Q&A with Susan Albert discussion

Susan, I just want you to know how much I enjoy & appreciate the wonderfully informative reviews you write on goodreads for the books you have read. I always learn so much from them.

Hi Susan!

I just finished reading "Holly Blues" and I loved it! I really enjoy how you have China interact with the reader even though she is a fictional character. I also love "Khat" but he was not present for much of this book. I look forward to seeing this little extended family's trials and successes. I also love, love, LOVE the Robin Paige Victorian-Edwardian mystery series and I wish you and your husband would write more of those books! Thanks for creating such wonderful characters!

Thanks, Sue--When I enjoy a book, I love to share it with other readers. I don't read a lot of super "popular" stuff, so writing a review is a way for me to acknowledge and honor writers that may not get very much "air" time.

I'm glad that you've enjoyed the Robin Paige books, Sara--we loved them too, but they were so research-intensive and took so much time. Just couldn't do them and the other things we wanted to do!

Hi Susan. Fred, here from South Bend. Loved the Cucumber tree. you did a great job of setting the time, place and characters. Not a one would I love to hate, but then you kill them off. I have some Westie friends that love the Potter series and I hope they will join in the discussion. And I told Jeanne about your new series, too.

Hi, Fred--nice to hear from you again! We still have (and still love) that Honda Element, and our Civic too. Yep, same one, 150,000 mi and still purring along. Glad your Westies enjoy the Potter series: our heelers think it's pretty cool, too.

My TBE stack has a few of the China's, but I think my favorite was Bloodroot.

Shelly--Yes, we had a big problem with Holly Blues, didn't we? Took a while for Penguin and Amazon to see eye-to-eye on the pricing, which meant that some books were more than a month late getting into eformat. I like Wormwood, as well--and (yes, Fred) Bloodroot: both books are "thicker" because they have historical plots, as well as contemporary plots. I like playing with that--makes it more fun to pull the pieces together

Susan wrote: "I'm glad that you've enjoyed the Robin Paige books, Sara--we loved them too, but they were so research-intensive and took so much time. Just couldn't do them and the other things we wanted to do!"

Hi Susan-I remember you telling me that on Facebook before. No worries-I love China Bayles, too!

Another China Bayles fan here! I sometimes wish I could be as practical as China, but think I'm a little too old to change that now! The books have all been 4 & 5 star reads for me and I guess my favorites are , , and . The new one usually comes out around my birthday, so it's always one of my presents to myself.

Melodie, I have not Bleeding Hearts, but give thumbs up to your other selections.

Melodie wrote: "Another China Bayles fan here! I sometimes wish I could be as practical as China, but think I'm a little too old to change that now! The books have all been 4 & 5 star reads for me and I guess my..."

Love Lies Bleeding represented a new place in the series for me. I was trying to figure out whether McQuaid should stay or go. And when China decided he should stay, I had to figure out how to make that happen. :)

Bloodroot was another new place, because it was the first book that had a background mystery that took place in a previous time, and had to be solved before the contemporary mystery could be solved. It's a "dense" book, with several plot threads.

Bleeding Hearts was also "dense," in the sense that I wrote it by tracing out the metaphors involved with the idea of "bleeding hearts."

Everybody, I just uploaded a new blog post over at Lifescapes: http://bit.ly/bgJK42 Goodreads hasn't caught up with it yet, but probably will shortly.

The post is about making mesquite flour (a project for me last week), about the garden, and about the books. I haven't been doing much with the blog lately: life is very full these days!

Hello,
Wow,it's very good to see you here on GoodReads. I've read all of the China Bayles series,and will begin your new series shortly.
I was at a lecture once you gave in Ohio. I was surprized to hear you wrote for Nancy Drew! Better yet was the reason you gave for disassociating yourself from that series;"Our Nancy doesn't cry"

You remembered, Betsy! How amazing.

Everyone: yes, I was Carolyn Keene, for a time in the mid/late 80s. I learned a lot from working on the series (mostly about the process of writing series in a really slick, fast-paced house--MegaBooks was the packager, at the time). But I left after I wrote a scene in which Nancy bursts into tears (over what, I don't recall)--the editor cut the scene and wrote in the margins, "Our Nancy doesn't cry." I couldn't make myself continue to work with a character who wasn't allowed to have a full emotional repertoire. But as I say, writing for that series taught me a lot, and I've put the lessons to use in the years since.

Susan, I so appreciate that you aren't afraid to allow your characters to have strong views about current events, and to base stories on issues that may be sensitive for readers. Do you worry about offending fans?

Susan wrote: "Susan, I so appreciate that you aren't afraid to allow your characters to have strong views about current events, and to base stories on issues that may be sensitive for readers. Do you worry about offending fans?"

That's never been a huge worry with me, although I do have to say that China has modified her language somewhat since that first book (not so much "strong language," as my mother would say).

I have offended some readers who seem to have the idea that mysteries are light entertainment and that they shouldn't include political, environmental, or civil rights issues. There are some reader "reviews" of Holly Blues on Amazon right now that demonstrate that kind of attitude. For example, one reader objected to China's sad comments about sprawling suburbia and the MacMansions that litter the Texas hills.

But in my view, fictional characters come alive when they believe strongly in something and care passionately about what's important to them, their families, and their communities. It would be a pretty bland book if those beliefs and passions weren't a part of the story. China has always been "green," and she's going to get a whole lot greener as time goes on. But that will be in character for her, I think.

Interestingly, there have been only a few objections to the lesbian couple (Ruby's daughter and her SO). I expected to hear more about that.

Thanks, Susan. Good question.

Interesting comment made by Susan T. I had to think about why I so enjoy China and why I can hardly wait for each new book to come out. I very much like the character, China, and all of her friends, cronies, and colleagues. I like knowing that China is well educated and made the difficult choice to give up a lucrative career in favor of living in a place she loves and doing what she loves best, herbs and gardening. I too love herbs and this allows me to like these books even more. Looking more deeply into my reasons for reading each and every China book are the issues and conflicts China must face. These are not made-up, fictional issues, but rather things that each of us must face every day. I like knowing that China is a strong woman and more than capable of standing up for herself and fending off her adversaries.

Sprawling suburbia is sad - a sad commentary on the state of our nation. MacMansions are just as sad. These are not limited to TX - they litter every state in the country.

Bottom-line: the China characters are very real for me and I love them all. I feel as though I could drive into Pecan Springs, rent the cottage behind Thyme&Seasons, eat lunch and purchase herbs and herbal products in China's shop and say, "Hi" to everyone as though I have known them forever. This latter isn't too far off as I have been reading China since book#1.

Lindy wrote: "...Looking more deeply into my reasons for reading each and every China book are the issues and conflicts China must face. These are not made-up, fictional issues, but rather things that each of us must face every day..."

One of the problems I have with many mysteries is that the plot is created as a "mystery." Sorry: I realize that this seems self-evident and maybe a little silly. What I mean is that, confronted with the task of writing a "mystery"-- complete with dead body, clues, potential killers, red herrings, and resolution--the author has trouble finding the material for this in real life and therefore ends up building an artificial story.

This doesn't usually happen in police procedurals or PI novels, where there is plenty of real-world stuff to borrow from. But it happens too often in cozies, where the universe of possibilities seems to be more limited. (Am I making sense here?)

Anyway: I didn't want to write police procedurals or PI, but I did want to build a world that felt and smelled and sounded and tasted real--so real that readers would occasionally forget that it was fictional. I don't always succeed. There is plenty of conventional, formula-driven stuff in the books, particularly in the early books. But I think I'm getting better at it. And I'm always glad when I hear somebody say "This feels like a real town to me."

And part of this, of course, is asking the people in the town to face the same kind of issues that you and I face every day. Lovers who cheat (yes, even trusted McQuaid), lesbian daughters, crazy ex-wives, friends who can't get their acts together, moms with Alzheimers, friends with cancer. Ordinary human foibles and fears and even a few triumphs. Real to me--and to you, too, I'll bet.

Susan, that's one of the things I love about your novels. They don't feel contrived. And the characters stick with you, as do the real-life issues and problems they face. Also, I like the prospect of redemption you hold out for them--and by extension, us too.

Well stated, Susan! I agree wholeheartedly and will always try to create "characters who cry."

Susan wrote: "...Also, I like the prospect of redemption you hold out for them--and by extension, us too ..."

Redemption. Mmm...I don't think I've considered the books as a whole in those terms. But it's an explicit theme of Rueful Death,Bloodroot, and Wormwood. (Interestingly, these are "away" books, when China leaves Pecan Springs. For some reason, that seems to free me to explore more serious subjects.)

And if by redemption you mean the possibility of deliverance or restoration or recovery, I think most good "mysteries" do that in some way--don't you? They show us that there is some sort of justice or rebalancing or compensation, however flawed, in the world. Maybe?

I think some mysteries do aim toward the possibility of redemption, and some trade on a bleaker view of the world. I like yours because the characters come alive on the pages, as do the places you write about, and your characters learn and grow through their experiences. That's a good model for we readers.

Susan wrote: "Susan, I so appreciate that you aren't afraid to allow your characters to have strong views about current events, and to base stories on issues that may be sensitive for readers. Do you worry about..."

I can't think that the author can worry about what the fans would think or they'd end up writing the for the phone book. It's the author's right to tell the story and the reader's right to not pick up that particular book. You can't please everyone, only can please yourself...or words to that effect.

Susan wrote: "Lindy wrote: "...Looking more deeply into my reasons for reading each and every China book are the issues and conflicts China must face. These are not made-up, fictional issues, but rather things t..."


I think that's why I like the China Bayles series so much. It reflects real life with a mystery enfolded inside. I can empathize with the characters and it never feels a forced tale.

Vickie wrote: "I can't think that the author can worry about what the fans would think or they'd end up writing the for the phone book.."

That's partly true, and partly not, Vickie. Of course every author has to suit herself. But very little fiction--especially these days, in a world of mass two-way communication--is written in an ivory tower. If I want to communicate with readers, I have to write *to* them. I can challenge them to think new thoughts, but if what I'm writing is Greek (or anathema) to too many of them, I'll lose the audience. Or I won't find one, in the first place. (There are plenty of very good writers out there who failed to find an audience.)

So it seems to me that there's always a real-world trade-off, a compromise or series of compromises, between what the author wants to do, what the editor/publisher demands, and what readers are looking for. Readers don't see those compromises, because they get what made it through the process and onto the page, but they're there.

I finished reading The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber treee. It's definitely a cozier cozy than China Bayles. Boy, I needed that after reading a gruesome mystery about child abuse. I loved how the main characters did the "right thing" even if the law may or may not approved.

Betsy wrote: "I finished reading The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber treee. It's definitely a cozier cozy than China Bayles. Boy, I needed that after reading a gruesome mystery about child abuse. I loved how th..."

Thanks, Betsy--

Given the state of the world these days, cozier cozies may be just what the doctor ordered.