“Mobile isn’t the center of anything, merely a small port city on a bay where lazy rivers meet in one of the last untainted habitats in the Southeast. It’s a sleepy place with smiling, crocodile politicians one step removed from the horse theives and slave traders who first took the land from the Choctaw Nation.” – from “The Wish”, in the compilation Many Bloody Returns.
Carolyn Haines has written over 30 books. She was born in Hattiesburg and grew up in Lucedale. She got her Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Alabama. Her Mississippi Delta series of mysteries are set in the fictional town of Zinnia, with the heroine Sarah Booth Delaney. She lives in Semmes and teaches at the University of South Alabama.
Doc: Ms. Haines, thank you very much. How did you come up with Sarah Booth Delaney – what were the influences?
CH: I’ve always enjoyed reading mysteries, from Poe to Sir Author Conan Doyle to Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Mysteries require the reader to participate, emotionally and intellectually. They bring a sense of justice to a crime.I write about characters who are connected to the soil. Sarah Booth is as much a part of the Mississippi Delta as the cotton and the heat. She and Jitty arrived rather unexpectedly–bickering at each other–but I knew I had hold of two unusual characters. So I followed their lead.
Doc: How has Sarah Booth Delaney’s character changed over the years?
CH: Sarah Booth has acknowledged many of her flaws and grown beyond her opinions. She’s also become a better detective, though she is still amateur.
Doc: Is there any Mobile in Zinnia?
CH: The Mississippi Delta is really a unique geography. The history there shapes so much.
Doc: What’s next? Any thought for a book outside the mystery genre?
CH: I have edited an anthology of short stories centered around the Mississippi Delta blues and a crime/noir element. DELTA BLUES will be released next spring with a huge launch party at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi on March 27. I have some fabulous short stories by many talented writers including James Lee Burke, John Grisham, Ace Atkins, Charlaine Harris, David Sheffield, Tom Franklin and many more. Go to www.deltabluescollection.com for a complete list of contributors.I’ve also written general fiction novels, TOUCHED and SUMMER OF THE REDEEMERS and more literary crime fiction PENUMBRA and FEVER MOON.
Doc: Any advice for young Coastal Alabama writers?
CH: Read, read, read. But read with your gut. Be aware what touches you emotionally and then figure out why it does. This is how you learn to write effectively. And go to conferences and seminars where writers, editors, and agents talk about the business. Though writing is a creative endeavor, publishing is a business.
Doc: Any philosophic advice for Coastal Alabamans?
CH: Community has always been vital in the South, but we are losing this. Support local businesses. Keep an eye out for your neighbors and neighborhood. Show a little common courtesy when driving. Pollute less and get your pets spayed and neutered. We live in an incredible part of the world–let’s value what we have.
Carolyn Haines Website: www.carolynhaines.com
FreshFiction ~ The Carolyn Blog: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=1813
Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?lr=&num=100&as_brr=0&q=%22carolyn+haines%22&btnG=Search+Books (Remember to buy from our local bookseller)
