#GoAskMalice–Crowdsourcing the Agatha Best Contemporary Panel Questions

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by Barb
As of this writing STILL waiting for spring.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHi all. We’re trying something experimental for Simply the Best, the Malice Domestic panel for the Agatha Best Contemporary nominees. (Friday at 3:00 in Waterford/Lalique. Mark your calendars.) We’re crowd-sourcing the questions!

So, fellow Wickeds, and commenters, is there anything you’ve always wanted to ask G. M. Malliet (Pagan Spring), Hank Phillippi Ryan (The Wrong Girl). Julia Spencer-Fleming (Through the Evil Days) or moi (Clammed Up)? Louise Penny (How the Light Gets In) is sadly unable to attend Malice this year–but maybe we can catch her in writing somewhere. Shawn Reillly Simmons is moderating, so you know she’ll be able to handle your toughest questions.

Jessie: I’d love to know from each of the nominees what was the original germ of the idea for their novels? Was it a character? A place? A situation? Was the title the first thing? And also, was this similar to other novels they have written? For example, does character generally come first or was this novel unusual?jessicafletcher

Edith: As you proceed through your series, is it getting easier to come up with a new story or harder? How do you cope with Cabot Cove Syndrome: killing off way too many members of the village?

Sherry: If you can do it without too many spoilers, when was the moment in your writing you knew your Agatha nominated book was going to work?

Liz: Talk about character development in your books. Is it easy to see their growth in each book, or is that harder than coming up with the new plot?

Julie: What is your “I wish I knew then what I know now” tip for writers? And hindsight brilliance you would like to share? Anything you’d like a “redo” on?

 

 

So, readers, ask away!

 

Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

3 Thoughts

    1. I’d like to ask Barb how her time living on the coast in Maine might have affected the stories she writes. I grew up in Salem and Marblehead, unafraid to do anything in or above the water. But when I went to Maine I found the coast a little intense and spooky. While I had no trouble climbing the rocks above Marblehead Harbor or swimming past the safety markers in Salem, no one could make me do anything like that in Ogunquit or Casco Bay. Just wondering what it is about coastal Maine that inspires your writing—which I greatly admire and enjoy.

  2. I wish I had some good questions. The ones already asked are so good I’m blanking on anything else to ask. And I wish I would be there to hear the answers.

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