Here at Casa Mysterioso, instead of recycled site-owner publicity, we offer interviews with other people in the arts--writers, musicians, actors, entertainers, and sometimes just plain characters. We add new ones all the time, and site visitors are invited to contribute. If we use your interview, we'll pay $35. Query by e-mail.

Interview with S. J. Rozan
Interview with Jan Burke
Interview with Jeremiah Healy
Ben and Diane (An Interview with Stephen Booth)
Cold Days and Deadly Nights (An Interview with Steve Hamilton)
Mysteries (An Interview with Irene Marcuse)
The Stone Monkey (An Interview with Jeff Deaver)
The Salaryman's Wife (An Interview with Sujata Massey)
A Kiss Gone Bad (An Interview with Jeff Abbott)
Charlotte Justice (An Interview with Paula Woods)
Blood Money (An Interview with Rochelle Krich)
Letter From New Orleans: (An interview With Andy J. Forest)
The Lady From Charm City (An Interview with Laura Lippman)
Crescent City Views (An Interview with Anne Rice)

 

Interview with S. J. Rozan
by John McAuley

SJR is S. J. Rozan, JM is interviewer John McAuley

In her previous career S. J. Rozan worked as an architect in New York City.  Firehouses and police stations were her specialty.   Architecture is a complex job, it requires the ability to take a blue line on a piece of paper and turn it into a functional structure that makes sense when it's completed.  Like a well written book. 
   
 In 1994 S.J.'s first novel,  CHINA TRADE, was published. It featured private detectives Bill Smith and Lydia Chin. It got solid reviews and laid the foundation for a fan base that has expanded with each novel in the series. There are currently eight Bill and Lydia novels, and a stand-alone, ABSENT FRIENDS. More series books are planned after her current work-in-progress,  IN THIS RAIN ,  is completed.
 
 S. J. now works full time as a writer and has received the  Anthony, Barry, Edgar, Macavity, Nero and Shamus awards. In 2004 she released the standalone, ABSENT FRIENDS.   Although it was set against the backdrop of N.Y.C. just after 9/11 it ultimately told a timeless story about friendship, secrets, loyalty and courage.   And it showed us an author willing to take chances by telling the story in a voice that her regular readers had not heard her use before.   In the interview below S. J. talks about Absent Friends, In This Rain, Bill and Lydia and quotes Wayne Gretzky.

JM: I thought ABSENT FRIENDS was one of last years best books. It was poetic, poignant and gritty. It also showed that you were willing to take risks with your writing style. Was it worth the risk??

SJR:  Thanks! Yes, definitely worth the risk. There was no other way I could see to tell that story. And risks are, well, risky. You could fail, and probably there are some places in that book where I missed. But may I quote Wayne Gretzky? "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

JM: What's the genesis of your Bill Smith and Lydia Chin characters?  

SJR: Bill's the classic American voice-over PI. To me, the private eye story is about moral ambiguity, and I wanted to write about that, in the voice of an iconic character. Lydia was created at first as a sidekick for Bill, and to be as different from him as possible, so there would be a voice able to counter each of his assumptions about how the world works. But she wouldn't sit still for that sidekick business.

JM: On the premise that readers interpret characters, but the writer can define them, how would you define the relationship between Bill and Lydia?

SJR: Interesting premise. But anyway: the important thing is, they neither patronize nor worship each other. They are true equals. This doesn't stop them from loving each other. He knows he loves her; she, because of the enormous difficulties that would be involved in any serious relationship with him, both personally and in terms of her family, has not admitted to herself that she loves him. He, who has been around the block a few times, is willing to wait.

JM: How has their relationship evolved since the first two novels? [CHINA TRADE, CONCOURSE.]  

     

SJR: She's changing, becoming less able to deny her feelings. He's pushing less.

JM:In WINTER AND NIGHT we, and Lydia, find out that Bill has a sister. Any more surprises like that in their next appearance?

SJR: You think I know? I'm only the writer. Actually, I'd known about Bill's sister for years before I wrote that book, and I don't know anything else that surprising about either of them, so probably not on that level. But remember, Lydia has four brothers and countless cousins. And two of the brothers are married, and another is in a long-term gay relationship. So there are in-laws everywhere, too. Who knows what could happen?

JM: When are you going to start work on the next book in the series?

SJR: As soon as I finish the book I'm working on now, I have a Lydia novel up next.

JM: What can you tell us about the book you are working on now?

SJR: It's called IN THIS RAIN, it's a standalone. Its subjects are what we make, and what we make of ourselves. It's set in New York: Harlem, City Hall, Sutton Place; also, upstate. It's multi-point-of-view and more than that Bantam doesn't want me saying right now. It'll be out next summer, most likely.

JM: Some of your short stories have been included in several recent anthologies. Artistically, what do you find to be the biggest difference between writing a short story and writing a novel?

SJR: A short story has to get in and get out. You've got to do all the same things as in a novel: character, setting, plot, theme, but you have far less time, so you can only work with one idea. Every word has to count double or triple. It's a great workout for a novelist. My writing improves every time I do one, which is why I keep agreeing to them.

JM: I know you write haiku poetry. Any chance you'll compile it and submit it as a chapbook to a small press publisher?

SJR: I don't think so. The nature of haiku is to capture one moment before it vanishes. If I started thinking of them in terms of publication I'm afraid I'd approach them differently.

JM: If you could choose only one book of yours to still be in print fifty years from now which one would it be?

SJR: ABSENT FRIENDS. I wrote it so people would know what it was like in NY in the weeks right after 9/11, and 50 years from now I hope they'll still be reading it to learn.

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