Author_Spotlight_Eleanor_Taylor

Some current mysteries now have the police portrayed in a negative light; even the book’s police protagonist is sometimes portrayed as a bad or a semi-bad cop. Your Marti MacAlister series shows Marti and her partner, Vik, as good cops. Why do you think that’s important?
All of my personal experience with law enforcement since childhood has been positive. And, I’ve not lived in a large city since I was 16. I grew up in Boston in the fifties and early sixties and those were just different times. We were taught to respect people in authority whether we liked them or not, and I’ve raise my two sons the same way. Also, I wanted Marti to be a positive role model because we need that, especially in minority communities. I also wanted Marti to be kind of ‘everywoman’, someone like the women I know. I wanted her to have a job where she had independent authority, but also a structure of some kind and policing worked for me.

In 1998, your 23-year old nephew, Marlon Lonnie, died in the Los Angeles county jail under what you say were questionable circumstances. Did his death change how you view police and their treatment of those they detain?
No, I am well aware, along with everyone else, that all cops are not good cops. And even in a smaller city or town there can be some bad policing. We have been fortunate in Waukegan (Eleanor’s current home) to have good leadership within the department. A good friend and fellow writer, Hugh Holton, once told me that the behavior of all police reflects the verbal or non verbal messages and permission that filter down from the top. When people complain to me about the police I tell them that.

Did his death impact your writing in any way?
According to my belief system, Marlon is a better place. However his mother and I are very close and her grief is what still stays with me. I think this is reflected in my writing when the victim has someone, even Marti or a stranger, feel a sense of loss and needless death, or someone close to the victim grieves. For the most part, I tend to stop and recognize and acknowledge in some way the grief of those left behind.

When did you first know you wanted to write mysteries?
Two years before I began writing them. I have been a voracious reader all of my life and written something since I was eight years old, but I never really considered publishing anything until 1972. And, it only took another 20 years to succeed! The mystery in general and especially the police procedural give me the structure I needed to have a beginning, middle and end. Until I began reading them, I was always writing the never- ending story. Now, I am totally hooked on mysteries and except for research seldom read anything else.

What prompted you to decide on writing a mystery about a police woman?
That was a very practical decision. I was working full time, working on a masters degree and made a decision to adopt another child, an infant. I did not have time to figure out how an amateur sleuth would find a body, and I didn’t know anything about private detectives.

Do you prefer to write during a specific time of day (e.g. early morning, night, etc.)?
No, I usually get up, turn on the computer, and write off and on into the evening.

Do you have any superstitious steps you follow when preparing to write?
No, but I don’t believe in ‘writer’s block’. I believe that means the right side of the brain needs time to process something and pass it along to the left side of the brain, so I relax and eat cookies.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?
I knew nothing when I first started. I had never attended a writer’s conference, or taken a course in creative writing. I really just decided to write a mystery and wrote one. The only thing I wish I had done was set up a mailing list so that I could keep in touch with fans. I am working on one now, but could have developed one that was much more comprehensive if I had started sooner.

What is your pet peeve?
I don’t really have one that I can think of. Sometimes, when reading, I get a little critical of what the writer has done, foreshadowing and bad grammar; things like that.

What can’t you live without?
My two sons, my four grandchildren, and my dog, a pit bull named Geronimo. Also my two furry grandchildren, Maxie and Lola.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing writers now?
Getting published and staying in print, Things have really changed since I got published, and it is much more difficult. I get very frustrated, when I know someone who writes well enough to get in print and has a strong voice and just can’t seem to make it. I also feel overjoyed when they succeed.

What makes a successful writer?
“A man is happy in his work when he pours passion into it.” I will write for as long as I am physically able and I’m enjoying it. Attention to detail and a strong voice don’t hurt either. I no longer consider getting published the primary criteria for success.

Are there ever circumstances under which you think a writer should censor her writing?
I think we are always self-censoring at some level. I would not avoid writing about something or saying something because someone considers the subject matter or language taboo. But, I do make judgment calls as to what is appropriate and accurate for a character to say and do. My primary responsibility to my readers is a good plot, relevant subplots and - most important-believable characters.

If you could take the place of another writer for the day, who would it be and why?
I love my life the way it is and just wouldn’t trade with anyone, not even for a day.

Do you believe authors should take on more of a role in marketing themselves to the public so as to generate book sales?
I think we have to.

If someone was making a movie about your life, what would be the title of the movie?
I can’t imagine that ever happening and have no suggestions for a title.

What would you want your epitaph to be?
Before I retired from my day job I used to tell my boys to put “She is Resting” on my tombstone.