IInnSSiinnCC The Sisters in Crime Newsletter Volume XXII • Number 4 December 2009 The Yin and thecauYse oaf thenaltegrnatinog POfV,Sreade.rsJget.to fRind oChzristaie, An llingham, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ellery Text and Photography By out what they think of each other. That they have Queen. So yes, it's changed considerably. Gotten BoLnongietiJm.eCSainrCdomnee mber and Bouchercon grown close is clear — but their future is murky. more realistic — you can't get away with the 2009’s Toastmaster, S.J. Rozan is a woman of un - Will they ever get together? Maybe, maybe not. kinds of things those authors got away with; usual and diverse talents. She plays basketball Rozan says even she doesn’t know. readers will call you out. Also, obviously, it's got - (though she’s only five feet tall) and composes All of Rozan’s books delve into a social prob - ten more inclusive. haikus; enjoys poker and knitting; and writes a lem. In Winter and Night it is the high price of a Where it's headed, I couldn't begin to guess. series featuring a big, middle-aged white man “winning is everything” mindset in high school Two trends I don't like are over-the-top, Grand (Bill Smith) and a small, young Chinese-Ameri - football; In This Rain features the struggle of two Guignol violence and the emphasis on forensics. can woman (Lydia groups —each with its own agenda — for control The first disgusts me and the second bores me. Chin). The books’ of a plot of land in Harlem. I'm interested in human interaction and in mo - POV alternates; it is The Smith-Chin books have garnered Rozan tive. Bill’s in one, Lydia’s an Edgar, a Nero, a Macavity, a Japanese Maltese BJC: Your Smith-Chin series didn’t sell right in the next. Falcon and two Shamuses. S.J. and Sue Grafton away. How many books did you write before that A native New are the only women who have received two of happened and why was one with Lydia’s POV Yorker, Rozan grew these latter awards for Best PI Novel (Louise Ure published first? up in the Bronx and and Carolina Garcia-Aguilera each have one). S.J. S.J.: I'd finished two from Bill Smith's POV; has lived in Green - is also one of only four women who have been he was my first character because he's that Ameri - wich Village since president of PI Writers of America, the organiza - can icon whose world-weary voice-over I was in - 1982. Her dad was tion that presents the Shamus Awards. The other terested in. By the time I was in the middle of the an aeronautical engi - three are Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky and Linda first book I also became interested in Lydia neer who went into life insurance and eventually Barnes. Chin's take on things and I asked my agent if he became an actuary so he could raise his family in Does she do everything well? Apparently. thought it would be okay if I started a second se - one place instead of moving around. Her mother Rozan also has a short story Edgar. ries. He pointed out we didn't actually have a se - was a phys ed teacher, “a jock and tough cookie. Our interview was conducted via e-mail in ear - ries, just two unsold books, so go ahead. I did. It But she taught nursery school.” Rozan has an old - ly October, not long after Rozan spoke at the Na - was Keith Kahla at St. Martin's whose idea it was er brother and two younger sisters. tional Book Festival in Washington, DC. to do it as an alternating-voice series, not two dif - S.J. (the initials stand for Shira Judith) worked Bonnie J. Cardone: Who did you read when ferent series, and the Lydia Chin book was pub - as an architect for many years — specializing in you were growing up and how did you discover lished first because she was unique in the field, an police stations, firehouses and zoos — but she al - these authors? Asian-American woman PI. ways wanted to write. Her books feature a PI S.J.: Rozan: I was a MAJOR Nancy Drew fan. BJC: You have said that Bill’s voice has been in named Bill Smith, a loner who drinks and smokes I couldn't wait for the next book. I also read sci-fi. your head since you were 12. Were you writing too much and gets into fights all too often — but A young adult mystery I remember, which I must books then? who is also a classical pianist. have read two dozen times, was Bill Bergson Lives S.J. : Not books, but I was one of those kids Smith’s sidekick isn’t a big bad dude à la Dangerously . I also couldn't get enough of the who was always writing stories, changing my real - Spenser’s Hawk but a disarmingly small, sensible Lucky Starr series, by Paul French, who was really ity into one I liked better. Luckily for posterity Chinese-American woman, Lydia Chin. Thor - Isaac Asimov. These were outer-space horse op - none of those early stories survived. oughly modern and independent with tradition - eras about a teenage Space Ranger, but really, BJC : You and Lydia are different people. For al roots, she drinks nothing stronger than tea and each was a mystery at heart. one thing, she’s Chinese and you’re Jewish. Also, has four older brothers. Because she is unmarried, Everything I read as a kid I first discovered at she seems to have little interest in playing basket - she lives with her mother in New York City’s the library. ball or poker and I don’t think she knits or writes Chinatown. BJC: Why write PI? haikus! Rozan was born in the 1950s. Her first book S.J.: The PI form is about moral ambiguity. If S.J.: No, but she plays softball (shortstop) and (China Trade ) was published in 1994; the 11th you need the law enforced, you get a cop. PI's op - she embroiders. (Shanghai Moon ) was released last February. erate in the gray area, and actually, most of life is BJC: When I read Lydia’s words, I hear your There are two stand-alone suspense novels, Ab - the gray area. voice in my ear and see someone with a slight re - sent Friends and In This Rain , and nine Bill BJC: Has the genre changed since you started semblance to you (small, with dark hair). Smith-Lydia Chin books. reading it? Where do you think it is headed? S.J.: Well, yes. While all of the books are well plotted and su - S.J.: Well, I started reading it as a kid, and by BJC: This was not the case in the first book perbly written, the series also offers the intriguing the time I started reading adult books they were relationship between Bill and Lydia. And be - a couple of decades old: Chandler, Hammett, Continued on page 3 Get aClue Sisters in Crime Newsletter S.J. Rozan ....................................... ...1 The mission of Sisters in Crime is to promote the pro - fessional development and advancement of women President’s Message ..................... .......3 crime writers to achieve equality in the industry. Marcia Talley , President Jim Huang , Bookstore Liaison Time to Renew Your Membership .…..3 Cathy Pickens ,Vice President/President Elect Mary Boone , Library Liaison Mar y Saums , Secretary Charlaine Harris, At Large Kathryn Wall, Treasurer/Authors Coalition Liaison Nancy Martin , At Large Dues Waivers ..................................... 3 Sandra Parshall, Chapter Liaison Julianne Balmain , Monitoring Project Ellen Hart, Publicity Judy Clemens, Past President Greenway House ............................ ....4 Bonnie J. Cardone , InSinC Editor/ Graphic Designer Peggy Moody , Web Maven Should You Use a Freelance Editor? ....5 Beth Wasson , Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 442124, Lawrence, KS 66044-8933; Phone: 785/842-1325; Fax 785/856-6314; e-mail: [email protected] Narcissistic Immunity ................. .......6 Presidents of Sisters in Crime 1987-88 Sara Paretsky ; 1988-89 Nancy Pickard ; 1989-90 Margaret Maron ; 1990-91 Susan Dunlap ; 1991- Minutes of the October 15, 2009, 92 Carolyn G. Hart ; 1992-93 P.M. Carlson ; 1993-94 Linda Grant ; 1994-95 Barbara D’Amato ; 1995-96 Elaine Raco Chase ; 1996-97 Annette Meyers ; 1997-98 Sue Henry ; 1998-99 Medora Sale ; 1999-00 Bar - bara Burnett Smith ; 2000-01 Claire Carmichael McNab ; 2001-02 Eve K. Sandstrom ; 2002-03 Kate Flora ; Board Meeting ........................... …..6 2003-04 Kate Grilley ; 2004-05 Patricia Sprinkle ; 2005-06 Libby Hellmann ; 2006-07 Rochelle Krich ; 2007-08 Roberta Isleib; 2008-09 Judy Clemens; 2009-10 Marcia Talley SinC’s $1,000 Library Grant .......... ..7 Crime on Loan .................................. 7 DEADLINES AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES The next Sisters in Crime Newsletter will be Please send mailing address, phone number, Review Monitoring Project ................ 7 out in March. The deadline for all submissions is and e-mail with submissions. If you have an idea January 15 . for a story, please query the editor: Law and Fiction ......................... .......8 Members’ publications since the last edition of Bonnie J. Cardone the newsletter will be listed in The Docket. Please 805/938-1156 Chapter News ............................. .......8 include publication dates when submitting. 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