
You said you and your husband are "great movie buffs." What is your favorite movie and why?
Kit
That's a wonderful question. To me, it's akin to what is my favorite book? The answer being, it just depends. Since I've been interested in my characters' relationship lately, I'd say a great favorite film of mine is Moonstruck from 1987. It has a wonderful ensemble cast and is about all sorts of family relationships. It is funny and hopeful. Also The Thin Man series, the Nick and Nora adventures from stories by Dashiell Hammett from the thirties and forties, are very stylish, very American and fun. [UK]
Two of my favorite "current" films are American Beauty (great screenwriting and art direction, not to mention the superb acting) and This Is Spinal Tap which I think is about the funniest movie I've ever seen. We watch it once a year. [BB]
It was a natural for me to create a film editor protagonist. A film editor friend of mine introduced me to many of her co-editors. They were all women; smiling, quiet, unobtrusive, rather shy people. And all their technically creative work was a long way from the perceived glitz of Hollywood. [UK]
IC
How do you get feedback on your novels?
Kit
I've never belonged to a critique group. I don't think I'd do well in a critique group. I do have a group of four readers of varying backgrounds and ages who read each of my rough drafts. They're all mystery buffs. They're good. They're the ones whose suggestions I listen to closely. They're the ones who'll find any "errors" in the plots. I depend on these readers!
IC
What is the hardest or most frustrating part of writing?
Kit
The middle. Seriously, writing the middle of the book is somewhat of a chore for me. It's necessary to maintain momentum and to keep the story building, but compared to writing the beginning and, my favorite, the climactic ending, writing the middle is hard work! [UK]
IC
I've heard many writers say that middles are the most difficult. Have you found any ways to help get through those pesky middles of the novels?
Kit
I try to just keep plugging along. I try to find a really good scene for the middle, something I can key off of and keep the story moving. When I am able to do this, it's a great relief! One "trick" I use as a stimulus is to never finish the day by finishing a chapter. If I'm close to the end of a chapter, I always go on to the next page, the next
chapter, even if I just start it with a line or two. It's much less daunting to return to a "started" page/thought the next time!
IC
I think it was someone on MMA who said, "I always go back to Kit Sloane's comment, "It’s not the murder. It's the waiting for the murder." What's the background on this insightful comment?
Kit
I do quite a few lecture/talks (I never know which is which) before different clubs and groups where I discuss what makes a mystery a mystery and topics along that line. The line is, of course, is from Alfred Hitchcock where he is gleefully defining "suspense." It's my favorite explanation for what makes readers shiver. And I think it's equally apropos for good dramatic writing in any genre--think Hamlet or MacBeth!
IC
What is the most gratifying experience you have had as a writer?
Kit
I used to tell my husband that I'd love to see a stranger carrying my book. So the FedEx truck drives up our hill...I go out to get whatever is being delivered and there on the seat next to the driver is FINAL CUT, my first book! I said, "I wrote that!" She says "I really like it. I got it from the library." I am thrilled.
IC
Did I miss any questions you wished I had asked?
Kit
I think you asked great questions. I can't think of anything to add. Of course, there's nothing a writer, or probably anyone, loves better than talking about herself!
IC
Thank you for spending this time with us.
Kit
I'm delighted to have this interview for the Internet Chapter since my best new friends are directly from there!
IC
That's a good way for me to sign off in my last Spotlight interview. I appreciate the members of SinC-IC who agreed to be interviewed for Spotlight.
Thanks to Ellen Westphal who shared the position with me. More thanks to Jonette Stabbert and Kadi Easley who are the new Spotlight co-chairs.
Kit
I have a fun website at http://www.kitsloane.com.
I do hope people will log on, sign my guest book, say hello, and look around!
Also our publisher's website is attractive and informative:
http://www.deadlyalibipress.com.
This interview was conducted during the month of January 2003 for SinC-IC
by Dr. Janet Fudala.
E-mail Kit
E-mail Jan
Read an earlier Spotlight Profile
