Literary Spotlight: Robin Hathaway

Robin Hathaway is the author of two mystery series. When the “Agatha Award” winner isn't writing, she is a free lance editor, teaches mystery writing and lectures on the mystery novel at schools and libraries. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Death Knell.

Q: You didn’t begin writing until you were fifty. What was the impetus that got you started? What can would-be writers take from your experience as a late bloomer?

A: I was ten when I decided I wanted to be a writer. I was reading an Agatha Christie book and wanted to write just like her. In college, I took every writing course offered and wrote oodles of depressing short stories that were never published. Time passed. I married, had two daughters and operated a graphic arts business called “Barnhouse Press.” (There was a press in the barn and one in the house.) On my fiftieth birthday, my husband said, “You always wanted to write a novel. Don’t you think it’s time you started?”

I wrote three novels in three years, featuring Dr. Andrew Fenimore, a cardiologist patterned after my husband. I was enjoying myself thoroughly until my husband spoiled it all by saying, “Don’t you think it’s time you sent them out?” Thus began the rejection years. By the time I was sixty, I was ready to give up. But someone suggested I enter a contest sponsored by St. Martin’s Press. "The Malice Domestic Contest for Best Traditional Mystery" (The name is almost a novel in itself!) Miraculously, I won! The prize was the publication of my novel, “The Doctor Digs A Grave.” The next year (1998) this same novel won “The Agatha Award.” My dream had come true!

Q: It took you ten years to get the eye of a publisher. How important is perseverance when it comes to finding a publisher? What should a writer do while waiting for an acceptance?

A: Perseverance is half the battle. Hang in there! And while you’re waiting to be published, keep writing. Also, be sure to join some writers' organizations. I joined Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, where I met other writers, agents and editors and I heard experts speak on everything from forensics to drug dealing, crime scenes to marketing your book. Two things to remember: 1. It’s never too late to start. 2. Never give up!

Q: Mystery novels are one of the most popular genres in today’s marketplace. Why do you think this is so?

A: I think the mystery is popular because it usually ends with a satisfying solution. In real life, so many problems don’t get solved, we crave to escape to a more orderly world where problems are answered and there are fewer loose ends.

Q: Why are your books set in the Philadelphia area?

A: I write about Philadelphia because I grew up there and I know it well. The city is so rich in historic lore and has so many unique characters to draw on. I decided to set my Jo Bank’s series in south Jersey because it is beautiful and has a fascinating history. Lenni Lenape artifacts may still be found there and some of the inhabitants are direct descendants of the original settlers from the early 1700s. Also, it is the home of the Jersey Devil, who I saw once. Honest!

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.