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Ayo: What was the very first mystery/crime fiction novel that you read and who introduced you to the genre?
Meg: Probably one of the Saint (Simon Templar) books by Leslie Charteris. I fell madly in love with the Saint in my teens (he’d already been around quite a while by then, but I didn’t care.) I read every book. I probably discovered him at our local library, as we couldn’t afford books.

Ayo: You have been writing for over 30 years now, has it become any easier than when you first started writing?
Meg: I would say it has become more difficult. I used up everything I knew anything about in my first short stories and my first novel, and have had to do heavy research ever since. Also when you start out your writing is fresh because you haven’t done this before. Later on you have to be careful not to repeat yourself. The discipline part has never been difficult for me. I loved writing from the start and I still do.

Ayo: Who were your influences when you decided to start writing? Do other books still influence your writing and if so, what other types of writing are you attracted to?
Meg: I had always wanted to write. I thought writers lived on Mt Olympus with all the other gods. I didn’t think ordinary people like me could do it. The Writer magazine was my major influence at the beginning. When I started writing novels in 1975, I wrote romantic suspense because I loved everything Mary Stewart did. Nowadays I’d say the only influence I feel from other writers is to try to be as good as they are.

Ayo: What made you decide to write a mystery series set in a country and western nightclub on the San Francisco Peninsula?
Meg: I was looking for an idea for a mystery series when there was an earthquake in the San Francisco area. One of my daughter’s friends had a big trench open up in his front yard. When I saw it, I imagined the skeleton of a foot sticking out of it. The same week, my daughter took Jim and me to The Saddle Rack, a country western nightclub on the San Francisco Peninsula, and I was introduced to line dancing for the first time. I loved it. Charlie Plato was born!

Ayo: What do you think of the state of crime fiction and mystery writing today? Meg: Well, it’s certainly popular, and there seem to be a huge amount of novels being published in the genre, some great, some not so good. It’s a lot of competition, though I’ve never worried about that, I just do m thing and hope for the best. But the large number of books means a short shelf life for all except the blockbusters, and that’s regrettable. When I started out, my books would hang around in bookstores for a long time, now they stay a month if they are lucky, except in the mystery bookstores. I do love that there is so much choice within the genre.

Ayo: Have we seen the last of Charlie Plato and CHAPS? Or is there any possibility that there will be a sixth book?

Meg: I honestly don’t know. I’m hoping to have time to prepare a proposal to send to a new publisher. I do have a synopsis and a few chapters written for a sixth book. So far I’ve been too busy writing other stuff – a couple of short stories for anthologies, and a suspense novel for Berkley. If the suspense novel does well there might be a chance for Charlie. But with the demise of Walker’s mystery fiction line and the dropping of other mystery series and the general attitude of publishers toward series that are not NY Times bestsellers, my agent doesn’t hold out much hope. I just wish I’d had some warning so that I could have tied up some of the loose ends in the fifth book. I get a lot of email asking about Charlie and Zack. I really miss them.

Ayo: Part and parcel of being a crime writer is the camaraderie that is found amongst crime writers. Do you enjoy being part of the mystery community and the accompanying events e.g. attending conferences and book signings? Which conferences do you always try to attend and why?
Meg: I adore the mystery community. Right from the start everyone in it has been wonderful to me – that includes the writers, the readers, the librarians, the booksellers! I’ve described to DorothyL since 1995 and have always Plus, I’ve made some of the best friends of my life through that list, along with subsequent meetings at conventions. Books signings are questionable. I’m doing less than I used to, and mostly I just do the independent mystery bookstores. I do love conventions. I call myself a convention slut! I live in a resort area where there is no bookstore, and not many people to talk books with. So I get my fix by going to conventions. My favourites are Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic and Bouchercon, but I often attend smaller conventions. This year I went to Murder in the Magic City in Birmingham Alabama and I am going to Sleuthfest in Florida in March.

Ayo: What part of writing do you enjoy the most?
Meg: I’m crazy enough to actually enjoy writing. But I really love doing the research and doing the revision. Once it’s all in the computer it’s so much fun to keep trying to improve it, and such a thrill when I feel that I might have done so.

Ayo: What is your biggest distraction when you are writing?
Meg: Getting ready to go to a convention. Family occasions. I have five little grandchildren and I adore all of them. Three live a couple of hours drive away, the other two are three hours away, so it’s a full day or two when I visit them. And if the sun really shines I am tempted to go to the beach. The Pacific Ocean is almost at the end of my street.

Ayo: What do you consider the most important element for you when you are writing your novels?
Meg: I want the characters to come up off the “page” and into the reader’s mind and heart and memory. And I want my research to be as accurate as I can make it, so I consult with experts.

Ayo: What were the last five books that you read?
Meg: The Life of Riley, by Rhys Bowen. The Bone Vault, by Linda Fairstein. Nine by Jan Burke. Blues in the Night by Rochelle Krich and Die Trying by Lee Child.

Ayo: What are you working on now?
Meg: Oh, I’m so glad you asked. More Than You Know. A standalone suspense novel for Berkley. It’s due out in September. It may be marketed as romantic suspense, but it’s really a mystery with a little sex in it! It takes place mainly in the Pacific Northwest and features a male FBI agent and a woman whose husband has disappeared. I also have a couple of short stories coming out in anthologies soon!

Ayo: I know that you are an avid shopper, but what do you enjoy doing (apart from shopping) when you are not writing?
Meg: Being with my family, going to the beach, travelling. I love travelling—keep wanting to get back to England. I haven’t been since 1992. I always seem to be too busy writing! I don’t have time for hobbies at all. My husband and I love to dance and we do that when we can. Mostly to rock music!

Ayo: In 2000 you won an Anthony Award for your short story Noir Lite. How did it feel to receive such a prestigious award from your peers?
Meg: It felt fabulous! I was amazed when my story was nominated, never expected to win—there are hundreds of short stories published in the mystery genre every year. I was sitting at the Ellery Queen table at the Bouchercon banquet with Janet Hutchings, the editor. I was totally astonished. I had to walk a long way from our table to the front to get the award. Val McDermid, who was toastmaster, said into the microphone, “Trust Meg to milk the applause.” Some of my friends jumped up to hug me as I went by. It was a wonderful moment.

Ayo: Finally, if you were hosting a dinner party and could invite five-crime fiction characters (dead or alive) whom would they be and why?
Meg: Well, I’d rather they were alive! Rhys Bowen’s Constable Evans; Dale Furutani’s Samurai, Matsuyama Kaze; Lee Child’s Jack Reacher; and I guess I ought to invite at least one woman at least—that would be Linda Fairstein’s Alexandra Cooper. Oh, and dear Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks. (I can think of a lot more female characters whose company I would enjoy, but you limited me to five people and these would be my five current favourites).

Mystery books by Meg Chittenden:

Dying to Sing
Dead Men Don’t Dance
Dead Beat and Deadly
Don’t Forget to Die

Dying to See You Further information about Meg Chittenden, what she is doing and where she is going to be, can be found on her website – http://www.mchittenden.com