October Murder with McBain
November Murder with McBain
December Murder with McBain
January Murder with McBain
RobHolden: Welcome to this month's installment of Murder with McBain -- aptly titled, Murder with Mrs. McBain! Dragica Hunter, welcome to ReadersRoom.com. It is a pleasure to have you --and your lovely and charming typist Evan -- here today!
DinaHunter: Thank you. Where are you, anyway?
RobHolden: Natalie is in Utah -- which Evan thinks is the moon -- and I am in Wisconsin.
NatalieRCollins: Mars. He thinks it's Mars.
DinaHunter: To me, both of those are the moon!
RobHolden: I understand that you prefer to be called Dina and so let me start this off by offering our congratulations on your becoming an American citizen, Dina!
NatalieRCollins: Yes, congratulations, Dina!
DinaHunter: Thank you. It's very exciting for me to be an American now. I'll be getting my new passport very soon.
RobHolden: Was the "swearing in" ceremony exciting?
DinaHunter: Very exciting! Three hundred or more people from 59 different countries. All very festive.
RobHolden: And in case anybody doesn't know, where were you from originally?
DinaHunter: The former Yugoslavia -- a little town called Glavica. A village, actually. We still have shepherds.
RobHolden: Okay, I would like to jump right into this by asking how you met Evan. Rumor has it that it was at a book signing?
DinaHunter: In a bookstore. I was looking for maps and charts, and I thought he was a salesman. No, it wasn't a signing.
NatalieRCollins: Does Evan LOOK like a salesman?
DinaHunter: A most handsome one!
NatalieRCollins: Could sell ice to Eskimos?
DinaHunter: He sure got me. In five seconds.
RobHolden: Could you tell us where this happened? Was it in Europe, or here in the States?
DinaHunter: Here in New York. A Barnes and Noble that's now a Gap.
NatalieRCollins: How long had you been in New York?
DinaHunter: About 17 years, on and off.
NatalieRCollins: And did you first come here planning to stay?
DinaHunter: No, at first, I was here as a student. Then I returned to Europe, and came back when The Strasberg Institute offered me a job teaching. By the time I met Evan, I was running my own theater.
NatalieRCollins: So you had been here a while. Have you ever been to other parts of the States? Like Mars -- er, I mean Utah?
DinaHunter: Yes. Evan started introducing me. Florida, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, California, South Carolina. Where's Utah?
NatalieRCollins: Sort of by Nevada... take a left at Neptune...
RobHolden: Just follow the snow.
DinaHunter: Sounds like here!
NatalieRCollins: Dina, I am interested in the fact that you were running your own theatre. I understand you studied with Lee Strasberg. Can you tell us about that?
DinaHunter: I was in his private class. A wonderful teacher. Either you grow fast, or you're out. Lee believed in 90% work, 10% talent. So it was very hard work. But I like hard work.
EdMcBain: Like me!
NatalieRCollins: That must help your marriage work. Are you still acting, Dina?
DinaHunter: No, I'm not acting now. There's no time for the marriage and the theater. I taught for the Institute in London and at NYU in New York City. Then I started my own theater, a small 99-seater, a lot of work! I produced nine plays in two years. I acted in five, directed four. By the time Evan and I met, I had not-for-profit status.
RobHolden: Are you still involved in theater at all?
DinaHunter: No, I decided running back and forth to NYC would be too much. It required 17 hours a day!
NatalieRCollins: That must have been tiring!
DinaHunter: Yes, but it was the love of my life at the time.
NatalieRCollins: So, Dina, how long have you and Evan been married now?
DinaHunter: We've been married for seven years now. We met nine years ago this January.
EdMcBain: My how the time does fly when you're having a good time!
RobHolden: Okay Dina, a number of Evan's and our faithful readers have sent in questions for you. Shall we do a few of them now?
DinaHunter: I'm ready.
NatalieRCollins: From Jean Pierre in Belgium: Dear Dragica, here I am back, with a difficult one: How does it feel, being married to a writer, that "Every step you take, Every move you make, Every word/phrase you say," can maybe-- a big maybe, be copied and used in one of his future novels for all the world to see. (I, for one, would be nervous ...as I am already now...).
DinaHunter: My husband knows me thoroughly. I feel I've grown to know myself better since I met him, and I love myself more. I wouldn't mind if the world met this woman, too, through his books.
NatalieRCollins: From Alberta aka Bettyblue:
EdMcBain: Hi, Alberta. How's Venice? We got married there, as you know!
NatalieRCollins: I saw the lovely photos of your Venetian marriage posted on the official site of your genius husband, and I thought I recognized the place ...Was it the small island called Isola degli Armeni ?!! I could be wrong but it surely resembles that place a lot. I attended there, a few years ago, the marriage of a friend of mine who is of Armenian heritage. And what about renewing your marriage vows in the same place, one of these years, so that I could have the pleasure of meeting both of you in flesh and bones? Please do it!
DinaHunter: It was the garden of the Cipriani, Alberta. And we plan to renew our vows there on our 10th anniversary.
NatalieRCollins: Another from Alberta: Was Evan's courtship of you in anything similar to what Steve Carella did in order to conquer Teddy's heart? In other words, did Evan, too, stand hatless and gloveless in the snow on Valentine's Day in front of your building, clutching a single long-stemmed red rose whose petals were gently moving in the wind?
EdMcBain: Carella's far more romantic than I am!
NatalieRCollins: Dina, is this true?
DinaHunter: No it's not! I still keep the hundreds of taped messages Evan put on my phone. But, of course, this still happens. He leaves little notes to me all over the house, stuck to the mirrors. Valentine's Day happens unexpectedly every day!
EdMcBain: Bosh!
NatalieRCollins: Good try, Evan. Now, we know the truth.
DinaHunter: At night, Evan sings to me before we go to sleep.
EdMcBain: Bosh!
NatalieRCollins: Next reader question, from RDS -- our good friend Richard: Frivolous I know, but does the long-suffering Dragica have to dress both alter-egos? Two lots of Christmas presents etc? Just a thought. Regards to ya.
RobHolden: My personal favorite of the readers questions, by the way!
DinaHunter: Many presents for each of them. I can't spoil him -- them -- enough.
RobHolden: I have to ask -- what does one buy Ed McBain for Christmas? Bullets? Nightstick?
DinaHunter: For Evan, I planned a romantic trip to the Caribbean. We plan to leave next month, when he finishes HARK!
NatalieRCollins: Oh, that sounds so... warm. How fun.
DinaHunter: As for McBain, while we're gone, we're leaving him locked here in the studio.
NatalieRCollins: From Dave in Tucson: Ms. Hunter, Ed McBain/Evan Hunter has something of a reputation for being a "workaholic" -- producing three books a year or more. Do you ever find yourself having to tell him to "TAKE A BREAK ALREADY"?
DinaHunter: He does take breaks. We have lunch together every day, and around 3:00 we go for cappuccino and a walk on the beach with our dog, Sasha.
NatalieRCollins: From JH: What is the best thing and what is the worst thing about being married to a writer?
DinaHunter: Best thing: We can spend a lot of time together. He's always home, in his studio, and I can go kiss him anytime I feel like. Worst thing: what's that?
EdMcBain: See why I love her so much?
NatalieRCollins: Indeed, I do! From Victoria: The story of how you met Evan is almost like something out of a film -- did it seem very surreal at the time, or did you just go with it?
DinaHunter: It seemed the most natural thing in the world. I'd read all his Evan Hunter novels, and felt instantly at home when we met.
NatalieRCollins: So you were a fan before you met him?
DinaHunter: I loved his books! I lived in Paris at the time. After we met, I found the notes I'd made on Buddwing.
NatalieRCollins: We have one more reader question for you to answer. From Victoria: There was a mention in one of Evan's newsletters about you writing in Let's Talk. Was it easy to write about what must have been a very difficult time for you both, or did you find that it was actually quite easy once you got started?
DinaHunter: Difficult times yes, and difficult to write about. I'll be delivering the rest of my pages this week. Then we hope the book will be finished.
RobHolden: Thanks for answering those.
EdMcBain: So, how'd my darling do?
NatalieRCollins: She was wonderful!
RobHolden: And she's not done quite yet!
EdMcBain: Oops, sorry.
RobHolden: Dina, of the 100 plus novels written by Evan over the years, do you have any personal favorites?
DinaHunter: Yes -- Criminal Conversation, Candyland, Ice, Nocturne...
EdMcBain: Mention Frumious Bandersnatch, honey!
RobHolden: Just released this month!
EdMcBain: In your bookstores now!
NatalieRCollins: Run, run to the bookstores!
DinaHunter: There Was a Little Girl was a terrific book!
NatalieRCollins: I think she likes your writing, Evan.
EdMcBain: Bandersnatch! Bandersnatch!
RobHolden: And finally Dina -- I want to ask, does Evan bounce ideas off you for his books? Talk to you about them while he's writing them -- or do you have to wait like the rest of us?
DinaHunter: Not ideas, Rob, but titles. He tries titles, usually when we're walking on the beach. Or sometimes snatches of dialogue.
EdMcBain: Bandersnatch! Bandersnatch!
RobHolden: Okay Dina -- this has been a lot of fun. Evan, would you mind my mentioning that Frumious Bandersnatch is in stores now -- and getting rave reviews?
EdMcBain: Oh no, I think we should be discreet about that, don't you?
RobHolden: I certainly wouldn't want to embarrass you!
EdMcBain: Thank you, Rob, I appreciate that.
NatalieRCollins: Okay, we won't mention that Bandersnatch is in stores now...
DinaHunter: What's that title again?
NatalieRCollins: And we certainly won't say that Bandersnatch is getting rave reviews...
EdMcBain: Don't forget People Magazine. Another rave!
RobHolden: Dina, this has been a true pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us here this afternoon!
DinaHunter: It was fun, and it went by so fast!
NatalieRCollins: It is always a pleasure, Evan, and it has been so fun, Dina. Thank you for joining us.
RobHolden: And Evan, we shall see you next month!
DinaHunter: Thank you both.
EdMcBain: See you in February! From the Caribbean!
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