The Michael Craft Interview

Boy Toy

Introduction

Excerpts:

Excerpt One

Excerpt Two

Excerpt Three

Excerpt Four

An Interview with the Author

Clued-In with Michael Craft
The Mystery Novelist Answers His Most-Asked Questions

1. Where do you get your ideas?

It's often said that writers write about the things they know best, and in my case, that's certainly true. Many interests that have developed over the course of my life have found their way into my books -- theater, music, running, architecture, cats, and more. These interests have equipped me with minor areas of ready-made "expertise" that can add color, depth, and credibility to storytelling.

As to the "germ" of each story, the inspiration, it seems to be waiting for me when the time comes to start a new project. When a new story is looming, I "raise my creative antenna" and put myself in a more receptive mode for ideas. The inspiration may come from a news story, from an overheard snatch of conversation, or from something that I've been sitting on all my life. But it's always out there. The trick for the writer, of course, is to learn to recognize it.

2. Are the characters in your books based on real people?

Of course not! Well, sort of. I don't think any writer is capable of creating a fully developed three-dimensional character out of thin air. So naturally, I draw on people I know, or know of, in patching together the characters for my stories. That's the essence of it -- each character is really an amalgam of many people I know, with a good dash of myself thrown in. At the same time, no single character is "me."

And no, I am not Mark Manning. (I'm not Claire Gray, either.)

3. Do you ever get writer's block?

I always work from an outline (more precisely, it's a brief, narrative scene-by-scene description of everything that happens in the book), which is especially valuable to the mystery genre because there's so much riding on the plot. Last year, while approaching the task of outlining Desert Autumn, the first book in my new series that debuts this fall, I rediscovered a technique that had been preached to me since fifth grade, 3-by-5 cards. I was amazed by the organizational flexibility this allowed, and I will never again approach a new outline without this important preliminary step.

The outline itself may go through a revision or two (which is immeasurably easier than making bone-deep changes to a manuscript), with my editor ultimately signing-off on it. Then, when it comes time to do the intensive work of drafting, I'm writing from an approved outline, and there's never any doubt as to "what's next." Therefore, no, I never get writer's block.

4. What are you planning to write next?

My sixth Mark Manning mystery is already written, to be published by St. Martin's in June 2002. What's it about? Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the plot involves a nuptial ceremony that degenerates into the wedding from hell. (Hint: Roxanne finds herself the prime suspect in a particularly heinous murder.) Beyond that, I'm proofing and polishing my first Claire Gray mystery Desert Autumn, which will appear later this year, and I'm working on the outline of the second Claire Gray installment, Desert Winter, which should appear a year later.

5. Have any other novelists directly influenced your own writing?

My most profound literary influence by far, who happens to be outside the mystery genre, was Ayn Rand -- her four novels as well as her philosophical works dealing with objectivism. Her novels are highly thematic; her heroes are embodiments of her philosophical ideals.

Not to sound presumptuous, but Mark Manning is a similar sort of hero. During the course of solving riddles and unmasking killers, he repeatedly gets these thematic points across:

View the world objectively.
Trust your own senses and experience.
Eschew any form of mysticism or dogma.
Think for yourself.

6. How long have you been out?

Since September of 1969. I remember it well -- it was the Friday night of the first week of the fall semester of my sophomore year at college. It, well ... happened. I'd been totally naive on these matters prior to that night, and then I was suddenly enlightened. I think of that night as my "coming out" in the most important sense -- it's when I finally leveled with myself and understood who I was.

I came out to friends throughout that school year and to my family during the next summer vacation. In 1993, I came out in a very public way with the release of my first novel and the publicity that attended it.

Given this level of self-comfort with my sexual identity, many people have described me as "openly gay." I appreciate that the term is commonly understood in a positive sense, but I have never much cared for it. "Openly gay" -- doesn't it seem to imply that there was something to hide in the first place? I much prefer to describe myself as "unremarkably gay." Which is simply to say, like most folks, I'm a law-abiding, taxpaying, good-natured, fair-minded citizen. I happen to be gay, and I happen to write books.

7. The Mark Manning series, and Boy Toy in particular, contains a fair amount of eroticism. Is this intended to distinguish your series from others?

I have generally felt that most other gay mystery series are erotically too tame. Granted, there's much more to being gay than gay sex, but I can't imagine being in a gay man's head for 100,000 words of introspective narration and NOT sliding into the realm of the erotic now and then. Not to sound touchy-feely, but I do take the attitude that gay eroticism is worth celebrating.

At the same time, eroticism in the context of a novel must never be gratuitous, lest the novel devolve into pornography. (I have no objection to pornography, titillation for its own sake, but that's something distinct from novels of literary merit, which is what I've tried to produce.)

I believe I can claim categorically that the eroticism in my novels is ALWAYS plot-motivated. In most instances, in fact, the Manning books have an erotic subplot that ultimately ties into the main plot -- as any well-crafted subplot should. If, along the way, readers flat-out enjoy the eroticism, terrific, that's part of the book's entertainment value. I hope, though, when a reader finishes any of my stories, he or she is able to reflect upon the entire novel and understand that its erotic elements were part of the essential fabric of the storytelling.

And finally, my MOST frequently asked question:

8. Do you get to meet the models featured on your covers?

'Fraid not. I've been asked, variously, if I get to pick them, meet them, wine them, dine them, or attend the photo shoots. None of the above. The publisher retains total control over the books' covers (titles, too, as a matter of fact), and while my suggestions have always been welcome up front, I've had no involvement with actually producing the jackets.