Recently, I was granted the privilege and honor of an
interview with one of today's best and brightest upcoming mystery authors, Jean
Sheldon. She is the author of The Woman in the Wing, about the beginnings
of women pilots during WWII and spies attempting to sabotage a plane factory,
and her latest novel, Seven Cities of Greed. It is set in the modern
day, and is about a hand-carved leather journal that shows up at Zodiac's Rare &
Used Books in Chicago, and a close-knit group of women friends who try to use
the clues in the journal to find a treasure of gold in New Mexico before they're
beaten to it by the wealthy and ruthless Samuel Barnes and his henchmen.
Without further ado, Jean, let's get on to the questions!
Douglas R. Cobb: Jean, first I'll ask you a question that is both about your
latest novel, and about your background. Seven Cities of Greed is set in
Illinois, primarily Evanston and Chicago, and also in New Mexico. You write with
a lot of authority about each region, as if you have either done quite a bit of
research, had lived in each state, or both. Have you lived in either state?
Jean Sheldon: Hi, Douglas, and thank you for the gracious words. I was born
in Chicago and lived there until my early thirties when I moved to New Mexico. I
spent twenty-five years in that fascinating state and it was a delight to roam
around and let my imagination and my characters run wild.
Douglas R. Cobb: In Seven Cites of Greed, a close-knit group of female
friends who met at Northwestern University around thirty years previous to the
events and their adventures in the novel are all co-owners of Zodiac Rare & Used
Book Store. It's named after Zodiac (a.k.a. Zoey), a black cat that is the pet
of one of the co-owners, Pat Sexton. I was curious to know if you also owned a
cat?
Jean Sheldon: Ha. I am owned by a cat, and have served a number of them over
the years.
Douglas R. Cobb: The journal that Samuel Barnes is after goes to the highest
bidder, who is Jacqueline (Jackie) Tracy, one of the book store's co-owners, and
its major backer. Why is Barnes so relentless in his efforts to get the journal,
who is Father Marcos de Niza, and what terrible thing happens for the second
time to Jackie?
Jean Sheldon: Let me start with Jackie. She had the dubious honor of being
kidnapped twice in her life, nearly 40 years apart. In the book, her nemesis,
Samuel Barnes maintains the profile of a successful Chicago business man, but is
a sociopath who lacks empathy and morals. He developed a passion for all things
pertaining to the conquistadors and believes the journal contains the location
of the treasures of Cibola and is destined to be his. Father Marcos de Niza was
a real life Franciscan priest who made the original search for the Seven Cities
of Cibola north of the New World. He claimed the land that is today Arizona and
New Mexico for Spain.
Douglas R. Cobb: One more question about Seven Cities of Greed, if you
don't mind, then I'll move on to a few questions about your other novels. At the
same time Barnes is trying to pursue Jackie and her friends to get the journal,
even having his men track them down in New Mexico, someone else is attempting to
get revenge on Barnes, and posts pictures of him dressed as a conquistador on
the Internet. Who is doing this to Barnes, and why?
Jean Sheldon: Barnes's brutality made him many enemies over the years and
more than one of his former conquests seeks revenge.
Douglas R. Cobb: You've written a whole series of mystery novels starring the
woman police detective Kerry Grant. They include the novels A Chilling
Goodbye, Should Old Acquaintance be Dead, and Identity Murder. I
haven't yet read these novels, but I've heard they're very good reads, and if
they're at all like your other novels, I'm sure that what I've heard is true.
Why did you name your heroine Kerry Grant? Are you a fan of the actor Cary
Grant? Also, could you please describe her a little bit here, and maybe tell us
about one or more of the novels in brief?
Jean Sheldon: Thank you. The Kerry Grant books were the first ones I created
when I began writing at the age of 53 and I love Kerry and her friends. Why the
name Kerry Grant? I really don't know. Her name and her character simply grew.
Kerry is a computer geek Chicago Police Detective whose crankiness is often
softened by her loyal partner and friends. There are actually four completed
books in the series, the fourth, Bidder Regrets, about online fraud, has
never been published. The series is out of print, but I am hopeful they will all
be reissued in the near future.
Douglas R. Cobb: You're very good at creating strong, intelligent female
characters in all of your novels. Also, your novels often have as a major aspect
of them something to do with history. There's the story about Cortes, Father
Marcos, and the Seven Cities of Cibola in Seven Cities of Greed, for
example, and your novel The Woman in the Wing portrays the struggles and
travails of young women during WWII who are trying to become pilots in the WAFS
and the WASP forces. One of the main characters of The Woman in the Wing
is Char Mercer, and another is her friend, Maxine (Maxie) Davies. What are some
of the obstacles and sexual prejudices that they have to overcome that you
mention in the book?
Jean Sheldon: I enjoy the researching as much as the writing. I was stunned
when I began The Woman in the Wing and learned how much the women had to
overcome to work for their country. And not just the pilots. The woman factory
workers faced the same kinds of ridicule and prejudices. They were doing what
many considered 'men's work' and were called everything from sinners to
un-American. As far as the pilots, there were real incidents of sugar being
found in gas tanks on the women's training planes, and some male officers
admitted to becoming trainers to keep the women from flying. The good news, of
course, is that they overcame the prejudices and were great pilots. It is
heartwarming to see the pilots finally receiving recognition for their services.
In 2009, President Obama signed a bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal,
the nation's highest civilian honor, to the Women Airforce Service Pilots from
World War II.
Douglas R. Cobb: Sabotage attempts are made by German spies/sympathizers at the
airplane factory Char and Maxi work at, undercover for the FBI. Are these
attempts based on actual ones you've heard/read about?
Jean Sheldon: My research showed very little actual sabotage done in this
country. Many of the events that occurred in the story are fiction although the
descriptions of the environment, such as roller skating messengers are true.
Douglas R. Cobb: Teams of two women were used in plane factories like the one
Char and Ellie work at. Why is that, and could you also tell us who Hannah Brown
was in your novel, and tell us her fate?
Jean Sheldon: Most of the jobs at the plants required team work, such as the
riveters. One person shot the rivets with a pneumatic riveting gun and the other
held something called a bucking bar, which stopped the rivet and formed a cap as
a seal.Hannah Brown was a fictitious WASP pilot who originally had
sympathies toward Germany. She eventually realized where her loyalty lay, and
became instrumental in preventing a bomb planted by the German agent from
exploding. There were, to my knowledge, no pilots whose loyalty was ever in
question.
Douglas R. Cobb: Who are some of your favorite authors, and which ones would you
say have had the most influence on your own style of writing?
Jean Sheldon: Whew, I have so many. I'll start with Cather, Markham,
Vonnegut, Salinger, Woolf, Paretsky, Collette, Alcott, Sayers, Christie,
Greenan, and countless others. They have all influenced me as a person and in
turn, my writing. That's what makes reading so wonderful.
Douglas R. Cobb: Finally, could you please tell us if you're currently working
on a novel, if we can expect you to write any more Kerry Grant books, and when
your next novel might be coming out at the bookstores and/or through Amazon?
Jean Sheldon: I have just finished a great 'whodunit' called Flowers for
Her Grave. I'm hoping to have it and Monet's Palette, a mystery about
art forgery, available in 2010, and yes, I hope Kerry is back in action very
soon.
Thanks once again for agreeing to do this interview, Jean! It's been a pleasure,
and I look forward to reading more books by you in the future!
