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| Mary Higgins Clark & Gregory McDonald (Photo: John McAleer) |
MWA Grand Master Mary Higgins Clark & Edgar Award Winner John McAleer Speak…1986!
Compiled byAndrew McAleer, author of the bestselling A Casebook of Crime: Thrilling Adventures of Suspense from the Golden Age of Mystery
Mrs. Clark was hailed by many as the “[Q]ueen of the contemporary romantic suspense novel.” (Scribner Mystery & Suspense Writers.) A well-deserved moniker; however, this “Queen” had anything but a privileged start. In fact, at least one piece of literary ephemera referred to her as the “Cinderella of Suspense writers.” (Waltham, Massachusetts - Public Library Lecture Series, circa 1980s). Once upon a time, her first story, “The Last Flight from Danubia,” received 40 rejections before selling to Extension Magazine for $100.00. Her struggles as an aspiring author, doesn’t begin to tell her tragic story.
Mrs. Clark lost her father at ten leaving the family penniless. History would sadly repeat itself when Mrs. Clark’s husband died leaving her penniless with five children to raise and put through school. During it all she lost her mother, mother-in-law, and two brothers. Down but not out, she worked as a secretary, advertising assistant, airline flight attendant, radio scriptwriter, producer, and partner in a communications firm. In 1979—well after her mainstream success as an author—she completed her B.A. at Fordham University. (Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing.)
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| Clark Letter to McAleer & ephemera |
The following classroom “discussion” excerpts appear for the first time anywhere exclusively for Mystery Readers Journal fans. Here Mrs. Clark revisits some of her early days as a writer, why she chose the mystery field, and some insider secrets for emerging authors. The talk took place in Professor McAleer’s “Crime Fiction & Folk Myth” course at Boston College circa 1986.
John McAleer: Could you tell us a little about your early writing?
Mary Higgins Clark: I started out writing short stories and radio shows. Having written radio shows about George Washington [I] then went on to write a biography about George Washington. Then [I] decided to go mainstream to make some “loot!” (Compiler’s Note: Mrs. Clark’s Washington biography; Aspire to Heavens: A Portrait of George Washington, Meredith Press, 1968.)
McAleer: What do you find most satisfying about being an author?
Clark: The biggest praise is when someone says, “I really enjoyed the book. I was sick in the hospital and feeling sorry for myself. I forgot about my worries because I read your book.” That’s joy! Or when a thirteen-year-old kid writes me and says, “I never liked to read before, but we had to read something so I read your book and loved it.” That’s pleasure and it’s joy.
McAleer: What inspired you to devote your writing talents to the mystery field?
Clark: There was really no market for short stories and I really wanted to write something that would sell…. The way I started writing mysteries…? First of all if you go to what you like to read, it’s a wonderful clue as to what kind of writing you might be able to do. I decided on mainstream writing. What do people care about? I actually started writing a story about a student pushing drugs and is arrested, but I found the subject utterly distasteful and didn’t want to write about it. Then I thought, what about a true kidnapping case where a woman was arrested for the deliberate murder of her two children. (Alice Crimmins case). She was in and out of court for the next ten years. She was found guilty, but the case was overturned. Now she’s out of jail and no one knows whether she did or didn’t do it—but I didn’t write about that. “Suppose” is the magic word for mystery writers. So I thought, Suppose a young mother is accused of the murder of her children? Go one step beyond – suppose she didn’t do it and then suppose it happens again a second time! And that became the genesis of Where Are the Children.
McAleer: Why did you Choose Cape Cod as the setting for Where Are the Children?
Clark: I set Where Are the Children on Cape Cod because I believe in location. The Cape became world-wide known during the Kennedy presidency because the President would be on his compound there. Everyone knew Cape Cod and I happen to love it as well. Where Are the Children took three years to write. When I turned it in to my agent Pat—and when six weeks went by—I asked her if she had a chance to look it…
She replied, “I sent it out.”
I said, “You don’t want me to rip it apart?”
“Oh, no it’s fine,” she said.
Two publishers turned it down and the third one bought it and it was the beginning of a very happing writing career. Recently, I turned in my new book. Where Are the Children took 20 minutes to revise. This latest one is called Weep No More, My Lady and I’ve been revising it since last April! (Released 1987)
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Mary Higgins Clark passed away in 2018 at the age of 92. With more than fifty books to her credit, including masterpieces like A Stranger is Watching, The Cradle Will Fall, and A Cry in the Night, she is still regarded as one of the best suspense authors of all time.
John McAleer: Could you tell us a little about your early writing?
She replied, “I sent it out.”
I said, “You don’t want me to rip it apart?”
“Oh, no it’s fine,” she said.
Two publishers turned it down and the third one bought it and it was the beginning of a very happing writing career. Recently, I turned in my new book. Where Are the Children took 20 minutes to revise. This latest one is called Weep No More, My Lady and I’ve been revising it since last April! (Released 1987)
Mary Higgins Clark passed away in 2018 at the age of 92. With more than fifty books to her credit, including masterpieces like A Stranger is Watching, The Cradle Will Fall, and A Cry in the Night, she is still regarded as one of the best suspense authors of all time.
One of the most respected literary awards for excellence in the crime fiction genre remains the Mary Higgins Clark Award conferred annually by the Mystery Writers of America. Previous winners include masters of suspense like, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Barbara D’Amato, and Bill Floyd.
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John McAleer created London-based detective Henry von Stray in the 1930s, during the Golden Age of Detection. Forty years later he won the Edgar Allan Poe Award over one of his boyhood heroines—Agatha Christie! The Chicago Tribune credited McAleer’s first mystery Coign of Vantage as the first “locked-society” mystery. He taught at Boston College for more than 50 years.
Andrew McAleer is the Derringer-nominated author of the best-selling London-based Private Detective Henry von Stray historical mystery series. His books include, A Casebook of Crime (von Stray) and the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists. Mr. McAleer taught classic crime fiction at Boston College and served in Afghanistan as a U.S. Army Historian before returning to public service in the criminal justice system. Instagram: Mcaleermysteries or Henryvonstray
John McAleer created London-based detective Henry von Stray in the 1930s, during the Golden Age of Detection. Forty years later he won the Edgar Allan Poe Award over one of his boyhood heroines—Agatha Christie! The Chicago Tribune credited McAleer’s first mystery Coign of Vantage as the first “locked-society” mystery. He taught at Boston College for more than 50 years.
Andrew McAleer is the Derringer-nominated author of the best-selling London-based Private Detective Henry von Stray historical mystery series. His books include, A Casebook of Crime (von Stray) and the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists. Mr. McAleer taught classic crime fiction at Boston College and served in Afghanistan as a U.S. Army Historian before returning to public service in the criminal justice system. Instagram: Mcaleermysteries or Henryvonstray
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