Volume 3, Issue 6 – December, 2000

Earlene Fowler: Down-home Murder

Titled after traditional quilt patterns, each book of Earlene Fowler’s mystery series offers country charm while inviting readers to visit with old friend Albenia “Bennie” Harper. The serene background of quilts and country enfolds each novel set in Fowler’s wholesome San Celina, Calif.

In her mysteries, Fowler shares secrets of the past and future, combining the strength and work ethic of ranchers and farmers with the vision and creativity of entrepreneurs and artists. Readers share greasy food at the diner with Bennie or stroll through the folk art museum where she works as director. They meet her extended family and circle of friends, her past and present husbands (Jack and Gabe) and how she deals with widowhood, new relationships and, of course, murder.

Crescent Blues: You’ve been called the Susan Lucci of traditional mysteries, but Mariner’s Compass took home the Agatha Award for Best Mystery of 1999, the most coveted award for writers working in traditional mysteries. What do you think made Mariner’s Compass so special for the voters?

Earlene Fowler: The Susan Lucci nickname was actually quite flattering considering she was nominated 19 times for best actress. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait that long!

Mariner’s Compass was a special book for me because the book’s whole premise was outside the traditional confines of a murder mystery. For one, there is no actual murder and two, because of the prologue. The prologue is written from my protagonist Benni’s point-of-view when she is 75. She is in her middle thirties in the series. I allowed the reader a peek into the future to see what happens to her and Gabe, to show what type of woman she becomes.

I have received a lot of positive response about the prologue. It was really a gift to my readers, to set their minds at ease and also a creative stretch for me as a writer. The first stories I attempted twenty years ago when I started writing were mainstream and literary pieces where human emotions and relationships are the center of the plot, and I think my mysteries reflect that early influence, Mariner’s Compass most of all. In my books, the crime is always there, but often more in the background, a part of the character’s lives, not the center of it.

I’ve been told by fans that my books read easily, but then they can’t forget about them and feel compelled to reread them. That touches me deeply. Telling an author you reread her books is the highest compliment imaginable.

Mariner’s Compass represents a departure from earlier books in the Benni Harper series in more than just the prologue. How long had these developments been in the works? How will they affect future books in the series?

Earlene Fowler: I must confess that I am not organized enough to plan much of anything ahead in my books. Most of the time I don’t even know what’s going to happen the next day with my work in progress, though, perhaps, unconsciously I might have an idea. So, obviously, I do not outline. I do think about themes though, in a vague sort of way.

During the writing of Irish Chain my mother died. She was a very private, unknowable person and I knew when she died that some important family secrets died with her. She was from the backwoods of Arkansas where people did not express their emotions openly and many things were traditionally kept hidden, especially family scandals. I knew I wanted to write about mothers and secrets, but it took me four years before I could emotionally attempt it.

The prologue in Mariner’s Compass just came to me one day. I’d been thinking about how sad it would be for me if I ever had to stop writing the series, how attached I’d become to the characters. I wanted to assure myself, as well as my readers, that Benni and Gabe would be okay. The prologue also gave me a chance to reveal some of my own philosophy and beliefs. As for future books, I will continue to strive for the uncommon. If I can, besides entertaining them, I want to give my readers a unique experience.

In your latest mystery, Seven Sisters, a historical mystery plays a key role in the solution of the current crime. How do you view the relationship of the past to the present?

Our waltz with the past is, without a doubt, one we never stop dancing. The problem is the steps are always changing, and we don’t always have control over the music. Other people’s choices and actions affect our history and therefore our future. That is a common theme for all human beings. So it makes sense that it would be a common theme in serious fiction, that is, fiction that is written for more than just escapism. It has been a theme throughout my series because I’m so interested in how the past affects who we are and how we react to life.

I try to layer my stories so that the main plot, that of the mystery, coincides with something in the minor plot, and those things usually include something from the past. Benni’s past — especially her marriage to her first husband, Jack — colors everything she does and feels. Gabe’s past, a somewhat more mysterious one that I’ll address in future books, definitely affects his life and feelings.

When two people with such different pasts collide, you’re going to have conflict. The fact that Benni and Gabe started their relationship in the middle of their lives rather than at the beginning demands that the past be a big part of the present. Books where the history of the characters isn’t woven into the story read like elaborate short stories to me rather than novels. Short stories are wonderful for showing the reader a glimpse into someone’s life, but when I read a novel I want to feel like I know the characters by the end of it and that demands that some intimate parts of their pasts be revealed.

How does your use of the past relate to your use of quilts as a theme for the series?

Quilts are a theme only in that the titles of my books are quilt patterns and sometimes I use them in the context of the stories because of Benni’s job as curator of a folk art museum. I never intended it to be a marketing strategy, as many of the quilt fiction books are these days, though, of course, both my publisher and I have taken advantage of the connection. I initially used quilt patterns as titles because they were so evocative and they suggested stories to me much like an overheard stranger’s conversation or a partial family story does.

I have thought and spoke about how much making a quilt and writing a novel are very much the same physical and creative process. A quilter takes scraps of fabric and rearranges them into a new pattern, then stitches them together in a whole piece. Every quilt tells an unspoken story about the quilter and people the quilter knows. Writers perform a similar task taking pieces of family history, people we’ve met, things we’ve read and heard, half-truths and out-and-out lies and turn them into stories, which also reveal something about the writer and the people she has encountered.

What prompted you to use quilts as a focus for your series? How has the way you’ve used quilts in the series changed since you started recording Benni’s adventures?

I initially decided to use quilts as titles because in the first book there is a quilt show going on at the folk art museum. The original title for Fool’s Puzzle was Drunkard’s Path, which if you’ve read the book, is a marvelous metaphor for the story. It was changed because of my publisher’s marketing department. They just didn’t like the title even though they loved the idea of a series named after quilts. I didn’t have enough power to fight them and have always felt sad that my initial title wasn’t used.

As for how they’ve changed since I started the series, I’d say they’ve stayed the same, a part of the story and of Benni’s life, but not the main theme. To my delight, my publisher hasn’t changed a title since that first one. As I said before, the titles were never intended to be a marketing ploy so there’s only one book, Kansas Troubles, where the clue is actually in a quilt. I wanted to try that once, just to see if I could do it in a convincing way, but I have never intended on using the quilt theme in any way but metaphorically.

Getting back to Mariner’s Compass, could you, please, tell your readers a little something about Electric Quilt?

Electric Quilt is a quilt design program for computers. You can actually see what your finished quilt will look like before it’s done. I became involved with Electric Quilt through a fan who is now one of my best friends and also my webmaster.

Tina Davis wrote me an email five years ago telling me that my books helped her get through some cancer treatments. It was such a touching letter because it was the first time I truly realized how personal the relationship is between an author and a reader. It made me think of all the times authors have shared both good and hard times with me. Her letter started an email friendship between us and after a couple of years she asked if she could make me a quilt incorporating my first six book titles. She’s a fabulous quilter and quilting teacher.

Tina used Electric Quilt to design the quilt which now hangs in my living room over the sofa. I actually received the quilt before I met her in person. The quilt (and its twin — she made one exactly like it for herself) has taken on a life of its own. It’s been in Quilter’s Newsletter magazine, featured in Electric Quilt‘s newsletter and Web site, was the focal point (along with our friendship) for a segment of Simply Quilts television show on HGTV, exhibited in a quilting museum in Golden, Colo., and is the highlight of a talk I give about quilting and writing. It’s a very special connection between Tina and me. I even made her and her husband, Tom, characters in Mariner’s Compass. She owns a fictional quilt store, of course!

At times, Albenia “Benni” Harper seems like a compendium of contradictions. How do you integrate the various facets of her character? And how much do you feel Benni’s virtues and foibles reflect your own?

That is always one of the first things people want to know, how much of Benni is me. Physically, we’re similar but our backgrounds have places that are very different. We both were raised by Southern women and have a tendency to make smart aleck remarks before thinking. We’re both extremely curious people and we hate wearing dresses.

On the other hand, she grew up on a ranch outside of a small town, is an only child, lost her mother when she was six, went to a local college straight from high school. In my case I’m the second of four girls, grew up in a primarily Hispanic suburb outside of Los Angeles, lost my mother at 38, left home at 18 to work in downtown Los Angeles and have taken only a few college classes. Therefore, I have to be careful not to have her feel things or know things not consistent with her background as well as do a lot of research about how rural women feel and react.

Luckily, I have had two grandmothers, a mother and a mother-in-law who were all raised on farms. Benni’s philosophy is similar to mine though she came to it from a different path. Also, she’s younger than me, so I have to keep in mind how I felt and reacted at 36 as compared to how I am now at 46. We have the same sense of humor simply because I think that’s an almost impossible thing for a writer to fake. One incident where I had to remember we weren’t alike was in Mariner’s Compass where I had her drive through Los Angeles. I had to make her nervous about it as many native Central Coasters are. I have been driving L.A. freeways since I was 16 so they don’t faze me at all.

From the beginning, the Benni Harper series has reflected strong traditional values. For example, you chose not to let Benni and Gabe Ortiz consummate their love until after marriage. What prompted you to choose this path for your characters?

As with all authors, my personal beliefs definitely affect what I write, though I work hard at not being preachy. I am a Christian who believes sex ideally belongs in a married relationship. I say ideally because I’m also realistic. Not every person who has sex in my books is going to be married because that just doesn’t reflect reality. But for my main characters, I wanted to show an ideal, though their relationship, both sexual and emotional, is often very rocky which is another reality of life.

Benni and Gabe’s physical love life is a reflection of who they are, who they were and who they are going to be. I don’t put love scenes in just for the heck of it. They must have some integral part to the story, which is why their love scenes aren’t always pretty or cute. A good example is the love scene in Goose in the Pond. Sex is an incredibly complex issue that I don’t feel should be trivialized as it is in a lot of fiction.

Do you feel you direct the actions of your characters or are your characters driving you?

At the beginning of the series, I definitely felt more in control, which still surprises me. The more books I write about Benni and Gabe, the less control I seem to have over what they say and do. Maybe it’s because they have become fuller characters, more “real” with each book. So now I really have to pay attention to what they are telling me. And with each book, circumstances happen to my characters that would change them if they were real people, so I try to allow that show in their actions.

Have you experienced any unusual challenges as a result of attempting a fictional blended family composed of such disparate elements of California culture? How much do you feel Benni and Gabe’s relationship reflects today’s California?

I think blended families of all kinds are a permanent part of our society in a way they’ve never been before in American history. And California is one of the states in the forefront of that change with the blending of not only step-families but step-families consisting of more than one culture. It’s not easy (and often impossible) getting along with people who share your background and culture, so trying to see another culture’s point of view is a real challenge.

Since I grew up in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood, I am comfortable with that culture, but I’m always aware that it is a different culture. I tried to reflect some of Benni’s difficulty in understanding another culture in Mariner’s Compass when she thought her problems with Gabe had only to do with him being a police officer (which is another culture in and of itself). Her Hispanic neighbor, Rich, gently pointed out how Gabe’s Mexican background affected how he treated her as much as his police background.

I’m trying to be sensitive in how I portray cultures other than my own, to portray them realistically, but also change some of the falsehoods that have been perpetuated about them. I’ve been told by many of my female Hispanic fans (and also by police officer’s wives) that I’ve gotten [Gabe’s] character down perfectly. Since my husband is neither Hispanic nor a police officer, I consider their approval a wonderful compliment. I have a great deal of respect and love for the Hispanic culture, as well as for police officers, and it’s important to me to reflect that in my writing.

Are Gabriel, Gramma Dove or any of your other major characters based on real people? If so, could you tell us something about their models and what prompted you to weave them into the series?

Gabe’s part Hispanic, part Anglo background was created because two of my nieces are bi-cultural. Their mother was a friend of mine when I worked in Los Angeles when I was 18. I introduced her to my husband’s brother at my wedding and they were married a year later. I take partial credit for those two girls being born! I’ve been fascinated watching them grow up with a foot in each culture — their Hispanic mother’s in East Los Angeles and their Anglo father’s Kansas-born midwestern family. They truly do represent the reality of many of today’s families and I think, even with the difficulties of being bicultural, it can only be a good thing for our society. I’m very proud of them and, yes, they are gorgeous, just like Gabe!

Gramma Dove is loosely based on four women — my Arkansas gramma, my Kansas gramma, my Arkansas mother and my Kansas mother-in-law. All were rural farm women who grew up in extreme poverty. My Arkansas grandma was a sharecropper’s wife; my Kansas grandma was a migrant worker for a good part of her early adulthood. Their tenacity and toughness were definitely used in creating Dove. Dove is a gentler, more loving person than any of them though. Poverty, unlike a lot of fiction written by people who’ve never experienced it, is not often an ennobling thing. It more often causes a great deal of anger and bitterness, which I chose not to show in Dove’s character. She is the mother/grandmother I wished I’d had. Writing can often help the writer and also the reader relive things in a different, better way.

The setting of your series, San Celina, Calif., seems like paradise, particularly to those of us preparing for a bone-chilling winter. Was San Celina based on a real town, and if so, can you give us directions?

San Celina is loosely based on San Luis Obispo, a semi-rural college town two hours north of Santa Barbara. I fell in love with the town when my sister lived in the area for eight years. It is a beautiful rural part of California that is rapidly being overtaken by corporate America. Its ranching culture is slowly being sold out to tract housing and box stores. It’s sad, but inevitable, I’m afraid. It’s a Catch-22 situation. People move there to get away from Los Angeles and San Francisco, but by moving up there, they destroy the very thing they moved up there for. I have to say it does have the best weather I’ve ever seen anywhere, which is probably why so many people want to retire there.

What happens next for Benni Harper and Gabe Ortiz? When is the next book scheduled to hit the bookstores?

Arkansas Traveler is my next book and it comes out in April 2001 at the same time Seven Sisters comes out in paperback. In Arkansas Traveler most of the regular characters go back to Sugartree, Ark., a small town fifty miles north of Little Rock. They are attending a church homecoming, which is traditionally a week-long celebration where everyone who was ever a member of the church comes back. Benni and her family get involved in a mayoral race between a racist incumbent mayor and Amen Tolliver, an African-American nurse and childhood friend of Benny and her cousin Emory. Racism and intermarriage are big themes in this book. I’ve always wanted to write a southern novel, and this is my attempt at it.

Could you tell us a little bit about the quilt pattern?

Arkansas Traveler was a difficult pattern to find any history on. Some patterns have very distinct, easily-researched histories, while other have stories that have been lost through time.

Not much is known about the Arkansas Traveler pattern. It is a fairly old pattern most likely dated by quilt historians through its name. “Arkansas Traveler” was a popular folk song and skit during the mid-19th century. The pattern is also known as Secret Drawer, Travel Star, Spools and Cowboy Star. I used this pattern in my book Kansas Troubles so this is the second time it’s turned up in my fiction.

Of all the quilt patterns you’ve seen through the years, do you have any particular favorite?

Just from a visual aspect, I’ve always liked the Schoolhouse pattern. I like the way the simple houses line up neatly across the quilt. I also like Crown of Thorns, both for its beautifully pieced complexity and its spiritual connotations. Broken Star has always intrigued me both as a title and a pattern. I also love Jacob’s Ladder because the pattern, which is supposed to mimic steps to heaven, is so hopeful and because I loved singing that song when I was a girl.

How did you get your start as a published mystery writer?

I wrote short stories for ten years with no publishing success. All the encouragement I received those ten years was one unsigned notation on a rejection letter saying, “Nice moments” and winning third place in a community college poetry contest. When I was 37, I decided to attempt a novel.

I had finished most of the book when I took a novel writing workshop at a local junior college. It was being taught by a sabbatical replacement teacher, a local writer named Jo-Ann Mapson. I turned in my first chapter. She liked it and asked to read the whole manuscript. When she read it she offered to send it to her agent in New York. I sent a short cover letter with my idea for a mystery series with quilt patterns as titles. Her agent accepted me as a client and a couple of weeks later had sold Fool’s Puzzle and two unwritten sequels to Putnam-Berkley for one of the lead titles of their new hardback mystery line, Prime Crime.

It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right book. So much of this business depends on luck, fate, God’s will…whatever you want to call it. It is very arbitrary. I feel extremely fortunate and blessed. I tell aspiring writers to keep honing their skills and not give up, because you don’t know when that moment will present itself. I had no idea when I walked into that junior college classroom that it would change my life.

How have your writing habits or goals changed since your first published book? Is it harder or easier to start a new book these days?

They haven’t changed very much at all. My best writing days are ones when my husband goes off to work and I sit down at my computer. I treat the physical act of writing just like one of the office jobs I held for so many years. I have not allowed myself to become too self-indulgent either physically or emotionally with this often scary and mysterious career of making up stories for the public to read. I think I sensed from the beginning if I really thought about how volatile this industry is, how arbitrary, how vulnerable a writer is when something is sent out there to be judged by everyone, I would scare myself into a writing block.

I don’t find it any harder to start a new book than when I wrote my first one. The biggest difference between writing my first and eighth book is that I understand the process better. I don’t panic as quickly when a few weeks go by when the writing isn’t going well. I know now that there are times like that with every book so I don’t worry quite as much. I actually am excited at the beginning of each book…the possibilities, the hope that this is the one — whatever that means. It’s that thing that all writers strive for, that feeling of discovery that keeps us coming back to the well with our empty buckets.

What I do find harder with each book is the travel, promoting and speaking schedule. It makes it a lot harder to write better books because I seem to have less time each year to actually write. I’m going to work on cutting back on my public schedule because I don’t want my writing to suffer.

The themes of childlessness, barrenness, abandoned, abused or orphaned children figure into every Benni Harper book. What gives those themes such resonance for you and your character?

My husband and I don’t have children, a painful and emotional choice we made 28 years ago before we got married, so it makes sense that such a huge and complex decision would figure into almost anything I write. There is a theory that all writers only have one or two themes they write about over and over. I believe there is a great deal of truth in that. It wasn’t an easy decision for us and had much to do with our family backgrounds.

I think this question addresses the idea of an author’s vulnerability, her willingness to lay it all, even the painful things, on the line in her writing. Many new writers think they’re being vulnerable when they write, but I believe if you don’t feel a little panicky about the things you write, a little nervous about people reading your stories, you’re just not reaching deep enough inside you. You take a chance when you write about personal things, a chance of being ridiculed, laughed at, scorned, scolded — all of which have happened to me. But if I want to be honest in my writing, I have to write about the things that hurt or scare me. Good writing demands it.

Do you see the series as a forum for the discussion of social issues, or do such issues just seem to find themselves into the stories?

Usually they just find their way into my writing subconsciously — though I am appalled at the rise in child abuse of all kinds and how apathetic and unknowledgeable so many people are. I suppose I do express that horror in my choice of themes.

Only once have I started out with a book that wanted to consciously explore a social issue, and that was Seven Sisters. It was based on a real case that a friend of mine, a deputy district attorney, prosecuted and won. Though I changed all of the details, the form of child abuse simply blew me away because I had never heard of it. When I started writing the book, it hadn’t been in the news much. Since it takes about two years for a book to be written and published, by the time Seven Sisters came out there had been a couple of television news shows about it. Most of the time, though, social issues seem to come out of the story, out of what the characters would naturally do.

How has your life changed since becoming a published, award-winning author? How does your family fit into your writing career?

In some ways my life has changed incredibly, in some ways not at all. People do treat me differently, which sometimes troubles me. I have a tendency now to not tell people what I do for a living unless they press me or someone else mentions it. I want people to react to me as a person, not as an “author,” though I do understand that people are fascinated with writers, as I was before I was published.

Writing is a mysterious process that still amazes me — this ability to create people and places that didn’t exist before. I often look at my own books and wonder where all those words came from. The creative spark in all of us is truly one of God’s greatest miracles and how we’re the most like Him.

People do treat me with more respect and they listen to what I have to say — an unusual experience for someone who has worked all her life at jobs like office worker, housecleaner and library clerk where no one knew you existed, much less cared about what was going on in your mind. The fact that I’m sitting here writing about myself, my feelings and personal life decisions in a public forum is a huge change from my formerly anonymous life.

On the other hand, my “real” life, that with my husband, my long time friends and extended family is much the same. My husband has known me since I was 15 years old, so there’s not much wool I can pull over that man’s eyes! He has been my great supporter and friend since our teenage years and has continued to be with this phase of my life. That is not to say it’s been easy for him or me. He worries a lot about my safety, both physically and emotionally. I worry that he gets shoved aside too much, that so much attention is focused on me. On the whole, I’d say that publishing hasn’t made me a different person, but has just opened up that person to a bigger audience.

Can you tell our readers something about book number nine, Steps to the Altar?

Like Mariner’s Compass, it is a book that pushes the envelope for series mystery fiction. It is another story where the reader isn’t certain there’s been an actual crime committed until the end of the book. Part of the book is written from Gabe’s point-of-view, so the reader gets to know him better than in any other book.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and what books have most influenced you?

Because of my mother’s Arkansas background and how much it influenced me as a child, I have a special love for Southern fiction. My favorite authors are Lee Smith, Harper Lee, Bobbie Ann Mason, Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Tim Gautreaux, Reynolds Price, James Lee Burke, Anne Rivers Siddons. Bobbie Ann Mason’s and Lee Smith’s short stories have always been special to me because they were the first time I read stories that sounded like my family.

The South influenced me much more than the West because my mother came from a large family and my dad was an only child, so I had more southern relatives than western. Two books that have influenced me are During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase which is about a midwestern farm family run by a very strong matriarch and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner which is an incredible book on so many levels. A book that has recently affected me is The Healing Power of Stories by Daniel Taylor. It’s one of the best books on creativity I’ve ever read. I also love the fiction of Jessamyn West, John Steinbeck, Jo-Ann Mapson, Chaim Potok, Anne Tyler, Fannie Flagg, Lorna Landvick, Lee K. Abbott, Larry McMurtry, Tony Hillerman, C.S. Lewis.

Do you see the Benni Harper series continuing indefinitely, or are there other projects you want to devote your time to?

Like many of my readers, I would have a difficult time letting Benni and Gabe go, but I would like to write something other than a series mystery. The biggest problem with a series is a writer is put creatively into a box, though I’m always trying to break out of that box. I would eventually like to write some mainstream books where a crime doesn’t necessarily have to be a central part of the plot. My ideal would be to write both mainstream books and my series. I am only able to write a book a year so that would mean some time might have to lapse between a Benni Harper novel. So much depends on the state of the publishing world, the number of books a writer sells and other factors so we’ll just have to see what transpires in the next few years.

What advice do you give to aspiring writers?

The most important advice I have to offer is to try not to worry about what the publishing world wants, but write the book you truly want to read. And one you’d honestly spend your hard-earned money on. Too many beginning writers try to write to the marketplace, and the only thing that will accomplish is, at best, they’ll be a hack writer and at worst, they won’t ever be published. Use your heart and your vulnerabilities when you write. Read every day and don’t be afraid to read outside of your genre. I’m constantly amazed at how little reading most aspiring writers do. It is the best way to learn your craft. Trying to become a good writer without reading would be like trying to build a saddle without out ever riding on one. And buy books. Financially support the industry you are trying to enter. If aspiring writers won’t buy books, who will?

Do you have writing rituals you adhere to? What is a typical day for you?

The only ritual I have is writing as soon as I wake up and needing my coffee. A typical day is one where I get out of bed, fix a cup of coffee and sit down at my computer. I write for about five to six hours, more if I’m close to a deadline or on a creative roll. Then I stop, get dressed, have lunch and run errands. I often reread what I’ve written that day over lunch, making corrections and changes.

In the evenings I read research material for the book I’m working on or for future books. I also do other paperwork (and there’s at least a couple of hours of that everyday) in the evenings or sometimes take a whole Friday to work on it. I watch some TV, take in the eleven o’clock news and sometimes Jay Leno’s monologue, then check and answer email. I read fiction before I go to sleep every night. When I wasn’t writing full time, I’d read about five books a week. Now I read between one or two novels a week.

What do you do when not writing?

I don’t have much time any more where I’m not doing something involved with my writing. This turned out to be much more time-consuming than I anticipated. I write a lot of letters and postcards to friends and fans. I like to watch some television — my favorite programs are Any Day Now, That’s Life, West Wing, the news magazine shows. I love the POV series on PBS. I love peeking into other people’s lives. Oral history books are some of my favorite reading. I like to ride horses when I can. I enjoy going up to San Luis Obispo and poking around, looking for new story ideas.

How has your formal education helped or hindered you? How important is education to a writer?

I guess that depends what you mean by formal education. I graduated from high school and have about ten community college classes in writing from six different colleges. Yet I consider myself an educated person. Unfortunately in our current society people often mistake a college degree for education and intelligence. I’ve known a lot of people who have college degrees who haven’t read a book in twenty years and are proud of it. I know some people who are voracious readers and extremely intelligent who have never been to college.

There is no doubt it is better in our society to have a college degree because of what it sometimes falsely represents to employers, but it rarely say anything about a person’s intelligence, perseverance, integrity, abilities, work ethic or wisdom. To be honest, it’s often easy to get a college degree, much harder to become an educated person. It has hindered me in that some people would have more respect for my opinions and work if I had a degree from a prestigious university, but it hasn’t at all hurt my ability to write, learn, or produce books I am proud of.

From what aspects of your own background do you pull when creating a Benni Harper mystery?

As I pointed out before, my mother’s Southern influence, my father’s Western background and the Hispanic neighborhood where I grew up in southern California have all influenced everything I write. And being married 27 years has certainly given me some insights into the male-female relationship and marriage that I use in my books.

The books change as I do, but their basic premise of celebrating the heroic natures of everyday people and their problems and triumphs come from my working class and first generation rural background. I feel the working class of America has been vastly ignored in fiction simply because writers tend to write from their personal viewpoints and not many non-college educated working class people become published writers. I hope if I leave anything behind it’s that I showed how a woman who is a secretary, waitress or subsistence rancher or a man who is a truckdriver, salesman or farrier is just as special as an attorney, doctor, writer, politician or celebrity.

Readers Respond

I just read your interview with Earlene Fowler. It was informative, and I enjoyed reading it. I was amazed to learn she is a city girl. Her books leave a feeling that she is very familiar with the life and feelings of people who live their lives connected to animals and the land. I am a quilter who owns horses and who comes from a family with the West in their roots. I live in eastern Oklahoma close to the Arkansas border. Yet she strikes a familiar chord with me, and she is one of my favorites. I only hope that in the future she does not abandon the humorous and lovely and scary relationship between Benni and Dove. Thank you.

Johanna Presley

Please, add to the top of the feedback for the interview. Just finished reading the Earlene Fowler interview. It was an informative and thoughtful piece both on your side and hers. My wife (a quilter) is a big fan of Ms. Fowler. I have read bits and pieces of her Benni Harper novels and have generally liked what I read. Ms. Fowler has an excellent Web site that can be enjoyed by rabid fans (my wife) and casual fans (myself). My taste runs more toward hard-boiled mysteries, especially short stories, but Ms. Fowler certainly has talent and is a provocative writer. I have asked her to consider writing a Benni Harper short story but she seems disinclined to do so at this time Please keep up the good work. Maybe in the future you will interview some of the other top female mystery authors: Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton.

Bob Schneider

Thanks for your thoughts, Bob. You’ll be pleased to learn that Lynn I. Miller interviewed Sara Paretsky in October 1999. (Click here for a look.) And we hope to get the opportunity to interview Marcia Muller and Sue Grafton in the near future.

Editor

I just finished the interview with Agatha Award-winning author Earlene Fowler. Great! Interesting! Informative! This is my first visit to your site and I will be back

Kathy Vieira, Paso Robles, California