Having a bad day at the computer? Don't you wish you could chat with an experienced sister author and soak up her wisdom? Now you can—by way of our new Sister to Sister feature! Here's the thing: our founding sisters paved the way for us, broke the boundaries for us, and made it possible for us to rise, flourish, and shine. Whatever we worried about, whatever we wondered about, they did it first. They blazed our literary trail.
So, lucky us, our new monthly Sister to Sister chats will let us connect with our New England icons, and get a glimpse in to their world--and we hope, as a result, take away some knowledge, some insight, and some inspiration.
Katherine Hall Page was one of the first people I ever met when I became a writer. In fact, I don’t think my first book had been published yet. Katherine swooped me up--I remember she tucked her arm through mine and said: let me tell you everything. What to do, where to go, who to talk to, and who to know. At my first Malice, she sent Carolyn Hart to me, and had her sit with me at my banquet table. Katherine is the most generous, the most caring, and the most incredibly efficient person you have ever met. And she's off-the-charts talented.
She’s devoted, generous, hilarious--and a tireless activist for youth and social justice.
How funny is this: In 2016, Katherine Hall Page received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic. Well deserved, of course, for, er, a lifetime of achievement. Her first book, The Body in the Belfry, was published in 1990! But Katherine's literary life is as vibrant and active as ever--and she’s just published book 25--I'll let that sink in--of her iconic Faith Fairchild mysteries: THE BODY IN THE WAKE.
She’s won the Agatha in three categories--Best First, Best Novel, and Best Short Story, and her Have Faith in Your Kitchen cookbook was nominated for best non-fiction.
Beware--her on-line bio reveals she is an unabashed eavesdropper, and will even watch your slides or home movies to hear your narration. “My books are the product of all the strands of my life," she says, "and I plan to keep weaving.”
So now, the wonderful Katherine Hall Page goes Sister to Sister.
HANK: Do you remember the very first time you thought: I’m going to write a book, and I can do it! What was that moment?
KATHERINE: I don’t know. Writing a book always seemed to be the most wonderful thing a person could do, but it wasn’t until my husband took a sabbatical and I suddenly had time away from my job except for completing my doctorate (courses and much writing of all sorts) that I decided I’d better write the novel occupying space in my imagination by the end of this precious window.
HANK: Did that first book sell?
KATHERINE: Yes, I was very fortunate. The Body in the Belfry (1990) was the first in the series, won an Agatha for Best First, and went into multiple printings.
HANK: How many of your books have been published since then? What do you think about that?
KATHERINE: There have been twenty-four more in the Faith Fairchild series; Small Plates, a short story collection; four in Christie & Company for middle grade readers; Club Meds, a non-mystery YA; and the cookbook, Have Faith in your Kitchen—thirty-two books in all plus some short stories. I am astounded.
HANK: Gotta know, got to ask. Do you outline? Has that method has your method changed over the years?
KATHERINE: I don’t outline as such but write a lengthy synopsis that I go over with my editor—and I always know whodunit. The editor doesn’t see the manuscript until it is finished.
I keep careful track of the passage of time in the book with timelines and brief chapter outlines, also the first and last lines of each chapter to avoid repetition and clichés. Along with the synopsis I make a list of the characters, reminding myself important facts about the ones like the Fairchilds that appear in all the books. As new characters appear— the inevitably do as I write—I add them.
This method has not changed over the years. I have all my notebooks—the French kind with graph paper to keep my writing legible. I also write all my research notes in these.
HANK: What’s the hardest part of the book for you?
KATHERINE: The beginning! It seems like such an insurmountable mountain to climb, but then when I am about halfway, it speeds up on the downward slope and I find it hard to stop!
HANK: Is your first draft always terrible? Has it always been?
KATHERINE: I start each day by rewriting what I have written the day before and often don’t add all that much—get rid of a great deal though. I print out each chapter and have a go at it with one of those nice Bic pencils and return to rewriting again before moving on. I print out a bunch of the chapters once more as the books proceeds and do the same—still wedded to the paper/pencil method.
So I can’t say how my first drafts are, but if I did one I am sure it would be terrible! I am a firm believer in the fact that what I write can be made better, so when the finished manuscript goes to my editor and then my copyeditor, I am always inspired by their suggestions.
HANK: Was there ever a time when you thought you would give up writing?
KATHERINE: Well, I would have had to take in wash or get some other sort of job. I consider myself more than lucky to have had two such rewarding careers. If the writing thing hadn’t worked out, I would have happily gone back into education, but it would have meant not being at home with my son, which was just one of the gifts my writing career has given me.
HANK: How often in your process do you have doubts about what you’re doing?
KATHERINE: Gracious, every day!! By “doing”, I mean whether what I am writing is any good, not whether I made a bad career choice. That said, I think most writers I know can tell if what they are producing is good or bad. Writers are readers—have to be—so we know what stinks and what doesn’t.
HANK: What do you tell yourself during those moments of writing fear?
KATHERINE: Take a walk, come back, eat a creamy Brown Cow yogurt or Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Mac ‘n Cheese (tastes like the real thing) and keep going.
HANK: Do you have a writing quirk you have to watch out for?
KATHERINE: I tend to use certain words too often and look at this list to keep myself in check: just, only, no doubt, virtually, actually, that (this is to make sure it should not be “which” and vice versa—lesson learned from Ruth Cavin, my extraordinary SMP editor for the first six books), anyway, after all, still, although, but, simply, except, merely, really, yet, however, of course, probably, possibly, now, well, occasionally, and in fact.
HANK: What’s one writing thing you always do—write every day? Never stop at the end of a chapter? Write first thing in the morning?
KATHERINE: Since I wrote the first book when we were living in France and my two-year-old was in French nursery school in the morning, I wrote as soon as I returned from dropping him off until I had to pick him up. When we returned to the States, I had the same routine and eventually a longer writing day when he started elementary school. But I got used to this rhythm and have stuck with it. I write every day when I am writing a book, except weekends. It’s how I earn my living.
HANK: How do you know when your book is finished?
KATHERINE: Not to be snarky, but when I come to the end.
HANK: Very funny! Okay, I guess on to the next question. J What’s the biggest mistake you see in people’s manuscripts?
KATHERINE: I’m going to list two: they try to copy what they believe is a current trend in the genre and even more important, they don’t rewrite enough
HANK: Do you think anyone can be taught to be a better writer?
KATHERINE: Absolutely. But it is not for the thin-skinned.
HANK: How do you feel about…stuff? Writing swag, handouts, giveaways, that kind of thing. Do you think it matters? Do you have it?
KATHERINE: I like being able to give bookmarks, which the publisher provides, to readers, libraries, and bookstores. I also donate signed books to fundraisers and sites that run a giveaway as these blogs, forums etc. are a great boon for the crime writing community. I dislike all other forms of “swag” and particularly dislike the fact that so many new writers think they have to do this at their own expense. It kind of takes me back to the playground and buying “friends” with ice cream. I know this sounds harsh, but many have heard me on this before, particularly when it all started quite a while ago now.
HANK: You’ve seen so much change in the publishing industry, what do you think new writers need to know about that?
KATHERINE: Yipes! I don’t have the figures at hand, but essentially when I started the publishing houses were old, established, family ones—like St. Martin’s. This changed relatively soon and the number of houses (like independent mystery bookstores) shrank. What writers need to know is that the pendulum has swung (and not on top of a pit). There are so many new excellent small presses now. Writers need not be dependent on the few big name conglomerates!
HANK: You’ve been so successful, why do you think that is? What secret of yours can we bottle up and rely on?
KATHERINE: It’s not much of a secret. I flat out love to write.
HANK: What book are you are reading right now?
KATHERINE: Humphrey Carpenter’s J.R.R.Tolkien and Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews (Agatha winner Kathy Trocheck!). I usually read a bunch of different kinds at once.
HANK: Give us one piece of writing advice!
KATHERINE: You have to like to be alone and indoors a lot. And as Mary Roberts Rinehart put it best in her wonderful little book, Writing is Work!
HANK: Thank you so much, Katherine! Sisters, can you believe all she’s accomplished? What did she say that resonates with you—do you work the same way as Katherine? Or not?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, winning 34 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards. A nationally 
bestselling author of 11 mysteries, Ryan's also won five Agathas, three Anthonys, two Macavitys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her novels are Library Journal's Best of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Hank’s 2018 book is TRUST ME, an Agatha Nominee, and a Best of the Year from The New York Post, BOOK BUB, Real Simple Magazine, PopSugar, and CrimeReads. Her newest psychological thriller is THE MURDER LIST, coming in August 2019. Find her at http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com