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| Interview with Kit Sloane, author of Final Cut By PJ Nunn PJ NUNN - Welcome, Kit. Tell us about Final Cut. KIT SLOANE - Final Cut takes place in a remote valley in Northern California. Geographically, I described where I live, removing houses, highways, vineyards, and most of the people. I took my protagonist, shy Margot O'Banion Lake, a Hollywood film editor, and placed her here on location on a ranch with her boyfriend, a trendy movie director, and a harried production crew racing to finish the film before the studio cancels for being behind schedule. I added components of "old" Hollywood in the guise of two elderly sisters, one the widow of a famous film editor, and let new Hollywood and old Hollywood go at it. What inspired you to write it? I really enjoy writing characterizations. Meeting all types of people stimulates me. Years ago, I met two elderly ladies one afternoon for tea. I was amazed at their vitality and robust senses of humor and their very strong opinions. These were not the little old ladies of my grandmother's era. I decided to put characters like that with my contemporary protagonist and see what would happen. What do you think sets Final Cut apart from everything else out there? Final Cut is not a basic mystery/suspense tale. I think that any reader could put her/himself in my characters' shoes, and go through the startling storyline believing these incidents could really happen. This "identifying with the characters" aspect, to my mind, is what makes a story interesting and suspenseful. I want Margot to make it through this story, but she's human and imperfect as any of us, and nothing in life is guaranteed. What's the first thing you had published? My husband and I have owned horses for many years. About a dozen years ago, I sold a story to a magazine called Horse Illustrated. It was titled the White Knuckle Riding Club and was spooky. I received $125 and then they added an idiotic "clarifying" paragraph to the story without my knowledge, so it was a good news/bad news experience. The magazine has since stopped publishing fiction. How has your writing changed since that time? Stylistically, I don't think it has changed that much. I have an earlier series set in the horse world and I still enjoy those stories. What has changed is the ease with which I write. I still rewrite everything constantly - but like anything you do a lot, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Has your writing won any awards? This is so funny. Yes, I won 1st place in a short story contest - at which point the magazine stopped publication and the story never saw print. Then the draft of a novel won 3rd place with a small publisher and I never even received notification or my 3rd place prize. A friend saw the results on the Internet and told me about my winning. So I think it's better if I don't enter contests at all. Who are you when you're not writing? What kind of work do you do? What are your hobbies? We live on a small horse ranch and I enjoy ranch work. We have four horses, two goats, and cats and a dog. My husband is a college professor and he teaches horsemanship to people with disabilities in his spare time. I love working outdoors and working with animals. It's extremely satisfying after sitting in front of my beloved iMac all day to get up and muck out the stalls. My husband and I are both very good cooks. I'm a voracious reader and I love to garden when the deer leave me a few sprigs to prune. I am former fiction editor of Futures magazine, where I met some marvelous people (Barbara Lakey, the publisher; my assistant, Walda Cameron; and my volunteer readers). But after a year and a half, I found there wasn't any time for my own writing. I missed writing. Who or what has most influenced your writing? I think reading as much as possible can't help but be influential. I literally seeped myself in mysteries as a kid. Specifically I think P.D. James, John LeCarre and Jane Austen inspired and influenced me the most. I admire P.D.James' powers of architectural description, LeCarre's intense characterizations, and Jane Austen's everything. I read and reread Jane. She's wonderful. As a writer, where do you see yourself in 10 years? Final Cut was released in August 2000, my 60th birthday month. I find this thrilling. Fortunately, I've already written ten novels, and come from a line of long-lived women, so I think I'll probably be writing my twenty-fifth book in 10 years time. What do you enjoy most about writing? I truly love every aspect of writing. I love rewriting, too. Most of all, I enjoy writing dialogue. When a scene is spinning along, I often feel as though I'm just sitting there and listening to the characters carry on. I love to hear their voices. I know my characters so well that it's fun to anticipate how this one will react, or that one rage. Sometimes what they say actually surprises me. What do you find most difficult? The middle. I mentally see the book in thirds, I have no idea why, but it works for me. The middle third of a novel is always difficult for me. It's the challenge of maintaining the energy of what you've already written, then preparing for the ending, all the while making the middle interesting with a force that moves the story along to the thrilling climax. What’s your best advice for new writers? Write and write and write and don't pay too much attention to well-meaning critics. Everyone has an opinion. Find your way and write your books your way. I dislike formulas and how to's. Adherence to a formula is death to spirited writing. But I find it fun to occasionally play around with the formula theories, which can create a nice satiric edge to a book. I played a bit with this in Grape Noir, an atypical, traditional mystery. For new writers, I want to mention the place of agents in the writing business. Agents were all I thought about after I completed my first novel - if I could get a good agent, my career was made. They would do all the business work and I could go back to just writing. I've had five agents and not one of them sold anything for me, although all were positive about my work. One rather famous agent called me her "little gold mine." Meanwhile, all I wanted was to see my books in print. All they wanted was to sell to a big house. I do not have an agent now. Shortly after I signed with Deadly Alibi Press, I was contacted by a reputable agent in New York who wanted to take on the series. It was a pleasant conversation until she said essentially, that my stories didn't fit the publishers' formula; that a lot of rewriting would be required; that I didn't want a small publisher since they don't give advances. This was just the agent speaking. No sale yet, and big problems already. No, thank you. And no, thank you to the 15% commission I would have to pay. The best agent is the one who sells your books, period. Otherwise, do the work yourself - especially with the growth of the small publishing industry and publishers who care less today if you're agented or not. I'm truly delighted to be with Deadly Alibi Press. Do you have a website? I share a website with a group of women at http://www.mysteryauthors.com - essentially a work in progress. I've been contributing to Futures magazine for years and have a column in most issues on writing and the writing life. I recently sold a short story entitled The Sting to Murderous Intent magazine. Readers can reach me at: ksloan@calicom.net |
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