Interview with Author Skye Alexander

 

Skye Alexander is the author of nearly fifty fiction and nonfiction books. Her stories have appeared in anthologies internationally, and her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. In 2003, she cofounded Level Best Books with fellow crime writers Kate Flora and Susan Oleksiw. The third novel in her Lizzie Crane Mystery Series The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors, has just been released. After living in Massachusetts for more than thirty years, Skye now makes her home in Texas with her black Manx cat Zoe.

Question: What is the title and genre of your novel?  Why did you select them?

Answer: My most recent book in the series, published in September, is The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors. It’s a traditional, historical mystery set in Salem, Massachusetts during the Christmas holiday season 1925. I chose the genre because I love historical novels––especially mysteries such as those by Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers––and the Roaring Twenties was such a colorful time period that I thought it would be fun to explore it. Also, I wanted to write books that pretty much anyone could enjoy and that wouldn’t offend readers who don’t like a lot of graphic violence, sex, or strong language.

Question:   What inspired this novel? How did it come about?

Answer: I usually start with a location. The first four novels in my series are set in historic towns north of Boston, the most recent one in Salem, which is a beautiful city and rich with all sorts of history––I was fortunate to live there for eight years. During the clipper ship era of the mid-nineteenth century, Salem was a major port in the China trade and I wanted to learn more about it. Unlike the axiom that tells us to “write what you know” I write about what I want to know, and I discover so much in the process. Not only did I study shipping, I learned about jigsaw puzzles, tunnels built beneath the city to smuggle imported goods and avoid paying taxes, and a lot more. The title is based on the Chinese goddess Quan Yin, who’s considered to be the goddess of shipwrecked sailors, because the wreck of a clipper ship plays a major role in this book. 

Question:  Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine and/or hero of your novel?

Answer: Lizzie Crane is a beautiful and talented twenty-six-year-old jazz singer and actress from New York City, who comes from a poor Irish immigrant family and has ambitions to make it big in the world of music. She and the three other members of her band hire themselves out to perform at special events such as weddings, birthday parties, etc. to wealthy people for stints of a few days or longer––twelve days in the case of The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors. She’s a spunky, liberated single woman who wears flapper dresses and has bobbed hair, drinks, parties, and enjoys the company of attractive men. She’s also a bit too curious, and when people turn up dead at her venues she can’t resist poking into the crimes, which gets her into a lot of trouble.  

Question:   Can you tell us about some of your other published novels or work? 

Answer: The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors is the third in my series. The previous two, Never Try to Catch a Falling Knife and What the Walls Know, were published by Level Best Books in 2021 and 2022 respectively. All three feature the team of New York jazz musicians known as The Troubadours, including my protagonist singer (and amateur sleuth) Lizzie Crane, and are set in historic cities north of Boston. I’m best known, though, for my nonfiction work and have more than forty books to my credit, most of them in the metaphysical field. The newest of these, The Kitchen Witch, was published by Adams Media/Simon & Schuster in July and The Modern Witchcraft Introductory Boxed Set of my three bestselling books comes out in October. I also write books about mythology, spirituality, holistic healing, and self-help.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer: Currently I’m working on the sixth novel in my Lizzie Crane Mystery Series, set in New Orleans in November 1926. I don’t have a title for it yet. The fourth (Running in the Shadows) and fifth (When the Blues Come Calling) are finished and I hope will be published in 2024 and 2025. 

Question:   What made you start writing?

Answer: I started telling stories even before I could actually read or write and knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. As a kid, I attended poor, country schools in the south where I was terribly bored, so I spent most of my class time writing to amuse myself. I started writing for my local newspaper when I was fifteen and for radio when I was eighteen. I got my first job in the book publishing industry in 1983 and over the years have worked as an editor, marketing director, publicist, and copywriter. I feel very fortunate to be able to make a good living working at what I love doing.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing novels?

Answer: Don’t give up. There’s an old saying that you can’t consider yourself a real writer until you can paper a wall with rejection slips. It’s not easy to succeed in this business, and the people who do not only have talent, they also work very hard. You need a lot of determination and self-discipline. Make writing a priority. Faulkner once said he only wrote when he felt like it, and he felt like it every day. That’s good advice. Many people tell me they want to write, but they just don’t have time. I ask them if they have a TV and if they say yes, I say, “Turn it off.”  

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your novel?

Answer: It’s available now.

(Buy Links)

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1144045510?ean=9781685124342

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1685124348/

 

Comments and or questions for Skye welcome here!