12-22-2001

JON:  For the un-initiated how would you describe Sam Jones and the series?

LAUREN:  Sam's a very badly-behaved metal sculptor who, in the great British tradition of amateur sleuths, keeps stumbling across corpses. She's like Miss Marple's decadent descendant

JON:  I have to admit that the reason I bought Black Rubber Dress was the title. (I was thrilled that it was also a great book). Do you pick the titles?

LAUREN:  Oh yes! Luckily in Britain you come across a lot less pressure to change your titles into something more generic, as happens frequently in the States.

JON:  With the books coming out in the UK first, have they been a little slower to catch on in the states?

LAUREN:  They've been slow builds everywhere, as usually happens if you don't get a megadeal for your first book. And in the US the first two books aren't published yet, which doesn't help. But they're still doing nicely - the sales are getting better with each book, thanks in no small part to my f***ing fantastic fans and the www.tartcity.com website.

JON:  What are some of the cooler perks to being a writer?

LAUREN:  The freebie overseas conferences/book trips. So far I've scored Courmayeur in Italy, Paris (I get Paris once a year, which is amazing) and Montpelier, and Bremen (Germany). And I just got to go to Australia to do a Sisters in Crime conference there, and managed a holiday as well (my diary is on the Tart City website). It was absolutely fabulous. Oh yeah, and I wouldn't have met my boyfriend if I hadn't been a crime writer. He probably regrets that deeply.

JON:  What is your personal definition of Tart Noir?

LAUREN:  Crime girls behaving badly. More seriously, it's about women overturning all the stereotypes our gender is usually forced to suffer in crime novels - dead tarts, femmes fatales, divorced wives/infatuated girlfriends of ex-alcoholic detectives.

JON:  Your books have a extreme hip-ness to them. And they also have some classic mystery elements as well. What kind of things influence your work?

LAUREN:  PG Wodehouse!! And as everyone who's read an interview with me knows, the Modesty Blaise books and the Tank Girl comics.

JON:  Before writing full time you were a journalist. What other jobs have you had?

LAUREN:  Waitress, bartender - just pulling pints, not the NYC cocktail-making kind - cleaning lady, temp, safari salesperson.

JON:  Have seen any interest in Sam for the big screen or TV?

LAUREN:  Yep, the books were optioned by the BBC but I didn't let them renew the option. They had a very unsuitable actress lined up to play Sam, and the guy who wrote the pilot script didn't get Sam at all. He made her very chip-on-her-shoulder and anti-guy. Sam ,as any fule know, is very pro-guy.

JON:  Who are some of your favorite authors?

LAUREN:  Tanith Lee, Angela Carter, Anita Brookner, Jane Austen, Dennis Lehane. And the Tarts, of course.

JON:  Is there any of you in Sam?

LAUREN:  Heh. Is this a serious question? You've met me, after all! I always say that Sam is like the cartoon version of me. She has no sense of guilt, an admirable trait I'm trying to cultivate.

JON:  Do you have a work schedule that you follow?

LAUREN:  Get up in the morning, do some writing. I would love to write every day; I'm uncomfortable if I'm not writing regularly. I work in short concentrated bursts and when that's going well I'm very fast.

JON:  What kind of Music do you like to listen to?

LAUREN:  Listen to: trashy pop/disco, Everything But the Girl, the Cowboy Junkies, Garbage, Italian pop. Dance to: trashy pop/disco, grunge, indie, hardcore thrash garage, industrial. (And as I write this my neighbour is playing Alvin and the Chipmunks, for which I have a certain nostalgic tenderness too.)

JON:  How about movies? What are some of your favorites?

LAUREN:  Near Dark, The Long Kiss Goodnight, anything by Eric Rohmer, The Last Seduction, anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger/Jean-Claude Van Damme/Jet Li, and Hollywood musicals.

JON:  If you were able to go back and talk to a 16 year old Lauren, what would you say to her?

LAUREN:  1. You're not fat.
2. In a few years they will bring out Frizz-Ease Serum and all your hair troubles will be over.
3. Levis European-cut 505s, available in Italy, are your miracle jeans. In the meantime, always buy low-rider trousers because you are short-waisted.
4. You are too olive-skinned to be a really successful Goth.
5. Yes, you will get published.
6. When dating, take every man for what he's good at and can give you - don't assume you have actually to have relationships with all of them.
7. You will start getting hangovers at 27, just like your older sister told you.

JON:  What do you think is more important in writing, characters or story? Or are they both just as important?

LAUREN:  Gosh. Well, you can have a good crime novel with characters who are ciphers, and a good non-crime novel without much plot. But both would be nice.

LAUREN:  Doing it as we speak.

JON:  The mystery genre in general seems to have some very loyal fans. Why do you think this is?

LAUREN:  Ooh, interesting question. Maybe every genre has its loyal fans. There are loads of mystery conferences, so maybe this helps; the fans get to know the authors in person and that builds a closer rapport. Mystery fans are in it for the long haul.

JON:  Do you put much stock in reviews of your work?

LAUREN:  Only when they're good! I did have one which said I had a "Mills and Boon (that's Harlequin romance, for US readers) approach to character". Still trying to figure that one out. I later met the section editor of that review (the UK Times) and he didn't know what it meant either, which cheered me up somewhat! Usually I think the reviews are pretty fair - I'm good with constructive criticism. Though I did get a review for the first book ('Dead White Female') which said the (male) reviewer would like to meet the real-life Sam, 'but only for one night'. You'd better have a really good body, buster.

JON:  Is there anything about you that people would be surprised to know?

LAUREN:  I bake. I cook a lot, in fact. I have muffin tins and Tupperware cake carriers and all different kinds of spatulas and cookie cutters. Val McDermid was completely amazed by that for some reason.

JON:  What kind of things do you like to do with your free time?

LAUREN:  Lie around watching Judge Judy, mostly

JON:  Your books being as hip and trendy as they are, do people meet you and have preconceived ideas about what they expect you to be like?

LAUREN:  OH yes! If I don't sink 5 Cosmos a night people are very disappointed.

JON:  Your bio on the books say that you spend time in Italy, New York and also lived in London. What is it about these places that appeals to you?

LAUREN:  Born in London, moved to Tuscany 9 years ago and have been in New York for a year now. I'm not a great traveller so much as a serial mover. I like a constant sense of adventure and forward movement.

JON:  Do you think a sense of humor is important? Not just in books, but in life?

LAUREN:  Only when I'm not the butt of the jokes.

JON:  What’s the one thing that’s always in your refrigerator?

LAUREN:  Can I have more than one? Vodka, spumante, and lots of cheese.