About the author: Best known for his work in mysteries, Hy was one of the original writers for the groundbreaking series, Monk. He worked on the show for all eight seasons, the final two as Co-Executive Producer, and received three Edgar Nominations from the Mystery Writers of America for “Best TV Episode.” In a related project, Hy was Executive Producer and head writer of Little Monk, a series of short films featuring Adrian Monk as a ten-year-old. His latest TV work was as writer and Consulting Producer for White Collar.
Hy is also the author of hundreds of short stories and ten books of short whodunits, which have been sold around the world in fourteen languages. Hy’s first full-length comedy/mystery play,
Home Exchange, premiered at the Waterfront Playhouse in Key West in May 2012. He recently authored a humor book called
Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know. Visit the author’s website right
here.
You can read
my review of Rally ‘Round the Corpse. It’s a pretty great book, you can buy it
here.
And, I hope you read and enjoy this interview as much as I did!
Thank you, Hy, for this great interview.
1. What inspired you to write Rally ‘Round the Corpse? What led you to the idea of the Abel
Adventures Mystery series? (Also, how long can we expect the series to be?)
Hy: A lot of my early mysteries were created for platforms and
electronic devices that no longer exist, including Clue VCR, a popular game
back in the mid-80s.
When the Internet came around, no one knew what kind of
content would be successful. I was asked
by Prodigy (an early version of AOL) to write a mystery serial with a different
chapter every day and a different mystery every month. The result was “Abel Adventures”, with Tom
Abel, a character similar to Amy Abel, who led adventure tours around the world. This idea always stayed with me, even though
the original stories have been lost to time – and a few computer crashes.
I’m on my way to finishing book two in the series, “If I Die Before the Wake”. I would love to continue the
concept. But of course it all depends on
the popularity of the first two.
2. Which are your most memorable writing experiences? On the
other hand, what is your worst experience as a writer?
Hy: One of my favorite experiences, writing or not, was my time
spent on “Monk”. To be with great, funny writers every day and
churning out a hit TV show… There’s
nothing better.
My least favorite was when a network, which shall remain
nameless, hired me to turn one of their teenage sitcoms into a TV movie. Their style was to ignore all my sincere requests
for feedback and then suddenly micromanage.
“No, that’s not what we wanted.
What made you think that?” I
quit, the only time I quit a job, and went to work for “White Collar” instead.
Later I heard from the writer who took my place. He was put through hell for over a year
before it finally got filmed.
3. Do you have any advice for budding writers, any “five things
to remember” when writing a mystery? What is the biggest mistake, according to
you, that a mystery writer could make?
Hy: Okay. Five quick
rules.
- Pay attention to
logic. Mystery fans want it to all
make sense.
- Action isn’t as important
in a book as it is in a movie, e.g. don’t spend ten pages describing a
fight or a car chase.
- Don’t be afraid of atmosphere. There’s a reason why Swedish mysteries
are popular.
- Give your characters
different voices. They shouldn’t
all talk like you.
- As Elmore Leonard said,
“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.” How did Cary Grant get off Mount
Rushmore at the end of “North by Northwest”? We don’t know and we don’t care.
The biggest mistake of new writers is to create a detailed
outline before starting. If your story
has good bones to begin with, it will tell you where to go next.
4. Having written mysteries for a long time, how do you think the
genre has evolved over the years?
Hy: I think the best mysteries are a lot better than they used
to be, with great characters and great atmosphere. The detectives are darker and the crimes more
imaginative and gruesome. With the
exception of cozies, it takes itself much more seriously than it used to.
On the other hand, the worst mysteries are a lot worse. With the advent of self-publishing and e-publishing,
anyone with a murderous thought has a book out there, competing for the same
eyeballs and wallets. Remember, a free
e-book is not free. You pay for it with
wasted hours and annoyance.
Tabula Rasa 