Sisters in Crime




This month's guest is Stephanie Shea, a busy lady indeed. Stephanie conceived of and is host of The Mystery Place at TalkCity, the Internet meeting place. As you might guess, she loves mystery. A voracious reader, she hustles to keep up with the authors and their books. Besides being a mystery guru, she's also a technowizard, a former pro tennis player, and a former college philosophy professor. And she is writing a novel. Eclectic? You bet. Did I say she also dabbles in art? This lady uses both sides of her brain, it seems. Stephanie has been very active in SinC-IC behind-the-scenes work. She along with some of our former guests (Karen Cooper, Ed Williams, and Barbara Paul) put much time into the care and feeding of the original SinC-IC mailing list. No easy or laid-back task, that. She is now the SinC-IC PR coordinator. Her plate is kept full as a Steering Committee member.

Though Stephanie is working on a novel of her own, she chose two thought-provoking excerpts from other writers as her introduction to you. Partake:

The tendency has always been strong to believe that whatever received a name must be an entity or being, having an independent existence of its own. And if no real entity answering to the name could be found, men did not for that reason suppose none existed, but imagined that it was something peculiarly abstruse or mysterious.

-- A System of Logic by John Stuart Mill

[Socrates speaking:] Citizens, we shall say to them in our tale, you are brothers, yet God has framed you differently. Some of you have the power of command, and in the composition of these he has mingled gold, wherefore also they have the greatest honor; others he has made of silver, to be made auxiliaries; others again who are the husbandmen and craftsmen he has composed of brass and iron; and the species will generally be preserved in the children... An oracle says that when a man of brass or iron guards the State, it will be destroyed. Such is the tale; is there any possibility of making our citizens believe it?"

...and Glaucan replies: "Not in the present generation; there is no way of accomplishing this; but their sons may be made to believe in the tale, and their son's sons, and posterity after them."

-- The Republic by Plato

IC
Say I'm obtuse. What is it you see or take from the John Stuart Mill passage regarding naming or not naming an entity?
Stephanie
Well, in my former life I was a philosophy professor and became fascinated with the fact that people have to have names for things -- even when those things can't be defined. The prime example is the concept of intelligence. Binet set out to measure intelligence with something called an I.Q. test. Whether or not this actually measures human intelligence is questionable, but over the years the I.Q. test has come to define human intelligence. Does this make any sense? I find this type of thing very confining. One takes a complicated thing like human intelligence in all its aspects and boils it down to a set of numbers.
IC
It's the issue of emotions versus language.
Stephanie
It isn't really emotions versus language. It is more a matter of trying to measure everything and anything. It just could be that some things are impossible to measure mathematically. Some say that all knowledge must be...propositional knowledge, i.e., able to be formulated into logical sentences...others say there are things that simply can not be put into words. Some call this tacit knowledge. It is there but can not be verbalized adequately.
IC
I agree that such knowledge exists but can't be expressed. Almost primitive knowledge.
Stephanie
There is a good deal of literature dealing with this although it has not had the attention I think it deserves.
IC
You are of the future generation referred to by Glaucan in the quote from Plato's Republic. Do you believe that one composed of brass and iron cannot guard the State?
Stephanie
Nope, absolutely not! S. J. Gould says in The Mismeasure of Man that for centuries man has tried to categorize and label people -- a kind of social physics and it has led to some dreadful practices.
IC
That's what I surmised. The quote on its own sort of left one to wonder how to construe it.
Stephanie
I construe it as centuries of intelligent people trying to make Socrates' myth into reality.
IC
So you don't believe in labels. Does that also apply to the mystery field?
Stephanie
I don't believe in labels unless they are justifiable. If someone writes a whopping good tale, I care not whether it is labeled "Thriller" or "Cozy." John Gilstrap is a good example of that one -- his writing is many things and it belittles it to slip it into a narrow category. The trouble is -- many people are too eager to label things and that leads perhaps to people missing out.
IC
Do such attempts to categorize mysteries hurt more than help?
Stephanie
Depends. I think that general labels don't hurt particularly. If I don't like the slash-and-dash type of book with explicit violence, then it helps to know whether that is the type of book that I am considering. But...on the other hand, to say that if you write a thriller you can't do such and such -- that limits the writer and the reader
IC
Sounds as if it is 'rules' rather than categories that bug you.
Stephanie
Categories beget rules, though. My preferred categories would be mysteries that teach you something you didn't know and mysteries you read when the mind isn't functioning and you need an anesthetic.
IC
Who do you think drives these categories? The publishers say it is the public (the image of the little old ladies who want their 'cozies').
Stephanie
Interesting -- when people do market research and see who the audience is, they may have validity. I can't pretend to know. The larger question though is -- why categories? If you can fit something neatly into a little box and label it, you don't have to think. People tend to want labels because it makes life simpler.
IC
How do you know before reading it that a mystery might teach you something?
Stephanie
I don't. I have a huge pile of half-finished books gathering dust. By now, though, I know enough about certain authors to be sure I will learn something from whatever they write. Linda Grant, Sharyn McCrumb are prime examples.
IC
And speaking of that pile of books, how many TBR stacks do you have and how high are they?
Stephanie
I divide them into two -- those I have to read in a hurry before I interview the author and those I want to read to see if I want to interview the author. My study looks like a loosely organized warehouse.
IC
Well, you've answered the question of how you know so much about the authors' work before interviewing them. How do you manage to fit all that reading in with all the other work you do? It is astonishing.
Stephanie
I love to read and am never organized enough to know that I have a whole list of things I ought to be doing. However, those things manage to get done somehow -- is there a principle here? Don't know how much you have to accomplish if you want to get it done?
IC
To keep from being scared by it all, It helps not to know. Do you read other than mystery/crime fiction?
Stephanie
Yep. I read philosophy -- all sorts. Kant, Mill, Plato, you name it. Philosophy in the daytime -- fiction at night.
IC
Philosophy, still? Didn't get enough during the teaching days, huh?
Stephanie
Yes, still. I will never be bored with pondering things such as what counts as knowledge, etc.
IC
Does classic philosophy play a part in the novel you are working on?
Stephanie
Yes, in a very broad sense. I hope my sleuth is logical and can justify her conclusions. The snert who is the victim claims (without justification, I might add) to be a philosopher. But, content-wise, not really.
IC
I bet you are having much fun with that! Perchance your novel will be one of those that others will say they read to learn something as well as enjoy. Do you have a title for it yet or would you rather wait until it's in the hands of a publisher before revealing that?
Stephanie
The working title is Murder 101. I know that has been used but it seems to fit. And yes, people will learn about the inner workings of the university, a lot about computers and the life of a brilliant yet frustrated philosopher -- hehe.
IC
A bit of Stephanie, eh? Is the protagonist female? An athlete?
Stephanie
The protagonist is a female, yes. She has had a good many careers and has come to the academic life in her mid- to late-30s. Prior to that she was an artist and a tennis pro.
IC
In your role as moderator of Mystery Place you sometimes ask questions. Is this to keep the dialogue moving or those that you are burning to know?
Stephanie
I always talk to authors ahead of time and see what kinds of questions they want to answer so I can make sure that those get asked if the users don't come up with them. I am always interested to know about strategies. I was told that if my characters were real, they would write the book for me. I always wonder if this is the case for others. And of course, dead air is anathema -- so we keep the good old screen rolling.
IC
Did you ever read Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author? Maybe they've moved to your novel!
Stephanie
Yes, indeed I have, and sometimes that's what it feels like. All those characters running around saying -- give me a body and we'll do the rest.
IC
Have you had instances where few people show up at Mystery Place? If so, how do you handle that?
Stephanie
Yes, there are times when that happens. I dread it every week. The "what if I have a party and nobody comes" syndrome. Usually we get a decent turnout, but when there are gazillion other things going on or we have server problems, the turnout can be small indeed -- as was the case with Lia Matera (server problems). Most authors understand, though. I think everyone has been to a signing when only one or two are gathered in her/his name.
IC
How much of a problem have the smut-heads been? I notice they are quickly escorted out when one makes an appearance.
Stephanie
We always have a problem with the snerts. I don't quite understand why some people come online simply to see how outrageous they can be. We do, however, have a set of tools that we can use to escort them out of a room, off the server, or simply silence snerts.
IC
You do such good book descriptions in the SinC-IC mailing list, have you thought of doing reviews or do you already do that?
Stephanie
Thanks. Actually, I have, but right now I can't put anything more on my plate on a regular basis.
IC
Let's get to that plate: you are very active in SinC-IC. How did you come to join SinC?
Stephanie
Pure chance. I had this idea that it would be fun to interview mystery authors but I had to find some who were Internet/computer-savvy. So I surfed around the net and found SinC-IC -- which seemed the ideal place to start. So I joined up and Barbara Paul found me.
IC
And put you to work!
Stephanie
You bet. Barbara can be very persuasive. She also writes a good mystery and gave me a great interview.
IC
Tell us about your SinC-IC activities.
Stephanie
Up to this point, I have been a bit like vaporware. This has been a year of travel. However, when I am here -- which I shall be for the rest of the year -- I am "hired on" to do PR stuff. Tell the world about our glorious chapter and its fascinating members.
IC
What do you like best about your SinC-IC association?
Stephanie
You asked just the right thing. I was going to add that. I am really glad I found SinC-IC. I feel that I have discovered some good friends. Also, I have discovered a whole set of authors I had never read before and who are now on my "buy on sight" list. The human connection though is the best.
IC
Adding to that stack in the pseudo warehouse, no doubt. Are you traveling for pleasure, work, or both?
Stephanie
I go to a couple of computer (MAC) conventions. The rest this year has been pleasure -- Hawaii, Europe, Maine -- what an itinerary. If you live in Seattle, you have to go somewhere -- being here is like being in a permanent rinse cycle.
IC
"Vaporware" gave you away as a computer nerd. With all that travel, this next question may not be that weird: where would you feel the safest and why: an isolated house in the country, an apartment or condo in the city, or a house in a small town?
Stephanie
As long as I had a telephone and modem, I would be perfectly comfortable in all three -- I would hate the confinement of an apartment/condo though.
IC
You Seattle folks keep perpetuating that myth about the rain just to keep the rest of us out.
Stephanie
We started out that way but it proves the dangers of perpetuating myths. Sometimes they come true.
IC
Given your choice of the following animals, which would you choose as a pet: a pot-bellied pig, an emu, or a lemur?
Stephanie
Good heavens! Can I have some other choices? None of the above?
IC
Okay, tell us what you'd choose.
Stephanie
My wonderful, hairy, messy Old English Sheepdogs that I have to take to the cleaner every other week and endure questions from the assembled multitude about which end is the head. I have two -- both male. Litter-mates. Names are Sedgewick and Fitzroy.
IC
Outside of Mystery Place and SinC-IC, what is your favorite web site?
Stephanie
I think -- without question -- Kate Derie's ClueLass page.
IC
What's the question not asked that you want to answer?
Stephanie
I suppose I'd like to say a little about TalkCity and how really astounding the enterprise is. I was involved with them when it was still eworld. Then in a little over two years we have evolved into a viable community. This is a place where I have formed some very good friends and know that wherever I go -- practically -- I will have someone to stay with.
IC
Did you come up with the idea of Mystery Place?
Stephanie
Yes. I talked to the boss -- ran it by her -- and she said go for it.
IC
Prior to that were you running another Talk place?
Stephanie
Prior to that I was hosting in a news chat conference, a computer-oriented conference, and one dealing with the environment. Also, I had the behind-the-scenes work as a CSA (a server administrator; we run around the server trying to solve problems).
IC
Good Lord! Everything of importance! What is your sense of where the mystery arena might be going?
Stephanie
Where do I think the mystery arena is going? You have about ten hours? From what I am hearing, all but a few authors are having a terrible time. It would seem publishers are afraid of anything new and want writers to "write for the movies." I think this is a terrible mistake. If you have an entire book that reads like a screenplay, what's the fun for the reader. There is no place left for imagination. That's what's tough -- if people want to make a living, they have to bend in the wind of the time. My suggestion is to readers -- don't buy this recycled stuff. Demand better! You can tell I am a child of the 60s. If you don't like it -- protest!!!
IC
I'll let you go back out to the mythical rain, but before I do, here is your platform to talk more philosophy, protest, or whatever.
Stephanie
I don't want to repeat myself -- I have already said some of this. However, I think the fact that authors are expected to do most of their own promotion, that all but a few have to do this at their own expense, is going to really hurt in the long run. Who has time to create, promote and tour, and have a life?
IC
Will e-commerce or e-publishing have any impact on this?
Stephanie
That is a good question. More and more authors in all areas are publishing part of their work ( a first chapter or such) on the publishers' sites on the Net. Sometimes I wonder if the e-world will replace the print world. But when I stop to think about it, I don't think this will ever be the case. People like to have hard copies of stuff. I know I do.
IC
The PalmPilotTM bookreader thing mentioned in the SinC-IC mailing list may change the world of reading as we know it to some extent.
Stephanie
Yes, I was reading about that. I have tried to use one and find that the eye strain is horrible. Maybe I am not doing it right.
IC
More evolution needs to happen, I think.
Stephanie
It certainly makes sense to publish on the Net -- to some extent. The user can always download and print what he/she wants.
IC
Any last last thoughts?
Stephanie
Last thoughts? Be creative, be imaginative, be open-minded. Help be part of a better world -- too corny?
IC
Nope.
Stephanie
I really do think that -- in the long run -- the Internet and the various options open to us will result in a different and better world if we work at it. There is always a dark side -- but what new enterprise doesn't have that? The trick is to see and develop the potential it offers [that was] never offered before.
IC
Thanks much, Stephanie!

Visit Stephanie's playground Mystery Place. There is much to entertain, inform, and delight you there.

Or, visit Stephanie's home page.

This interview was conducted on July 12 for the Internet Chapter (IC) by Louise Guardino.

Stephanie Shea Louise Guardino


To see earlier Spotlight Profiles, click here.

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