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Spotlight

Priscilla Fagan

Interview with Charity Tamaseb

Our Spotlight is on Charity Tahmaseb this month. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Charity, who is an active member of WVU. Her Mystery Writing Course here at the University is one of the most popular, keeping her very busy.

Charity hails from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, with her husband, Bob, and son, Andrew, along with assorted dogs, cats, and fish. She grew up in the small southern Minnesota town of Mankato. Like another native Mankato writer, Maud Hart Lovelace, she knew at age five that she wanted to write. I've had the pleasure of reading one of Charity's novels in progress, a treat in itself.

T-ZERO: I know you're very involved with Sisters in Crime and you maintain the Twin Cities Chapter web page. Is mystery writing your first love?

CT: I would have to say mystery reading is my first love. Growing up, I wanted to be a girl detective, like Trixie Belden or Nancy Drew. By the time I was ten, I had moved on to Agatha Christie. Now I read more suspense fiction which reflects my writing.

T-ZERO: How and when did you get writing bug?

CT: It was bit very early on--I knew when I was five that I wanted to write. Instead of pursuing writing during college, I opted for more "practical" things, such as learning Russian and joining the Army. Only after my son was born did I decide to start writing fiction seriously.

T-ZERO: What is your background? I know you were in the Army and jumped out of airplanes. I'm sure there's a story here.

CT: You know, I never thought so, but the more I write, the more I find myself visiting this period of my life. At some point I'd like to put together a series of stories about being both a female soldier and a soldier 's wife. I wrote a lot while in the Army--intelligence summaries, maintenance operating procedures, operations orders and it translated into a civilian job when I got out. (The jumping out of airplanes part is easy--if you hesitate in the door, the jump master just boots you in the rear.)

T-ZERO: Congratulations on your first published short story for Futures Magazine. What is the title and is it a mystery?

CT: Thank you. The story is called "The House Sitter" and it's a twist--given the criminal element, I suppose you could call it a mystery. I haven't mastered the "puzzle" mystery, but hope to some day.

T-ZERO: Tell us a little about your two other stories due out this year. Where can we look for them?

CT: Both will appear in Futures. "Uncharted Territory" will be in the October issue, and "Side By Side" in December. These are what I call my "quirky romance" stories.

T-ZERO: One of your stories placed third in Future's Fire to Fly contest. How did you become involved and can you tell us something about Futures?

CT: Futures is a wonderful magazine for readers, writers, and artists. The editor is a member of Sisters in Crime and I learned of the magazine from the national newsletter even though it's published locally (here in Minneapolis). They have a special section for new writers who have never published a story and in general are very encouraging. I'm very pleased to have my stories published with them.

T-ZERO: You also placed first in the 1999 California Writer's Club short fiction contest. Can you tell us about that?

CT: That was really special for me--it was the first time I had any outside acknowledgement that I was on the right track as far as writing was concerned. The award arrived the day before I left on my research trip to London (for my novel). It was the send-off I needed--I felt like a real writer on a research trip.

T-ZERO: With your experience and expertise in mystery writing, what advice would you give for someone just starting in this genre?

CT: Take a look at your bookshelf and see what sorts of mysteries you like to read. Don't try to write something because it's "hot"--that changes too fast. Write the mystery you've always wanted to read.

T-ZERO: I understand you're a technical writer for a pacemaker company in St. Paul. How does this--or does it--help with your writing fiction?

CT: Technical writing helps and hinders. I know after a morning of detailed design documents, I can edit my own work with a sharp eye. I also know that even something as dry as a software manual can take many drafts to perfect--fiction is no different in that respect. However, when I work on my fiction, I have to remember to do things like vary my sentence structure.

T-ZERO: Now for a bit of fun the James Lipton way. This always gives us a little insight into our authors. Here are your 9 questions:

1. What is your favorite word?
   Right now it's my son's version of devilish: "Mommy, I not debilish."

2. What is your least favorite word?
   Anything "business-speak" (core competencies, paradigm, etc.)

3. What turns you on?
   New notebooks, new pens, new books, chocolate, and hot cups of tea/coffee.

4. What turns you off?
   Non-dairy creamer, stale chocolate, computer crashes.

5. What sound or noise do you love?
   A quiet house early in the morning with just the hum of my laptop.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?
   Television as background noise.

7. What profession would you be in if not this?
   Not writing? Hard to say. Maybe something to do with travel, or perhaps I'd open my own detective agency.

8. What profession would you hate to be in?
   Anything to do with sales. I dread the marketing aspects of writing.

9. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive?
   Reminds me of a joke. A writer dies and is met by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter says, "You have your choice, you may go to either heaven or hell." The writer says, "Well, show me both." So St. Peter takes the writer to hell. Locked in a dark, dank room, writers toil over manuscripts while fire nips at their heels and demons whip them. Then they go to heaven. Locked in a dark, dank room, writers toil over manuscripts while fire nips at their heels and angels whip them. The writer says, "I don't get it. What's the difference?"
   "In heaven," St. Peter says, "you get published."