Spotlight Profile
June/July 2005
Alecia Alexander, a technical support rep for Cingular Wireless, has been a member of Sisters in Crime for four years. Her first mystery, Everybody's a Critic is currently available from iUniverse. Alecia is single, with no children and no pets, which gives her time to pursue her interest in writing.
Please join me in welcoming Alecia Alexander to the Spotlight.
IC:
How did you learn about Sisters in Crime?AA:
I heard about it when I was doing a public access T.V. show called The Poisoned Pen. I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathy Hogan Trocheck, who was founding member of the Atlanta Chapter. I also got to interview Nevada Barr and Walter Sorrells. The Poisoned Pen was the inspiration for Denise's show, Sherlock and Company.
IC:
Who are your favorite mystery writers?AA:
Where to begin? Here are a few in no particular order. Kathy Hogan Trocheck, Nevada Barr, Walter Sorrells, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Rex Stout, Susan Wittig Albert. As you can see, I'm pretty eclectic.
IC:
Is writing a full-time job for you, or do you have another occupation or career?AA:
No, I don't write full time, yet. Never say never.
IC:
Have you always wanted to be a writer?AA:
Yes, or an actress. I remember as a kid, I'd make up characters for T.V. shows that I liked. I still do, as a matter of fact.
IC:
How did you become interested in the mystery genre?AA:
My mother got me hooked as a kid. I read the usual Nancy Drew, Happy Hollisters, the Hardy Boys. She also loved Perry Mason and I became a fan too. When I got older, she introduced me to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe.
IC:
Your first book has recently been published by iUniverse. What is it about?
AA:
It's called Everybody's a Critic, and it's the first in a series. The lead character, Denise Shelby, is a mystery critic who produces and hosts a talk show on the Red Herring Channel called Sherlock and Company. She also owns a book store of the same name in Underground Atlanta. The catalyst for this story is the fact that her guest dropped out at the last minute. She drafts her boyfriend, Jimmy Prescott, to fill in. He is a journalist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and has just published a biography of a flamboyant media mogul, Max Winston, who died twenty years ago in a hit and run. The question has already been was it an accident or murder? Denise and Jimmy's problem is that there are still plenty of people around who knew Winston and most of them had plenty of reason to kill him. So are they suspects (if it was murder) or innocent bystanders (if it was an accident)? Either way, they all had their own reasons for wishing Jimmy hadn't written his book in the first place. There is also a present day death that ties to the hit and run; hence, Denise and Jimmy's concern about suspects versus innocent bystanders.
IC:
How long did it take to write?AA:
Off and on, about three years. I kept going back to it. Denise's show was inspired by a public access show I used to do and it just seemed too good an idea to let die.
IC:
iUniverse is a Print-on-Demand publisher. Would you recommend the self-publishing/POD route for other writers?AA:
Yes, I would recommend it. It's a good way to get your feet wet and decide if it's what you really want to do. If it hadn't been for POD, I doubt that it would have seen the light of day, at least not any time soon. While I'm not going to knock the DaVinci Code off the best seller list, I've been encouraged by the response. I have several other projects in works, including a reference book called To Live adn Die in Dixie, The Mystery Lover's Guide to the South. . Who knows? Maybe it could get picked up by a traditional publisher.
IC:
What is the best thing that has happened in your experience as a writer? Conversely, what is the worst?AA:
The best thing is that I've met some very interesting people. I joined the Mystery Writers of America and got to go to the Edgars in New York last year. That was great. I haven't really had what you could call a bad experience. I guess I do sometimes get frustrated by a lack of time. I have so many ideas and I can't work on them all at once.
IC:
Do you have a web site?AA:
That is one of the projects. It's called sherlockandcompany.com and it's under construction.
IC:
Is there anything you'd like to say about your writing that I haven't asked?AA:
Only that I hope to have my reference book, To Live and Die in Dixie, The Mystery Lover's Guide to the South out my the end of the summer and the next Denise Shelby novel out about first of next year.
This interview was conducted for SinC-IC
by Beth Terrell-Hicks.
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