Roman Noir - Is It or Isn't It? by Kelli Stanley

Kelli Stanley is an award-winning author of crime fiction (novels and short stories). She makes her home in Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco, a city she loves to write about. She is the author of two crime fiction series, one set in 1940 San Francisco (featuring hardboiled female PI, Miranda Corbie), the other in first century Roman Britain.

Her novels include CITY OF DRAGONS, NOX DORMIENDA, THE CURSE-MAKER, and CITY OF SECRETS (September, 2011). “Children’s Day”, a prequel to CITY OF DRAGONS, was published in the International Thriller Writers anthology FIRST THRILLS: HIGH OCTANE STORIES FROM THE HOTTEST THRILLER AUTHORS. 

Kelli earned a Master’s Degree in Classics, loves jazz, old movies, battered fedoras, Art Deco and speakeasies. You can learn more about her and the worlds she creates at http://www.kellistanley.com

Roman Noir - Is It or Isn't It?

by Kelli Stanley

Kaye’s blog is one of the most auspicious hangouts on the internet, filled, as it is, with the warmth and goodness and loveliness of the woman herself. So when she invited me to write—a distinct and cherished honor—I thought, “What better date than the day before the launch of a book called THE CURSE-MAKER”?

It’s kind of like saying “ex-jinx”, one reason why my original working title was “Maledictus” [Cursed]. Sounds a bit softer in Latin, don’t you think? But Latin or English, as a relaunch to my first series and sequel to my first book, THE CURSE-MAKER embodies a dream realized, and I want to attract all the good luck I can.

One question that has popped up in interviews—in addition to the natural one of how crazy am I to try to publish two books in one year—is whether or not it’s possible to write a “Roman noir” novel with a (happily) married protagonist.

Doesn’t that violate some noir law somewhere?

The short answer is no. The long answer is a little more involved.

THE CURSE-MAKER (and the Arcturus series as a whole) is an affectionate homage to the hardboiled genre. Even “Roman noir” is a pun, since it’s the French term for a detective story as well as a description of my setting and tone. THE CURSE-MAKER was inspired by Hammett’s Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, yes, but it was also inspired by The Thin Man and Chandler’s unfinished manuscript of Poodle Springs (later completed by the wonderful Robert B. Parker).

The Thin Man is much more of a biting satire than the classic film franchise would lead you to believe, but it does feature two people who love each other, one of whom is a detective. In Playback, Chandler’s final finished novel, iconic loner PI Marlowe is headed for the wedding aisle. In Poodle Springs, he’s taken the plunge.

So I thought—why not? Let’s see how and where and why the more recognizable elements of noir insert themselves—and see if pairing up Arcturus and Gwyna—actually, I had no choice, they paired themselves up, as characters sometimes do—see if writing about a couple in love (and not the crazy “amour fou” type found in noir lit and film noir) can still preserve the dark atmosphere I was trying to capture.

In other words, I had precedent! Noir is such an elusive topic—we’re forever trying to define it at conventions—and writing a protagonist that can see the darkness, yet have a little light to hold on to, doesn’t negate the fact that the setting is frightening (a necromancer who raises the dead and communes with spirits, ghosts in abandoned mines, and a titular curse-maker whose curses come true), dark and captures the desperation of a spa town where people go to heal.

Except in Aquae Sulis, far too many are turning up dead.

So the classic themes are all there. And I, as a writer, really enjoy the challenge of capturing that darkness, as well as the love and passion between the two lead characters. This makes THE CURSE-MAKER lighter than CITY OF DRAGONS and the upcoming CITY OF SECRETS in the Miranda Corbie series (Miranda is suffering from a tragic loss and PTSD, as well as other issues in her background), because the emotional heart of the novel is about Arcturus and Gwyna’s relationship … not about the darkness around them.

So is it still “Roman noir”? You bet. It’s a hardboiled detective story with plenty of vivid (and seedy) characters that will make your skin crawl. Curses have a unique history in Aquae Sulis (today’s more genteel Bath), and I’ve shared some original research in the novel on how and why they may have been used in first century Roman Britain. “Roman noir” is a lens through which you can hopefully see the past a little clearer, not as a distant and removed and alien landscape, but one populated with the same kind of people who may live down your block.

And as always, through the Roman-ness and the noir-ness speaks a tough man and a good doctor, who walks the mean and muddy streets of Britannia both slightly tarnished … and occasionally very afraid.

Thanks and hugs to Kaye for the honor of hanging out on Meanderings and Musings!!

 

Photo of Bertie: canis fidelis! (it means faithful dog in Latin) ;)

We Must All Hang Together by Kelli Stanley

Kelli Stanley’s second novel, City of Dragons, introduces Miranda Corbie—PI and ex-escort in 1940 San Francisco.

City of Dragons (released February 2, 2010) is the first of a series, has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, is an RT Book Reviews Top Pick, and an Indie Next Book for February. “Children’s Day”, a prequel to City of Dragons, will be published in First Thrills: High Octane Stories by the Hottest Thriller Writers, coming June 22nd from Tor/Forge.

Kelli’s debut novel, Nox Dormienda, won the Bruce Alexander Award and was nominated for a Macavity. She lives in San Francisco, and frequents old movie palaces, speakeasies and bookstores. You can find out more about her and her books at her website: http://www.kellistanley.com.

Kelli's cable car "workspace" where she does a lot of her creative thinking. Then, once she gets home, she sits in front of the computer and lets the words flow onto the page.



another "workspace"

We Must All Hang Together by Kelli Stanley

I want to start by thanking Kaye for letting me ensconce myself at her exquisitely comfortable abode, here at Meanderings and Musings. Kaye is such a beautiful, generous and hospitable person that her blog takes on the aspects of a five star—yet secret—bed and breakfast, tucked away in the mountains, still and lovely, but with all the amenities to make you comfortable.

Thank you, Kaye!!

I’m glad to be somewhere so safe, warm and relaxing just the day before by book comes out. City of Dragons launches from Thomas Dunne/Minotaur tomorrow—Groundhog Day!—though it’s far more concerned with other February holidays … Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, which this year coincidentally fall on the same date.

So I’m nervous. Making the leap from small press to major publisher is a very, very lucky opportunity, and boy, do I know it!

I’ve been touring the web-o-sphere, talking about different aspects of the book … the time and the setting (1940 San Francisco) and why both city and era resonate with me so much … my PI protagonist Miranda Corbie, who is simultaneously a response to misogynistic images of femme fatales and an ode to noir traditions. She was also a Spanish Civil War nurse and an escort before becoming a PI … a woman with a dark, complex past and an uncertain future.

But today, I thought I’d discuss one of the other major themes of City of Dragons: the soul-destroying effects of racism, between, among and shared within cultures.

The action of the novel centers on a murder that the authorities don’t want investigated. Eddie Takahashi is a nineteen year old Japanese-American numbers runner who is gunned down in Chinatown … during a fundraiser for China in the war against Japan. Assumption is that Eddie was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tensions between Chinese-Americans and Japanese-Americans had been building since the start of the Sino-Japanese War, and were brought to the boiling point with the Rape of Nanking in 1937 … Eddie’s death, in the middle of the fundraising Rice Bowl Party, is considered payback—and bad for the businesses the Rice Bowl Party profits. But the boy dies in Miranda’s arms, and she’s not backing off from finding out who killed him and why.

The animosity and hatred and resentment that supposedly triggers Eddie’s death was all too real in 1940. There were boycotts of Japanese businesses—some of which were established in Chinatown—in protest of Japanese atrocities during the war, particularly at Nanking, and if you know anything about the events that happened there, you can understand the emotional outrage and anger that it still provokes.

In fact, today, seventy years later, on the very same block where Eddie is murdered—Sacramento Street at Grant Avenue—there is a small office dedicated to telling the world the truth about the Sino-Japanese War, in the face of official denial by the Japanese government. I didn’t know this when I opened the first chapter of City of Dragons here … and was saddened to find that such an effort is still necessary, a memorial to an event and a period of inconceivable human suffering.

Of course, the terrible irony—the exacerbation of the very real tensions in 1940 San Francisco—is that Asian-Americans were lumped together into a melting pot, equally discriminated against by whites, and marginalized as a totality. Racism operates on so many levels … and leaves indelible scars, often transferred from generation to generation.

As for why I chose to write about this subject? Well, I’m a half-Polish, half English/Scottish/American Indian product of a working class girl from Chicago and a young man from the poverty-stricken coal fields of Kentucky. My parents raised me to recognize the inherent dignity of human beings, to understand that the only truly dirty words are those which are filled with hate. And when I was very young, I witnessed what racism is … and the experience has stayed with me throughout my life.

We lived in northern Florida in 1972, and I remember visiting share croppers. I’ll never forget the smell of poverty, of people trying to scrape by with so little and even less hope.

I remember my father picking up an African-American man whose truck had broken down, remember how scared and nervous the man was over this white guy who stopped to help him. I remember their family staying with us for a night, while my father helped him get the truck running.
And I remember the death threats my dad got at work the next day.

My mom had her own story—she was in line to pay a hospital bill, in a sad, broken-down waiting room without couch or furniture. A white nurse saw her, told her she was in the wrong place, and led her to another waiting room, this one nicely appointed. Only then did my mom realize that she’d been the only white in the ramshackle room.

Two separate rooms, two separate services. Even in 1972.

And this isn’t about Florida. The South often gets a bad rap over racism, but I’ve actually seen more of it as an adult in other places. There are hateful –isms and –phobias of all human kinds, and they are an evil that know no boundaries and call everywhere home … even progressive, liberal San Francisco.

And this, partly, is why I wrote City of Dragons. I believe in the power of fiction, and while my primary goal is to entertain people, I also want to give people something to think about, something to learn, something to discuss. Something that I hope will be a testament to what all kinds of people in all kinds of ages have endured because of race or gender or religion or sexual orientation or whatever other artificial barriers we erect to identify—and divide—ourselves.

1940 San Francisco was a gorgeous and lovely town, full of Benny Goodman swing and Art Deco buildings and pretty hats. It was also a place and time rife with the challenges our species is still trying to overcome. Ben Franklin’s words are more true than ever … if we don’t hang together, we shall most assuredly hang separately.

I hope you enjoy City of Dragons … and the trip back in time. Thanks for listening … and thanks to Kaye again, for having me over!

The Sisterhood Award

I am delighted and honored to have recently received not just one Sisterhood Award nomination, but two of 'em! This is an award from bloggers, to bloggers, in recognition of a blog spot which shows great attitude and/or gratitude.

Both came from women I not only like, but also admire. Being a part of their world has brought me a great deal of joy, and to have Meanderings and Muses recognized by them is quite gratifying. Thank you to Carol Murdock, who writes the ever so lovely blog, The Writers Porch. And a big thank you to Kelli Stanley, who somehow finds the time in between writing great novels of historical noir - the first of which, NOX DORMIENDA (a long night for sleeping), is an award winning, beautifully written novel already in its third printing, to also write a blog.

Keeping with the tradition of paying it forward, by the rules shown below, herewith are my nominees (wonder women all), and the directions:

IF YOU ARE A NOMINEE, PLEASE GO AHEAD AND....
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog, or sending them an email.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

And my nominees are:

1. Julia Buckey's Mysterious Musings
2. Sam Hoffer's My Carolina Kitchen
3. Maggie, Marilyn, Rhonda, and Marian's The Stiletto Gang
4. Patti Abbott's pattinase
5. Sandra, Darlene, Julia, Liz, Lonnie and Sharon at Poe's Deadly Daughters

Linda Fairstein - Lethal Legacy Tour

Linda Fairstein is the author of the internationally bestselling crime novels featuring Manhattan's sex crimes prosecutor, Alex Cooper. LETHAL LEGACY, published on February 10th, is the eleventh novel in the award-winning series.

Fairstein, who lives in Manhattan and on Martha's Vineyard, held that same prosecutorial job for thirty years. She is also the author of SEXUAL VIOLENCE: OUR WAR AGAINST RAPE, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

She's also a legal commentator for the major television and cable networks. Her website is www.lindafairstein.com

Linda Fairstein - Touring

I’m one of those authors who simply loves being on a book tour. My prosecutorial life (thirty years in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office) was as wonderfully collegial as I try to show through Alex Cooper’s relationships with her friends in the office and the NYPD. The writer’s life is often quite solitary – a really good day is when no one calls or shows up in the ‘bat cave’, where I hibernate to do my work. So I love the moment when the boxes of new books are opened (just two weeks ago, on February 10th) and they pop onto shelves in libraries and bookstores, while I get to travel around and talk to the nice people who love to read as much as I do.

This time, the meanderings have been especially delightful. The night before the tour began, the dazzling New York Public Library…the setting for Coop’s latest caper…feted me with a wonderful event and cocktail party. One of my favorite writers, the brilliant Anna Quindlen, interviewed me in front of a live audience – about both careers. It was lively and wonderful fun (and I think you can find it shortly on the nypl.org website, as well as my own). Frankly, after all the deadly discoveries I made at that elegant library, I really wasn’t sure they would ever let me in the front door ever again.

I wrangled with Don Imus – which is always a hilarious experience for me; got bounced from the TODAY SHOW because A-Rod’s steroid story broke (grrrrrrrrrr – and I’m a Yankee fan, too); and have gotten a lot of media requests because of my legal specialties – sexual assault and domestic violence – so you’ll catch me commenting on many of the breaking news stories, with a bit of the book jacket showing on screen.

My first day is always in Manhattan, doing local media and bouncing in and out of bookstores like a complete maniac to sign copies and greet my favorite booksellers. A delightful aspect of this tour has been how many other authors I’ve gotten to hang out with in just these first ten days. The fabulous Karin Slaughter came to my first signing in New York (I think she’s smart and funny and a really fine writer)…so I dragged her to dinner later that night to celebrate the launch. Then down to Washington, DC, where my beloved friend Jane Stanton Hitchcock entertained me at home between signings. She is Alex Cooper’s great pal, Joan Stanton – and the author of wonderful books like SOCIAL CRIMES…and this coming summer’s perfect read – MORTAL FRIENDS.

Then it was off to Denver – a great book city and the chance to have my two grandsons be my valentines on Saturday night. At my signing at Murder by the Book, one of my ‘fans’ turned out to be CJ Box’s mother-in-law, so she didn’t even have to twist my arm to get me to buy his latest. Phoenix next – I just love the Poisoned Pen, and Barbara Peters has been one of my biggest rooters since the very first book in the series. She pulled out quite a crowd for me…also podcast on her site…and then, at dinner, Dana Stabenow showed up, so we got to talk crime all night – and Dana signed her latest for me – WHISPER TO THE BLOOD. Still a hoot for me to meet the authors whose books I love to read.

Less than twenty-four hours in sunny Phoenix, and on to the deluge that happened last week in San Francisco. At M is for Mystery, I did a duo event with Leighton Gage, whom I had not met before (but if you can catch him on tour…go listen – he’s so interesting and charming), and got on the plane with his second in series, BURIED STRANGERS. It’s quite a terrific tale…and for those of you who love to be transported to a new locale in your books, he gives us Brazil with a marvelous sense of place. In the audience at M was a debut novelist named Kelli Stanley, whose first book was the well-received NOX DORMIENDA – a long night for sleeping. It’s next up on my TBR pile and such fun to meet a bright young author who is already finished with her second manuscript.

I only had one weird moment on the trip (so far). After a night at the Poisoned Pen and a divine home-cooked meal by Barbara Peter's husband, Rob Rosenwald, I got to my very fancy hotel room. It was almost midnight, and I was unpacked and undressed when I noticed that the lock on my door was broken. Not only did the prosecutor in me freak out a bit, but this month, in the column that I frequently write for COSMOPOLITAN Magazine, the cases I used were all crimes that happened to women traveling for business - attacked in hotels. There was no one from maintenance around to fix the lock, and way too late to change rooms. If you could have seen me barricading the door with chairs and tables - well, it was quite a sight. Coop would have been much more fearless, I'm sure. Then I opened the mini-bar to shore myself up with a Dewar's, only to find that the turn-down service did not include a bucket of ice. I drank it neat...and it helped!

As I write this, I’m enjoying a two-day rendezvous at home with my husband, and will hit the road again this week for points south. I love meeting readers, talking about books, getting recommendations of what to read, and finding all these other talents along the way. Crime writers are all my muses, along with the librarians to whom LETHAL LEGACY is dedicated…and I will joyfully get on with my meanderings for the next several weeks. Hope to bump into some of you along the way. Thanks to Kaye for inviting me to her site!


New York Public Library Lions Patience and Fortitude. The marble lions were designed by
sculptor Edward Clark Potter and carved from Tennessee Pink marble by the Piccirilli Brothers in 1911.



Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named the Library mascots Patience and Fortitude for the attributes he thought every New Yorker should possess.