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 Interview with Ann Prospero, author of Almost Night (Dutton Books, April 2000), a chilling tale set in the steamy atmosphere of the Florida Everglades. A not-to-be missed debut mystery. Author’s email: arp8888@mindspring.com Read our reviews by Maria Y. Lima and Susan McBride. Feature by Susan McBride The Woman in the Etching She is faceless. Sacred colors flicker on the vase, A fire turned blue. Eyeless she looks Toward the frame’s edge, flowers heavy on her head and we weep. Does she dance? Secretly. In the dark of her body. © Ann Prospero, reprinted with permission. I met Ann last October at the Magna Cum Murder mystery convention. Her blond hair tied back in a ponytail, she eagerly went from panel to panel and always sat at a table as close to the speakers as was available. During each session, she forever scribbled in her notebook as she listened and, when audience questions were allowed, she was the first with her hand in the air. At that point in time, the release of her first novel, Almost Night, was just months away, and, by God, she was going to learn everything about the publishing business she could while at the conference. She was preparing for success, nothing less, and she wasn’t shy about it. Needless to say, Ann made an indelible impression on me. By all appearances, she is a woman who is unafraid, who faces the world with a directness and unblinking curiosity. That fearlessness comes through loud and clear in her writing. Her words are far from timid, her style forthright and real. I interviewed Ann while she was on the road promoting Almost Night with radio and newspaper interviews and signings. She had just been reviewed by Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times and had another coming out in Entertainment Weekly. Not bad for a beginner. SUSAN McBRIDE - Welcome, Ann. Your background is as a journalist and poet. When did your love of words begin and how did it lead you to a career as a writer? ANN PROSPERO - My parents imbued me with a love of and respect for words and that grew into my fascination with the meanings and sounds and the capacity of words for communication and hurt. When did you write Almost Night? We’ve heard tales of authors taking years to complete a manuscript. What was the experience like for you? I’ve made my living as a writer and editor, often working on deadline - so I write fast and critically. I began the book in late 1995 while I was waiting for my house to sell, and I rewrote and rewrote until I almost got it right. Almost. My agent, Esmond Harmsworth, took it in August of 1998 and sold it in December of 1998. Having read Almost Night, it seems that your surroundings have a deep impact on your writing. Tell us how living in South Florida - and Miami in particular - has influenced your poetry and your first novel. I believe the environment in which we live shapes us. South Florida was wild and uninhabitable until relatively recently. Its location has always attracted those on the run- from the law, from governments, from repression, from family. And those who settled in South Florida try to create a fantasy of law and history and order. It is that clash between fantasy and reality that intrigues me. How did you come up with the character of Susannah Cannon? She’s a strong lady - a Miami police detective - who is good at her job, but a bit of a co-dependent where love is concerned. Is she based on women you know? Is there a little of Ann Prospero in her? I wanted a strong protagonist whose reality was leadership and pain and vulnerability. I didn’t want a woman who knew all the answers and who denied her experience of confusion. And, yes, one writes about what one knows; the reader knows when you’re faking it. But keep in mind I haven’t murdered anyone yet. So - to get back to the questions - maybe and maybe not. Is the serial killing plot in Almost Night based upon any real events? How did you research the police procedure used to uncover the murderer? A serial murderer loose in my neighborhood (he was after prostitutes, but that’s another story) provoked me to ask, Why? Why do some women allow themselves to be abused? Why do certain men abuse women? What do they get out of it? I developed a theory after reading everything I could get on the subject, and I immersed myself in homicide culture - at the police station, the morgue, and in grief groups. You’re in the process of book promotion now. Tell us what that’s like for you. Is the experience what you’d thought it would be? What’s unexpected about it? I love the people in the audience. I love talking with them. I don’t like doing the PR in preparation for an event. What’s unexpected? People LIKE my book. That continues to amaze me. I hope I can continue to live up to their expectations. What are you working on now? What’s ahead for Ann Prospero? I’m in the middle of the second book in this series. I love creating this fictional environment and I plan on doing that for as long as I can. I have a wonderful agent—Esmond Harmsworth—who seems to believe I can do this well enough to continue. Finally, is there anything you’d like readers to know about yourself or Almost Night? My imagination is dark, and I’m going to go with it. What do my readers think about that? Ann Prospero welcomes your comments. E-mail: arp8888@mindspring.com |
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