Steve Hamilton’s 2002 iVillage live chat!

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Welcome to the Monday night Author Chat with Steve Hamilton. We will begin in a few minutes. Maggie the book was great!!!

iVillager cl-hedge.hog:
Yes, I loved this book!

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Thanks Maggie… I loved it too.

Steve Hamilton:
(Which book are they talking about, he wonders…)

iVillager mosesto:
all four.

iVillager cmchris:
ALL of them!

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Welcome to iVillage’s Author Chat with Steve Hamilton, author of “North of Nowhere”. If you wish to ask a question, please put a “?” to the screen. Welcome to iVillage’s Author’s Chat, Steve. It is a delight to have you with us this evening. Will you please tell us a little about yourself and your new book?

sjnhamil:
Let’s see. This is the fourth Alex McKnight mystery, North of Nowhere. I’m up here about two hours north of the city, getting ready to start this year’s book tour. Anyway, I’m still working for IBM, not sure for how long, and the mystery career is going better than I could have ever dreamed.

iVillager cmchris:
Is Alex based on someone you know? Are any of the other characters?

Steve Hamilton:
Alex isn’t really based on anyone, no. One interesting thing is that he’s older than I am. Most writers don’t do that, it turns out. The only character based on a real person (and here I have to swear you to secrecy), the lawyer in the first book is based on my manager at IBM. BUT, you gotta understand — to make a bad character, you take a good character and sort of take something away from inside of him. Know what I mean? So Uttley was the bad version of Bob, sort of like his evil twin. I’d never tell Bob that.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Can you tell us how you chose your wonderful location?

Steve Hamilton:
I was born and raised in Michigan, more downstate, and every summer we’d go “up north,” as they say in Michigan. As soon as you cross the Mackinac Bridge, it’s like you’re in a different world. Everything feels different up there. And Lake Superior, especially, is such a big part of everybody’s life. I thought it would be great to have this HUGE lake, this beautiful cold-hearted killer in the background.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Your descriptions were wonderful. I felt like I was there!

iVillager maggiegriffin:
I get to ask the down and dirty questions – is McKnight going to get a girlfriend and why?

Steve Hamilton:
Yes, and why not. Next book. You’ll see.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
I always find it fascinating which authors an author would read for pleasure. I’ve been told that most authors do not read in the genre in which write, is that true in your case? Who do you enjoy curling up with?

Steve Hamilton:
I definitely do read mysteries, always have, since I was a little kid. I still read hard-boiled mysteries. Lehane, Pelecanos, Connelly (I could go on and on), Block, Crumley, and this new writer from Scotland, Denise Mina.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
I enjoy your books a lot Steve! Really, you work full time at IBM and write? Do you plan to continue your “day job”?

Steve Hamilton:
I still do, as of now. Everyone at IBM has been so great about it. My manager especially (See? He’s not evil!), so it’s been possible to do both for a while. As long as they keep making it work, it’s hard to give up that security.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Do you usually know where your characters are going from the beginning?

Steve Hamilton:
Absolutely not. I don’t use an outline, for instance. Sort of wish I did. Then I’d know when I was half done, etc. I just start with a situation. Like a poker game where men break in with guns. And I just go.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
What kind of comments do you get from your coworkers? Do they critique, make suggestions?

Steve Hamilton:
I do have one coworker, an ex-police chief. He reads everything and checks for police procedure, gun stuff, etc. Everyone else is just really great about it. Not to sound too corny, but I’m very lucky.

iVillager csn1955:
Hello, Mr. Hamilton. I love your material, and especially think you have a great feel for your supporting characters. Any clues on how you come up with them?

Steve Hamilton:
Wow, I don’t want to make this sound all mystical, like these characters take on a life of their own. But really, like with Leon, he was just supposed to come on stage in the first chapter of book one. He was the guy who was mad at Alex for taking his job. Later, there was a great place for him to come back. So he did. This whole relationship with Alex just sort of evolved that way.

iVillager csn1955:
Well, I especially liked the FBI agents you named after the Illinois cities!

iVillager maggiegriffin:
Do your characters talk to you? Or do you tell them what to say?

Steve Hamilton:
Best piece of advice I ever read on writing — listen to what your characters say, and then write it down.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Could you please describe your writing area? Do you have any pre-writing rituals before you begin to type?

Steve Hamilton:
Besides messy? I’m up here in the guest room/writing room. Nickie, my 7-year-old son, is sleeping on the floor, in his tent. I’ll usually start around 10:00 at night, after everybody else has gone to bed, and write until 2:00 or so. You can imagine the odds of finding me at work at 9:00.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
How many times do you edit your book before you say, “Enough is enough” and sent it to your editor?

Steve Hamilton:
I guess that’s what the deadline is for. It makes you stop. I’ll keep going over and over until I HAVE to send it to Ruth.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Do you see trends in writing, for example in the recent past of paranormals and vampires? Where do you see the trend going right now?

Steve Hamilton:
Oy. Your guess is as good as mine there. I keep writing the kind of stuff that feels right to me. The only trend I definitely know of is that the quality of writing is getting better.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
How do you hook and keep your reader’s interest?

Steve Hamilton:
I just try to start with that first “thing.” You know? In “The Hunting Wind”, it was this old teammate who comes back, 30 years later, with this crazy idea to find a girl he hasn’t seen in just as long. It just FEELS like something that I’d want to keep reading, you know what I mean? I try not to think about it too much. Just do it.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Do you ever experience writer’s block? What do you do about it?

Steve Hamilton:
Writer’s block, ah yes. To me, writer’s block is what you call it when you’re not writing. Sounds kinds obvious, I know, but to me, a block is somebody external preventing you from doing something. When I’m not writing, I try to tell myself that there’s a good reason for it. Like maybe the right idea isn’t there yet, and I just have to wait another day for it to all come together. In other words, a total rationalization for laziness.

iVillager maggiegriffin:
Now that you’re published in the UK as well as the US, do you find any difference in the UK response to Alex? They don’t have the same wide-open spaces and yet, Alex lives in what could be compared easily to a small Scottish town.

Steve Hamilton:
Hmm… (Stalling) I was over in London last summer for Crime Scene. And I’m still trying to get my head around the idea that anyone over there is even reading my stuff. It’s such an amazing thing. But really, if I just keep trusting the story, it’s going to work for anybody, regardless of where they live, right? And all the specific Michigan stuff, that’s just an added bonus for somebody who’s never been there. Which is one reason I love some of the UK writers so much — because not only do they write a good story, I get all this atmosphere in this great place I’ve never been.

iVillager mikegrollman:
How did you arrive upon your back story for Alex? Three separate, distinct, and very diverse careers such as those?

Steve Hamilton:
That’s a good question. When Alex first sort of came to me (mystical again, sorry), I just had this feeling that it was somebody who was alone, and feeling like a failure. And he had been through something terrible. So the reasonable thing, I thought, was to make him an ex-cop. And the more I got to know him, the more I realized that he HAD to be a baseball catcher. Every sport has its own sort of personality, and in baseball, especially, every position has its own personality. Alex could never have been a pitcher, for instance. (Randy Wilkins, HE was a pitcher). A catcher is the backbone of the team, not flashy, but always in control, etc. Sorry, going off into heavy sports here.

iVillager mikegrollman: At least Alex is not angst-ridden, a refreshing change in the genre.

iVillager csn1955:
About your supporting characters, I really liked the 2 FBI guys you named after Illinois cities in book 2. How does this stuff come to you, especially inventing unique personalities like they had?

Steve Hamilton:
Agents Champagne and Urbanic, believe it or not (you might not), are named after two of my old softball teammates. And I swear, I didn’t even think about the cities until after the book was done.

iVillager csn1955:
They exist?

Steve Hamilton:
I thought the names had a good ring together, and then I realized why.

iVillager csn1955:
Do they get royalties?

Steve Hamilton:
No. I take them golfing, though.

iVillager cmchris:
When did you first *know* you were going to be a writer? Have you written since childhood?

Steve Hamilton:
Since childhood, absolutely. Back then, I thought I’d be a mystery writer. Then I sort of grew out of it. I submitted a story to Ellery Queen magazine when I was 12. I’ve come full circle now. And I even had a story in the magazine, 28 years later.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
What comes first for you when writing a novel- story, character, or setting?

Steve Hamilton:
I would say, the beginning of the story. Just the beginning.

iVillager mosesto:
Good evening, Mr. Hamilton. Thank you for the great books, I’ve really loved them. Now that you know that your books are going to be read, does that impact your writing? Does it change whom you are writing for?

Steve Hamilton: It felt different when I was finishing the second book. Knowing that now people would actually be reading them. It was sort of intimidating for a while. Until I learned to totally forget everything and everybody. No readers, no editors, no reviewers… just me, and the voice in the story.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Who are a few of your favorite authors that you read for pleasure?

Steve Hamilton:
I mentioned Lehane, Pelecanos, Connelly, Block, Crumley, Mina, Rozan… I’m drawing a blank now. There are so many.

iVillager cmchris:
LOL You’ll have to come back on the 13th Steve and talk to Michael Connelly 😉

Steve Hamilton:
Great idea.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Some authors have shared their little quirks while writing ie: eating pasta, Godiva chocolates, having good luck charms… do you?

Steve Hamilton:
Mountain Dew for the caffeine.

iVillager mikegrollman:
Besides the writers you listed as those that you now read for pleasure, who were your inspirations for getting into the genre?

Steve Hamilton:
Back then, after the Hardy Boys, I fell in love with Agatha Christie’s stuff… and then the great hard-boiled masters, like Chandler and Hammett.

iVillager watermark2000:
Ok Steve, when I submit, the editors say “Great, but tone down the details and resubmit.” Next time I get “Gee, develop with more detail and resubmit.” Grrr! So what’s the trick in striking a balance with the detail?

Steve Hamilton: Wow… The first time through, I’m heavy on dialog. I find myself adding a lot of description the next couple times through. For me, pacing is such a big deal. I don’t want the reader to get bogged down anywhere, for even a second. Gosh, I’m trying to find a way to sum that up. It’s hard to say exactly. It just sort of feels right when there’s enough. (Sorry. Lame!)

iVillager maggiegriffin:
Do you have a website? And can I sign up for an email newsletter? Are you going on tour soon? And lastly, did you know I was going to ask these questions? 🙂

Steve Hamilton:
No, I don’t have a… Sorry, couldn’t resist! YES, I have a GREAT Web site! With the most wonderful Webmaven ever. And YES, please, please sign up for the newsletter. The tour starts in a matter of hours, literally. I get up and go to the airport at like 6:30. www.authorSteveHamilton.com 🙂 Come on down!

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Regarding your recent reply, is it difficult when writing to forget about readers, editors, reviewers?

Steve Hamilton:
It was at first, yes. Then I just remembered how I wrote the first one. I was in a writer’s group then. If anything I was just trying to do something that those few people would like. That’s a manageable thing to do, I think. A manageable way to think anyway. I still try to keep it at the same level. Will Frank and Bill like this?

iVillager csn1955:
When you finish writing a book, do you generally have any feel for how good YOU think it is? I mean, you already KNOW how it ends!

Steve Hamilton:
When I just finish it, I think it’s horrible. Really horrible. Then I rewrite and rewrite and still think it’s horrible, honestly. Months later, I start to think it MIGHT be okay.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Speaking of tours any plans to come to New Hampshire? When can we expect the next book out?

Steve Hamilton:
Newburyport, MA is right over the border. So pretty close… If it’s a place I’ve never been, I pretty much need a bookstore to make a request with St. Martin’s.

iVillager watermark2000:
Steve, is there a mental game you play with yourself to inspire and idea when you get stuck? Can you trick yourself into firing again?

Steve Hamilton:
Wow, another good question. I think I’ve got to let my subconscious work on the problem. That’s when I might stop for a day or two. And golf. Golf always helps, because I forget about everything for four hours. Then when I think about it again, I might see something new.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Are your books avail on audio? Do you get to ok the choice of the reader?

Steve Hamilton:
They are, by Chivers. And no, I don’t get that choice. Authors don’t get ANY choices! Not covers, not jacket copy. Nothing.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
How about coming to the Boston area, or Rhode Island? And are all your books set in the same area as this one?

Steve Hamilton:
I’ll be in Boston next month. But about the settings… first two in UP, third in Detroit and western Michigan, fourth in UP again, fifth in Canada.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
You’ve answered so many questions for us tonight Steve… Do you have any for us?

Steve Hamilton:
Catching my breath… Is it really working? Do these stories really make you want to keep reading?

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Sure do!!

iVillager cmchris:
Yes!

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Steve, I am going out to buy the others… I just read this one!

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Yes, Yes!

Steve Hamilton:
Well, thank you then.

iVillager csn1955:
— always reads straight through to the end… but then, I’m partial ’cause I get free golf.

iVillager cmchris:
I didn’t want North of Nowhere to end.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
And I read it out of order… a big deal for me!!

Steve Hamilton:
“Blood Is the Sky”, out next summer. (What do you think of the title? — It’s a line from an Ojibwa warrior song.) Now I just have to finish it.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Not to rush, but can you hurry a bit?

iVillager watermark2000:
Name a definite writer’s “no no” in submitting, please, Steve… also, is Texas on your calendar?

iVillager maggiegriffin:
Anyone interested in meeting Steve in person should check out his tour schedule here: http://www.authorstevehamilton.com/tour.htm.

Steve Hamilton:
I’ll be in Austin for Bouchercon in October, and also in Houston. A no-no in submitting… my editor tells me she HATES heavy paper. It doesn’t impress anyone. It just makes the book heavier to carry around.

iVillager watermark2000:
Heavy paper… I’d not have thought of that.

iVillager mosesto:
You mentioned that you were in a writers group when you wrote Cold Day in Paradise. How did you find a writers group? Was it through a college?

Steve Hamilton:
Somebody at work mentioned that he was in it. I thought it would be just the thing to get myself back into writing again. Every Thursday night, they’d meet in the basement of this little library. No, at work… Those meetings became a little deadline for me. Every Thursday night, I’d want to have something done.

iVillager mikegrollman: The only other novelist in the genre I can recall setting his work in the UP was Robert Traver, of Anatomy of a Murder fame. Was this a book you read and if so, did it inspire you in any way?

Steve Hamilton:
I was familiar with the book, but no, it didn’t really play a part in setting the book there. Mostly, the fact that not many people have set books up there. That in itself was a great reason to set it there. It’s such a unique place.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Do you have any plans or are you tempted to write stand alones in addition to the Alex series?

Steve Hamilton:
Next one is Alex, and then the one after that. That’ll be six. After that, I honestly don’t know. I know I’ll do a standalone at some point, but not just because it’s the “thing to do.” I’ll wait until I have another story just burning to get out.

iVillager maggiegriffin:
If Alex is older than you, do you think like an older man naturally or do you work at it?

Steve Hamilton:
Oh man. I just thought, with all the things he’d been through, he’d have to be a little bit older. I think I’ve always thought older, but felt younger than I am. Does that make sense?

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Are the Ojibwa a real tribe? Where are they? How did you get the info on them?

Steve Hamilton:
Absolutely a real tribe, yes — all around northern Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, into Canada. I was fortunate to meet some of them up there, including the most amazing woman, the daughter of a famous medicine man.

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
Is there anyone in particular who encouraged your early writing efforts, and gave you confidence?

Steve Hamilton:
There was one teacher in high school. I’ve tried to contact her since, but I can’t find her.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Are you’re books heavily researched? Do you use the Internet?

Steve Hamilton:
They certainly aren’t heavily researched beforehand. I just get the idea and go. Afterwards, I’ll check stuff out. I mentioned my friend at work. He’ll do the gun stuff. I’ll use the Internet a lot, too. Or just GO there. That’s great to do.

iVillager op_skats:
Do you like doing chats in chatrooms like this? Do you feel closer to your readers chatting with us like this?

Steve Hamilton:
I’ve always liked these chats, yes. Although I can’t imagine somebody doing one who can’t type fast. Aside from the brief book tour period, this is the only way I keep in touch with any readers, yes.

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
You are great!!!!

iVillager maggiegriffin:
What’s the one question you always wanted to be asked but haven’t been asked so far?

Steve Hamilton:
Oh Maggie… What did I do…

iVillager maggiegriffin:
I’m a rotter, but you love me.

iVillager g_so:
Great question, Maggie.

Steve Hamilton:
Yes. Let’s see… (Passing up the questionable ones…) Can I come back to that one?

iVillager cl-ladibbug:
What do you do in your “spare time” for recreation, relaxation?

Steve Hamilton:
Nickie’s seven, Toni’s two and a half. So swings, blowing bubbles, riding bikes… and golf when I can. (Hardly ever…) They have a great pool there, though. Swimming, every day in the summer. Every single day.

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Some of our members are aspiring authors, do you have any hints or tips for them?

Steve Hamilton:
I know of ONE great way to break into writing. Just speaking in purely practical terms — because it’s so hard — if you decide that you want to set your sights on selling something, and if you love mysteries enough to want to write one (and mysteries are a great way to break in), St. Martin’s Press has these two annual contests. You can check them out at minotaur books.com, one for a private eye novel, one for a “malice domestic.” So many authors have gotten their start that way — Les Roberts, Gar Haywood, Janet Dawson, Karen Kijewski, me, Charles Knief — and that’s just the private eye side… Donna Andrews, Robin Hathaway, a lot more on the other side.

iVillager csn1955:
Thanks very much for your time tonight!

iVillager cl-hedge.hog:
Thank you so much, Steve. What a great writer! What a great guest!

Steve Hamilton:
Is it an hour already?

iVillager maggiegriffin:
Thanks, Steve!

iVillager cmchris:
Steve, I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with us — (and let me tell you, not MANY authors type as fast as you!) You’ve been a wonderful guest, and we all will be waiting for your next book 🙂 I’ll see you in Dayton!

iVillager cl-dastorm:
Thanks so much for coming, Steve, and thanks to Maggie, too!

iVillager cl-plantlady1114:
Steve this was a great chat, thanks so very much for your time!

Steve Hamilton:
I had a great time. THANK YOU very much! Yes, thanks always to Maggie. She is the greatest.

iVillager g_so:
Thanks, Steve.

Steve Hamilton:
Wish me luck flying all over the place!

iVillager maggiegriffin:
iVillage chats are the best!

iVillager mikegrollman:
Thanks Steve.

Steve Hamilton:
~~~~Bowing~~~~~