Spotlight Profile
April 2002
Reader's Choice Award winner for Best Mystery Series in 2002, Mary Welk pens the Caroline Rhodes mystery series, including A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS (Reader's Choice Award for Best First Mystery); SOMETHING WICKED IN THE AIR (Reader's Choice Award for Best Traditional Mystery); and TO KILL A KING. Her next book, THE SCARECROW MURDERS, will be out in 2002 and judging from her track record it's sure to be a winner.
Mary has realized her dream of publication through hard work and a solid belief in her dream. She's not content to let life take its course, but instead goes after the goals important to her while keeping a sense of balance in her life.
Welcome to the Spotlight, Mary Welk!
IC
How did you get your start as a writer?
Mary
I've been writing since I was a teenager but, as a career, I'd have to say it began in 1996 when I sent my first novel to two writing competitions.
I'd originally written the book when I was 22 years old, while I was in nursing school. It was pretty amateurish so I put the manuscript away but, because the plot always intrigued me, I resurrected it 24 years later. While I rewrote the entire story, changed all of the characters, setting, and dialogue, I knew the initial plot had merit. After six revisions, I was finally satisfied and submitted the manuscript to the Hemingway First Novel Competition and to the Malice Domestic First Novel Competition under the title Four To Go.
My manuscript ended up as a finalist in the Hemingway competition, the only mystery in the group. It didn't win in the Malice Domestic competition, but I received a lovely letter from the judge who'd read it, urging me to leave the manuscript just as it was and submit it again in '97. I was thrilled the book did as well as it did, but it took another two years before it was finally published under the title A Deadly Little Christmas.
IC
When did you begin writing?
Mary
I wrote my first story back when I was 13 years old. It was a three-part mystery written for my eighth grade newspaper. Unfortunately, no one in the school bought the paper, so it folded after the first issue. My story died with it.
Three years later I bought a guitar and started writing my own music. For the next five years I played guitar and sang off and on with two folk music groups. After I was married, my husband (also a guitarist) and I sang for weddings and other types of gatherings. My mystery writing fell by the wayside for quite some time while I tried poetry and other types of short stories and plays. But I was always a rabid reader and a great fan of Christie, Marsh, and J. J. Marric. In the end I returned to my first love -- mystery.
Because I'm a perfectionist, I also enjoy the revision part of writing. I try to find exactly the right words to describe a situation, and I'm not satisfied until I think it's the best I can do.
IC
Please describe a typical day in your life.
Mary
I generally get up around 10 a.m., and I'm at work on the computer by eleven. I handle business chores during the daytime and then, if I'm scheduled to work in the ER that day, I leave for the hospital a little after 2 p.m. I'm usually home by midnight, and that's when I start writing. I write until 3 a.m., then hit the sack and read for a bit before settling down for the night. If I'm not scheduled at the hospital, I start writing around 9 p.m. when my husband goes to bed (he's an early riser, catching a 6 a.m. train to work).
Weekends and holidays are reserved for family and friends unless I'm scheduled at the hospital. My husband and I have four granddaughters with a fifth grandchild -- sex yet unknown -- on the way. Our kids and grandkids are always dropping in on the weekends, so we have plenty of company on those days. My summer schedule is a little lighter as we see even more of the kids on those lazy weekday evenings, and summer is, of course, the prime time for mystery conventions. My husband, Fred, and I travel to most of the conventions and, while I'm having fun at the panels, Fred plays tourist, then tells me about all the neat things he's seen.
IC
Being an ER nurse can be grueling. How do you get in the mood to write, or do you look at it as a habit?
Mary
I'm like a racehorse at the gate. I know exactly the time each day that I'll be free to write, and about an hour before that time I mentally start shifting gears. It's automatic with me. I begin to visualize the story line so that, by the time I sit down at the computer, I'm well into the mood to write. I love writing more than anything else, so it's not difficult to get into the mood to work on a story.
IC
You're an RN. Is that why you made your protagonist, Carolyn Rhodes, an RN?
Mary
Yes. I've always thought that good nurses are very much like good detectives; they observe problematic signs and symptoms in their patients, then use their education, experience, and common sense to deduce the cause of the problem. Finally, they act on their deductions. If a nurse could do that with something as mysterious as the human body, why couldn't she or he use those same skills of observation and assessment to solve mysteries outside the medical field? There are plenty of mysteries featuring doctors as sleuths, but very few featuring nurses. I felt that nurses deserve to shine on their own rather than just be sidekicks to the handsome crime-solving docs.
IC
Is your protagonist, Caroline Rhodes, based on yourself in any other ways than as nurse? If so, in what ways?
Mary
Actually, Caroline as a nurse is a composite of several good nurses that I know. She does work in the ER, though, and that's where I work.
As a woman and a mother, she also mirrors me in some ways. Caroline has grown children -- one son and two daughters. I have six grown children -- three sons and three daughters. Caroline's children are based on my own kids. Her son is married and working on his Ph.D. in history with hopes of one day teaching at a university. My oldest son is married, but he's a biologist. Still, he worked at two different universities before settling into a job at Abbott Laboratory, and he's very interested in world history. Caroline's oldest daughter is a high school art teacher, as is my oldest daughter Sarah. Her younger daughter is a college student majoring in theater; my middle daughter, Jennifer, studied theater when she was away at school.
Caroline's moods often reflect my own. She's rather independent, but she worries about her kids like most mothers do. We come to a parting of the ways when it comes to marriage, though. Caroline is a widow while I've been happily married to the same guy for almost 34 years.
IC
How do you develop your plot lines?
Mary
Some plot lines come from personal experience, some from news stories I've read, or things I've seen on TV. I've worked in two hospitals that have undergone major reconstructions of their ERs, and I know the stress the staff was under trying to survive those situations. Tempers frayed as patients and families complained of the noise and inconvenience, and the hospital administration was unanimously viewed as unsympathetic to the plight of the nurses. I could visualize those places as good settings for murder and the bosses as great victims. As a result, I wrote To Kill A King in which my protagonist, Caroline Rhodes, returns to the Chicago area to work for the summer in an ER undergoing reconstruction. When murder hits the ER, Caroline must help her best friend avoid a murder charge.
IC
Did you start out writing mysteries or did you begin writing with a different genre? If so what genre?
Mary
I started out writing mysteries with a story about the theft of a race horse. I've been into thoroughbred racing since I was a kid, and it seemed natural to pair the two subjects -- racing and mystery. When I discovered the books of Dick Francis, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The Mayhem in the Midlands Anthology due out this year includes "Hickory, Dickory, Doc," a short story I wrote featuring a crime-solving veterinarian in a mystery surrounding a steeple chase.
IC
Mary, you've written three Caroline Rhodes books with a fourth coming out this year. What, if anything, do you find difficult about writing a series?
Mary
Keeping track of the continuing characters sometimes causes me problems. I now use character charts to remember eye and hair color, likes and dislikes, family ties, etc. of continuing characters.
IC
When writing a series, how do you keep your characters fresh and interesting to your readership?
Mary
Each of my characters has a life of his or her own outside of the current mystery. Like real people, my characters deal with family and business issues that concern them, and sometimes their stories are sidelines to the main plot. For example, 90-year-old Alexsa Stromberg Morgan is the town's matriarch. In my first book, A Deadly Little Christmas, she's plotting against Caroline in an effort to keep a family secret. In the second book, Something Wicked in the Air, she develops more of a friendship with Caroline, then winds up taking custody of a nine-year-old child who really gives her a second lease on life. Alexsa and the child show up again in To Kill A King when Alexsa's friendship with an aging Mafia boss draws Caroline into the hunt for the killer.
IC
What's the most difficult part about writing a book for you? The initial idea? The plot? Characters? Scene? Rewrite? etc?
Mary
The first chapter is the most difficult thing for me. I usually have the story outlined in my head, but getting that first chapter down on paper exactly as I want it to sound is hard. I'm a perfectionist. Knowing how important the beginning of a story is in grabbing the attention of a reader makes me concentrate more on perfecting the first chapter. For me, once that's done, the rest just flows naturally. I enjoy doing rewrites as that's the point when I can improve the entire book.
IC
You currently write cozies. Have you ever considered or tried to write in another mystery genre?
Mary
I'm working on an idea for another series featuring a PI, a very different kind of PI! If it pans out, the first book should be on the shelves in late 2003 or early 2004.
IC
At what point in your career did you first consider yourself to be a writer?
Mary
I've been writing most of my adult life. Before 1992, though, it was because I had a need to write, not a need to be read. Back then, my opinion of myself was purely personal -- I liked what I wrote, therefore I must be a writer -- but my work was never really validated by anyone in the business.
I think it was when Ed Gilbreth reviewed my first book in the Chicago Sun Times that I began to believe I could some day achieve professional status as a writer. There's a real difference between writing on a personal level for your own satisfaction and writing on a professional level for the public's satisfaction. When you write for public consumption, you have to be able to criticize yourself mercilessly and accept the fact that not everything you write is good. If you can't tell yourself, "That passage stinks! Get rid of it!" and then go ahead and slice the offending paragraph out of your manuscript, then you're not thinking like a professional. I want each of my books to be better than the last so that one day I can call myself a professional writer and really believe it's so.
IC
I noticed that your email address (Kleworks@aol.com) matches the name of the publishing company that publishes your books. Why is that?
Mary
Because I own Kleworks Publishing Company. Despite the success of my first book in competitions, I couldn't find an agent willing to take on a relatively unknown writer.
In 1997, I was approached by an old friend who'd come into some money and was looking to invest in a small company. Sue had read my manuscript and liked it. Because of that, she offered me seed money to publish it. At first I refused since I had no business background, but late in '97 my husband lost his best buddy to cancer. Rich's death made us rethink our priorities and all the time we spent planning for the future rather than the present. We decided to stop dreaming of all the things we wanted to do as individuals and as a couple and just do them. I wanted to see my book published and, since I was getting nowhere fast with agents, I called Sue and took her up on her offer. I attended a publishing class at a local college, then applied for a state business license. In 1998, I officially opened Kleworks Publishing Company. Two of my daughters now help me with advertising, sales, and billing while Sue is a silent partner in the business. Some day I hope to expand the business, but right now I have enough work just promoting my own books and managing the company.
IC
Do you consider setting up your own publishing company akin to self-publishing? Why or why not?
Mary
I've published my own books, so in the strictest sense of the word, you could call it self-publishing. But looking at the larger picture, what I've done is a far cry from traditional self-publishing through a so-called "vanity press."
I've set up a business like any other entrepreneur. I hold a business license in the state of Illinois, keep the usual business records, and pay taxes on my company. I employ an editor, a sales representative, and an advertising manager. As the owner of the business, I research the best printers for my books, work with cover designers, research markets for sales beyond the usual bookstores. I also work with two dozen small press publishers across the country on group marketing and promoting.
In short, I leave nothing to chance and refuse to rely on the schedule of a vanity press that will publish a book for $199 but have no further interest in it. I know what kind of product I'm putting out and what kind of profit I can expect to make after figuring in the costs of marketing and distribution. It's a business that I take seriously because I've put a great deal of time, effort, and money into it, and I hope to one day build the business to include other authors.
I see a vast contrast between what I've done with my books and what others do when they self-publish with a vanity-type press. The choice is the same, but the process is totally different.
IC
How did you manage the distribution of your books? Do you have a distributor placing them in Barnes and Noble and other bookstores?
Mary
I work with three wholesalers -- Ingrams, Baker & Taylor, and Brodart. The first two are the major wholesalers to bookstores while the third company concentrates on library sales. They demand 55% of the retail cost of my books, 40% of that being passed on to the bookstores. For every $10 book I send them, they pay me $4.50.
I do not have a distributor, a company that stores my books and ships them to the wholesalers. (I do my own storage.) A distributor would skim another 10-15% off the retail price of the book and, since I price my books at what I consider to be a reasonable amount for a trade paperback, I can't afford to lose any more money on them.
The brick-and-mortar Barnes and Noble does not currently stock my books except as inventory. But they do order them directly from my company when a customer requests them, which happens a lot. Barnesandnoble.com does carry my books and ships within 2-3 days, as does Borders.com.
IC
What were some of the pit-falls you encountered?
Mary
The pitfalls of running a small press include the inability to buy shelf space in chain bookstores, super markets, and other chain stores. Walmart.com features my books, but I can't buy shelf space in their brick-and-mortar operations and, of course, that's a major selling point for any publisher.
Major reviewers tend to read and review books from the New York publishers, although small presses are beginning to be featured in some newspapers. I've been fortunate in getting great reviews in the Chicago Sun Times, one of the two major Chicago newspapers, and in other smaller papers across the country, but New York is a hard sell.
Another pitfall is not having salespeople across the country who can push your books to the booksellers. I rely on the bi-annual Independent Mystery Publishers catalog which is sent to 2,700 bookstores and libraries across the country for my major advertising, plus we do publicity releases to all the bookstores when a new book is released.
But the major pitfall involves the mind set of those who can make or break a book. While entrepreneurs are welcomed in other fields of economic endeavor, they remain suspect in the field of publishing. Those most involved in the book industry -- reviewers and booksellers -- often view authors who publish through a small press as writers of lesser caliber. This mind set is changing as more and more mid-list authors are dropped by the big houses and turn to small presses to publish their work.
But the increase in really bad books -- books that are unedited, poorly written, or poorly printed -- published quite cheaply by some POD companies muddies the waters for those of us in the small press business. It's become quite difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, and that's what booksellers must do to make a living. Unfortunately, small presses with good books to offer are caught up in this separation process and often discounted only because of the size of their business.
IC
Would you recommend this method to others?
Mary
I'd recommend it to anyone willing to do the necessary work of learning the publishing business. You have total control over your work and, even with the above mentioned pitfalls, you can do much better as an author this way than if you publish through a POD vanity press. POD books are usually non-returnable, which turns off booksellers, while my books are returnable if in good condition. My books are always available for book signings and conventions, whereas the POD books are often hard to order and receive on time for such events.
IC
What has been your greatest achievement in your writing career to date?
Mary
My greatest achievement came in 2000 at the Malice Domestic conference. A woman approached me during a signing period and said she'd read my first book, A Deadly Little Christmas. She went on to say that my description of Caroline's battle with depression hit her very hard. She said that her daughter suffered from depression, and for the first time she was really able to understand what her daughter was going through. I was terribly moved by the thought that my book had helped that woman in some small way. I still consider that to be the most rewarding moment of my career.
IC
As an author, how do you define success?
Mary
I've always been slightly surprised by the fact that people seem to enjoy my stories. I'm not a best-selling author, and I still have a long way to go to perfect this craft we call writing, but I'm enjoying myself, and to me, that's success.
I've met many wonderful people since joining the mystery writing community, and I've made a few good friends among those people. Making a little more money from my books would be nice, but all in all, I can't complain. I consider myself a lucky woman who's had the chance to see a dream come true. That's real success!
IC
Who is or was the greatest influence on your career as a writer?
Mary
My mother wrote poetry, so it wasn't seen as unusual in my home that one would want to write. Looking back, I'd have to say that it was that early acceptance of the need to write exhibited by both my parents that influenced me the most. Both my mom and my dad were prolific readers, and they introduced me to literature of all types. I learned a great deal from the authors I read, whether they were fiction or non-fiction writers.
IC
What's the most valuable piece of advise you were ever given?
Mary
Thank God for every day you're alive. No matter what the day brings, I take time to say thanks for all I've been given, including the desire to write. Realizing all that I have to be thankful for makes it easier for me to keep my perspective when life throws me a curve. I think I'm a happier person because of this.
IC
Do you have any words of wisdom you care to share with others?
Mary
Thank God for every day you're alive! It's a helluva lot better than the alternative.
My second piece of advice is don't boast about your success and don't whine about your failures. Most of what goes right in our lives is due to hard work; most of what goes wrong is our own fault. That goes doubly for writing. If no one likes your story, maybe it's because it's a bad story. Own up to it and try harder.
IC
Thank you Mary for allowing us the pleasure of getting to know you through this interview.
This interview was conducted during the month of February 2002 for SinC-IC
by Ellen Westphal.
Visit Mary Welk on the web.
E-mail Mary Welk
E-mail Ellen Westphal
Read an earlier Spotlight Profile
