Before I Say Good-Bye (39 page)

“In this novel, there are two women protagonists. Pat Traymore comes to Washington to produce a television program on Senator Abigail Jennings, about to be appointed vice president. Pat’s task is to ‘humanize’ the senator—to shed light on aspects of her life unknown to the public. As Pat delves into Abigail’s past, she learns of facts that could destroy Abigail just as she is on the verge of attaining her goal. Pat has also come to Washington for unfinished business of her own—to uncover secrets of her past. She moves back into her childhood home, the scene of a terrible crime never explained. Pat does not realize that her quest may cost her life.

“In
Stillwatch
I deal with two women’s relationship to their past: one determined to learn the truth at all
costs, the other for whom emergence of the truth will mean the end of her dreams. In creating the setting, I was aided in part by my friend Francis Humphrey Howard, sister of the late Senator Hubert Humphrey, who introduced me to Washington life.”

•
 Weep No More, My Lady
takes place in a luxurious spa. Why did you choose this setting for a suspense novel?

“It used to be only the rich could afford to go to spas. Today, with the widespread interest in health and beauty, there are affordable spas all over the country. An intriguing thought crossed my mind: Suppose a killer in a wet suit is stalking the grounds of one of these spas.

“The plot in
Weep No More, My Lady
revolves around the mysterious death of stage and screen star Leila LaSalle. Was her fall from her penthouse terrace suicide or murder? This is the question plaguing her sister, beautiful Elizabeth Lange. Min, an old friend of Leila’s, is the owner of luxurious Cypress Point Spa. She invites Elizabeth to the spa, where she encounters a cast of characters each of whom had a motive for killing her sister—and one who is now trying to murder her.

“Alvirah, the cleaning woman who has won the 40-million-dollar lottery, and her husband Willy, a plumber, made their debut in this novel. Alvirah came to Cypress Point Spa not only to relax and enjoy herself, but to write a gossip column for the
New York Globe
. The killer stalking Elizabeth, the main protagonist, decides
to get Alvirah out of the way. His scheme fails, though, and she provides important clues to his identity.”

• When you first introduced Alvirah Meehan as a character in
Weep No More, My Lady,
did you plan to make her and her husband Willy ongoing characters in your work?

“No—on the contrary: I intended to kill off Alvirah in
Weep No More, My Lady
. My daughter Carol Higgins Clark prevailed on me to keep her alive. Alvirah and Willy became the protagonists of
The Lottery Winner: Alvirah & Willy Stories
and my novel
All Through the Night
.

“Alvirah and sleuth Regan Reilly, protagonist of Carol’s Regan Reilly series, join forces in our co-authored suspense novel,
Deck the Halls
.”

• Your novel,
While My Pretty One Sleeps,
is set in the world of high fashion. How did you get such intimate knowledge of the fashion world?

“I grew up hearing about the world of fashion from my mother, who had been the bridal buyer at B. Altman. I also wrote a syndicated radio show,
Women Today,
for which I regularly interviewed designers and fashion editors and attended fashion events. It gave me the chance to see both the glamour and the agony of the fashion industry.

“Ethel Lambston, prominent gossip writer, is about to rock the fashion industry with an exposé revealing the secrets of top fashion designers. The story opens with Ethel’s killer driving, in a blinding snowstorm, to
a state park in Rockland County, N.Y., to bury Ethel’s body. The first to notice Ethel’s disappearance is Neeve Kearney, beautiful young owner of an exclusive Madison Avenue boutique where Ethel bought all her clothes. She lives with her father, Myles Kearney. A retired police commissioner, he has never forgiven himself because his wife was murdered after he ignored a threat to her life. Neeve becomes deeply involved in the investigation of Ethel’s murder. She also becomes a target for the killer.

“In
While My Pretty One Sleeps
, I have included themes based on my view of family relations. I created a strong father-daughter relationship because I am tired of books about parents and children at each other’s throats. I got along well with my parents and I get along fine with my children. The book also has a strong love story reflecting my belief that some people are meant for each other.”

•
 The Anastasia Syndrome and Other Stories,
a novella and short stories, covers such themes as parapsychology and supernatural phenomena. Have you delved into these subjects?

“Yes. I took a course in parapsychology at New York’s New School of Social Research, during which I observed people being regressed to former lifetimes. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but I am fascinated by its dramatic possibilities.

“The novella,
The Anastasia Syndrome
, was inspired by the true story of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia—a
claim debated and tried in court for over fifty years but which remains, to this day, an enigma. In
The Anastasia Syndrome
, Judith Chase, a prominent historical writer, is living in London and becoming traumatized by early childhood memories of bombing raids during World War II, in which she was orphaned. She goes to a prominent psychiatrist for help and becomes the victim of his experiments in regression. She is regressed not only to her childhood tragedy, but to 1660, the era of the Civil War in England. In this regression process, she absorbs the persona of murderous Lady Margaret Carew, a woman with a mission of vengeance. In her persona of Lady Carew, Judith becomes the subject of a massive hunt by Scotland Yard.

“The four stories in
The Anastasia Syndrome and Other Stories
deal with such themes as obsession and supernatural phenomena. Obsessive love is the theme of ‘Terror Stalks the Class Reunion.’ A supernatural phenomenon occurs in ‘Double Vision.’ ‘Lucky Day’ begins with a premonition of imminent danger. ‘The Lost Angel’ is a Christmas story in which a mother’s intuition becomes the overpowering force in the search for a lost child.

“The book reflects an intense personal interest on my part in such phenomena as sixth sense and thought transference.”

• What prompted you to choose the world of personal ads as a background for
Loves Music, Loves to Dance
?

“People in all walks of life are turning to personal
ads to find romance or companionship. Personal ads are risky, but they are big business in America. The scary aspect is that you are taking on faith what a stranger tells you—his name, his job, his marital status, his background. Women can fall prey to sexual harassment, rape, even murder.

“I attended a lecture by an FBI agent while I was Chairperson of the International Crime Congress in 1987. When he talked about a serial killer who enticed his victims through personal ads, the words ‘loves music, loves to dance’ walked through my mind and the seed for the book was planted. The speaker that day was Robert Ressler, Director of Behavioral Forensic Sciences, who has since retired from the FBI. As the FBI’s top criminologist and serial murder and violent crime expert, Ressler had conducted original research in violent criminal behavior and interviewed some of the most notorious criminals, such as David Berkowitz, the ‘Son of Sam Killer’; Ted Bundy, killer of over thirty-five women; Richard T. Chase, the ‘Vampire Killer’; John Wayne Gacy, Chicago killer of thirty-three boys; and Charles Manson. Robert Ressler acted as my consultant on
Loves Music, Loves to Dance
.

“Loves Music, Loves to Dance
revolves around a serial killer who uses personal ads to entice his victims. Erin Kelly, a talented young jewelry designer and her best friend, Darcy Scott, a decorator, have been dating men through personal ads. They were helping a friend, a television producer, to research a documentary on the kinds of people who place and answer personal ads and their experiences. Darcy had persuaded the reluctant
Erin to participate. One day, Erin is missing. Soon after, her body is found on an abandoned Manhattan pier. On one foot is her own shoe; on the other, a high-heeled dancing slipper. Guilt-stricken over Erin’s death, Darcy decides to meet the men Erin dated, to find her killer. What Darcy does not realize, what she cannot know until it is too late, is that she has been targeted as the killer’s next victim.”

•
 All Around the Town
deals with a young woman with multiple personalities who is accused of murder. How did you get the idea for this book?

“It emanated from the request for an autograph. A friend of my daughter Carol came to visit, an art therapist from the National Center for Treatment of Dissociative Disorders in Denver, specializing in the treatment of multiple personality disorder. She wanted me to sign a book for one of her patients. When I asked for the name, she hesitated and said: ‘Now which one of her personalities reads your books?’ This aroused my interest and led to my writing this book.

“Laurie Kenyon, the main protagonist in
All Around the Town
, a twenty-one-year-old college senior, is accused of murdering her English professor, Allan Grant. When he is found stabbed to death, her fingerprints are everywhere—on the door, on the curtain, on the knife. Arraigned on a murder charge, Laurie has no memory of the crime. Traumatized by abuse she suffered after she was kidnapped at the age of four and held for two years, she has developed multiple personalities. Laurie, the host personality, does not know
that others co-exist with her, nor is she aware that one of her alternates, Leona, has been writing Allan Grant crazed love letters and secretly entering his home.

“Bic Hawkins, Laurie’s abductor, an unsavory drifter, had been scratching out a living singing in taverns and as a fundamentalist preacher. Now he has become a celebrated television evangelist. Before releasing her, Bic had threatened six-year-old Laurie with death if she ever talked about what he had done to her and, terrified, she erased the experience from her mind.

“Attorney Sarah Kenyon has quit her job as assistant prosecutor to defend her younger sister. Her strategy is to prove that Laurie’s childhood trauma was the direct cause of Allan Grant’s murder. Sarah brings in Dr. Justin Donnelly, a specialist in the treatment of multiple personalities, to unlock the unbearable memories she has been suppressing. As her multiple personalities emerge in therapy and the date for her trial approaches, her fate hangs on the question: If one of her alternate personalities perpetrated Allan Grant’s murder, is she to be held accountable?”

• What is the theme of your novel
I’ll Be Seeing You
?

“The ‘what if’ of in-vitro fertilization and human cloning.

“In
I’ll Be Seeing You
, Meghan Collins, a television news reporter, is covering a story in the emergency room of a large metropolitan hospital when an unidentified stabbing victim is brought in. Attempts to revive her fail. When Meghan looks at the dead girl’s face, she
recoils in horror—she is looking at a mirror image of her own. As she attempts to learn the identity of the dead girl, her search becomes linked to a story she is doing at the Manning Clinic.

“The Manning Clinic, an assisted reproduction facility, has a remarkably high success rate in helping childless women conceive through in-vitro fertilization. Now they have ventured into cloning of embryos and a woman is about to deliver the identical twin of her three-year-old son. At first the director, Dr. George Manning, welcomes the idea of television coverage, but bars Meghan when Dr. Helene Petrovic, embryologist in charge of the laboratory, abruptly quits. He refuses Meghan further access to the clinic. That evening, Helene Petrovic’s body is found—she has been shot to death. Then, a scandal erupts at the Manning Clinic.

“Petrovic is linked to Meghan’s father, Edwin Collins, whose executive search firm had placed her in the lab. For nearly a year, Collins had been missing and presumed dead. Now suspicion arises about his disappearance. Meghan is sure that Petrovic’s death is the key to learning the truth about her father, the dead girl and the Manning Clinic.”

•
 Remember Me,
a psychological thriller, is set on Cape Cod. What motivated you to choose this locale?

“The idea originated twenty years ago, when I visited a bookstore on the Cape, where I have a home, and came across a book on its legends and history. At that time, the idea for a novel titled
Remember House
first took root in my mind. It became
Remember Me
,
in which the main character, Menley, goes to Remember House. I realized that the story of the early settlers, their lifestyles and their homes, would provide a rich historical background for a suspense story in which today and yesterday become inexorably linked.”

• Menley, heroine of
Remember Me,
suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome. What made you use this as a theme in your novel?

“The medical profession has only recently recognized that a traumatic event can be re-experienced if something triggers the memory of a contributing factor to the trauma—earthquake victims may panic if a subway train rumbles underneath; a woman who has been attacked in an elevator may find it impossible to enter an elevator again.

“In
Remember Me
, Menley drives across an unguarded railroad crossing and a train hits the back of the car, killing her little boy. The sight of the railroad crossing, the sound of a train whistle, or the sound of screaming is enough to make her relive that awful moment with the same desperate anxiety and panic she experienced at the time. Menley has never stopped blaming herself for the death of her two-year-old son, Bobby, though she was blameless. In the aftermath, as Menley suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, her marriage to Adam, a high-profile criminal lawyer, starts to fall apart. The birth of their daughter, Hannah, revitalizes their relationship.