Tell us about yourself.

I'm originally from a rural area outside a very small town in Wisconsin, and as a child I spent a lot of time either outdoors, in the library, or in the kitchen. Both of my parents and my grandmother on my mother's side were good cooks, and they were all enthusiastic readers. No one ever forced me to eat anything I didn't like, or stopped me from reading anything I did like, or put any limits on my exploring the fairly wild natural world that was rural Wisconsin. All of which I would say contributed pretty extensively to the Sarah Graves of today.

What led you to write mysteries? Are you a longtime reader?

I spent summers in northern Wisconsin, where my aunt lived, and she had an attic room whose door was always closed. One day when I was quite young – say, eleven or so – I opened that door. And inside, in an otherwise completely empty chamber, was an enormous pile of books – mystery novels – not stacked but heaped in the middle of the floor. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, Mignon Eberhart, Mary Roberts Rinehart... well. It was an education in the greats. I didn't say, "I'm going to do that." At least not consciously. But I do think that's where it all started, in that attic room.

Tell us about your road to publication.

I had written a great deal before I ever submitted anything anywhere, which is probably why I did not accumulate vast swathes of rejections. I simply didn't send out all those many efforts that would have been rejected. Later on, two workshops did help me quite a lot – one whose other members had all published novels, and another in which, each week, we had to read ten pages aloud of a work in progress. Reading a work in progress aloud to an unforgiving, even competitive audience is an effective if sometimes excruciating way to find the boring parts of one's own work, I must say. The bleeding can get a little messy, but hey, that's show biz.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

Well, for DEAD CAT BOUNCE I packed up all my earthly belongings, said goodbye to all my friends, sold my house in Connecticut, and moved a thousand miles with my husband and my dog to Eastport, Maine, where the book is set. Is that the kind of research you mean? And when I got here, I watched and listened with a passion, which continues to this day, actually. I know I'll never get to the bottom of Eastport, never get it "solved." Which is just one reason why I love it so much.

Who are your influences as a writer?

I'd like to hope my influences are Shirley Jackson. P.D. James, and John LeCarre, but I'm afraid they're really probably Yap the Wonder Dog and Harpo Marx.

What does your family think of having a mystery author in their midst?

My husband is a musician and luthier, so we have a somewhat creative sort of household. At this point, not having a mystery writer in the house would probably seem odd. The rest of the family thinks it's quite special and fun, which is of course pleasant. Of course, I don't use any of them as characters. Or anyway not until they've been suitably disguised.

Tell us about your plans for future books.

The second book of Jake and Ellie's adventures in Eastport, Maine is called TRIPLE WITCH, and is due out from Bantam in the spring of 1999. There's a third one set for the year 2000. And because Jake's house in Eastport is getting more haunted by the minute, we will probably have to have book four, in which Jake and Ellie investigate a 200-year-old murder. But that's all I know so far. Stay tuned.

How can readers get in touch with you?

Readers may write to Sarah Graves c/o Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY, 10036

Sarah, thanks and good luck! Readers, check out our review of The Dead Cat Bounce.

November 22, 1998