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An interview with Jesse Kellerman, author of this month's Crime Book of the Month: Sunstroke - you could win a copy in this month's Crime Supplement - see panel left for details
GM: What was it like being brought up in a household full of famous writers? Was it the environment that made you decide to become a writer yourself?
JK: My childhood was very happy and, to my mind, very normal. My parents always put parenting before writing, and we seldom felt the effects of fame. Because most writers aren’t recognizable in the way that actors or politicians are, it has remained possible for my Mom and Dad to be the same loving, socially active people that they were before they published.
I don’t think I ever made a decision to “become” a writer. I’ve always written, always told stories, always delighted in language; and I’ve been submitting material (and getting rejected) since I turned twelve. So what appears to be a decision is actually a matter of my natural proclivities maturing.
Of course, I’d be pretty deluded to claim that being my parents’ son hasn’t influenced me at all. The most significant ways in which they contributed to my progress as a writer were by 1) providing excellent examples of the tough work ethic necessary to write for a living, and 2) being 100% supportive in a way that other parents—to whom a career in the arts appears too risky—might not be.
GM: I loved the setting for Sunstroke I felt I could almost feel the heat – fantastic use of words to set the scene. Have you taken any creative writing courses?
JK: I have a Master’s of Fine Arts in playwriting. I’ve never taken a course in writing fiction. It’s good for a playwright to be associated with a university, because then he gets access to all that a university offers, things like a stage, actors, costumes, money, etc.—all of which are necessary to do the work. Writing fiction, on the other hand, requires nothing more than my computer, and so that’s how I like to work…brooding, morbid, and alone…
GM: The character of Gloria Mendez is fascinating – her determination to get to the bottom of the mystery was inspiring. Was she based on someone you know, or did she come from deep within your imagination?
JK: Sunstroke was inspired by a true story told to me by my mother-in-law, aSan Francisco lawyer. The head of her firm was vacationing inMexico when he called in to report that he’d had a traffic accident. He assured his employees that he was fine. The next day, however, the Mexican police called again to report that he was dead—and that his remains needed to be picked up. It was his secretary who went to get him, and when she arrived, she was shocked to discover that he had been preemptively cremated.
That’s the story. Pretty shady, eh? Anyhow, I was fascinated not only by the mystery of what had happened to this man—nobody knows—but also by the sort of person who would travel a thousand miles to retrieve her boss’s body. From there grew Gloria.
GM: Some unexpected twists and turns in the book – did you plan it that way or did you let the writing carry you on and make decisions as you went?
JK: I outlined very carefully. Without an outline, I tend to get lost. Although even with one, I often stray far afield. With Sunstroke I had to stop midway through and reoutline the second half of the book in accordance with new ideas that had emerged while writing the first.
GM: Do you plan to have Gloria feature in a sequel, or is this a one-off? Could there be a development between the Detective and Gloria?
JK: I won’t rule out the possibility of a sequel, but I’m more comfortable writing standalones right now. Part of this has to do with the fact that I’ve already written my second book, and it’s very different (see below). But I also think it’s easier for me to create plausible drama and tension when I’m focusing on one moment in a character’s life. If I had to repeatedly come up with situations that endanger Gloria, I think my writing would start to seem excessively contrived. Those writers who do series well (Conan Doyle, my parents) are geniuses. I wish I had that much imaginative power.
GM: Are you working on another book right now? If you are, can you tell us anything about it?
JK: The second book is currently in the editing stage. It’s about a New York medical student who saves a woman from being murdered—only to discover that heroism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be… (Insert ominous music.)
GM: Any plans that you know of to have Sunstroke made into a movie or a TV show? It’s crying out for screen treatment.
JK: Thank you. I’d love to do an adaptation, but unfortunately nobody inHollywood seems interested… Maybe after I’ve written a few more books they’ll take notice.
GM: Did you have anyone in mind for the part of Gloria when you wrote it? Someone you’d like to see play her on the screen?
JK: That’s a great question. I don’t think I pictured anyone in particular. Offhand I have trouble casting her. I’d find it easier to cast the secondary characters. (That’s an interesting thing: sometimes secondary characters are clearer to me than my protagonist, who often has more of an “everyperson” quality.)
GM: Do you think that writing is a gift you’ve inherited from your parents
JK: There are plenty ofHollywood families (the Baldwins, the Sheens, the Douglases, Gwenyth Paltrow, etc etc.). People seem less surprised by this; I think it’s because what makes a person qualified to act—i.e., good looks—has a clearly heritable basis.
But because writing involves less—well, I have to say it—superficial skills, it’s harder to make specifically genetic attributions. Nobody reads my writing and says, “Oh, look, he has his father’s modifiers!” or “His syntax is just like his Mom’s!”
I learned how to talk from listening to my them, so my diction, my speech rhythms, are at least partially derived from theirs. (Who hasn’t said, “Oh God, I sound just like my Mom [or Dad]!”)
Nature v. nurture? I have no idea. Probably a bit of both, I reckon…
GM: What books did you read as a teenager?
JK: I have always been a catholic reader. As a teen, I read all of Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain. Stephen King. Fitzgerald and Hemingway. Garcia Marquez. Anything I came across, really.
GM: Can you name the five books or authors who have influenced you most in your writing career?
JK: Just five? Aw, come on. Here are eleven.
Vladimir Nabokov (Pale Fire, Lolita, Laughter in the Dark, everything really) Evelyn Waugh (Decline and Fall, Scoop, Brideshead Revisited, A Handful of Dust) Jim Thompson (The Getaway, The Grifters) Ruth Rendell (A Judgment in Stone, Piranha to Scurfy) Stephen King (The Stand, Night Shift, Different Seasons) Elmore Leonard (Unknown Man 89, City Primeval) David Mamet (AmericanBuffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna) David Ives (all his short plays) Graham Greene (The Power and the Glory) Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) John Fowles (The Collector, The French Lieutenant’s Woman)
And, of course, my parents.
GM: If you weren’t a writer and playwright, what career would you choose?
JK: Boy, I don’t know. I’d probably be in music, either production or marketing.
GM: Do you have any plans to visit theUK to promote Sunstroke?
JK: To my supreme regret, no. But they have promised to tour me for the next book. I have several close friends inEngland, so it would be great to get over there.
GM: Thanks very much – Sunstroke was a fantastic read. I hope it becomes a best-seller and that your writing career really takes off!
JK: Thank you! I’m glad you liked the book. And great questions.
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