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| Why Legal Mysteries? |
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(This essay was written for the April, 2000 issue of the Mystery Readers Journal) |
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Everyone has heard the old adage that writers should stick to subjects that they know. Since
I happen to be a woman lawyer living in Wisconsin, it is not too much of a
stretch for me to write mysteries featuring heroines who are Midwestern
women lawyers.
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My heroines and I share some characteristics. We are all single and
independent. We do not suffer fools gladly. We love to shop and we love
cats. But I will be the first to admit that my characters are not my alter
egos. Their lives are far more exciting than mine and they are much cooler
under pressure and much braver than I could ever hope to be.
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I started writing short stories for my own amusement at age nine. It never
occurred to me to try to sell my work until the late l980’s when I was a
recent law school graduate. I was working as an associate at a large law
firm and became friends with a paralegal who had grown up in New York City
and had a degree in literature. She, too, had always enjoyed writing and
had long harbored fantasies about penning a novel. She considered the task
too daunting to undertake alone and talked me into collaborating with her.
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Scott Turow’s first book, Presumed Innocent, had just been released and
L.A. Law was drawing huge television audiences so my friend and I
figured the time was right for the public to embrace our sprawling legal
mystery/drama which we titled Litigation. (In hindsight we should
have realized that a book with a title that sounded like a law school text
was probably not going to be a big seller.)
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To cut to the chase, we finished the book but no one wanted to buy it. I was
disappointed but not totally surprised and chalked the whole episode up as
an interesting experience. But after several years went by, I found myself
beginning to get the itch to write another book, this time a solo effort.
By this time I had left private practice and taken a position as a
Wisconsin Supreme Court Commissioner, an interesting job that enables me
to keep normal office hours and return home at the end of the day
possessing enough mental energy to do creative thinking and writing.
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My first novel, Acts & Omissions, was published by PenguinPutnam
as a paperback original in late 1994. The book is set in Chicago and
features a dual - and eventually intertwining - plot line of Chicago
police tracking a serial killer and a spunky woman lawyer trying to earn
partnership at her firm by successfully trying a complex case against an
arrogant male attorney.
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After a hiatus due largely to my wonderful agent going out of business and my
having to find a replacement, my second novel, With Intent to Kill,
was published in the fall of 1998. This book is set in suburban Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and features a female assistant district attorney who is
assigned to prosecute a high profile murder case. (My books are not a
series and each one has a new cast of characters.)
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My third mystery, Absent Witness, was released in the fall of 1999. It
is set in Chicago and this time the heroine is hired by the family of a
comatose young woman who mysteriously becomes pregnant while in the care
of a prestigious hospital.
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I have just completed work on my fourth book, Prejudicial Error. No
release date has yet been set. This mystery is set in my home town of
Madison, Wisconsin and features an intrepid heroine filing a civil suit
against two defendants who were recently acquitted of a hate crime.
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Most lawyers write for a living and I am no exception. People often ask me why
I would choose writing fiction as a hobby when I spend the majority of
each work day writing about real life legal cases. I think there are a
couple of answers.
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First, I truly enjoy the process of writing. I love thinking up plot lines and
figuring out who does what to whom. I love words. I relish creating scenes
that transport the reader into the heart of the action. Writing real life
legal briefs, memoranda, etc. might give a person a feeling of
satisfaction but I have never heard a lawyer say, “Gee, drafting that
complex trust agreement was really a blast! I think I’ll start on
another one right away!” I can’t speak for others, but this lawyer
finds writing legal mysteries to be just plain fun.
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The second reason I write legal mysteries is that there is perhaps just a
touch of Walter Mitty in me. One of the things I enjoy most about writing
fiction is that I can create my own little universe, fill it with
characters of my choosing, and then manipulate those characters into doing
and saying whatever I want. What a tremendous feeling of power this gives
me. If only the real world could be that simple!
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