Bone Appetit

 

Author Carolyn Haines was raised in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, of which she says "I think my generation of small town Southerners may have had the last golden childhood." The daughter of  Roy and Hilda Haines, who met when they were both reporters  for a local newspaper in Lucedale, Haines went on to receive a B.S. in Journalism from University of Southern Mississippi and an M.A. in English from the University of South Alabama.

In all, she's published over 50 books, both nonfiction and fiction, including several under the the pseudonym Caroline Burnes, which she uses for her twenty mysteries with Harlequin Intrigue. Her Mississippi trilogy of suspense novels on themes of hypocrisy and ethics included Touched, a Literary Guild selection, and her standalone historical thriller from 2007, Fever Moon, a Book Sense notable book. Two novels—Hallowed Bones in 2004 and Penumbra in 2006—were named among the top five mysteries of their respective years by Library Journal. And the awards keep coming: this year, she accepted the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Writer of the Year.

Her most popular creation is probably the Bones series featuring her protagonist P.I. Sarah Booth Delaney, who's aided and abetted by best friend and P.I. partner Tinkie Richmond (they're owners of the Delaney Detective Agency), as well as a friendly ghost—Jitty, who haunts Delaney's ancestral home, Dahlia House. The latest installment in that series, Bone Appetit, finds Delaney attending cooking school in an effort to get over a personal tragedy, only to wind up in the middle of a crazed beauty contest filled with more corpses than the cooking school has recipes.

Haines is soon set to begin the book tour for Bone Appetit and agreed to answer some questions as a little pre-tour appetizer.

Q: Having been born and raised in southeast Mississippi (with many of your novels also set there), you credit as influences Southern writers such as Flannery O' Conner, Eudora Welty, James Lee Burke and Harper Lee. It must have been quite a thrill to receive the 2010 Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of the Year. Congratulations!

Thank you. It was an amazing honor. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is a book that impacted me as a young reader, and continues to touch me each time I read it. I am deeply honored to receive an award named for Harper Lee. In 2009, I was named a recipient of the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence—another writer whose courage and passion I greatly admire. I have to say, I am truly loving these moments of stepping into the shadow of these great authors.

Q: You were the daughter of journalists and wrote for Southern newspapers yourself (the George County Times, the Mobile Register, and the Hattiesburg America). Yet, you didn't create a journalist protagonist. This seems to be more common than not—former journalists Laura Lippman and Michael Connelly have a private eye and police detective, respectively, as series characters. Was this a conscious decision on your part to not write something like an investigative journalist series?

I did one book, REVENANT, with a journalist protagonist. I'd intended to make this a series, but it just didn't work out that way. But Carson Lynch is a very troubled journalist on the trail of a serial killer. This book is set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

And I have a character in the Bones series, Cece, who is a journalist.

You know, I loved journalism back in the days when I worked in it. I lived it 24/7. I'll have to think about another book involving a journalist.

Q: I love your tales about some of your more unusual journalistic adventures, such as covering an armed robbery on horseback and climbing a tree to cover a hostage situation in a graveyard. It sounds like tremendous fodder for your books. How much real-life experience finds its way into your writing?

The emotional impact of those experiences does find its way into the books, though the factual details are quite different. Journalism exposed me to a lot of different things. And people. It is the perfect background for a fiction writer.

Q: You wrote some 40 novels for the Harlequin Intrigue series under the name Caroline Burnes before you turned to your current southern belle P.I. series with Sarah Booth Delaney. What was the catalyst to switch horses, so to speak, and create Delaney?

I've always written in different genres. Before the Bones books, there was SUMMER OF THE REDEEMERS and TOUCHED, both general fiction stories that I wrote while working a full time PR job and writing Intrigues. And my first book (never published) was horror. I just tell stories. I try to honor whatever story gift comes to me.

Q: Around 2005 or so, with Judas Burning, you started writing standalone thrillers, and your novel Penumbra was named one of the top five mysteries of 2006 by Library Journal. What prompted the turn toward darker themes, quite different from the more light-hearted Delaney series?

I've always loved darker. The above mentioned titles, SUMMER and TOUCHED, have a very dark thread through them. I read dark much of the time. It's a nice counter-balance, to write in both veins.

Q: I understand you've been working on a horror screenplay and a TV pilot for the Sarah Both Delaney series. Do you see yourself transitioning over to screenwriting at some point?

I have to view this as sort of my relationship with photography. I love telling stories with pictures, but I don't think I can be the best writer I can be AND the best photographer. There isn't enough time to serve both mediums. I'm a novelist. While I dabble at screenwriting (because it's hard as heck to get someone to adapt work) I understand that this is a format that demands ALL of a writer's attention. So I don't foresee a change to that world. And trust me, as hard as publishing is, screenwriting is even tougher.

Q:  Regarding the horror screenplay, you once said you would probably use your initials to avoid the impression of a female writer because it's an easier sell in the horror genre if the writer is perceived as male. Do you think there's a similar bias in crime fiction?

I think women buy men writers but men won't buy women. It's a fact. And I honestly believe there is a perception that a female isn't as creepy or bloodthirsty or whatever. There are some genres where this applies. I have had very good male friends tell me they've never read one of my books because they aren't interested in "that kind of story." Yet they read Patterson, Deaver, King, etc. (Not that I am saying I write like these guys.) But the perception is that a story written by a woman is going to be light and fluffy and inconsequential. I find that attitude annoying.

Q: You're Fiction Coordinator and teaching the fiction writing classes at the University of Southern Alabama. Are there frustrations as well as rewards in this?

As with any job that invokes passion, there are many highs and lows. Seeing a student excel is incredible. Watching a student self-destruct is hard. Learning when one can affect the situation is an art. I love teaching. I have incredibly talented students, and there is much joy there. But there's no denying there are heartaches.

Q:  You once started your own publishing company. Although it didn't last long, did you find that lessons learned from that experience have helped you since?

I have greater appreciation for good editors and the things big publishers do well—distribution, shelf space, shipping, etc. I learned I don’t like business, or the numerous legal issues of such. I can write or I can fill out tax forms. I much, much prefer the former. But there is a joy in completing the process on a book, from font to embossed cover.

Q: Your ex-husband was a captain in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.  You met while doing research for a book. It almost sounds like something out of one of your Harlequin Intrigue novels. It must have been nice to have your own in-house reference desk! Did he help critique your procedural details, and if so, what insights have you learned from him?

Steve is one of the best investigators I've ever met. He has thoroughly trained himself in the logical steps of investigation—a weakness for most writers who have unbridled creativity and are short on logic. So yes, he was very helpful.

Q: You served as editor of the recently-released short-story anthology Delta Blues, with proceeds benefiting the Rock River Foundation, an organization helping with education and literacy efforts in the Mississippi Delta (created by actor Morgan Freeman, who also provided an introduction to the anthology). How did this project come about?

I met Ben LeRoy, the publisher, at a writers conference and he’d just published CHICAGO BLUES, a very successful anthology featuring Chicago crime writers. When he asked if I'd edit a Mississippi blues/crime/noir collection, I was onboard from the get-go. From there, we played the "wouldn’t it be wonderful" game. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if...Morgan Freeman did the foreword? John Grisham gave us a story? Charlaine Harris gave us a story." Amazingly, those "wouldn’t it be wonderful" dreams became reality. It has been an amazing experience.

Q: As an active participant in animal rescue and manager of a farm with twenty or so animals, how do you find the time to write? (And what can others do to help with rescue efforts in their own communities?)

I write because I have to. So I find time. And there are several things people can do to help impact the terrible situation of unwanted animals in this country: adopt from a local shelter (buying from a breeder encourages them to breed again and again. They are in this for money. If there's no profit, they won't breed the dogs or cats.) If you can't have a pet or an additional pet, donate a "spay or neuter" to a local shelter or to a local vet clinic that you trust will give it to someone who can't afford to get their pet fixed. And this is becoming more and more importan—raise the issue of animal cruelty and neglect with your local politicians. Attitudes—and laws—will only change when we demand that they do so. Political candidates at all levels need to know this is a priority with their electorate. Speak out. And if you witness cruelty, demand action from your law enforcement and district attorney. Keep the pressure on.

Bone Appetit is set for release on June 22, and Carolyn's tour dates will be posted on her web site soon.