ReadersRoom: Hello Martha, and thanks for joining us this afternoon!
Martha: My pleasure.
ReadersRoom: I suppose we should start with the basics. You are best known -- at least to our readers -- for your Elizabeth Chase series. Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about how the series started for you?
Martha: I'll give you the short answer. From the time I was a kid, I had what for lack of a better term are called "psychic experiences." I hated the way psychics were depicted in fiction and film--so hokey. So I decided to create a realistic psychic character who matched what I knew about the subject.
ReadersRoom: Is much of Elizabeth's character based on you and your psychic experiences?
Martha: The first three books in the series draw heavily on my own life. At the time I started Murder in Scorpio, I was being stalked by a former boyfriend. All my interactions with police and the courts contributed to my writing. My second book, The Cold Heart of Capricorn, is based on my real-life experience of being raped by a serial rapist. The third book, Aquarius Descending, was inspired by my experience of being captured by a religious cult. All the psychic experiences in the Elizabeth Chase books are based on my own real life experiences. I felt it was important for accuracy not to make that part up. I'll shut up now.
ReadersRoom: The question that immediately comes to mind is did you find it cathartic to write about those experiences?
Martha: Oh, absolutely. Writing is a healing journey. I can't think of anything--including decades of expensive therapy--that could have benefited me more. The question I think a lot of crime writers grapple with is, "How can someone commit such atrocities?"
My writing has been an inquiry into that question. The answers have surprised me.
ReadersRoom: Your last two books -- Pisces Rising and particularly Ashes of Aries -- seem to explore that question in some depth. Specifically with Ashes, which delves fairly deeply into Native American culture, did you need to do a lot of specific research?
Martha: I had a wonderful introduction into the Native culture by an Indian guide I "just happened" to meet when I was getting my hair done, of all things. He asked what I did for a living. I told him I was a novelist working on a book that involved Native American culture. Turns out he was a full blooded Luiseno Indian. Like my character Elizabeth Chase, I don't believe in coincidences. Certainly not that time, anyway.
ReadersRoom: You explored some of the mysticism of Native American culture in that novel. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience for you?
Martha: I often think that if I'd been born into a Native American family, I wouldn't feel self-conscious about my psychic ability. My visions are a natural, accepted part of Native culture. I was led to Native culture by a vision I had just before I began writing.
ReadersRoom: Began writing Ashes, or writing novels at all?
Martha: Novels at all. Would you like to hear about it?
ReadersRoom: Certainly.
Martha: I came out of my normal meditation one day and thought I saw a giant--eight inches across--red spider hanging from the bedroom ceiling. Of course there are no such things as giant red spiders, so I figured it was an optical illusion. I got up and walked over, expecting the image to shift into something "real." Nope. It was a giant red spider, as solid as the keyboard I'm typing on and when I got within ten inches of it, it just disappeared. I called a spiritual advisor and asked what it could mean. She said that in Native American culture, the spider represents creativity. She thought it was a message from the spiritual realm that I was embarking on a creative period in my life. And that's when I started writing.
ReadersRoom: And by listening to that message you have five novels and an Edgar, Anthony and Agatha nomination under your belt. Wise choice!
Martha: Thanks. It hasn't been easy. I come from a very conservative background, and wanted to be respected for my intellect. To admit to being psychic--God forbid--was a real stretch. Not to mention that a psychic PI violates the "rules" of mystery. Because of the stereotype that a psychic can dial up answers at will, psychic ability was considered "cheating" in mystery novels in the past. I can't dial up answers at will, by the way. Nor can I read auras on command. People who say they can are usually lying.
ReadersRoom: I'd like to shift to the mechanics of how you write for a moment. Do you work on a set schedule, or page count?
Martha: I try to impose my little systems, but my subconscious just laughs. The goal when I'm working on a book is four pages a day. But sometimes it's two, and sometimes it's ten.
ReadersRoom: As the muse dictates?
Martha: Yes. It's like a psychic vision. I can create the atmosphere, but I can't make it happen. A sign on my desk says, "YB + YC = GL." "Your butt plus your chair equals good literature." But the muse has an arithmetic all her own.
ReadersRoom: I understand that you have stepped away from the Chase series just lately, and have been working on a "stand alone" novel. Could you tell us something about it? And why you decided to take a break from your successful series?
Martha: Oh, man. The working title is Beast, which is appropriate, since I've fought with the thing tooth and nail. It's a long suspense novel written from multiple points of view. I've written two versions of the thing and as I said, I'm still not satisfied with it. What's happened is that the antagonist stole the story. As much as I wanted it to be about the heroes, it's about the villain. But now I can have compassion for all those writers who don't finish a work in nine months and send it off to critical acclaim. I was long overdue for a challenge like this.
ReadersRoom: Is there a sixth Elizabeth Chase novel in the offing?
Martha: Indeed there is. I've put the suspense novel aside to finish Star of Taurus, the sixth Elizabeth Chase novel.
ReadersRoom: And Elizabeth, I suspect, still has her trusty .9 mm Glock?
Martha: Yes, as much as it pains Elizabeth to live in a world with guns, it's a necessary tool of her trade. She even adds to her arsenal in this book. The Star of Taurus, by the way, is a 22-carat diamond with a history dating back to the 1500s. It's been stolen by a person who has been linked to the murder of Elizabeth's lover, so she's particularly motivated to find the suspect.
ReadersRoom: I wanted to ask about that. Elizabeth is a very spiritual character, but she also doesn't shy away from violence when it is necessary. Was than an intentional dichotomy for the character, or something that just developed on its own?
Martha: That spiritual/violence dichotomy goes to the very heart of this author. Because I've been the victim of violent crime--and because I'm a mother--I know what it means to use force in self-defense. Yet I know that at some level we're all one. Talk about cognitive dissonance. When I was being stalked, I bought a gun to protect my young son. It was one thing for the guy to break down the door and hurt me, quite another to let him do anything to my kid.
ReadersRoom: And again, your personal experience found its way into your stories.
Martha: Write what you know, right? I'm pretty handy with my Glock. Stalkers beware!
ReadersRoom: So when can readers expect the next book from you?
Martha: I'm hoping to get something out in 2004. An Elizabeth Chase short story, Unchained Evidence, was due out in August, but it was being published by Otto Penzler, who got tangled up in a hideous lawsuit that's made the pages of The New Yorker. It's a great story and I'm hoping to get it out soon. I have been getting quite a bit of mail asking me this question.
ReadersRoom: Well, hopefully millions will read your answer here and clear out your mailbox! Okay, Martha, before we end this, is there anything you would like to say to your readers?
Martha: I thought you were going to ask me about my favorite authors.
ReadersRoom: Oh! Uh ... Martha?
Martha: Yeah?
ReadersRoom: Do you happen to have any favorite authors?
Martha: Too many to list in their entirety! But here are a few: Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Nevada Barr, Harlan Coben, Barbara Seranella, Laura Lippman, Paula Woods, Michael Chabon, Barbara Kingsolver and of course Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Leo Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. To my readers: Thank you for all the heartfelt letters and for sharing your own so-called paranormal experiences. You inspire me.
ReadersRoom: Is there a website where readers can learn a little more about you?
Martha: Absolutely. Click on over to www.marthalawrence.com
ReadersRoom: Excellent! Thank you so much, Martha, for spending this time with us!
Martha: Thank you so much for your thought-provoking questions!
Copyright 2003 by ReadersRoom, LLC. All rights reserved.
