Interviews
On Sunday, April 26th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Mary Higgins Clark to discuss YOU BELONG TO ME.
Moderator: Thanks for checking out the barnesandnoble.com Auditorium. Today we are pleased to welcome Mary Higgins Clark, who is joining us online to discuss her latest thriller, YOU BELONG TO ME. Welcome back to the barnesandnoble.com live events Auditorium, Mary Higgins Clark. How was your weekend?
Mary Higgins Clark: Busy. I've been signing in three different places this weekend. I just got back from a signing, so happily, it's been busy.
Sam from Hoboken, NJ: Everybody in YOU BELONG TO ME seems so good-looking and single! I, personally, would love to date Susan Chandler. Did you have an inspiration for her character? She was so accomplished.
Mary Higgins Clark: When I'd figured out Susan, I thought that she should have been a prosecutor before, which would explain why her prosecutor's hat is part of the mix. And then, I think psychology is such a fascinating study, and we have Dr. Joy Browne and other people on the air who have listeners call in. But the other part of it is that people will call and discuss intimate parts of their life on radio and never realize that their voices could be recognized. I've always found that very intriguing. So I threw it all in the mix.
Roger Fields from Merced, CA: Where does the title of your book come from? It sounds so familiar -- is it part of a song?
Mary Higgins Clark: Yes, it's the title of a song that was very well known in the '40s: "You Belong to Me." And the lyrics of the song are an intrinsic part of the plot.
Fern from Chester, PA: Jealousy is a big theme in YOU BELONG TO ME. Even Susan Chandler's sister Dee is jealous of Susan's successes. Why did you decide to concentrate on that deadly sin in YOU BELONG TO ME?
Mary Higgins Clark: It was only, again, part of the plot. There's always the why -- why would one sister go after her sister's boyfriend. And I always remember the story of when my mother was a young woman, she was dating someone, but when the big dance was coming, he invited her younger sister to it. And my grandfather shouted, "He will not come into my home and choose between my daughters!" And my mother being my mother said, "Oh, for heaven's sake, let her go."
Carolyn from Illinois: Will you ever write any more stories with Willie and Elvira? I think that was some of your best, although I like all your books.
Mary Higgins Clark: I am writing a short Christmas book called ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, where Willie and Elvira are the main characters. And there is an anthology that just came out called MURDER ON THE RUN, in which a new story on them appears.
Gareth from Framingham, MA: Hello, Ms. Higgins Clark. I was here for the online chat with your daughter Carol, and she mentioned that at times you read over each other's work and offer suggestions. I was wondering if Carol had any input in YOU BELONG TO ME or if you had any suggestions for TWANGED that were implemented? Thank you for taking my question.
Mary Higgins Clark: It's just as you say: We talk about the books, and she will throw me a chapter and say what do you think, and I will throw her a chapter and say what do you think. We simply are sounding boards for each other, because we know what the other wants to do with the story.
Mike from South Attleboro, MA: I'm a longtime fan of yours, Mrs. Clark. I enjoyed the Henry and Sunday stories in MY GAL SUNDAY. Do you plan to write any more stories with Henry and Sunday? Thank you!
Mary Higgins Clark: Well, they are in a brand-new anthology called MURDER FOR REVENGE -- a story about them called "Power Play" is in that collection.
Christian from Michigan: Where do you come up with such interesting women for your stories?
Mary Higgins Clark: I think that today I like to write about women who have made it on their own and chosen an interesting career. And I try to vary the careers they have chosen.
Penny from the Peach State: In writing YOU BELONG TO ME, did you know who the killer would be before you started? Or did it become evident as you wrote? I only ask because so many times I suspected a different character.
Mary Higgins Clark: I must know who the killer is before I write the first line. If four people might have done the deed, only one would have had the motive to commit the ultimate act -- the taking of another's life.
Andrea from Amarillo, Texas: Where do you get the ideas for your books? When do you write best? Do you have plans for your next novel? I love all of your books! Thank you.
Mary Higgins Clark: Thank you, Andrea. The ideas come from observation and life experience. I lecture once a year on a segment of an around-the-world cruise, and I've observed how many women were alone and lonely, even though they were both socially and financially very secure. That's how that story came into being. My favorite time to write is to start right after a cup of coffee in the morning and to stay with it for five or six hours. My next book will be a Christmas novel, ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT.
Mary Lou from Indiana: I really appreciate the "clean" aspect of your mysteries. Do you find it difficult to keep excessive sex or violence out of your books?
Mary Higgins Clark: I find it absolutely natural. I think footsteps coming up the stairs in a dark house are much more frightening than portraying an exquisitely violent scene. The reader's imagination ought to be part of the reading process.
Destiny from Cyberworld: Would you ever write a book that wasn't a mystery -- either another form of fiction or a nonfiction work?
Mary Higgins Clark: I am going to do a memoir. I would love to write a mainstream novel, use a pen name, send it to my publisher, and see if they'd even consider buying it. That's the sort of thing that keeps a writer honest.
Terrence from Sag Harbor, NY: Even in real life, killers always seem to have a signature -- the turquoise ring is one example in YOU BELONG TO ME. Do you ever read profiles of murderers or follow certain cases to learn about new procedures or to make your mysteries even more authentic?
Mary Higgins Clark: Yes. I have a retired FBI friend and manager, Robert Ressler, who has authored several true-crime novels himself. And I will check with him and New York City detectives or Cape Cod detectives, depending on where the story is set, to make sure that I'm absolutely on target and authentic in investigative procedures.
Catherine from North Carolina: They've been showing movies of several of your books -- they transfer so well into movies. Any thoughts of going to the big screen?
Mary Higgins Clark: It is being offered for the big screen as we speak. The prevailing wisdom in Hollywood is that a male protagonist is big screen, a woman protagonist is TV.
Patrick from South Jersey: I have two children and a full-time job, my wife works part-time.... I am presently finishing my second novel, in French, because I am French. Do you have any advice? It is very difficult to find the time to write. Thank you.
Mary Higgins Clark: I am a member of a writer's group, 12 people who meet on the first Tuesday of every month. We all agree (those of us who have found publishers and publish regularly): A professional writer not only has to have a certain talent and a desire to write; the person who becomes a professional has a need to write and one way or the other finds the time to do it. In the beginning it usually means getting up at dawn or staying up until midnight.
Rose Reeves from Casselberry, FL: I finished reading your latest book YOU BELONG TO ME yesterday. When are you planning to visit central Florida for a book signing?
Mary Higgins Clark: Actually, I signed in Boca Raton...in the last few weeks. I won't be in Florida again on this book tour.
Annette from Illinois: Mary, besides writing, what are your other passions? Do you ever incorporate any of your passions or hobbies into your books? You are a tremendously talented author -- you give me something to look forward to when I open your book (whether it's for the first time or the tenth time I've read it). Thanks!
Mary Higgins Clark: Them's kind words, and thank you very much. I'm a water rat -- I love the ocean. I used to love to ski, but I hurt my foot and I can't do it anymore. I'm very involved with the family. And I'm active in a number of charitable causes. My husband and I travel and do a few terrific trips a year. Between us we have nine children and 15 grandchildren. And the first communions, confirmations, graduations, and school plays keep us hopping.
James from Cherry Hill, NJ: Is the case of Regina Clausen based on a real-life case?
Mary Higgins Clark: No. It's a "suppose" and "what if." As I mentioned earlier, I have seen how women are alone on cruises and I observed how, even though they are quite successful, they are quite vulnerable because they are quite simply lonely. As someone who was a widow for many years, I understand what they are feeling. In the book, I made the woman a younger woman, which is also valid.
Onero from Jackson, MS: How do you begin writing? Do you start with an outline and them fill in? Do you have the ending in mind first? Do you do extensive character sketches?
Mary Higgins Clark: I always have the ending in mind, even though the exact circumstance will unfold as the story unfolds. I do character sketches. I know how my main characters felt as little kids. When I start the book I have to be able to say in one sentence what it's all about. And then I will do a synopsis of a few chapters at a time.
Chantal Roy from Quebec, Canada: I am very happy to talk with you. :-) I have your books and I love it. (Excuse my bad English -- my first language is French.) My question is: What is your favorite place in New York City? I visited New York last October and I love it.
Mary Higgins Clark: I'm a born and bred New York City kid. Whenever I've been away on a trip, I come back and touch the buildings in Manhattan and say, "I hope no one's been mean to you. I'm back and I'll take care of you again." My favorite part of Manhattan, probably, is around Central Park South, where I have an apartment. That includes the area around Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Linher from Somerset, NJ: Mrs. Clark: If you were a starting writer, how would you go about getting published?
Mary Higgins Clark: The first thing you have to do is write the book. No publisher will take a chance on an unknown writer who doesn't have a complete manuscript. Get a subscription to Publishers Weekly -- it's the bible of the industry. Buy WRITER'S MARKET and don't send a manuscript to a publisher who does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It will inevitably come back, and then you will feel rejected. If possible, attend the regional conventions or seminars of the kind of books that you are writing, be it mystery, suspense, or science fiction. That way you will meet both editors and agents. And don't worry if you are rejected -- we all have been. Finish the first novel and start on the second -- don't wait for the first novel to sell. And finally, when you're really discouraged, think "royalty checks."
Joanne from Chicago: Do you have a favorite author that you like to read?
Mary Higgins Clark: My daughter and I give each other's names all the time, so: Carol Higgins Clark. There are so many authors I love. I just got the new book by Anne Tyler.
Catherine from North Carolina: Any book signings planned for North Carolina?
Mary Higgins Clark: I don't think so. I was in North Carolina last spring. I'm going to be in Kentucky, Arkansas, Salt Lake City, and Chicago, off the top of my head.
Dreamer from GA: I am a great fan. Where do you research all your plot ideas? Do you ever use actual police material?
Mary Higgins Clark: I do extensive research and I do it myself, because I find that when I do my own research, I find information I didn't even know I was looking for -- serendipity. And then when I finish the book -- for example, the one on multiple personalities -- I ask a doctor who heads the Multiple Personality Disorder Center, which is now known as the Disassociative Personality Center, to vet the manuscript for me to make sure I have not made any mistakes. I did the same thing with in vitro fertilization, post-traumatic stress disorder.... You shouldn't expect them to read the entire manuscript. When I refer to the medical problem, I highlight it so that I will not make a technical mistake.
Carrie from LA: Which television shows do you like to watch? Have you ever thought of developing a television mystery series?
Mary Higgins Clark: There are negotiations going on right now for a series involving Elvira and Willie for Lifetime cable. Other than the news, I am not a faithful observer of television.
Stephanie Chun, 13, from Illinois: I did a speech about the book LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART, and I was wondering, to you, did Jeff and Kerry end up getting together in the end?
Mary Higgins Clark: Oh, sure. Oh, absolutely! They were made for each other.
Edward from Detroit, MI: Did you work with a map to plot the stops of the cruise ship
Gabrielle, or do you have a love for geography?
Mary Higgins Clark: I was very accurate with the Gabrielle, because I've done cruises. I have the itineraries of cruise ships, so I would be accurate of where they would go. And to fit the itinerary to old Algiers, I had to change the stopping point twice.
Rory from Florida: Hello, Mary, I have two questions for you: 1) How do you overcome writer's block? 2) What are your future plans for writing? Thanks a bunch!!!!
Mary Higgins Clark: I was on a panel and someone asked Warren Murphy, a writer, what he did about writer's block. His answer said it all, "I support my family writing. Have you ever called a plumber because you have a leaky sink and have him say, I can't come today, I have plumber's block?" When a story isn't working, you stay with it until you figure out what is wrong and correct it. My next book is the Christmas story ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. It will be out in late October.
Doulas from Amelia Island, FL: Do you ever get the creeps when you are writing your books? The scene where Hilda gets it in her apartment made me stand up and lock all my doors.
Mary Higgins Clark: Good! You got your money's worth. My job is to make you want to lock your doors. And if I scare myself, I'm delighted.
Linda from Somerset, NJ: You mentioned that you belong to a writer's group earlier. Could you tell us how the group works and how I can find one to join?
Mary Higgins Clark: These are 12 professional writers, but if you took a writing course at a local college, you could start or join a writer's workshop, which is what I did when I was 21-years-old, out of my first short story course. The best advice I can give a writer is to take writing courses, because it puts you in the milieu of other people who are doing the same thing.
Soc from Texas: All of the women in your latest book have great intuition. Are you a believer in women's intuition?
Mary Higgins Clark: Oh, I absolutely believe in women's intuition. I have a friend who is a psychic, and she absolutely will not read her own family. The few times she would do us, she holds an object and makes astonishing predictions. She will never take money from anyone, and she treats it as a gift which must be very, very carefully used. But I do believe that many women have a very keen intuition.
Jay Fischer from Providence, RI: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? Did your parents encourage you? Did your daughter Carol always know she wanted to write as well?
Mary Higgins Clark: I was writing poetry from the time I could hold a pen -- when I was six or seven, I wrote my first poem. I always knew I was going to be a writer. When I was 15 and worked after school, I would walk to work down Fifth Avenue and pick out the clothes I would wear when I was a successful writer. Carol did not initially go into writing, but she typed my books for me and made such keen and accurate suggestions from the time she was 18 that she finally realized that she did have the storytelling gift.
Garvey from Clayton, MO: I love the jacket of YOU BELONG TO ME. It seems very ominous. Is the building based on an actual building in New York City?
Mary Higgins Clark: It's not an actual building, but to me it suggests the Flatiron Building and the buildings in SoHo. It is not one particular building.
Gary from Jacksonville: My wife and I have enjoyed all your books. What are some of your favorite vacation spots? And are any within a four-hour drive from New York City?
Mary Higgins Clark: Yes. Cape Cod is four and a half hours from New Jersey. Spring Lake, New Jersey, is only an hour and 15 minutes from our home in northern New Jersey, and it's on the ocean.
Aaron from Reno, NV: You have now become a household name. Have you ever feared for your safety due to some overzealous fan? Do you take special precautions?
Mary Higgins Clark: No, I've never feared for my safety; like most human beings today, we have a very good security system. My house was burglarized last September, but I don't think I was singled out. There were a number of sophisticated burglaries in the area.
Annette from Lanark: Mary, when and where will you be signing books in Chicago? I'd love to meet you. You are my favorite author -- I just love your books.
Mary Higgins Clark: I will be in Chicago during the first week in May -- around the fifth and sixth -- somewhere around then. I don't have the exact dates with me.
Rose from Davidson, NC: Hello, Mary! I'm thrilled to find you online. Have any of your books started out as a short story and then you realized you had more to say? How do you approach short stories versus novels when you write?
Mary Higgins Clark: None of them went into a novel, although a number of my short stories were really novellas and could have gone further if I'd wanted them to. There are many situations that do not take 400 to 500 pages to tell. And that's why the short story form is very satisfying for a writer.
Moderator: Thank you for joining us this evening, Mary Higgins Clark. Do you have any closing remarks for your fans?
Mary Higgins Clark: Simply that I am very grateful to them for enjoying my books. It's fun to chat with them online. And if they keep reading, I'll keep writing.