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| Daniel Woodrell, me, Jodi Compton - San Fran Bouchercon 2010 (photo Christine McCann) |
1) How did you meet Sara?
She fell off a ferry. I rescued her.*
2) Wow, I did not know that. Well, moving on, what’s the new book about?
Thieves Get Rich, Saints Get Shot is an identity-theft story with a hard gangland edge. It’s not about technology or the Internet. This is old-fashioned identity theft, involving the black market for stolen documents (e.g. passport). Furthermore, the woman using Hailey’s name gets into trouble and shoots an off-duty cop to get out of it. Suddenly Hailey’s name and face are all over the news, and so the woman using her identity immediately abandons it, going back to life as herself. This leaves Hailey wanted by every cop in the state. No one in law enforcement has any reason to believe the killer wasn’t Hailey, so she and her old friend Serena Delgadillo - yes, the veterana gang leader - strike out in search of this woman themselves.
3) Hailey is deeply involved with Serena and her gang, the sucias, in Thieves. Is gang culture going to be a theme in all the Hailey Cain books?
No. After Thieves I’m letting it go. I’ve been fascinated with the world of girl gangbangers since I read a magazine article - Donna DeCesare’s “Avenging Angels: Homegirl Survival Stories” - years ago. And later, Gini Sikes’ “Eight Ball Chicks” was also greatly influential. But I don’t think the editorial powers-that-be will want Hailey to run amok in L.A.’s gangland indefinitely, so I’m taking her in a different direction, as you’ll see when you get to the end of Thieves.
4) What’s a typical writing day like for you?
It’s been varied from book to book. Both Hailey’s War and Thieves I wrote marathon-style, stopping only to work out and fix meals. But that led to very long breaks between manuscripts and low productivity overall, so lately I’ve been committed to a daily schedule where I always report to my word processor between the hours of noon and 5 daily. I just finished the third Hailey Cain book on that schedule, and also a screenplay that I have high hopes for. Sometimes, though, I just work on side projects - like an essay or updates to my website, jodicompton.com.
5) You have a black Lab mix, Lady Bird, who’s often pictured on your website. But there are no dogs in your books, neither the first two about Minneapolis missing-persons detective Sarah Pribek, nor the second two about Hailey Cain. Why not?
It’s because both characters work long hours and lead relatively solitary lives. So who would be looking after the dog? They’re very social; they get lonely. It’s funny, I virtually never put ethical or moral messages in my work, but I didn’t like the idea of suggesting, even just through implication, that it’s OK to adopt a dog and leave it by itself in a house for nine or ten hours at a stretch.
For Thieves, I wrote a short conversation between Hailey and Serena, in which Serena complains that ‘la vida’ ruins everything: for example, she can’t do normal things like have a dog, because she doesn’t even have a fixed address anymore. She’s always moving around, keeping a step ahead of her enemies. But then I edited out that conversation for space and pacing.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Grand prize: A signed, personalized copy of both Hailey's War and Thieves! Yes, you read that right - both books. (If by chance you already have Hailey's War, we can award it to someone else or you can give it away.) US only, sorry.
Second prize: HW or Thieves on Kindle, whichever you prefer. Because I know how to "gift" Kindle books, and if that works for those overseas with a Kindle, fantastic. Note: No, I don't have an e-reader. I'm a tree book person.
Third prize: An advance reader's copy of Thieves. Any country. Yes, there are three prizes!!!
Sample: An excerpt from Thieves.
How to enter: Just leave a comment below, and either leave me a way to contact you if you win, or shoot me an email. The more you post about this, the better your chances of winning! If you post the contest somewhere, Facebook or your blog or Twitter, leave another comment and tell me where you posted it, and you'll get another entry for each post.
Contest ends: midnight, ET, Friday.
*Note from Sara: This is what is known as artistic license - or tongue-in-cheekness - and will make no sense if you haven't read the first chapter of my novel, Learning to Swim. Jodi and I share an agent and publisher and a love of dogs and bicycles - I read her first two novels long before I'd come close to publication - and met last year when I was desperately seeking a roommate for the hotel rooms at the San Francisco Bouchercon, which cost nearly as much per night as I paid in rent not that long ago.
