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From
the Chicago Sun-Times, October 5, 2003
Editor's
'Revenge': How to
write
your very own mystery novel
By Mary Houlihan
Getting the details right is the No. 1 job of a journalist. Chicago
Sun-Times literary editor Henry Kisor has taken this skill down another
avenue with his latest book, Season's Revenge
(Forge; $19.95).
Creating a detail-laden and precise mystery, set in Michigan's Upper
Peninsula, turned the author himself into a detective of sorts.
"The tools of a mystery writer are very much like those of a
journalist, except that journalists of course can't invent things,
while mystery writers must," said Kisor, who was recently inducted into
the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.
Kisor's engrossing, witty tale is written in a smart,
accessible
style
that captures all the required ingredients of a contemporary mystery
novel. There's a cool, unassuming mystery-solver, Porcupine  County
deputy Steve Martinez; a green-eyed red-headed love interest, county
historian Ginny Fitzgerald; numerous ancillary characters with plenty
of quirks; and an intriguing, complicated murder mystery that involves
a very unusual murder weapon.
The plot revolves around Porcupine County's leading citizen, Paul
Passoja, an old hand at deep-woods camping and expert at avoiding
rampant wildlife, who is found at a remote campsite, apparently the
victim of a bear attack. But all is not as it seems as Martinez
steadfastly peels away the layers of deceit and past history to uncover
a sad scheme of revenge.
Kisor, the author of three works of non-fiction -- What's
That Pig
Outdoors: A Memoir of Deafness, Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America
and Flight of the Gin Fizz: Midlife at 4,500 Feet -- admits
that
writing is "absolute drudgery."
All the fun lies in the preliminary legwork, which consisted of digging
around in libraries and on the Internet, driving and flying his plane
around the Upper Peninsula and talking to the people who live there.
"I felt quite at home pottering about libraries looking up things about
bears, guns, Finns and Alzheimer's disease, as well as asking questions
of people who live in the UP," said Kisor, who has spent many vacations
at a family home in the area.
"People like to talk about what they do for a living. Finding out what
they did and how they did it came naturally to me as a journalist."
But instead of a traditional mystery, this writing venture began life
as a non-fiction book about the Upper Peninsula, said Kisor, who
thought that the UP might offer up a great true-crime story, a
compelling peg on which to hang a book.
"But I couldn't find that story," he admitted. "It must be out there
somewhere, but it hasn't turned up yet."
By 1999, Kisor had amassed a huge pile of material -- research, notes,
interviews, jottings -- but he didn't have a clue how to use all the
information. Relaxing with mystery novels was a favorite pastime and at
some point the "eureka!" moment arrived.
"In that pile of assorted facts and folks, I suddenly realized a good
mystery novel might be lurking," Kisor recalled. "But creating
believable characters and imagining believable events is vital, and I
often found myself blocked trying to think of what to have my hero do
next. It got easier as time went on, though, and by the end of the
novel I was on a roll."
Kisor has created a memorable and complicated detective just itching
for a long series of mysteries to call home. (Yes, he's already at work
on a second Martinez novel.)
In Season's Revenge, Steve Martinez, a Native
American of
Lakota Sioux descent, grew up the adopted son of white missionaries. He
exists in an interesting duality, never at home in either world.
Throughout his life, he's never paid much attention to his roots and,
as Season's Revenge unfolds, is only beginning to
understand
his true heritage.
It's often said that first novels are autobiographical. Kisor felt the
reality of this statement as he created his detective.
"I wanted to explore some of the events in my life and the
contradictory feelings I have had as a speaking and lip-reading deaf
person in a hearing world that considers all deaf people the same --
that we all use sign language and socialize only among ourselves," said
Kisor, who has been deaf since the age of 3. "I've often felt caught
between two stools, and I thought that notion might add some tension
when applied to a mystery hero."
But Kisor thought a deaf person as a gun-toting sheriff's deputy in the
remote north was too unrealistic. Then he remembered one of his eldest
son's friends who had been adopted from the Pine Ridge Reservation by
white parents.
"He once told me he didn't know much about being Indian," said Kisor.
"Some Native Americans adopted by whites have feelings of rootlessness
because they think white but look Indian, and I've often thought to
myself, 'Boy, that could have been me.' "
Woven throughout the novel are little-known bits of Finnish history
tied to the Upper Peninsula, as well as nicely honed descriptions of
life in the area and the unspoiled beauty of the north woods. Facts on
bears provide a primer of what and what not to do in their presence.
Ontonagon County, upon which the fictional Porcupine County is based,
is full of rugged people who take care of each other despite struggles
with unemployment and a dwindling population, Kisor said. "They're the
true survivors. I grew to admire them immensely."
These people were the inspiration for the many outlying characters that
colorfully fill in the corners of Season's Revenge.
As the Sun-Times book editor, Kisor reads and reads and and reads and
reads. When asked, he'll gladly count off his list of favorite mystery
writers -- Tony Hillerman, Dick Francis, Michael Connelly, Sara
Paretsky, Barbara D'Amato and P.D. James. Considered by the literary
world to be mere entertainers, Kisor feels they are often far better
stylists and craftsmen than many "serious" novelists.
"A good story well told, that's the thing," said Kisor, as he prepares
to humbly join their ranks.
Copyright 2003 Chicago Sun-Times |
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