“I discovered romance by accident,” she says. “I caught a terrible cold and went to the drugstore for Kleenex and cold tablets. When I was checking out, the cashier dropped a free romance novel into my shopping bag. (A Nora Roberts!) I’d never read romances, but I read that one and was hooked. I went on a romance reading bender—and sometime during that frenzy, I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing one. Once I did, I knew I’d found my true calling.”
She traded paintbrush for pen and got to work. The result, Heaven Sent, was published in 1987; ten romances followed in the next eight years, each drawing upon her education in the field of visual arts as much as the intimacies of kiss and tell.
“I’ve always attributed my very visual writing style to my art training. After all, writing is just painting pictures with words,” says Spindler, who earned a BFA from Delta State University and an MFA from the University of New Orleans. “But my background as a studio artist influenced my writing in other ways as well. Studio artists are trained to understand the power of image, visually but also conceptually, as symbol and metaphor. An apple is a piece of fruit, to be eaten because a character is hungry. But it can also be a symbol for original sin and the fall of man. Used in another way it can be a metaphor for that which is ripe. Or potentially convey a number of other subtextual messages.”
Less than a decade later, in 1996, she crossed over to suspense with the aptly titled Forbidden Fruit—a transition that seemed natural, given the inherent commonalities between the genres.
Denne historien er fra Spring #163, 2020-utgaven av Mystery Scene.
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Denne historien er fra Spring #163, 2020-utgaven av Mystery Scene.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
6 New Writers to Watch
Wiley Cash’s debut, A Land More Kind Than Home, about the bond between two brothers landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List and received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut of the Year.
ANN CLEEVES
British author Ann Cleeves has an affinity for remote areas and how these isolated regions affect her characters.
CARLENE O'CONNOR
“Anyone can play Snow White. It takes real talent to play the Wicked Witch.”
Mystery Scene MISCELLANY
FIRST USE OF FINGERPRINTS
PANIC ATTACK
The newest entry in my Pittsburgh set series of thrillers is called Panic Attack. It’s the sixth book featuring Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police.
LAIDLAW'S LEGACY
During the pandemic, Ian Rankin stepped away from Rebus and into the shoes of friend and literary hero, the “Godfather of Tartan Noir” William McIlvanney.
HILARY DAVIDSON
Call it The Case of Life Imitating Art.
Thomas Walsh - The Unusual Suspect
Any paternity test on the sub-genre of police procedural will identify the DNA of Ed McBain and Lawrence Treat, as well as the 1948 movie The Naked City and the radio and TV series Dragnet…and of course Thomas Walsh.
S.A. COSBY
In Razorblade Tears, two aging men—one Black, one white, both with criminal pasts—join forces to seek revenge for the murders of their gay sons. The themes of fathers and sons and toxic masculinity will be familar to fans of Cosby’s 2020 breakout Blacktop Wasteland.
VIPER'S NEST OF LIES
A slip of the tongue is a dangerous thing. Not only does it expose indiscretions, it also can lead to murder. The latter especially applies to me.