The Interview

by Charlotte Hinger

Mary's Place is a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in historical fiction. I'm thrilled to be given this level of recognition. The ceremony is this coming Saturday.

A while back I read a witty short story, "What Is . . ." If one of the readers of Type M knows where it was published, please let me know through the comments section of this post. I thought about that story when I was interviewed by Kevin Simpson for the Colorado Sun. Here's a copy with a little reformatting to fit the boundaries of our Type M blog:

Charlotte Hinger built her historical novel around “rural royalty”

The farm crisis of the 1980s created the backdrop for “Mary’s Place” and fueled the characters wrestling with economic doom

Charlotte Hinger has won multiple awards for both fiction and nonfiction writing. In 2021 she was inducted into the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame. In 2008 she moved to Fort Collins, where she applies her degree in history to academic publications and her depraved imagination to a mystery series published by Poisoned Pen Press. “Mary’s Place” is her third historical novel.


SunLit: Tell us the backstory of “Mary’s Place” – what’s it about and what inspired you to write it?

Charlotte Hinger: It’s about an affluent agribusiness family (rural royalty) who have always been prosperous and a banker who is the pillar of the community. Both entities are threatened with ruin when the government suddenly changes financial regulations. I’m a historian and I recognized the importance of events happening right before my very eyes.

SunLit: Place the excerpt you selected in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole and why did you select it?

Hinger: The day the bank closes in a rural community is a heart-stopping event. It’s like a bomb has dropped on a town. Selecting my excerpt was difficult! I knew which one was my favorite, but I didn’t want to expose too much of the plot for the reader. Both fathers have sons who have contempt for their values. The sons want to make money.

SunLit: What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?

Hinger: I lived these events. My community lost its bank. I knew so many of the people involved. I knew heroic bankers who wanted the best for their community. I also knew wealthy farmers who believed nothing could touch them. I was a member of an ecumenical church committee that tried to provide emotional and financial help to farmers. We heard so many heart-wrenching stories.

SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?

Hinger: This is my third historical novel. I’m used to doing historical research, but wading through all the government programs and regulations pertaining to agriculture was mind-boggling. Integrating enough information so the reader understood outside pressures without stopping the story cold was hard.

The characters were trapped by events. Honestly, how could farmers find the time to wade through stuff? They have more on their minds than complying with regulations that are in effect one day, and changed the next.

SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?

Hinger: Resisting the temptation to provide too much detail about banking and agriculture. But I had to understand a complex and lengthy sequence of events to accurately reduce them to a sentence here and there. This was a story, after all, not an economic textbook. I loved my cranky old banker and wanted readers to empathize with his dilemma. I was so invested in the characters and wanted the reader to love them too.

SunLit: What do you want readers to take from this book?

Hinger: No matter how sensible our decisions, how earnestly we strive to be the best person we can, things happen that we can’t control. Never assume people have caused their troubles because of some moral deficiency. Of course, that exists, but it’s easy to judge too harshly.

SunLit: Tell us about your next project.

Hinger: It’s a historical novel about the Volga German community in Kansas and the frontier Catholic Church. It’s set before World War I.

A few more quick items:

Currently on your nightstand for recreational reading: As usual, I have a nonfiction, a heavier fiction book, and a fun book going at the same time. My favorite recreational picks are psychological mysteries. Right now I’m reading “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. I love Rick Atkinson’s first volume of his Revolution Trilogy, “The British are Coming.”

First book you remember really making an impression on you as a kid: Hands down, it was “Hoot Owl.” I read it in the first grade. I had learned the alphabet and while the teacher was helping other kids, she let me pick out a book from our sparse little library. It was a real book with a real story. Not just the numbing repetition about Jane throwing Spot the ball. I was filled with wonder. I could read a real story. It was about a little Indian boy named Hoot Owl who led a little lost pilgrim boy back to his family. The pilgrims were so grateful they invited the little Indian boy’s family to share their first Thanksgiving meal with them. Of course both groups lived in perfect harmony ever after.

Best writing advice you’ve ever received: It came from my first agent, the legendary Claire Smith. She said never to alter a book just because I think the person giving advice is really smart. Only change your writing when you know in your gut someone is right.

Favorite fictional literary character: Marguerite in “Green Dolphin Street.”

Literary guilty pleasure (title or genre): I’m not a literary snob. I don’t feel guilty about anything I read. I’m dismayed by over-zealous parents who insist on monitoring everything their children read.

Digital, print or audio – favorite medium to consume literature: All three, but if I really adore a book, I want to own the printed copy.

One book you’ve read multiple times: “Green Dolphin Street.”

Other than writing utensils, one thing you must have within reach when you write: Coffee — hot and black.

Best antidote for writer’s block: Walking with only the sounds of nature. No media to muddy thoughts.

Most valuable beta reader: Margaret Neves, my friend, a poet with an impeccable eye.

Proofreading!

By Charlotte Hinger

I've received the pages for Mary's Place, my historical novel that will be published by the University of Nebraska Place this July. The next step is for me to scrutinize all the copy to make sure there are no typos and other errors. 

I would have liked a larger type size, but I'm keeping my mouth shut. Fonts affect the number of pages and add to the expense of a book. The price of printing a book has risen so much that it's a huge issue. And all of my historical novels are really long. 

If a book costs too much money, it affects sales. There's a limit to what people will pay for entertainment.

There's an uproar right now over Netflix and Amazon allowing commercials on their shows. I'm taking a pretty hard line. I absolutely refuse to pay exorbitant fees for TV channels, nor will I put up with having shows interrupted by really obnoxious sales pitches (one right after the other) that break into the plot line. 

PBS has become one of my favorite channels. Yes, they have commercials, but they are at the beginning of a show and the pitches make sense. Another channel I may subscribe to again is Acorn. It had some of the best mysteries. 

My local library is a treasure house of DVDs and books. I certainly encourage our Type M readers to check out books by our bloggers and while you're at it--scout for DVDs of your favorite TV shows. If you've never used Interlibrary Loan, please do! Through this wonderful service you can get nearly any book you want. 

 

I Wonder If . . .

 by Charlotte Hinger

Is there anything more frustrating for a writer than being half-sick and half-well? This year I've been plagued with intermittent health issues. Most of which can be traced to allergies to medications. That's a happy ending. All I have to do is quit taking them. But oh, the search to identify the culprits because the conditions produced mimicked rare forms of cancer. 

For instance, I'm diabetic and my body turned against Metformin, a medication I've been taking for twenty years. Why? And why can't I take Tylenol, everyone's go-to drug?

The medical mystery game show has come to symbolize all the "I wonder if . . . ." issues I've puzzled over this year. For instance:

I wonder if...When the mega-productive best-selling authors say they never ever ever miss a day writing, are they telling the truth? Do they ever have the flu? Covid? Just throw in the towel for a day occasionally? Have overwhelmingly difficult family situations? 

I wonder if. . . other writers take time off between books? During this time do they catch up on other stuff? I do. I've done everything I need to do for my new historical novel, Mary's Place. It won't be published until July, so I'm not going to do a thing about marketing until the first of the year. I've developed a sudden mania for making Christmas gifts. Five aprons down and two more to go! Plus, a quilt!

I wonder if . . .Does marketing on social media really pay off? If so, which sites are the best investment of time and energy? Some time ago mega best-selling authors Kathleen and Michael Gear tweeted about the vast number of books in their personal library. It's huge! For some reason the tweet went viral via a raging controversy over whether they were destroying the planet (all those trees cut down to make paper) and those to whom all the books represented a commitment to culture. Incredibly (I'm not making this up) there were 10 million views of this tweet. The Gears are serious archeologists and anthropologists.

The Gears later reported that all the views did not produce a single sale beyond the usual number of books purchased. Not one!

My media presence is not robust, but I'm going to beef it up come January. I'm sorting through what I'm comfortable with. For some reason, signing into Facebook has become an ordeal. That's just one of the many sites where I go through too-elaborate identification processes. On the other hand, I've had several friends tell of the horrors of ID thefts and untangling hacking situations. 

I wonder if . . .I'm making a mistake when I've turned my back on TikTok because my mystery publisher (Poisoned Pen) really likes it.  But due to all the controversy over that site, I'll skip it. I would love to say the decision is the result of conviction, but honestly, it's because I'm too lazy to learn the ropes to create an effective presence. 

I wonder . . .why I have to give a review for everything under the sun? I mean everything! From a visit to my dentist to an Amazon purchase. Why is it no longer acceptable to give an honest three-star review instead of the expected five-star? I can no longer heap praise on a book I think deserves the Pulitzer Prize through a five-star rating because five-stars are expected for anything that is well written. 

I wonder if . . . all our lovely readers will receive all the blessings I wish for them during the coming year.

Blurbs and Front Material

 

By Charlotte Hinger

The publisher of my historical novel, Mary's Place, University of Nebraska Press, needs one of my blurbs by the end of this month. Luckily, one of the persons I've asked for comments had one ready to go right away. 

I don't mind being asked to write a blurb, but I hate to ask for them. It used to be my least favorite kind of writing was nudging an editor to respond to a submission. Now, I just cringe when I ask people for comments. But it's all part of the business. 

The business side of writing is minimized by writers. In fact, it's a critical part of building a relationship with one's publisher. I wish I knew at the beginning of my career what I know now.

Prepublication material is very important. It seems to me that the pages grow larger every year. It takes all my wits to write descriptions of the book and catchy phrases that will help the publisher's pre-marketing efforts. Nevertheless, it's an opportunity to help the sales and marketing people get it right. I do my very best to help them understand the thrust of my book.

Fortunately, I've had some great covers. I've never had one I dislike, but I drew a blank this time when I was asked to come up with images. There are two story lines: an old banker who is trying to save his 100-year-old bank and his conflict with his best friend, who wants to save his farm that has been in family since Homestead times.

The most obvious images are fields of wheat, a large house, the prairie, barns, silos, plus banks, coins, storms. Yet, farmyard settings have been used for everything from the Wizard of Oz to The Shack. Plus, practically every calendar with photos of country living.

None of these images have appealed to me. A sweet farmyard setting doesn't have the right tone for a book about the tragedy of the 1980s bank failures that devasted whole communities. I drew a blank. 

Then I found my cover. Right there on my dining room wall. A friend who had read my book mentioned golden fields of wheat, and I had talked about the importance of the color green. I associated wheat with green. We plant winter wheat in Kansas, and the bright emerald shoots announcing the arrival of spring has never failed to thrill me. 

My late aunt, Helen Terrill, was an artist. She painted a farm scene with the foreground dominated by a rather unsettling sinister field of wheat. It shows wheat in all its stages. It's strange! 

In her picture, there's a farmstead in the background, that may or may not be peaceful. That's just the suspenseful tone I aimed for in my book. 

Banking Woes

By Charlotte Hinger

Guess what! The historical novel I'm writing right now is timely. It's about that period in America's rural history when small communities were losing their banks and farms. The bank failures afflicting our country right now sound very familiar to those of us who remember the 1980s.

I've been writing this book, Mary's Place, forever. Happily, it will be published by the University of Nebraska Press. But who would have thought the non-fiction aspect of this novel would be a hot news item?

 Everyone's book is about some particular setting or topic that can be exploited for talks. Speaking about that little something in the background is much more likely to hold an audience's attention than trying to persuade people to buy your novel. 

I've always known this, but with the advent of social media it's easy to get sidetracked. So many platforms, so little time. With the daily bombardment of emails and messages, I've become a chronic and habitual deleter. Yes spellcheck, I know deleter isn't a real word, but I'll bet Type M followers know what I mean. 

Sometimes, traditional methods work best. When was the last time you read a novel where a banker is a heroic character? I'm going to target agricultural bankers with postcards and letters. One banker recently told me a friend of his was shot for not loaning the client money. He personally had been kicked. People in this occupation need soothing and that's always best accomplished with a book that makes them feel appreciated. 

Ah, marketing. The perpetual burden. I was warned that I couldn't expect to sell my mystery series along with historical novels. But that's not true. Because all of my books are set in Kansas and I have a flaming state loyalty, the duality works. 

With Mary's Place, I'll start contacting clubs and organizations far ahead of the publication date to see if they would welcome a program about banking. For instance, I'm a member of Westerners International and that's the first group that came to mind.

It's so heartening to speak to people on a topic that they are interested in. 

For some reason planning marketing comes hard for me. It's not that I can't think. It's just that I don't like to lock in plans. Oddly enough I love to solve problems. An ability to solve problems would seem to carry over to futuristic planning, but it doesn't. I tend to be crisis oriented.

To stay afloat in this noisy overcrowded word of mystery writing, we simply have to learn to plan campaigns. Oddly enough, there has been very little written on this subject.

Care to share how you do it? Do you simply respond to whatever falls in your lap? Or plan ahead.?