Interview with Shirley Kennet 
by Jon Jordan

Jon:  For someone who may not have read your books, how would you describe them?

Shirley:  My books are psychological suspense. PJ Gray, the lead character, is a newly-divorced forty-year-old psychologist hired by the St. Louis Police Department to head up the Computerized Homicide Investigations Project, or CHIP. She uses her computer expertise to recreate crimes in virtual reality with the investigator playing the role of killer, victim, or witness. PJ's a civilian employee of the department, which creates friction between her and the regular detectives on her team. Detective Leo Schultz starts off hostile and suspicious that "computer games" are going to make any real contribution to crime solving. Over time she develops a relationship with him that is not only one of mutual respect but deep friendship, and perhaps more. The virtual reality techniques are carefully researched and possible today, even though they seem futuristic. Forensic computer simulation is on the way to becoming an accepted law enforcement tool, just as psychological profiling was in the 1970's. PJ and Schultz might be fictional pioneers in that area, but within twenty years they will have plenty of real-life counterparts. While virtual reality is featured in the books, they are really about the people on both sides of the homicides: the human dynamics of crime-solving and what brought the killers to the point in their lives that murder became necessary to them. Readers feel that the strength of the books is in the characters, and have become involved in their lives and want to know what comes next for them.

Jon:  I love the idea of virtual reality to solve crimes. What made you think of it?

Shirley:  Several years ago, on a vacation to DisneyWorld in Florida, I saw a demonstration of virtual reality techniques that were being developed for the entertainment industry. Kids "rode" magic carpets through the streets of Aladdin's city, searching for a lost golden treasure. This got me excited about the whole idea of walking through a crime scene in virtual reality, searching for evidence that was overlooked in person. It seemed to be a perfect combination of my computer background and my interest in mysteries. I knew that attorneys were using simplistic virtual re-enactments in courtrooms. Those re-enactments were on a flat screen, made to appear 3D with clever shading of objects. No one was using full immersion techniques in the courtroom, meaning that the subjects don head-mounted displays and enter a life-sized world. The hardware to do it was simply too expensive. Even Disney had trouble with it! In the years since then, speed and power have gotten cheaper in the computer world, and VR software has gotten better and better. I play around a little with it myself at home, but not on the scale portrayed in the books.

Jon:  How much of you comes out into the books? Similar attitudes or views?

Shirley:  I don't think I could write without some of myself leaking out into the books. However, there is less of me than one would think in the PJ Gray books. When I started writing, the characters quickly became too autobiographical -- and boring! I had to toss out early versions of my main characters and content myself with putting small touches into the books. For example, PJ's cat Megabite belongs to me in real life. PJ's home in south St. Louis is near my old high school. It belonged to a good friend of mine. Leo Schultz's home on Lafayette Avenue is the home I grew up in. Millie's Diner, where the two investigators chow down frequently, actually exists, though it isn't owned by the Millie of my story. I named PJ's son after one of my own. As far as world view, I would have to say that Schultz's is closer to my own than PJ's. His good views, anyway, and I'll leave it up to the reader to determine which ones are the good ones.

Jon:  The book business is kind of tough. Do you think it's worth it?

Shirley:  Mergers and buyouts in the publishing business have led to an emphasis on the bottom line. Authors with respectable but not wildly exciting sales figures are being dropped in favor of first-timers, and advances are dropping. It is getting harder and harder to get a publisher to allow an author the time to build readership in a series. To get into and stay in the field nowadays requires determination and guts, and the overwhelming desire to be a published author. I'm here for the long haul. If the industry washes me up on the shore, I'll build a raft. The dual rewards of seeing my books in stores and hearing from readers who have enjoyed them make it all worthwhile.

Jon:  What other jobs have you had?

Shirley:  Aside from the filler jobs that everyone has had (typist, store employee), I built a successful one-person computer consulting business. It was great -- I reported to myself. If I wanted a day off, I just asked the boss. I designed and implemented computer systems for hospitals and clinics. Not the kind that generate those horrible bills, although I did that too, early on before I became self-employed. My systems stored clinical information, such as test results and doctors' notes. I also did a lot of scheduling systems for everything from clinics to emergency rooms. One of the strangest applications I did was to keep track of major donors for fund-raising -- the level of donors you'd find on the society pages. I kept all kinds of personal information that was gleaned from prior phone conversations, fund-raising events, or media coverage. Solicitors could reference it while on the phone with donors to wish them a happy anniversary, ask them how Marty and Joey were doing in swimming classes, or if Katie was on the honor roll again this year. I drew on my consulting background while writing Fire Cracker, in which the bad guy breaks into a hospital's computer and orders inappropriate procedures for patients. The idea chills me to the bone, because I think hospital security and concern for patient confidentiality is more hot air than substance.

Jon:  Do you write on a schedule? Every day, or when the mood is right?

Shirley:  I try to write every weekday for five to six hours, and weekends too when I'm on a tight deadline. Generally I'm in my home office from 9am to 4pm, with an hour for lunch. During that time I take care of the business side of writing (correspondence, promotion, keeping up with the industry news) first thing. I do all that first because if I didn't, I wouldn't get it done at all. Then I tackle my writing project. I do that by reading over what I wrote the previous day and editing it. That warms me up so that when I hit the blank page for new material, I'm into the story and the words are flowing. So I revise every day, in little chunks, rather than do a quick first draft followed by several rewrites. I make one pass through the manuscript, one step backward and two steps forward each writing session, so that by the time I reach "The End", all I have to do is spell checking. It works for me. As far as writing only when the mood is right, I gave up that luxury when I started writing on deadline. I aim for 1000 words a day. Sometimes I fall short of that, and sometimes I sail through 3000.

Jon:  What authors do you enjoy?

Shirley:  A few off the top of my head: Richard Barre, Linda Fairstein, Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, Tony Hillerman, Marcia Muller, John Gilstrap, Sharyn McCrumb, Mary Willis Walker.

Jon:  If you could go back in time and talk to a young Shirley, what would you say?

Shirley:  I would say don't wait so long to begin working toward your dream of getting published. I didn't get serious about that until I was about forty years old. For years (well, decades) before that, I kept waiting for the perfect time to write. There was always some reason why it wasn't the perfect time. You just have to carve out time from an already busy life and go for it. The other piece of advice I'd give the young me would be not to remain so isolated while trying to learn the craft of writing. When I started, I did it all by myself. No classes, no writing groups, no online support, not even any reference books. It's as though I couldn't tell anyone I was a writer until I had that first book on the store shelf. Writing is by nature a solitary thing to do. There's no getting around the fact that it takes thousands of hours with just you and the work. But there's no reason a writer can't reach out for encouragement and practical help.

Jon:  Can you say anything about the new book?

Shirley:  Sure. You may regret getting me started. First of all, the publisher has positioned my next book as a summer read, coming out as a paperback original in June 2000. The title is ACT OF BETRAYAL, and I'll be using the pen name Morgan Avery. The book's being promoted as a stand-alone thriller, even though those who are following the series will already be familiar with the characters. A brutal killer is loose in St. Louis and he's out for revenge. First PJ Gray's partner Detective Leo Schultz loses his son in a homemade gas chamber. The body count goes up as prominent members of the law enforcement and judicial communities are taken out. PJ has just hours to prevent Schultz from suffering the same fate as his son. She will have to draw on everything she has learned about the devious mind behind the killings, and she fears she doesn't know enough. As if Schultz's loss isn't serious enough, on top of it he's framed for murder and on the run from his own department. This book delves into Schultz's past before he met PJ, and explores the evolving relationship between PJ and Schultz. It also takes PJ out from behind her computer and puts her on the road, doing the sleuthing on her own without Schultz to handle the tough stuff. Needless to say I had a great time writing it.

Jon:  What's the one thing that's always in your refrigerator?

Shirley:  Cheese. Everything else is superfluous. If someone developed a pizza with no crust, no sauce, and no pepperoni, I'd be the first and best customer.