Interview with Steve Hamilton (July 2003)
Author of Blood Is the Sky (2003)
July 2, 2003
Steve Hamilton is the only author to ever win the Shamus and Edgar Awards for his first novel (A Cold Day in Paradise). His second Alex McKnight novel, Winter of the Wolf Moon, was named one of the year's Notable Books by the New York Times Book Review and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, as did his third and fourth novels, The Hunting Wind and North of Nowhere. Hamilton currently works for IBM in upstate New York where he lives with his wife Julia and their two children.
Q. What made you decide to start writing mysteries?
A. I've wanted to write mysteries since I was a little kid, no joke. I even sent a short story to Ellery Queen when I was twelve years old. (Got back the "No, thank you" card.) A couple of years ago, the current editor asked me to send them a story so I did make it into the magazine -- it was like closing a loop from thirty years ago.
Q. Is Paradise, Michigan a real town? If so, how did you discover it?
A. It's most definitely a real place, and just like in the books, there are two roads that come together with a blinking light. You have to drive a long time just to get there. Having been up in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) many times, it just seemed like the most out of the way place I could imagine. So when Alex is sort of hiding out from life in the first book, that seemed like the perfect place for him to be. (There is no real Glasgow Inn, though! I just had to have a Scottish pub up there, someplace where Alex could hang out every night with his feet up by the fire?)
Q. Alex McKnight seems to be such a lonely soul, a point that his good friend Vinnie LeBlanc makes a couple of times in Blood Is the Sky. Is there hope that Alex might find some comfort in the future? Or would that take away his necessary edge?
A. Maybe not comfort, but he is trying to rejoin the human race a little bit. He's even in a relationship in the next book. That'll be a big, big change for him. And if he'll go out and get his ass kicked for a friend, imagine what he'll do for a woman he really cares about?
Q. Your books always have a strong sense of place in them. Part of the joy of reading them is exploring the locations. You must know Michigan's Upper Peninsula very well.
A. Growing up in the Detroit area, we'd go "Up North" (as they say in Michigan) every summer. It's such a great place and, in a country that's all starting to look alike, the U.P. is still totally unique. I still get back up there every year, and ironically I'm getting to know the U.P. even better now, even though I live in New York now.
Q. It's refreshing to see American Indian characters play such an important part in your books. Is that an deliberate thing for you or just part of the territory?
A. It's a little of both, I guess. Mostly, I just wanted to make sure that I got all of the cultural details right, and that I did everything in a totally respectful way. I can't tell a story from an Ojibwa's point of view -- it's not something I have any authority to do -- but I can tell a story from Alex's point of view, who is close to Vinnie LeBlanc, but at the end of the day still somewhat of an outsider. The Ojibwa members I've talked to are all very positive on the books, so I think I'm doing okay.
Q. Do you read reviews of your books?
A. Early on, I sort of had a gut feeling that I'd be better off totally ignoring reviews. That was a little unrealistic (okay, a lot unrealistic), but I still try to keep them at arm's length as much as possible. Really, what possible good can reviews, positive or negative, do for your writing?
Q. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
A. Listen to your characters. Respect them and let them tell the story. Stay off the page yourself. As a reader, as soon as I "hear" you writing, everything starts to fall apart.
Q. What are your thoughts about Hollywood adapting your books?
A. I've heard from several writers already that the absolute best thing that can happen in Hollywood is that they pay you a lot of money and then do not make the movie. The writers who have told me this are dead serious about that, which says something important, I think. I've also seen another writer go through the whole process -- producer lined up, lead actor lined up, just about everything -- only to see the whole thing go down the tubes in one afternoon. Watching that was a good lesson for me. Work on the next book and don't even think about that stuff. It'll drive you crazy.
Q. What excites or distresses you about the mystery genre today?
A. There are so many great writers who happen to be working crime fiction right now. It's the best place to be, I think. That's certainly the biggest positive thing. The negative? Heck, anything I say is gonna be a nit, really. Too many books published every year? Lack of respect for the genre in some circles? (Sorry, that one's laughable.) Everything's been going so great, the only negative thing I can think of is that hardly any of the mystery writers these days are good golfers. I can't even get a foursome together for Bouchercon in Las Vegas.
Q. What's the last book you read?
A. Beneath the Underdog, by Charles Mingus (the great jazz bass player and composer). It's a totally wild autobiography. Come to think of it, there are some good parallels between jazz music and crime fiction. Mingus was so well grounded in the American jazz tradition, yet at the same time so radical and original. Here's a great quote from him, which I think applies beautifully to writing:
"Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can play weird -- that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple complicated is commonplace -- making the complicated simple, awesomely simple -- that's creativity."
Q. What's next for you?
A. The next McKnight book is almost done. I've got to finish that and then maybe (maybe!) it might be time for something a little different. Not because it's the thing to do these days -- you know, going for the big standalone thriller -- but just because I think Alex himself might need a little rest. I'm sure I'll always come back to him, though. I can't imagine not spending time up there, seeing what kind of trouble he'll get dragged into next.
Read our review of Blood Is the Sky
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Interviews | Permalink
