Spotlight Profile
July-August 2006
Toni Kelner is a veteran of the writing game, having received her first rejection slip while she was still in high school. Even for a natural writer, though, fiction is a risky business, so to pay the bills, she turned to technical writing, specializing in software documentation. She never lost her love of fiction, though. (She also has a fondness for limericks.) Much to her Southern family's surprise, Toni's technical writing career and a romance with her future husband, Steve Kelner, took her to Massachusetts, where she blossomed as a writer. Living away from the South for the first time showed her how much she loved it. Homesick and nostalgic, she wrote a mystery novel set in the fictional mill town of Byerly, North Carolina. Down Home Murder, the first Laura Fleming mystery, appeared in 1993. Number eight in the series, Wed and Buried, was released in 2003. Today, Toni has fans all over the country, not only in the South. She's been nominated for an Agatha, an Anthony, and a Macavity for short stories, and Death of a Damn Yankee was nominated for a Romantic Times BOOKclub Reviewers' Choice award for Best Amateur Sleuth Novel. Kelner was nominated for a Romantic Times BOOKclub Career Achievement Award for Mystery Series in 2002, and won the award in 2003. After eight Laura Fleming books, Toni is ready to move in a new direction. Her new series features Tilda Harper, "a freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in 'where are they now?' articles about the formerly famous." And unlike Laura Fleming, Tilda isn’t the least bit Southern. Toni is having a grand time writing about her. Toni and Steve have two daughters, ten-year-old Maggie and seven-year-old Valerie.
IC: Why don't we start with a couple of quotes? Do you have any favorites?
TK: Quotes are tough because I do so like quotes and find it hard to choose. From movies, and sheer wimsey, I like these three. The first is incomprehensible, the second fun, and the third a play on words:
"No matter where you go, there you are." The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
"I aim to misbehave." Serenity
"There's a lot of bad -isms in the world, and commercialism is one of the worst." Miracle on 34th StreetFor life in general, I find this literary one inspiring:
"Each day is brand new, without any mistakes in it." Anne of Green GablesAnd for writing, I used to have this one on my desk before the piece of newsprint on which it was printed biodegraded away. It's particularly apt for me, because I get distracted all too easily:
"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. Mary Heaton Vosse
IC: All good ones. I think most writers have a love affair with quotes -- at least, most Sisters in Crime members! Can you tell us a little about your experiences with this organization?
TK: I learned about SinC when I was first trying to finish and sell a book. So I signed up, but at that point, there was no local chapter. We had one initial local meeting at Kate Mattes' place but it didn't lead to a lot of activity. A while later, J. Dayne Lamb and Barbara Shapiro really got things going in New England and around the same time, I joined the Internet Chapter (then on GEnie). I've been a happy member of both ever since.
IC: What have you gained by being a member?
TK: Just being able to meet other writers and find out that they were real people was an epiphany for me--silly, but true. Then there was the advice I got from other members and the newsletters, the community both in New England and online, the promotional opportunities via the local Speaker's Bureau, the sense that we were in this together--it's all been invaluable. Joining SinC was one of the smartest things I ever did.
IC: You are best known for your Laura Fleming mystery series, but are now publishing the first of a new series, complete with a new heroine, Tilda Harper. In what ways are Tilda and Laura different from each other? In what ways are they similar? Do you identify more strongly with one than the other, and if so, why?
TK: Well, they're both female and live in the Boston area--Laura in Boston, Tilda in Malden. Interestingly, they both have name issues. Laura prefers "Laura," but her family calls her "Laurie Anne." Tilda is Tilda to almost everybody, but to her parents, she's still Matilda. (As a "Toni Leigh" who goes by "Toni," I can't imagine why this keeps cropping up in my work.)
The differences are myriad. Laura is older, married, and by the end of the eighth book, is about to have her second child. She has a real job as a computer programmer. Most importantly, she's a Southerner, even if she does live in Yankee-land, and most of her mysteries are set in NC. Tilda is determinedly single, and far more interested in Mr. Right-Now than Mr. Right. She's a freelancer, with all the joys and tribulations, and is definitely a Yankee. Tilda also cusses a whole lot more, and has my sense of humor--I don't know if the two are related.
Laura is more how I see myself a few years back, and Tilda is more how I'd like to have been even more years back.
IC: How does it feel to leave a familiar character behind (at least for the present) and embrace a new one?
TK: Wonderful and scary, all at the same time. I was ready to try something new, because I was afraid Laura was growing stale, but it was hard to switch tracks so thoroughly.
IC: What appeals to you most about your new series?
TK: The opportunity to read up on celebrity gossip and Hollywood trivia and call it research. On my desk right now are books about The Beverly Hillbillies, the Monkees, and the porno film industry.
IC: An eclectic combination. Can you give us a preview of the first book?
TK: Tilda Harper is a freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in "Where are they now?" articles, so she spends her days tracking down the formerly famous. The one celebrity she's never been able to find Is her personal favorite: Mercy Ashford, the star of seventies sitcom Kissing Cousins. Now the other cast members of the show are being killed off, one by one, and Tilda is determined to find Mercy before the killer can.
IC: You have a new publisher. How did you know it was time to change publishers? What are some of the benefits and pitfalls to starting with a new publisher?
TK: I knew it was time when Kensington dropped me. Having just turned in the new manuscript to Five Star, I haven't had a chance to see how the process is going to go, but their reputation is excellent so I'm not worried. Well, other than normal author-fears-that-her-publisher-hates-her feelings.
IC: You're also co-editing a vampire anthology with the always delightful Charlaine Harris. Have you always had an interest in vampires and other "things that go bump in the night?" How did this collaboration come about?
TK: I read Dracula and was hooked on monster movies at an early age, and later got hooked on the vampire novels of Laurell K. Hamilton. Charlaine and I discovered we were both Hamilton fans, and then fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and have spent many hours happily discussing those works and others in that vein. (Charlaine's own vampire books are, of course, absolutely splendid.) Last summer, Charlaine was approached about editing an anthology and invited me to join in.
IC: What process do the two of you use in the collaboration?
TK: Lots of email!
This is a new kind of project for both of us, so we're happily scaling the learning curve together. We take turns on being "in charge," depending on whose other deadlines are looming. Right now we're editing the contributions that have come in. We each took half to edit, but pass our feedback past the other before sending it along to the story authors.
IC: Do you anticipate doing similar projects in the future?
TK: It's possible. I guess it depends on how well this one turns out.
IC: You recently had a short story published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. In a departure from your usual Southern settings, this one is set against the backdrop of a traveling carnival. What appealed to or intrigued you about the setting? Have you considered staging a novel in the carnival milieu?
TK: I've been hooked on carnivals for years, thanks to the Ed and Am carnival mysteries by Fredric Brown, and the more immediate inspiration was the book Eying the Flash:The Education of a Carnival Con Artist by Peter Fenton. One of his chapter titles was "Sleeping With Plush," which I thought was better than Eying the Flash, so I used it myself. (To be precise, I used "Sleeping With the Plush.") I love the setting because it's such an odd self-contained world, with its own language, rules, and caste system; but with no set location and a constantly changing population. The love-hate relationship with the towners is wonderful to work with, too. I have considered writing a carnival novel, or at least writing more stories in that setting.
IC: What is your writing method? Are you an outliner or a "seat-of-the-pants"-er? How do you go about researching and writing a novel? How would you describe your writing and yourself as a writer?
TK: My ideal would be to spend a month or three writing random notes, and then going on to write a novel. However the business requires an outline, or at least a detailed synopsis, so I abide by that rule. However, once the outline is accepted, I stick it in a drawer and refer to it rarely. Otherwise, I find it daunting. My research is not terribly organized. I mostly start with stuff I know already, like the Southern setting, or have researched for fun, like carnivals and old TV shows. Then I fill in the gaps as I find them. I've mostly been described as a Southern writer, but I'm hoping to upgrade to versatile. I'd really like to describe myself as bestselling, but that's not up to me.
IC: You've won and/or been nominated for a variety of awards. Of which are you most proud, and why?
TK: I love 'em all! The Agatha nomination was my first, and was important because Malice Domestic was the first mystery convention I attended and when I saw the awards ceremony, I started lusting after one of my own. I haven't gotten there, but I'm mighty proud to have that nomination on my wall. The Anthony and Macavity nods were particularly meaningful because it was a tough time for me that year because I knew Kensington was going to drop me, and they kept me upbeat. Plus they're voted on by fans, which means a lot. The Romantic Times nominations--one for Best Amateur Sleuth and one for Career Achievement-- meant so much because the other nominees were such excellent writers that I was tickled just to be in their company. And of course the second Career Achievement Award was the best because I won!
IC: What is the best part about being a mystery writer?
TK: Killing people. Murdering that ex-boyfriend from college was enormously satisfying, as was naming a real bitch after a former boss. Plus there was the time I put two ex-great-step-aunts (it's a Southern thing) into a story purely for the joy of making fun of them. It was so much fun that I put them into a book, too, and bopped one of them over the head. It's way cheaper than therapy.
IC: Any downsides?
TK: The pay bites, at least for most of us, but I can live with that. The rest? It's all good.
IC: What do you most like to read? Do you have different reading preferences when you are in the thick of a project than when you aren't?
TK: I read mostly mysteries, with a nice dose of vampire fiction and some science fiction and fantasy. I also read a bizarre assortment of nonfiction. (Remember those books about The Beverly Hillbillies and The Monkees?) I tend to not read fiction when I'm in the middle of a first draft. It's too distracting.
IC: Do you have any advice for aspiring mystery writers out there?
TK: Don't give up! And don't stop writing. Perseverance is probably the most important thing in this business. If your book doesn't sell to the first market, try another and another. If you honestly believe it won't sell, write another and another. Don't give up!
If you want a writing book, the best one on the market is Stephen P. Kelner's book
Motivate Your Writing ! I can assure you that I'm perfectly unbiased about this--he and I are only related by marriage.
IC: How about for our members who love mysteries but have no aspirations to write them?
TK: I love you all, but I think you should buy more books. Carrying books is excellent exercise, and books make the best decorations a home could have. They make excellent insulation, and in a pinch, can prop up busted furniture. They're fun to read, too.
IC: You're in the Spotlight. Is there anything you'd like to add that we haven't discussed?
TK: My seven-year-old daughter recently said, "Mama, do you like writing books?"
I replied, "Yes, I do."
"But you don't make much money."
"Nope."
"But it's still fun, right?"
"Absolutely."
"Then that's okay."
So thanks to the readers and editors and publisher and booksellers and librarians who have enabled me to earn my daughter's approval.
This interview was conducted for SinC-IC
by Elizabeth Terrell.
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