Chapter Member
Spotlight Profile
April 1998
Spotlight Profile
April 1998
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Kathy Maier, Past President
of the Internet Chapter of Sisters in Crime
Kathy Maier, president of the online chapter of Sisters in Crime when it was transitioning to the internet, was interviewed during late March 1998. Kathy has worked for the FBI, the Air Force, as well as in telecommunications, property management, and hydrogeological consulting. She knows marketing and how to write copy. Ask her about executive security systems or sewage treatment plants and, no doubt, she could give you a two-minute sales promo that might leave you drooling. (Well, maybe not all of you.)In her few spare moments you might find Kathy writing or indulging her artistic inclinations.
This interview was conducted for the Internet Chapter by Louise Guardino after Kathy surfaced from a successful 1998 Sleuth Fest Conference, sponsored by Mystery Writers of America (MWA), Florida chapter. Kathy has been a major force in the evolution and running of Sleuth Fest.
Here is a passage that Kathy read many years ago and has never forgotten. You might not forget it either.
The Tularosa country is a parched desert where everything, from cactus to cowman, carries a weapon of some sort, and the only creatures who sleep with both eyes closed are dead.From Tularosa by C. L. Sonnichsen
IC
I'm intrigued. Can you tell us what you did for the FBI and Air Force?
Kathy
Both were entry-level positions. With the FBI I worked in the Identification Division in Washington (at 2nd and D) handling fingerprints. (While I'm unlikely to identify how long ago that was, I can tell you we still classified prints by hand then.) With the Air Force the bulk of my work was putting together the final technical reports from the scientists in the Chemical and Materials laboratory.
IC
You've just finished the Sleuth Fest convention. Tell us how the first Sleuth Fest came to be born.
Kathy
This was our 5th anniversary conference. The first was the brainchild of Dianne Ell and Sharon Bracht. People in the Florida MWA wanted a conference but no one had the necessary experience. Dianne and Sharon looked at a lot of conferences and then found someone with experience to help them that first year. I wasn't involved until rather late in the process. I went to one of the monthly chapter meetings the Florida MWA held. We'd had a good workshop, an excellent meal of prime rib, and talk had turned to the conference. I'm not sure why, but suddenly my ears heard my lips say "Does anyone need any help?" I doubt anyone would even have noticed if a woman to my right hadn't, seconds before, asked rather loudly, "How about Sex and Violence?" (She referred, I believe, to a panel topic.)
IC
What was the biggest obstacle in getting the convention off the ground?
Kathy
Promotion and money. We're strictly non-profit and we're a writers conference rather than a fan convention, so it's always a balancing act to come out even at the end of the conference. With a new event, as Sleuth Fest was, we had no track record to help us.
IC
What has been the most surprising thing to come out of the Sleuth Fest conventions?
Kathy
What surprises me the most, I suppose, is how eager the criminology professionals are to take part in the conference and how many professionals outside the writing field attend the conference to hear the crime-track speakers. We always have lawyers, an occasional judge or two, and an assortment of policemen and private investigators who come to listen. And if we can lure them into some of the writing sessions, they're hooked.
IC
If you had to do it all over again, would you?
Kathy
If we were back at square one? Chances are I'd volunteer again. It's probably hereditary. Would I do it again knowing what I now know? I'd have to give some serious thought to the decision. Unless you've worked at the heart of a conference like this, you can't possibly imagine how much work there is to do. We always thought we could turn over the conference to a new committee, turn over what we'd learned and, with just some initial involvement to hand over the reins, step back to enjoy the event ourselves. But when we tried it in '97, it didn't work out.
IC
Of the speakers and attendees, who surprised you the most?
Kathy
An attendee who came up to me after the '96 conference and said the conference changed her life.
IC
As an organizer, do you get much chance to participate in the goings on or is it all work for you?
Kathy
Work (grumble). We spend a lot of time each year choosing topics and speakers we think will help or interest people. It's something like an editorial meeting at a publishing house with each of us fighting to win slots for our favorite programs. Winning is a mixed blessing. We rarely get to sit in on any of the sessions and, almost invariably, the crime- track sessions I most want to hear are the ones we're not allowed to tape.
IC
It sounds like for those sessions it is attend or do without. Right?
Kathy
Right. For at least two of the sessions this year the master tapes were turned off and no recorders were allowed in the rooms--Surveillance was one. The other was Computer and Internet Fraud. Both were high on my list!
IC
You are also a web maven, putting together web pages for Sleuth Fest and for authors. How did you get into that line of endeavor?
Kathy
I was at an MWA-Florida meeting and we'd had a good speaker and a good meal and... Seriously, we'd had a web presence for several years thanks to Ed Williams at LAAC (Literary Arts Alliance). Ed designed the original site and maintained it for us at a great expenditure of his time and resources. I was the contact point. When we, meaning MWA and Sleuth Fest, decided to make the site more dynamic, someone had to take over. I agreed to do it as long as several others would get up to speed on how to handle the work and help out.I'm sure that's going to happen sometime soon.
Our site isn't just for Sleuth Fest, though. It's the MWA-Florida Chapter site where we post book signings and chapter events and regular (well, they will be regular now that Sleuth Fest is over for a little while) interviews or articles by professionals.
IC
Are you a workaholic? You've been president of SinC-IC, a major force in the Sleuth Fest conventions, and also have your online business.
Kathy
The web site is a volunteer effort too. My 9-to-5 job is a fledgling stained glass business and I write in my free time. I don't think of myself as a workaholic, but it isn't in my nature to stand to one side and watch others work. Once I have a vested interest in the outcome, I find it almost impossible to walk away.
IC
How did you first become a member of Sisters in Crime?
Kathy
I'd like to say I immediately bonded with the goals of the organization and couldn't wait to help promote the interests of women writers. The truth is I'd heard someone mention Shameless Promotion for Brazen Hussies and I couldn't wait to get my own copy.
IC
What prompted you to take on the challenge of being the SinC-IC president during 1996?
Kathy
When I took on the SinC-IC job, it was supposed to be a cakewalk. All the set-up work to establish a chapter and get it working was done. We were set for a smooth year on Genie and I'd already been doing some of the reporting and other tasks for the previous President; all that was needed was a caretaker. Shortly thereafter, it became apparent we were going to have to look around for an alternative location. I spent much of my year as President working on virtual real estate and, thanks in great measure to Barbara Paul's efforts and the work of Ed Williams and the Chapter board members, we had the new location in place in time for Barbara to carry the information to Bouchercon in October of that year.
IC
What was the most exciting aspect to that tenure? The least inspiring?
Kathy
It wasn't really a year I think of as exciting. I'd been a long-time member on Genie and it's still the best bulletin board format in existence. I didn't want to leave the familiar and comfortable environment and most of the other long-timers, while supportive of the need for a new location, wanted to stay to the last bar of the last song on the last day.
IC
You're a member of SinC and MWA. What's the best thing about your membership in each?
Kathy
First, I got a copy of Shameless Promotion for Brazen Hussies. And of course I don't have to be within driving distance of a chapter meeting, don't have to worry about the weather, and dress is optional.The Sisters in Crime newsletter and publications are very good. But SinC-IC is unique and priceless. With SinC-IC I have the luxury of meeting people who share my interests and my concerns. SinC-IC offers the means to be part of a community to writers around the world who work alone, often without feedback, often surrounded by people who neither understand nor care about what a female writer needs to survive and grow and prosper. And I think it's important that SinC provides not only the forum to disseminate information of concern to all female mystery writers, but also an open forum for discussions of needed changes.
The MWA benefits are more localized for me. Meetings are within an hour's drive and the local chapter is very active. Where SinC addresses perceptions and practices, MWA deals with the how-to's of writing. I've met a wonderful group of writers and readers through both organizations and been allowed into a community that I would not otherwise have known.
IC
Do you read all types of crime/mysteries or tend to favor a particular subgenre?
Kathy
I read almost all types of mystery and crime fiction, though I'm not an avid fan of dark mysteries. I dislike Satanic plots. I'll toss away anything that uses insanity as a plot twist, and really hard-edged stories have to have a dynamite plot to keep me reading. I enjoy following series characters, like a touch of humor, and am dedicated for life to characters who exhibit quiet morality and nobility.
IC
You mentioned your spare time writing. Have you had publishing success yet and if so, can you tell us what and under what name?
Kathy
I've finished several manuscripts but have not found a home for them and, truth to tell, that's probably a good thing. My first book was a crossover--a supernatural spy story. I've consigned my second to a cedar box as well and moved my protagonist, an artist, to south Florida.
IC
Do you limit yourself to a specific genre/subgenre when you write?
Kathy
As you might have guessed from that last response, I write amateur sleuth mysteries. My artist paints better than I do, but I know enough about art to ask the right questions in researching.
IC
What are your favorite web sites other than SinC and MWA?
Kathy
Aside from web sites for stained glass suppliers, I'd have to admit my favorite addresses on the web are search engines. A good research source is www.vir.com (journalism sources), and www.interloc.com or www.bibliofind.com for books.
IC
If any of these characters could come to life, who would you like to spend an evening with: Sayers' Lord Wimsey, James' Dalgliesh, or Dexter's Morse? Or is there another you'd prefer to spend time with?
Kathy
Of these three, Dalgliesh, the policeman as poet (And, of course, one mustn't forget Roy Marsden in the role as well). Wouldn't it be fun to put Adam Dalgliesh, LeCarre's George Smiley, and Lawrence Sanders' Francis X. Delaney in front or a roaring fire and see if they'd talk about their work? I'd like to go out on rounds and view Navajo country through the eyes of Joe Leaphorn. I'd like to spend a fortnight in the English countryside with Jane Marple. How about spending the evening on the deck of the Busted Flush with Travis McGee and Meyer Meyer, sipping ouzo and talking about Florida crime?
IC
What great choices you've made in characters to spend time with. Can you tell you chose a few of my favorites? On a similar vein, not limiting this to living or dead, real or imaginary, if you could be someone else for a day, a week, or longer, who would it be?
Kathy
Ah...experiences. I'd be Ekaterina Gordeeva on the ice. I'd be Sandy Nelson on the drums. I'd be Monet at the height of Impressionism and before he started to lose his eyesight, I'd be Georgia O'Keefe in the desert.I'd be P. D. James.
IC
If you needed protection, which would choose to guard your door: a King snake, a Doberman, or a woman?
Kathy
That one's easy--two Dobermans (it's too easy for a good intruder to disable a lone animal before it can raise an alarm). Putting either a woman or a man on guard duty introduces the element of human choice and self-interest, and no one is going to look after my skin better than I can. Let the dogs bark; I'll do the rest.
IC
What is the most burning issue facing writers today?
Kathy
I see two fronts. First is the loss of independent book sellers. Survival of all but the hottest mystery writers rests on the health of independent book sellers. These book sellers are avid readers and they hand sell the books they enjoy. That's especially important for newer authors Yet operations such as Amazon, where an author's backlist books can still be easily found and purchased (at discount) long after most book stores have returned unsold copies, provide opportunity for authors to build a readership. How do we balance ease (and discounts) against hand selling?The second front is the consolidation in publishing that has dislocated many midlist authors and made breaking in for newcomers even more difficult. Even when a new author breaks in, promotional budgets are virtually nonexistent. I think we need to promote the small presses and prepare authors to aggressively self-promote their books.
IC
Here's your podium. What do you want to talk about?
Kathy
As I read over my answers to your earlier question about the type of mystery I enjoy reading, it struck me that the protagonists who exhibit a strong sense of morality and nobility, the ones that immediately spring to my mind, were almost all written by men. Adam Dalgleish was the exception. Others on my list, written my men, were the two I named above--Smiley and Delaney. I'd add Clancy's Jack Ryan and Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn. For another written by a woman, I could go back to Helen MacInnes' Robert Renwick. But all these protagonists are men. And the little extra that keeps them in the forefront for me is the myriad small ways the authors show respect for these characters and their beliefs and abilities through the eyes of the supporting cast. They are honored by their peers.We are far less ready (either male or female authors) to accord that same respect to female protagonists. We show men winning wars; we show women fighting battles.
IC
Thanks, Kathy! You've most definitely given us food for thought.
Kathy
Thank you, Louise, for all the work you've put in not just this time but on the entire series of interviews you've done. I know I've enjoyed reading them and I appreciate the time and patience and skill you've invested. I'm honored to be included.
IC
Blush. Thank you. You folks have made it easy. And there's an angel in the wings.
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