Writing Unstoppable Female Characters During a Crisis — Two May Mystery Releases
Both C. Hope Clark and Carmen Amato have books releasing this month (May). What is it about strong women wanting to write about strong women? Are your lady protagonists shadows of yourselves?
Carmen Amato
HOPE: Absolutely. Carolina Slade holds the same job I held with the US Department of Agriculture, Special Projects Representative, though maybe I embellished hers a bit in the storytelling. My peers and those above me either hated or loved me, hot or cold, but I believed in fairness and justice, and deemed my family off limits from the day job for fear of retribution.
I wrote Carolina Slade to let off steam and replay an old experience, and the series got in my blood. I never had bodies involved, though, and I’m happy to say I never was shot. So . . . we just might be shadows of each other!
CARMEN: All my role models are strong women, including my grandmother, my mother, my best friends, and my female co-workers during my 30-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency.
As the first female police detective in Acapulco, Detective Emilia Cruz is that role model on steroids. A female cop in Mexico faces cartels, corruption and machismo. Her filter is off, she’s ready for conflict, and not afraid to use her fists as well as her brain.
Some of her exploits are based on my own experiences but my career as an intelligence officer was less bruising than that of a cop in Mexico’s homicide capital.
INTERVIEWER: Each of you has a character that had a personal experience that defined them. Where did that idea come from if not your own life?
HOPE: Slade was forced kicking and screaming into investigations, and it took the case impacting her personal life to force her to make different choices than she ordinarily would. Her career originated with an out-of-the-blue bribe which introduced her to bad people, deceit, and Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo. I, too, had a bribery offer . . . met my federal agent husband on the case. I never was physically harmed, but was stalked, threatened and my house was broken into. Relocated. It altered my life, and so I took my experience, raised the stakes, channeled the fears, and wrote my heart out.
CARMEN: There’s a Mexican saying: “Women and glass are always in danger.” Femicide, sexual assault, and missing women are serious issues, especially in Mexico. I try to raise awareness by using these issues as plot elements in the Detective Emilia Cruz series.
As a woman on the front lines of Mexico’s drug war, it was only a matter of time before Detective Emilia Cruz suffered a sexual assault. It was hard to write, but the experience made the character more authentic, and introduced a dramatic subplot that runs through several of the books.
INTERVIEWER: Given the pandemic, what has changed in your writing or routine? Is it more difficult to write or have you embraced the solitude of stay-at-home?
HOPE: First, I absolutely adore solitude and fought religiously for it pre-pandemic, but the world seemed to always tug on my coattails back then. I wrote daily before and write daily now, but as ugly as the world news is about all this seclusion, I admit I’ve embraced this lifestyle. Everything else now comes AFTER I’ve written my 1,000-word minimum, which is quickly becoming 2,000. Without conferences, speaking engagements, travel, and the immediate demands of extended family, I have no excuse not to write. Don’t want to look back and wish I’d used this time constructively.
CARMEN: Hope is my role model when it comes to writing discipline!
I’m a full time writer, and like Hope, always fight for big chunks of solitude. The pandemic removed distractions. I was able to complete the next Detective Emilia Cruz novel, Narco Noir, despite a break to sew surgical masks for friends and family.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think this pandemic has altered what readers want from mystery writers? Are they looking for stories of resilience? Is there a chance you’ll write a pandemic-related story for your lady?
HOPE: That’s a hard one to pinpoint. Readers still want escape the same as before. I believe they’ll tire quickly of the spew of pandemic stories that will appear months after all this is over. Readers always want resilient protagonists, though. Regardless the world’s issues, readers want to read about overcoming obstacles and coming out on top, even with the scars and wounds from the journey. And. . . no, I can honestly preach that there will not be a pandemic story in my character’s future.
CARMEN: I might write a pandemic-related story but from an unexpected angle. Shipments of fentanyl, heroin and meth chemicals from China to Mexican cartels have dried up and cartels are fighting for scarce “product” to sell. Detective Emilia Cruz would have her hands full.
INTERVIEWER: How many more books do you see in the future for your protagonist? Do you have other series in mind?
HOPE: I already write two series, but yes, I have one manuscript completed for a third. All strong ladies. Slade has five books of her own with a strong appearance in one of my Edisto Mysteries where she meets my other protagonist Police Chief Callie Jean Morgan on Edisto Beach. Between my past career history and the investigations of my husband, we have no end to spin off ideas for new escapades for Slade.
But in the near future, I will be completing two books in the new series and a new Edisto Mystery by early 2021. I intend to make the most of this sequestered time at home. I will write all three ladies as long as I breathe.
CARMEN: Narco Noir, coming 16 May, is the 8th book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco. I have plans for an even dozen in the series and am already outlining the next book.
INTERVIEWER: What advice do you have for readers during this pandemic?
HOPE: Just like I’m a firm believer in writing daily, whether you have a pandemic or not. I believe in reading daily as well. And now is the time to read those books you’ve put off. These stories not only take you away from the world, but they can empower you to cope with it when you put down the book. It’s mentally gratifying to break the shackles of pandemic (or whatever else irritates your life’s flow) and sink into another universe, and exit with a better feel about overcoming adversity.
One last note, though, consider reviewing the books you read. Authors need reviews, and the reading public reads them in making book purchase choices. If you liked it, chances are others will as well.
CARMEN: I agree with Hope. Read books that take you away from the news, and make your voice heard with a review on Amazon or BookBub. This is also a great time to surf author websites for exclusive freebies you can’t get anywhere else, like my free Detective Emilia Cruz Starter Library.
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About Carmen Amato: Following a 30 year career with the Central Intelligence Agency, Carmen Amato writes mystery and suspense, including the Detective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco. Emilia is the first female police detective in Acapulco, confronting Mexico’s cartels, corruption and social inequalities. The series recently won the Poison Cup award for Outstanding Series from Crime Masters of America and was optioned for television.
Originally from upstate New York, Carmen’s experiences in Mexico and Central America launched her fiction career. Carmen is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal.
Visit her at:
www.facebook.com/authorcarmenamato
NARCO NOIR
Acapulco’s first female police detective drives into a Hollywood film starring lies and murder when she goes undercover to catch a killer.
A bitter past, maddening clues, and her deepest fears all collide in Detective Emilia Cruz’s toughest case yet. As the camera rolls, she’ll make the ultimate decision.
“A thrilling series” — National Public Radio
After witnessing the execution-style murder of a taxi driver, Emilia replaces him behind the wheel. Undercover with a false identity, her target is a shadowy gang extorting protection money from the upscale taxi service.
The homicide investigation is soon stuck in neutral. No one in Acapulco has heard of the gang. Yet the threat of another murder has all the drivers, including Emilia, scared to death.
When Emilia’s worst enemy gets into her taxi, both her life and the murder case accelerate out of control. Next stop, a movie set.
The script is a nightmare.
The director’s cut is a double-cross.
The leading man looks good enough to kill . . .
BUY THE BOOK HERE
About C. Hope Clark: Hope thrives on mystery and writes from Lake Murray and Edisto Beach in her beloved South Carolina, alongside her federal agent husband she met on a bribery investigation. Bourbon in hand, water on the horizon, she spins tales of serious, hard-nosed female sleuths.
Hope also motivates writers to step up to their careers and is founder of FundsforWriters.com , awarded 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer’s Digest Magazine each year for over a decade. Her weekly publications reach 35,000+ readers.
Visit her at:
SALKEHATCHIE SECRET
A dead federal agent and Lowcountry secrets stir up a hornet’s nest. . .
A Carolina Slade and Callie Morgan crossover!
(A stand-alone mystery)
Carolina Slade’s long awaited engagement is put on hold as Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo leads the manhunt for his missing partner—a naïve fresh recruit, who may have jumped gun on an investigation from Slade’s case load. When the agent is found dead next door to the jurisdiction of friend and Edisto Beach Police Chief Callie Morgan, Slade calls in a favor to add support for Wayne’s investigation. Soon the two women are hip-deep in the secrets, black water swamp land, and farms of the Salkehatchie region.
And anyone attempting to uncover those secrets gambles with their life.
BUY THE BOOK HERE
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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