Interviews
On Tuesday, April 28, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Rita Mae Brown, author of MURDER ON THE PROWL.
Moderator: Hello, Rita Mae Brown! Thank you for joining us this evening. Is your coauthor and cat, Sneaky Pie Brown, with you?
Rita Mae Brown: She's right here on the table -- and I might add, there's a dead mouse under the table!
Matt from Brooklyn, NY: What are the origins of your Mrs. Murphy series?
Rita Mae Brown: I've been writing novels since I was 22, and of course, I thought it was great literature. And Sneaky said, "You are so full of it. I will write a book better than you do, and faster." But I call hers "litter-ature."
Marco from Lake Placid, NY: Rita, tell me, what is it like to write from a cat's purrspective?
Rita Mae Brown: It's very humbling, because unless you are as dumb as a post, you have to realize that cats really are smarter. And you know, the longer I work with her, the more I realize [I should] just shut up and do it her way.
Kelere from San Diego: All of your books are wonderful. I'm still hoping to hear more about the women in RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE -) Is it hard to switch back and forth between mysteries and your other works of fiction?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, no, because I have Sneaky Pie, and in fact, it's fun for me to be able to do that, because I never get bored.
Carrie from State College, PA: Rita, have you ever thought of writing a screenplay for any of your novels? I'd be extremely happy to see RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE or SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT (my partner says SIX OF ONE or HIGH HEARTS).
Rita Mae Brown: So far, none of my novels have been made into movies. The themes are not anything Hollywood wants to deal with right now, but I have written screenplays of original material or adaptations of other people's work, and I love doing it. I adapted THE MISTS OF AVALON, and I adapted some of Faulkner's short stories, and I just did last year a two-hour documentary on the life of Mary Pickford.
Pauline W. from Richmond, VA: I really enjoyed reading RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE because I could identify with the young girl character and how she is discovering her homosexuality. Can you recommend some of your favorite movies or books that explore this topic as tastefully and passionately as you did?
Rita Mae Brown: No. There aren't any! I mean, the classics like THE WELL OF LONELINESS, written back in the '20s -- it's a completely different way to look at the world. It doesn't have any resonance for us today. And I've never found anything that had a real sense of fun about it, and what I look for is that sense of fun. Because you can't just look at the world through one event or one aspect of your life, and most all of the fiction that I've read in which a homosexual character is central, or a lesbian character is central, everything is about the homosexuality, so it's narrow. But, maybe there is something I have missed, so we'll think hopeful thoughts.
Rebecca from Peoria: Rita, you write such a wide variety of books. Do you work on more than one book at a time? Do you have scheduled hours for writing, and if so, can you make Sneaky stick to them?
Rita Mae Brown: I have scheduled hours, Sneaky does not. She relies on inspiration. It's nice of you to notice that I write a wide variety of books, and I hope that I always will. I want to keep experimenting.
Berry from Williamsburg, Virginia: What drew you to writing mysteries? Do you have a favorite time to write as well as a favorite place?
Rita Mae Brown: What drew me to mysteries was Sneaky Pie. It was her idea, because I didn't want to do anything like that, but she's proven she's smarter than I am, and that's true for anybody who lives with a cat. I have an office that I work in and a library, and Sneaky has an office all her own. And actually, I think her office is nicer than mine! I like to write very early in the morning. If I can, all things being equal, I like to get up at 5 30 and be at that typewriter about 6 30, but Sneaky's nocturnal, so she writes in the middle of the night -- all I know is I get up and it's there!
Jane from Philadelphia, PA: Have you stopped writing novels like RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE and VENUS ENVY now, or do you think that you will ever return to them?
Rita Mae Brown: I'm not conscious about what I write, it just occurs. In other words, you're giving me more credit for knowing what I'm doing than I know. I just sit down and something happens, and I'm sure there will be another novel with a strong lesbian character, but I never know when.
Valerie from Bennington, VT: At the time that RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE came out, was the sexual content more controversial than it would be today? Was it a different audience than today? Also, is the way your character discovered her sexuality similar to your own life? Thank you!
Rita Mae Brown: Was it more controversial -- yes. I mean, I got death threats. People were just horrible. Was it similar to the way my own life was -- no. No, I don't think it was a different audience. In the beginning, it was just my generation that read RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE, but now that a lot of time has passed, it was younger people as well as older people. So, there are three generations that respond to this book now. That's a big difference, and I'm glad that they do!
Carrie from State College, PA: Rita, are the dogs and/or horses jealous of Sneaky Pie's success? Do they have any plans of writing a book on their own?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, the dogs are too dumb to be jealous, but the cats seethe with jealousy. Actually, I do have a couple of intelligent dogs, and they aren't jealous, they have their own lives. But I have a horse who is really threatening to tell all, and one of my deepest fears is that she is going to link up with Sneaky Pie.
P. J. from Greensboro, NC: I love Mrs. Murphy -- it is so much more fun to read from a cat's-eye view! It give us an entirely different perspective on humans, doesn't it? Have you learned anything about people in writing from this perspective?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, that's a good question! One of the most irritating things about people is that they think they're the center of the universe. And other animals, like cats and dogs and you name it, know better. We aren't nearly as important as we think we are. In fact, as I am talking to you, Sneaky was about to come inside, just got up to the doorstep, and said, "Nah, it looks too good outside." So, she sat under a bench.
Barbara from Williamsburg: Do you prefer to have the major character be male or female? If you prefer one over the other, why?
Rita Mae Brown: Mostly, in my work, I have preferred the major character to be female, and I will tell you why. Almost all of Western literature is written from a male perspective. It's very important to redress that balance. Now, I know that I will write [from a male perspective] -- in a book I will write about four years in the future, the main character is a male just turning 30. And that will be fun for me.
Maria from Palo Alto, CA: I haven't yet read RITA WILL, although I have heard such great things about it. I am looking forward to it. How has your upbringing influenced your fiction and writing?
Rita Mae Brown: I write to get even with them. And I believe I have succeeded.
Jen from Michigan: Your novels are explosive -- you always seem to bring the misfit onto the scene of a small town to stir things up! Does this mirror your own personality? Is this what you wish to do with your fiction?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, my experience is, in about every seven people, one is a misfit. So, I'm just reflecting reality as I know it. And it's just easier to see in a smaller town.
Pam from Oak Park, IL: RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE seems like it was a landmark not only in your own writing, but for the world of fiction as a whole, with such a sassy protagonist as Molly. To what do you attribute its word-of-mouth success?
Rita Mae Brown: Oh, God...a lot of things. First of all, it's comic, and there are very few comic novels, and you can count on the fingers of one hand novels written by women with comic vision. And I also think it was the first time that we had a lesbian character on center stage, and she was happy to be a lesbian, and that just shocked people. Shocked some, gratified others. And I'm sure there are reasons I don't know. They're probably reasons we won't know for a hundred years, just because we're in the middle of this life, we don't have a perspective on it. So, I won't know.
Mina from Greenwich, CT: How long have you been writing?
Rita Mae Brown: Seriously, since I was 15, and it's all I've ever wanted to do. So, I'm one of those lucky people that got what she wanted! I hope you do what you want to do!
Jill from Beverly Hills: Do you read tons of murder mysteries yourself as research, or do you read articles in the newspapers?
Rita Mae Brown: Neither. I've read very few mystery novels in my life. I tend not to be interested in them. But I read tons of military history, biography, and I am a classics major, so I go back and read Euripides and Aristophanes -- I go back to the beginning.Sneaky Pie, she doesn't read mysteries either, but she watches Mystery Theater on PBS. She has to be visually entertained. So, between the two of us, we manage to put something together.
Jennifer from New York: Did you model the school in MURDER ON THE PROWL on any school in particular? Are any of the characters based on people at that school?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, there are a couple very good private schools in this area, and I was probably subconsciously influenced by them. But I didn't deliberately model my school on those schools. And the characters are young people that you will see in almost any school, although hopefully they won't get in as big a mess!
Ellen from Evanston, IL: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? Did you study creative writing, and did you find that helpful?
Rita Mae Brown: No, I didn't study creative writing. The last place you can learn to write is the university. You have to go out and get knocked around by the world.What helped me the most was Latin and Greek, and I think if you want to be a writer, your primary tool is language, so you have to understand the English language inside and out. And that means Latin and Anglo-Saxon. I wrote a book about writing called STARTING FROM SCRATCH -- which ought to be in your Barnes & Noble bookstore! Thank you.
Margo from Washington, D.C.: Do you ever write books that you decide not to publish for one reason or another? Do you have a lot of works from when you were younger that you never published but might publish later?
Rita Mae Brown: No. I write 'em and they go straight to my publisher. But I have ideas they don't like, and they reject books that I would like to write, and that's just part of life as a writer. But I never give up. Sooner or later, I think I'll wear them down!
Erin from Chicago: Have you ever wondered what you would be if you weren't a writer?
Rita Mae Brown: No. I'd be a farmer -- and I am a farmer, actually! You can't make any money at it these days, but it's a wonderful life. Probably not the answer you expected, huh?
Megan from Minneapolis, Minnesota: What do you think of Lilian Jackson Braun's THE CAT WHO SANG FOR THE BIRDS?
Rita Mae Brown: I never read any of her books, but if I ever get a minute, I would love to. I just think I'd like them a lot.
Elke from Pittsburgh, PA: Who are your favorite authors?
Rita Mae Brown: Aristophanes, Euripides, Plautus, Terence, Shakespeare, and Mark Twain. Those are my all-time faves.
Noel Troike from Harrisburg, PA: Hi. Do you plan to attend any of this year's conventions?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, I'm not sure what conventions you mean -- I'll be at a couple of horse conventions and horse shows! But, I'll be at the Jackson Hole Writer's Conference July 4th. That's Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Megan from Richmond, VA: Good evening, Rita. I'm glad to see you online this evening. I haven't read your latest, but I plan to -- could you tell us a bit about it?
Rita Mae Brown: Well, Mrs. Murphy, our feline detective, is faced with a murder in a private school, and it's a murder that makes absolutely no sense, because it was a murder that was advertised in the newspaper before it occurred. So, she is faced with an extremely difficult problem. What's interesting about this book, it's not something you'd think of right off the bat, but the cat figures it out long before the humans, because the humans can't face it. It's pretty interesting! You'd better go out and get it -- again, at your Barnes & Noble store!
Debbie from St. Louis: I never would have guessed that you would say farmer! Were you raised on a farm, or did you come to enjoy farms as an adult?
Rita Mae Brown: I was raised on one, and I never found anything I liked better. And I hope you find what you like.
Penelope Jones from South Carolina: Your book says "by Rita Mae Brown with Sneaky Pie Brown" -- what role does Sneaky Pie have in writing your books? I'm assuming Sneaky Pie can't type...but I am certain he/she helps!
Rita Mae Brown: She's the star. I am her secretary. So, she dictates and I type. She has her own computer. And I'm not just saying that -- the cat really does have her own computer, and she will do work on her own computer, but what she loves more than anything else is the graphics package! And if you're surprised, just remember, it was Dick Wittington's cat that saved London! So, cats can do anything.
Sarah from Connecticut: Do you have more than one cat? Are the other ones publicity shy?
Rita Mae Brown: No, they're not publicity shy. There are ten others, and they have gargantuan egos! So, whenever anyone comes to photograph Sneaks -- and people come from other countries, they come from Germany, these magazines send professional photographers -- the other cats go nuts. It's so embarrassing!
Greg from New York: Do you have a favorite book that you've written?
Rita Mae Brown: It's always the one in the typewriter. I think the only way you can write a novel is you have to be totally in love with it while you are doing it. At least, I have to be! Maybe other writers don't.
Lori from Providence: Do you spend any time on the Internet? Do you ever let people know who you are when you do?
Rita Mae Brown: No, I don't spend any time on it. We are in the process of getting a home page, which I hope we'll have by June. And once I get on the d* thing, I'll let people know who I am. It's going to be ritamaebrown.com.
Mandy from San Diego, Ca: Is Crozet, Virginia, a real place? If so, could you describe it to us? If not, did you base it on anywhere, or did you create it yourself?
Rita Mae Brown: It's a real place, and it's about ten miles from where I live, and it's named for Claudius Crozet, who was a Napoleonic engineering officer captured by the Russians during the retreat from Moscow. He's a fascinating man, and he finally made it to this country and wound up here.
Maria from Indiana: Do you ever travel for inspiration? What are some of your favorite places to travel to?
Rita Mae Brown: I don't like to travel, because I have to travel so much in my work, and where I live is so beautiful that every single minute is an inspiration. I'm right at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I've been places that I think are beautiful -- Kiel, Germany, I think is beautiful. Montecito, California; Banff, Canada; Vancouver, Canada -- there are a lot of beautiful spots in the world, but my idea of hell is to travel. A book tour kills all desire to travel!
Leonard from Lubbock, TX: Do you spend a lot of time with other writers or do you find that unnecessary?
Rita Mae Brown: I live in a community that has a great many fine writers. Rita Dove lives here, John Casey, George Garrett, and that's just the beginning. And because this is a small community, you invariably run into one another. But we don't -- at least I don't -- talk shop. Gregory Orr, Mary Lee Settle, Alexander Ripley, John Grisham -- everybody lives here. And again, there are a lot of other people that are up and coming. This is a very creative community.
Olli from Boston: Does anyone else in your family write?
Rita Mae Brown: No. No, they just make trouble.
Kelly from Hoboken, NJ: Where is your favorite place to write?
Rita Mae Brown: My favorite place to write is in my library.
Lesley from Roslyn: How do you create the names for your characters? Do you just look through phone books or baby name books or something else?
Rita Mae Brown: I go to graveyards, and then I scramble the names.
Vicki from Bakersfield, CA: Are you going to be in California anytime soon to sign your book?
Rita Mae Brown: No, but I would love to be!
Paul from Morris Plains: Do you have any hobbies outside of writing and farming (and cats, of course)?
Rita Mae Brown: Fox hunting -- but we don't kill the fox. The English do, we don't.
Moderator: Thank you so much for joining us again this evening, Ms. Brown. We've really enjoyed your answers! Do you have any closing comments for our audience?
Rita Mae Brown: Do it now, you're going to be dead a long time!