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Ayo: How did you come u Karinp with the idea for Like a Charm?
Karin: I have always liked serial novels - I read Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx four or five years ago and I thought it reminded me of the sort of short story collection that’s not really a short story collection because what you get is different stories contained in one greater story. I liked the idea of that and also it reminded me of Steinbeck’s The Red Pony. You can even go back to the Bible where people were talking about the same thing and moving it on. There are so many great works of fiction that do that. I am lucky to have a great number of friends who are writers and I thought well why don’t I just call them up and see if they are interested, and fortunately most of them were able to do it. Some were not due to scheduling reasons but I really got lucky and got some good ones.

Ayo: Some of the authors that contributed to Like A Charm include Mark Billingham, John Connolly, Denise Mina, Laura Lippman and Peter Robinson as well as yourself. The role call of authors is fantastic. How did you manage this?
Karin: I think that they were just excited about the idea. At the last minute one of the contributors couldn’t do it because she had scheduling problems: her next novel was due and she was behind on her deadline. Lee Child gallantly stepped in - he’d never written a short story before and I just said that you have to write about this charm, you have to find it here and leave it somewhere else, and he just rose to the occasion. I think that I can honestly say that none of us are writing short stories for the money. It’s more about being passionate about telling stories and the art of short stories, because, when I sat down to pick people to do this I didn’t pick them because John Connolly is a big seller, or Mark Billingham is a big name, I picked them because they are good story tellers. I thought that these authors would work well together and the sequential order would work for the collection, and it turned out really great.

Ayo: One of the best things about Like a Charm is that each chapter also stands alone as a powerful story. Did you aim for the reader to be able to read each chapter as a short story in its own right?
Karin: Sure, what I like about it is that a lot of times people are really busy and they want to read a book so they start one and then forget what happened. In this you can read a chapter and then you can get off the train and go to work and when you come back you can just pick up on the next chapter. I believe that it works out fine because you don’t really have to remember all the details. But I think what a lot of people have found is that if you sat down and read it straight through like a thriller, then you begin to wonder what is going to happen next. At one stage the charm is left in a vagina, how are they going to explain that? You think, where is the nastiest place we can leave it so that it screws up the person who comes after?

Ayo: Are you planning another one? I seem to remember reading that you mentioned the possibility of doing a similar one called Like a Knife.
Karin: Yes. It will be about a Barlow pocket knife, pre-civil war, and starts with a slave revolt on a plantation. I am pretty much begging Sarah Waters to write the next story; I think that if we had a free slave or a runaway slave take the knife to England then that would be great. I have already got a number of other authors lined up who are interested - one of them is Jacqueline McCloud who wrote Deep End of the Ocean. She is another one of these people who is just a great story teller - I already have her bit and it’s really good.

Ayo: When Blindsighted was published it received a lot of critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Kisscut and A Faint Cold Fear have also received their fair share of approbation. Have you been taken aback at how well all three books have been received?
Karin: I have been pleasantly surprised as writing is such a solitary art and therefore it is just me and my computer screen and my crazy ideas. It never occurred to me that people would buy them. I’m really horrible about taking compliments and praise, so I see myself as a different person from the one who sits at the computer. I guess it works, because angst when I’m writing. It’s been amazing, but I have to say that I’ve been lucky because I have really great publishers and that makes all the difference. They are not just my publishers - I dedicated Like a Charm to Random House - they are my friends and they are so supportive and love books.

Ayo: Blindsighted was nominated for, and won, a number of awards. Do you feel that it put added pressure on you when you came to write Kisscut? Karin: No, I didn’t because I wrote Kisscut before Blindsighted was published. My US publisher is Morrow, but Harper Collins bought Morrow and Blindsighted was postponed for a year. In some ways this was both the worst and the best thing to happen to me - of course I wanted it on the shelves right after I signed the contract, but at least it got me used to being published, which had been my life focus for ten years. Writing Blindsighted was also the impetus, but I was in this unique position because it wasn’t out yet and no-one knew who I was, therefore I had all the time to write Kisscut and I knew when I signed the contract that no matter how crappy it was, it would still be published. I was really free to write the kind of books that I wanted to. I had the idea for Kisscut before Blindsighted was sold - I had a three book deal and I’d already done a rough outline of it, but I was told that it was too dark a book to start the series because of all the murders that take place. I managed to sneak it in and I was really lucky that way.

Ayo: One of the main themes in all your books are peoples’ damaged pasts - was this intentional?
Karin: Yes, for some reason I was able to know the basic plot of four books after Blindsighted and I knew what I was going to do as far as relationships and life experiences are concerned. I knew that Indelible was going to take place ten years before Blindsighted. I planted things along the way and then when I got to Indelible I moved the majority of it from Grant County to Sylacauga, Jeffery’s home town. I didn’t have to worry about someone writing in and saying, for example, in Blindsighted you said that the dress shop was on the right side of the main street, now you are saying that it is on the left. People pay attention to the oddest things. I planned it all along and honestly when you read Indelible you can start it as the first in the series and it’s a good introduction. But if you have been reading the books all along then there are little things in there you can relate to. There are throwaway lines if you haven’t read the previous books, but to people who have been there from the beginning it’s like a little gift I’ve given.

Ayo: All the characters in your books have changed as the books have progressed. Have they changed in the ways that you imagined?
Karin: They are much more fleshed out for me. It was interesting with Indelible because it’s all about Jeffrey’s perception of the small town he grew up in and it’s not a good one. They don’t think he is a good guy - his father, as you know from earlier books, is in jail now - and he is seen as a bad seed in town. In Grant County however, he is this well thought of person and you also start to understand the dynamics between Sara and Jeffery: why it was so hard for her to forgive him when he cheated on her and why that meant so much. It’s not about him screwing around, it’s about the betrayal, and you understand why the relationship didn’t work out the first time just by seeing them ten years earlier.

Ayo: A lot of crime writers, especially females, make powerful statements about sex, violence and violence against women. Do you believe that authors (whether male or female) have a duty to comment, or should comment, on such issues?
Karin: I think authors should write about whatever they want to write about. What interests me are women’s issues. I believe strongly in a woman’s right to choose; I believe that we should have the same freedoms that the law guarantees us. I think that we should be able to exercise that. With Lena I wanted to show as realistic a recovery as I could. Peter Robinson is one of my favourite writers, he is so great at writing female characters. But I think that in the ‘90s guys were beaten over the head with the sensitivity stick, saying something along the lines of: if something bad happens to a woman you either have to make her a martyr or you have to make her this catatonic creature that has to be taken care of. I wasn’t interested in that. I know women who have experienced a horrible event in their lives and they are really angry and they really need to talk about it - what I wanted to do with Lena is show that you could talk about it. Having this happen to you doesn’t mean you are less of a person! I think that it is a secondary form of victimisation when they are asked not to talk about it or are told that they aren’t the same person now. Certainly you change but you are still strong. It was interesting, in Faint Cold Fear Lena makes some stupid, really stupid, decisions and some women (I am not saying every single one of them because there are exceptions) say that they can sympathise with what she is doing. I know women that have done that, because women punish themselves, they don’t punish other people. The men on the other hand will say that Lena is too strong, she would never do that. There was such a heated argument at one of my signings that I thought, “Oh my God is she going to start slapping this guy around?” It was just so vehement how each side felt about it, which was very flattering to me. Statistically what Lena does is more probable. I think for women, but maybe not for men, rape has gone from being spoiled goods to being about the loss of power because that’s really how women identify themselves now. I think that to be out of control and not have control over what is happening to your body is much more terrifying than the social stigma of years ago which was you’re spoiled goods!

Ayo: The relationship between Sara and Jeffery is very important. I sometimes get very angry with him- he can sometimes be very intolerant and end up saying the wrong thing to Sara. On the other hand, he is extremely sexy, assured and his own man. I take it that in some way or another he will always be part of her life. Did you deliberately make him annoying at times?
Karin: Yes I did, because I don’t know any women, strong women, who are with men that can be totally controlled and steamrollered, because that’s not how it works. I know for myself that I don’t want to be with someone who worships me, I want to be with someone who challenges me, and doesn’t agree with me. The fact is you everything you need in a relationship because you are dealing with human beings. Jeffery has his own needs, he can be selfish and a lot of times Sara will put his needs above hers, but lots of women do that. These male and female relationships when the guy is a total pussy, why would this strong educated woman want to be with a man who’s basically there to save her? That just does not happen and, with someone like Sara, I know that at the end of the day she wants to go home and say I don’t want to make any decisions, you make all the decisions, take out the trash, you do everything; and that’s how their relationship works.

Ayo: Your books are considered to be hard-boiled and not for those with weak constitutions. Was this what you intended when you wrote Blindsighted?
Karin: Not really, but I am extremely anaesthetised as I have been reading true crime and crime fiction since I was ten or eleven. I read Helter Skelter when I was twelve and even before I was published I read medical and forensic textbooks - I have always been interested in that. Blindsighted didn’t seem that graphic to me, but there are people out there that are a little squeamish. There are so many types of books because there are so many people with different tastes and fortunately for me a lot like the sort of thing I write. But it goes back to talking about violence: I think it should be hard to read about if you’re approaching it from the serious angle of “I want to show this emotional perspective” - for me that is what I need to do.

Ayo: Some authors are not in the slightest bit interested in their books being adapted. How would you feel about having your books adapted? Would you want to be involved or would you not want to have anything to do with the adaptation?
Karin: It just depends; I would love to have it adapted. I love writing; I love the idea of seeing how someone would interpret my words because I think that’s really flattering. I have the Dolly Parton compilation CD Just Because I’m a Woman and I read an interview of her talking about how fabulous it was to be able to get these women to do these interpretations of these songs she had written - I thought that’s what it’s all about. I read John Connolly’s story and I thought, “God, this is so great. I want to write a story that is comparable to this one; I want to go to that level.” That is what it’s all about.

Ayo: Do you have a strict way of writing or do you just let things flow? Karin: I let things flow. I have a horrible writing schedule, which is if I feel like writing then I write. Generally if I feel like writing it tends to be a twelve hour day for two to three weeks and then I’m exhausted and I feel that I don’t want to write ever again, and I think that I’m a hack! I need to recover, and then I go back into it and do two to three more weeks. It’s just a horrible way to do it. Laura Lippman has this newspaper background and she gets up every day and she writes for hours and it’s great - she can do that but I just can’t.

Ayo: Are there any significant reasons for the titles of your books?
Karin: Definitely - actually I can’t start writing the book until I have the title for it. Like a Charm, that plays out with the whole theme; Blindsighted was about someone hiding in plain sight; the theme for Kisscut, which is a printing term where you cut through the surface of something but not all the way through, is played out because you really don’t know what crimes have been committed until you are half way through; A Faint Cold Fear is really a book about fear and not just a fear of death, but fear of life for Lena and of course Jeffery and Sara, the star-crossed lovers.

Ayo: What do you consider to be the most important element in crime writing?
Karin: An understanding of a story, which is really a blanket way of saying you have to have plot and you have to have character. You can’t have one heavier than the other and I think this is true with any book, not just crime fiction. I am really peeved with a lot of literary fiction lately because it’s just this navel-gazing and you get to the end of this book and wonder if they ran out of paper! In the same way I have been really off short stories for a while because everything I read in The New Yorker for such a long time would end and you would wonder where the “continued on” page is! And I would also think okay, this horrible thing is happening but I don’t care about this person and they probably deserve it. I think that Jonathan Frantzen is a good writer but in Corrections I had the same reaction. Why am I reading this, I don’t like any of these people, there is nothing in there that makes me care about this stuff happening to them. So I think you have to have the balance between plot and character so that reader is truly engaged in the story

Ayo: Do you have any plans to write a standalone novel and if you do would it be a crime novel?
Karin: Yes and yes. It’s called Triptych and it will be the novel after Faithless which is the one after Indelible. It’s a story in three parts, of course, and I can’t tell you much about it. It’s set in Atlanta because I know Atlanta and it’s a really gruesome crime type novel. It is very different from Grant County in a lot of ways

Ayo: What do you believe is the best thing about being a crime writer? Karin: Just the people you meet, I think. Crime writers have the best fans and the best readers. They are extremely loyal and they pay attention. Some of them are a little too opinionated. I’m a crime reader, I’ve always read crime fiction, and I love it. It’s great because when I go to a signing, or I do an event, I have to talk about myself but then I just say “what are you guys reading” and we get to talk about novels.

Ayo: I understand that Indelible is the next in the series. Can you tell us a bit more about it without giving too much away?
Karin: Like I said, it takes place ten years before Blindsighted. It’s set in Sylacauga, Jeffery’s home town. There is a present day narration over the course of probably three or four hours. continued The past situation takes place over the course of a week and what I would say to people who are asking is that it answers a lot of questions and it tells you a lot about character, but keep in mind you’ve asked earlier how Jeffery and Sara have changed in the progression of the books - this is ten years ago and they are very different people.

Ayo: Is there a book out there you would have liked to have written? Karin: I can honestly say no because I know what goes into writing a book. There are books where I have sat back and said “this is so fabulous.” Fingersmith is a perfect example of that. But that’s Sarah’s book and that’s years of her life and her intelligence and everything she brought to it is in that book. To me it would be tantamount to saying “I wish I looked like Uma Thurman”! Well that’s certainly not going to happen. This is my book and Fingersmith is Sarah’s. I just appreciate too much who the person and writer is.

Ayo: What were your favourite reads last year and why?
Karin: Fingersmith of course - what a great twist. I was reading it when I was here last time and I sat up in bed and gasped when I got to the end. It was one of those things where I was on the phone the next day telling people in America to get this book and I forced it on my editor here and persuaded her to read it. Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue - a great book! Emma Donoghue is the only one I didn’t know before I asked her to be in Like a Charm. I just thought man she is so great, and I thought that a lot of crime fiction readers would love her stuff and maybe bring her a new audience. I really liked Crimson Petal and The White but I liked Slammerkin more. I read so many books last year, but those are the ones that really stood out for me. Also Glen Davis Gold’s Carter Beats the Devil and I would also say Alice Sebold’s Lucky and The Lovely Bones.

Ayo: On a lighter note, if you were marooned on a desert island and could take five books away with you, which would they be and why?
Karin: Because I remember too much about them I can’t re-read books. The only books that I have re-read are Gone With the Wind and Helter Skelter and I would say - because I know that they are finished - the next Mo Hayder, the next Sarah Waters, and the next Glen Davis Gold.

Ayo Thanks Karin for taking the time to talk to us.

Books by Karin Slaughter:-

Blindsighted
Kisscut
A Faint Cold Fear
Like A Charm (Editor)

Further information about Karin Slaoughter can be found at:- http://www.karinslaughter.com