Stella Duffy is extremely multi-talented author. She is a playwright, comedienne, teacher, an occasional radio presenter, actor and improviser and a member of the BBC Radio sitcom Losers. She has had published feature articles for Elle, Marie Claire, the Independent and the Guardian. She also writes for the radio and theatre. Her work has been published in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Russia. Born in London, she grew up in New Zealand and is the youngest of seven children. She currently lives south of the river with her partner, the playwright Shelley Silas.
Ayo: What was the very first mystery fiction book that you read,
and who introduced you to the genre?
Stella: I read Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Missing Emeralds
when I was about 7. ‘Feisty’ heroine not saved by boys, doing big strong and
often naughty things. I think maybe it was a second hand book from my cousin
Ayo: What made you decide to write mystery fiction?
Stella: Having nothing else to do, being a not much employed actor
and having had an argument with my partner, I wrote the first chapter of Calendar
Girl. Though it contained a dead body I NEVER thought the book was a crime
novel. I thought it was a love story gone wrong. Of course it was a crime
novel & was sold as such!
Ayo: Who were your influences when you decided to start writing in general
and what books also influenced you?
Stella Very little crime, as I’d read hardly any. Most of the main women writers
of the last 40 years though – Margaret Atwood, Marge Piercy, Janet Frame,
Jeanette Winterson. Plus some great men – Russell Hoban, Anthony Burgess.
And poets – Elliot, William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens. And Shakespeare!!
.
Ayo: Do you believe that crime fiction by women is given enough recognition?
Stella: Well, it gets more attention than fiction by women in general. Check
out the literary pages of the main newspapers – men reviewers primarily read
men, prefer men (we know this to be true of men readers everywhere sadly)
women reviewers read and review men and women. Do the maths: that means women
get less attention. A depressing but valuable exercise: count how many ‘literary’
books are reviewed each week – and don’t be surprised when you see so many
more reviewed books are written by men than women.
Ayo What other books do you enjoy reading?
Stella: Book. Any. Whatever. Ayo: Part and parcel of being a crime
writer is the camaraderie that goes with it. Do you enjoy attending conferences
and book signings? Stella: I love it. I like to perform. I like to play. I
find crime writers WAY friendlier (in general) than any other writers.
Ayo: What made you decide to write a series?
Stella: Publishers wanted a second book! Then when I’d done it, I realised
I wanted to keep going with those characters.
Ayo: So what next for Saz Martin? Is there another Saz Martin in the wings?
Stella: There’s the possibility of another Saz. But it may not have
Saz in it…
Ayo: You have written three standalone books – Eating Cake, Immaculate
Conceit, and Singling Out the Couples where did the ideas for these books
come from?
Stella: Thoughts, desires, and any old thing that struck my fancy,
just as with the Saz books. I really don’t think there’s any difference between
crime and non –crime for me. Just the next thing I want to do. Though the
idea for Immaculate Conceit came from me being a 14 year old Catholic girl
& being told that Mary was 14 when she had Jesus & me thinking if Icame to
school & told you I was pregnant with the messiah they’d 1) call me a lying
slut & 2) lock me away in a madhouse!!
Ayo: What Part of writing do you enjoy most?
Stella: Having Written! Ayo: What is your biggest distraction when
you are writing? Stella: Emails.
Ayo: Are there any topics you would not write about in your books? If
there are why not?
Stella: Don’t think so. Though I think child abuse as an excuse or
a reason for someone to ‘turn bad’ has been done to death and is consequently
very boring. Also a little false: while we know there are plenty of people
who were abused as children who go on to abuse, there are also plenty of people
who were abused as kids who go on to NOT abuse. To live ordinary, quiet lives.
They just don’t make such good subjects!
Ayo: Do you have any foibles when you are writing?
Stella: Ah – no.
Ayo: Once you have finished writing a novel do you have any problem letting
go of the characters?
Stella: Hell no. I made them up. They categorically DO NOT take on
a life of their own!!! I hate that concept. I do get sad when I know I’m heading
toward the end of a book though. and I know I’m finished when I start crying.
Sad book or not, it’s the last chapter when I start crying!
Ayo: Is there any chance that we might see any of the Saz Martin books
on television or made into films?
Stella: Your guess is as good as mine is. I’d be very happy for it
to happen. Singling Out The Couples has been movie-optioned and Immaculate
Conceit is being made into a play by the National Youth Theatre, but no Saz
as yet. Nearly often, but that lesbian thing (where she just is and it isn’t
a big deal) seems to be a sticking point for most types!!
Ayo: Out of all of your books which is your favourite and why?
Stella: The last one I’ve just finished. It’s always the last one I’ve
just finished. Though of my crime books I (think) I most like Wavewalker -
I think it’s got the most interesting characters in it.
Ayo: How would you describe your books to a novice reader?
Stella: Too hard. By me? Sometimes funny, sometimes nasty, with a bit
of nice love and a bit of nastiness and some violence and – hopefully – some
idea that truth is valuable even if there are no happy endings. Not really.
Not ever.
Ayo: You belong to a group called Tart Noir. How was the group set up
and what exactly do you do. Bearing in mind the fact that some of the members
live mainly in the United States how often do you manage to meet?
Stella: You need to ask Lauren Henderson or look at the intro to Tart
Noir or the website (http://www.tartcity.com) for this, as I wasn’t there!
Lauren & Sparkle started it, Katy Munger joined in & Beth as webmistress,
several others, Lauren asked me to be part of it too. We don’t meet except
when we’re (rarely) in the same country. We email!
Ayo: What effect has being a member of Tart Noir had on you and your writing?
Stella: Strength in numbers. Ayo: The Tart Noir Anthology has recently
been published for which you are co-editor along with fellow Tart Noir member
Lauren Henderson and it contains some of the best stories written by women
for ages. Who thought up the idea for the anthology and did you enjoy editing
it? Stella: Lauren & I, at a launch party for another crime anthology (which
had the usual crime anthology ratio of 15 men to 5 women – and no-one even
seemed to notice that but us!!!) thought it might be worth trying to collect
stories by women. Maybe an anthology that had 15 women and 5 men (rightly
assuming that would be noticed!! Hell, that’s considered a feminist statement!!)
or an anthology of just women. Then there were so many women that we didn’t
need any men. We might do another one though – with a few men too!! And yes,
editing it was in one way (administratively) way harder work than I’d ever
imagined, in another way (because Lauren & I agree on almost every point all
the time!!) ever so easy. And enjoyable too.
Ayo: What were the last five books that you read?
Stella: Birmingham Noir (sort stories, Tindall Street Press, yet to
be published); I, Lucifer (Glenn Duncan); White Mice (Nicholas Blincoe); Walking
The Lions (Stephen Burgen); Mr Clive & Mr Page (Neil Bartlett) – fancy that,
mostly men!! Not usual for me – but an honest answer!
Ayo: You are a woman of many talents? A comedienne, a teacher, an occasional
radio presenter and a playwright amongst your repertoire. How do you manage
to juggle all these?
Stella: Say yes too often and no not enough. Be too busy, get too tired. Basically
though, I much prefer the diversity of doing lots of things. Though I do find
myself yearning for whole weeks with nothing else to do but sit at my computer
– that’s a very rare thing though.
Ayo: Do you still do work with the comedy company Spontaneous Combustion
and when next may we next expect to see you in a show in London?
Stella: Yes I still work with SC. We do bits of corporate work & writing work.
I’ll be recording a second series of the radio sitcom Losers (written by two
other members of SC) later this year, tickets available from BBC!! And I’ll
be performing in Improbable Theatre’s Lifegame at the Brisbane Festival in
September … if anyone’s there…
Ayo: What is your work schedule normally like?
Stella: Assuming I have a day where all I’m doing is writing – Morning; ‘business’
stuff like this questionnaire or some publicity things or answering emails,
paying bills, talking to work people on phone (only if I have to, I hate the
phone!) and some editing. Afternoon: especially from 3-7pm, my best time for
‘proper’ (ie-new) writing.
Ayo: What advice would you give a new author just starting out?
Stella: Keep going. Don’t bother making your first 3 chapters perfect. Finish
the book & then you might not even need your first 3 chapters!! Just get on
with it – writers’ block is just another way of saying you’re scared or bored.
Ayo: You have also contributed to a non-fiction book on crime fiction-
A career in Crime which was first published in 1999, but which was re-published
in 2000 as They Wrote the Book: Thirteen Women Mystery Writers tell all. How
did you become involved in this?
Stella: I was asked to!! I get asked to do lots of things. I mostly say yes.
I still get surprised that people think my opinion is of value so I’m always
so flattered I have to say yes!!!
Ayo: What are you working on now?
Stella: Editing a new novel, which I’ve been writing for two years. Virago
is publishing it as part of a two-book deal. Ayo: How did you feel about being
put on the cover of your books? Stella: Some of the covers I liked, Some not.
It was an interesting experience.
Ayo: Who normally gets to read the first draft of your books?
Stella: Me. My agent. Mt partner Shelley. (though she’s not reading the latest
one until it’s published, she’s way too busy!)
Ayo: How did you become involved in Rogues and Vagabonds and who thought
up the concept?
Stella: Martyn Waites & I have performed several times together at various
crime & publishing events. I know Mark Billingham from years ago on the comedy
circuit – I wasn’t there but I gather the others, or some of them, thought
it might be a good idea to do something more formal – and I was asked to be
part of it. (See above – I said yes!)
Ayo: If you were hosting a dinner party and you could invite five-crime,
fiction characters whom would they be and why?
Stella: Trixie Belden because she was my first. Lady Macbeth – clearly a brilliant
crime fiction character and I reckon she’d be a great storyteller. Judas (as
above). Phillip Marlowe – to see if Bogart got it right. Actually I think
that’s plenty & anyone else would unbalance the table!! But there are two
others I‘d like to have so we can all tell them where to go: Kay Scarpetta
so we can tell her to stop being such an anally retentive, mad, right wing
fascist & whoever that posh bloke Ngaio Marsh wrote – can’t remember his name
– have wiped it from my memory – who for his patronizing, rude, arrogant manner
towards Maori (and anyone else not middle class) in her books deserves a good
kicking. And I don’t care if he was a product of his time, plenty of other
people at that time knew better.
Ayo Thanks Stella, for taking the time to talk to us.
Books by Stella Duffy:-
Saz Martin series: –
Calender Girl
Wavewalker
Beneath the Blonde
Eating Cake
Non crime books:-
Singling Out the Couples
Eating Cake
Immaculate Conceit
Other work:– Contributor to They Wrote the Book: Thirteen
Women Mystery Writers tell all.
Joint Editor – Tart Noir Anthology (2002)
Further information about Stella Duffy and what she is doing
can be found on the excellent Tart Noir website – http://www.tartcity.com