by Lorie Ham

Today at the Café we have with us fantasy author Mary Stanton aka mystery author Claudia Bishop. Since this interview was done in 2007, she has had 2 new books released:  The Case Of The Ill-Gotten Goat and the first Beaufort & Company mystery called Defending Angels, released on December 2, 2008. This series features 28-year-old lawyer Brianna Winston-Beaufort, who discovers that her job is to defend the dead victims of murder, who want to appeal their sentence to hell or purgatory. Grab a cup of coffee made with beans from Grimmiel in Ithaca, New York and enjoy.

Café:
When did your latest book come out [at the time the interview was done]?

Mary:
August 7, 2007.

Café:
What is the title of your latest book?

Mary:
The Case Of The Tough-Talking Turkey.

Café:
Genre? A little bit about it?

Mary:
A village mystery, Turkey is the second in the mystery series The Case Books of Dr. McKenzie. Austin McKenzie is a 72-year-old retired Cornell professor of veterinary science who has to go back to work after investing his pension fund in Enron.

Café:
How long have you been writing?

Mary:
Twenty years.

Café:
When did your first novel come out?

Mary:
1988.

Café:
What was it called and what was it about?

Mary:
The Heavenly Horse From The Outermost West. It's a beast fable along the lines of Watership Down. The protagonists are horses.

Café:
Have you always written mysteries? If not, what else have you written?

Mary:
I've written eleven middle-grade novels, three adult fantasy novels, seventeen mysteries and edited three mystery anthologies. I've also written Saturday morning cartoons. I am writing the first of a new mystery series called The Beaufort Files.

Café:
What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book?

Mary:
I live on a goat farm in upstate New York. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the country. Our farm vet is a real character, and he, in part, inspired the creation of Austin McKenzie.

Café:
What is the main reason that you write?

Mary:
Writing fiction is what I do for a living. And yes, I write to amuse and entertain. As far as the mysteries are concerned, I write for intelligent women with the flu.

Café:
Do you have a schedule for your writing or just write whenever you can?

Mary:
I do from two to three novels a year at the moment. It takes about 90 days for each novel. I write in four-hour stretches with cookie breaks in between.

Café:
Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what's going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Mary:
I begin with a list of characters. I write all the names and occupations down on a yellow pad. I usually have three plot elements in each novel — a personal conflict for the chief protagonist; a main event, such as a crime, that involves all the characters; something comic that acts as a little light relief. I write those three items down on the yellow pad underneath the characters. Then I assign characters to each element. If there is any factual, background stuff I need — such as how to make cheese — I have a folder of information about it under the yellow pad so I can refer to it quickly.

Café:
If you had your ideal, what time of day would you prefer to write?

Mary:
That varies a lot with what's going on in my outside life.

Café:
Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Mary:
No. The first publisher I sent my first novel to bought it. I was very very lucky.

Café:
What kind of promotion do you find most effective?

Mary:
I don't really do much promotion, so that's hard to say. If you mean what kind of promotions move me, I guess I'd have to say library readings. I don't do a lot of them, but they are very rewarding.

Café:
Most interesting book signing story — in a bookstore or other venue?

Mary:
Hm. The third mystery anthology I edited (A Merry Band Of Murderers with Don Bruns as co-editor) was a song and story anthology. There was a CD in the back that held original songs by all the authors. Some of the contributors and I did concerts at the booksignings. That was a lot of fun.

Café:
I've done that. Future writing goals?

Mary:
My future goal is always to finish the book I'm writing on time.

Café:
Heroes?

Mary:
Large animal veterinarians are heroic. They do a tough job in tough conditions.

Café:
Person you would most like to meet dead or alive?

Mary:
There's a ton of dead ones: Clare Booth Luce. Dorothy Parker. Ernest Hemingway. Shakespere. Writers like that.

Café:
What do you read?

Mary:
When I'm not on deadline with a novel, I read five to six books a week. I try to read one of each mystery published that month — and I'm way way behind on that. I read a lot of biography, a lot of popular science, like Stephen Jay Gould's work, and Harper's, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly and Oprah.

Café:
What are your hobbies?

Mary:
Goats, horses, gourmet cooking, gardening, wine, and reading.

Café:
That's an interesting bunch of hobbies. Favorite TV or movies?

Mary:
The TV show The Closer is BRILLIANT and my favorite this year. I don't get to a lot of movies, but I really loved Breached, the story of the spy Robert Hansen starring Chris Cooper.

Café:
I love The Closer, too. Pets?

Mary:
My goats Parsley, Basil, Cookie, Biscuit, Tarragon and Lavender.

Café:
Family?

Mary:
I have three grown step children, Harry, John and Julie. My husband's 94-year-old mother lives with us in a separate house on our farm.

Café:
What part of the country/world do you live in?

Mary:
Upstate New York in the spring, summer, and fall. South Florida in the winter.

Café:
Any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Mary:
Don't limit yourself to writing what you know — you can always look it up. Write from an emotion.

Café:
Website?

Mary:
claudiabishop.com.

Café:
Where can people purchase your books?

Mary:
Any major bookstore — and some of the minor ones.

Café:
Thanks for joining us here at the Café again. Happy reading and good coffee!

©2008-2009 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.