Mary Kay qualifies for a Dayton Reads column because in some ways, the Dayton area is Mary Kay’s literary birthplace. She first came to the area in 1990 to attend the Antioch Writers’ Workshop (www.antiochwritersworkshop.com) in Yellow Springs. There, she found her inspiration to transition from newspaper reporting to a full-time career as a novelist. She has returned to the area to visit friends made during her first visit, as well as to serve as a first book-speaker, fiction instructor, keynoter, and as the 25th anniversary celebration speaker for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. She’s also returned often to meet fans of her work.
She was recently in Dayton to read from and discuss The Weekenders at Books & Co. at The Greene. I also first attended the Antioch Writers' Workshop in 1990 and became friends with Mary Kay. I recently caught up with her over a coffee chat.
Learn more about Mary Kay Andrews and her work at www.marykayandrews.com
Q. What first drew you to writing?
A. I was reading before first grade. I was the kid reading inside, while my mother was trying to make everyone go outside and play. So at first I thought, I'll be a writer and write books. And then I thought, well nobody you know writes books. But in my family, everyone read the newspaper at the breakfast table, every morning. So I thought, well, I'll be a newspaper reporter. I went to journalism school. While I was there, Watergate happened. That strengthened my resolve to be a writer and to write stories that would put crooked people in prison.
I thought, I’ll finish journalism school, work for a paper, right wrongs, and win a Pulitzer Prize. I was very naïve!
But I did work for a newspaper for fourteen years. By then, I had two young kids, and I still wanted to write, but I wanted to be home when my kids got home from school. I thought, if I could write novels, I could do that. I had no career plan for being a novelist, really.
I saw an ad in the back of a magazine — either The Writer or Writers’ Digest — for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I’d never been to Ohio. I didn’t know where Yellow Springs was. But I knew Sue Grafton was teaching — that’s where our stories intersect!
The newspaper wouldn’t cover my tuition out of the professional development fund, so I took a week’s vacation and used my own money, and we stayed in a dorm at Antioch College, and it was boiling hot with no air conditioning, and we stayed up all night talking about writing!
That was my turning point.
Q. That’s been awhile!
A. Twenty-six years!
Q. Are there lessons learned at Antioch Writers’ Workshop that still guide you?
A. I took a workshop with Sue Grafton, and so many things she talked about still guide me. She taught us a lot about plot, about how every paragraph should be a building block to plot or showing character. She taught us about motivation and conflict. And she taught us about the discipline of writing.
Another tool she talked about was writing down our goals — one year, five year, ten year. My one year goal was to sell my first book. My five year goal was to be a best-seller, because that was what I wanted. I still have the notebook in which I wrote those goals. I did meet the first goal. Now, it only took fifteen years to meet that five year goal… three times as long!
But it never occurred to me that I failed. I was frustrated, of course, but I’d think, well, every year I’ve done a little better.
That workshop — and I’m not just saying this because you’re now the director — was a career changer for me. I’d never believed in myself as a creative writer until I attended. I’d been writing professionally for fourteen years, but it was as though I got anointed because Sue Grafton told me ‘you’re a writer!’ and because I looked around and was inspired by the other attendees who were serious and devoted in their intent to be writers.
Q. Do you have tips for people who want to write?
A. Think about what your story is about. As soon as you know the beginning, figure out the end. It's like having a roadmap or blueprint. Then you can plot how to get from the beginning to the end. You'll be less likely to stall out in what I call the 'saggy bloated middle.' Then revise! But you can't revise what you haven't written.
Q. You’ve made your writing dreams come true, making a full-time career as a novelist. Is it any different than you thought it would be?
A. I didn't realize I'd write a book a year for twenty-four years. The Weekenders is my 24th published novel. I wrote 10mysteries under my name, Kathy Trocheck. The eight featuring Callahan Garrity have been re-released by my publisher under my pen name Mary Kay Andrews; I had two with a detective named Truman Kicklighter, and since I got the rights back, I re-released those as ebooks as well. I wanted to have my whole backlist available for any readers who might be interested.
Q. Why mysteries, when you first started out?
A. I've always been a fan of mysteries. In the late 1980s, when I was thinking about what I'd write, I was reading mysteries. It was a time when women mystery novelists for the first time were really becoming a market force. Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller… just to name a few. I read them as well as many other male and female mystery novelists.
I was a crime reporter, and I’ve always been fascinated with crime, and so it seemed like a natural fit.
Q. After the mysteries, what inspired your switch to writing women’s fiction?
A. I didn't know I was! I wanted to write about my passion for antiquing, and I wanted to write a mystery set in Savannah, a place we'd lived and that I loved. I started writing this, and coincidentally at that time, my agent was getting out of the business. I had to query new agents. The one I ended up with said the most magical words I've heard in my career: 'I know what you've been doing, but what do you want to do?'
I said, ‘I want to be a New York Times’ best-seller.’
He said, ‘OK, how do you think this happens?’
I said, ‘I have an idea for another book, that’s not part of my series, set in Savannah, with a main character who is an antique dealer. It’s a mystery because she finds her ex-husband’s fiancé murdered, and she gets accused of the murder.’
My agent asked me why that’s a mystery. I said, well, there’s a murder in the story, and I’m a mystery writer. He said, no, that’s what you’ve been doing … that doesn’t mean that’s what you are.
He sent out a proposal to my long-time editor and to other editors, and it went to auction. It went out under a pen name, because my readers wanted my mystery series. As it turned out, my long-time editor bought the book. But after I turned it in, she told me—you’re not done! I said, but I solved the mystery. She said, no, you need more about the protagonist’s relationship, because we’re marketing this as a mainstream novel, not as a genre mystery.
So that’s how I slid sideways into writing women’s fiction.
Q. So let’s talk about the term women’s fiction or beach reads. How do you feel about those terms?
A. Beach reads I'm fine with. That's what they are. Beach reads are released in time for people to take with them on vacation. I write a big, juicy, page turner each year, and they're marketed as beach reads.
The term women’s fiction annoys me a bit, because the term itself is self-limiting. I read all kinds of books — by women, men. Thrillers, literary, beach reads. But many men don’t read what’s called “women’s fiction.” In a bookstore, you don’t see a section titled “men’s fiction.”
So I’m happy to say that I write are best-selling page turners. Beach reads!
Q. How do you keep challenging yourself as a writer?
A. My identity and my self-esteem is so tied to my work. I want to write a better book every time. The bar is raised every time. I have a tough but supportive editor and agent who also push me to expand my horizons. I care intensely, every time, about every book.
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