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| MESMERIZED: An interview with bestselling author Gayle Lynds By Susan McBride  The world is well-acquainted with Robert Ludlum, bestselling author of the Bourne novels, an impressive author with twenty-one bestselling novels and 210 million copies in print to his credit. So would it surprise you to learn that the master of intrigue has teamed up with Gayle Lynds to write THE HADES FACTOR, a summer release from St. Martin’s Press? That’s right. Gayle Lynds. Remember the name because you’ll be hearing it more often, and not merely because of her collaboration with the better-known Ludlum. Read our review of THE HADES FACTOR. Lynds is a bestselling author in her own right with two previous works, MASQUERADE and MOSAIC, both popular tales of governments gone awry, assassins running amok, love affairs and murder that touch upon all parts of the globe. Read our review of Mosaic. Her third novel of international suspense MESMERIZED, will be released this spring. Not surprisingly, Lynds has a background that makes you wonder if her art is imitating her life. A former reporter and magazine editor, she was once part of a think tank with top-secret security clearance. She’s something of a modern-day Mata Hari with a laptop, creating plots that are spellbinding more and more readers everyday. SUSAN McBRIDE - For your latest book THE HADES FACTOR you collaborated with the master himself, Robert Ludlum. Tell us about how you came together on this project. GAYLE LYNDS - THE HADES FACTOR is based on Bob’s idea of a virus that arises from Desert Storm. Of course, that’s such a timely subject, considering all the new information that’s coming out about the various horrible ailments our service people suffered since being stationed there, and I was instantly intrigued. However, viruses are not my strong suit, so a lot of detailed research went into HADES FACTOR, and the virus that appears is possible. It actually could happen. The way the collaboration began was rather pleasant. One day I received a phone call from my agent to let me know that Bob wanted to write a series - his first: the Bourne books don’t count since they were never intended to be a series. Henry Morrison, our agent, had shipped Bob quite a few thrillers to read in his quest for a co-author. Bob liked mine the most and asked Henry to approach me. I was both shocked and very complimented, since I’m a long-time Ludlum fan. In fact, one of the pivotal books in my writing life was THE CHANCELLOR MANUSCRIPT, which he wrote some twenty years ago. It’s a beautiful and powerful book that addresses some of the darkest parts of our country’s history. He also does some very interesting writerly work in it, including a story within a story. I highly recommend it to all thriller writers to study. Obviously, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity, and that’s how the collaboration began. Bob sent me a six-page idea, which we then turned into THE HADES FACTOR. The idea included the main character - Lt. Col. Jonathan "Jon" Smith, MD; his fiancée and various locations; emotional situations and scenes. As it turns out, Bob lives in Florida and I live in California, which makes it difficult for us to get together daily over a cup of coffee. So we worked by mail on hard copy. Based on his idea, I wrote an outline. We kicked it back and forth, and then I wrote a first draft of the book. Again, that went back and forth. With the help of a very fine editor - Keith Kahla at St. Martin’s - the finished book was born. You’re a bestselling author in your own right with MOSAIC and MASQUERADE, which both involve government conspiracies and cover-ups of all sorts. What drew you toward this type of novel? Did your background as a reporter and a member of a "think tank" influence your choice of subject matter? I suspect there are some things I’ll never know about myself. You’re the first person who’s ever asked me that question. I must admit I am honestly not sure. However, I can speculate. I do know that I’m fascinated by secrets. They can be so powerful. What we know and don’t say can give us an edge over others. On the other hand, to be the object of a secret but not privy to it can be either devastating or a blessing. Who among us doesn’t want to know, especially when it involves us? Then there’s the issue of the person who has a large secret and keeps it forever. In MOSAIC, I wrote about an old man, Lyle Redmond, who owns stolen World War II treasure, but has kept it a secret for years. He drew power from that knowledge, that secret ownership of a masterpiece. It made him feel mighty, influential and important, though he already had those qualities in his own right. Still, he needed that great secret to affirm it. So what does it mean in terms of governments and their secrets, both official and unofficial? I think the answer is the same. Governments by their nature want to keep some things hidden: information, actions, identities, intentions. Sometimes it’s absolutely necessary for them to do that. Other times, it isn’t; and by not revealing the truth, they can do great damage to their citizenry, their officials and the institution of government itself. Keeping unnecessary secrets erodes integrity and corrupts, not only people, but institutions, especially national governing bodies. I suspect I write what I write because of this corrupting influence. At what point does a simple secret become a corruption, dangerous - perhaps even fatal - to the human body or soul? I love that you create such strong female characters in your books, both good and evil, like the assassin in MOSAIC. Where do these women come from? Are there parts of Gayle in any of them? Absolutely. I love what Sue Grafton says about Kinsey Milhone - that she’s younger, thinner and braver than Sue. At the same time, Ross Macdonald always said that all his characters were him, and he was all his characters. I suppose that in the long run, as writers, we reveal ourselves in our books more than we realize. Add up all our characters, and that’s us. If there’s very little variation in the characters, that says a great deal about the author. If the characters tend toward the dramatic, the emotional or the cerebral, or if they are uniformly good or consistently flawed, that also says a great deal. I personally like complex books with rich, complicated characters. I’m also interested in strength, and I find many women to be very strong. I suspect that’s why I try to write my books that way, too. Tell us about MESMERIZED, your third post-Cold War thriller that’s due out in Spring 2001. I’m very fond of MESMERIZED although, upon occasion, I have an unsettling fear that the book’s going to do me in, since I’ve spent so much time on it and still have even more work than I want to do. I became very interested in what happened to all the defectors we took in from the old Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Back in those days, we were giving asylum to, debriefing and resettling, an astounding number of former Communist officials and spies. In fact, so many of them that we started turning new ones down, an unthinkable idea just a few years earlier. What I discovered riveted me. Right now, the largest population of ex-KGB outside Moscow lives in and around Washington, DC. Gives one pause. Of course, I couldn’t resist, and that’s the basis for MESMERIZED. Is it hard to let go of a project once you’ve finished? How long a break do you take before you start on something new? I never really take a break between books, since I’m already working on the next one in my mind and collecting research. Right now, I’ve got research for two forthcoming thrillers. My big question (and one I’ve got to answer soon) is which one do I write next. How did you make the transition into fiction? What made you decide to pursue a career in such a fickle and tough business? I began as a nonfiction writer, a newspaper reporter and a magazine writer and editor. I suspect I went into nonfiction because I was so tremendously awed by novels that I honestly thought no mere mortal was allowed to write them. To me, authors were gods and goddesses, or at least they were dead people. So I chose a safer, parallel route - journalism. I had excellent training and quite a few interesting experiences. Much of it was helpful when I went to work teaching myself how to write fiction. But I don’t recommend following the path I took. I think it’s much easier to begin as a fiction writer and switch to nonfiction, rather than the reverse. What part of writing do you enjoy the most? The least? My favorite part is being in the heat of the scene, when everything is clicking - the writing, the ideas, the characters, the voice. My least favorite part is rewriting and polishing when I’m still not sure what more needs to be done. My mind is exhausted from the actual writing, and I pray for perspective so I can do justice to the book. Eventually, it all comes together, and I go into rewrite mode. As a trained journalist who keeps up with current events, do you find yourself reading stories about actual incidents that end up in your fiction? Or do you try to stay away from that, inventing plot ideas completely from your own imagination? I do both. I subscribe to three daily newspapers, eight weekly magazines and quite a few monthly periodicals. To some people, it may look as if I’m drowning in paper. The truth is that I’m sifting, reading, analyzing, remembering and keeping boxes and file cabinets full of clippings. So I do base quite a bit of what I write on that sort of research. At the same time, I also believe in the power of the imagination. Without the sort of creativity that comes from leaping off into the unknown without a parachute, nothing exciting or creative can happen. I think all writers pretty much work the same way, taking both from real-life and from imagination. The degree is all that varies. Anything else about Gayle Lynds you’d like readers to know? I’ve been blessed with a marvelous husband, dear children and wonderful friends. No writer can write alone. Everyone contributes. I’m tremendously grateful for my family and friends. Without them, especially without my husband and children, I couldn’t do it. How can fans reach you? Please invite everyone to visit my website at http://www.gaylelynds.com |
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