Let's Do Lunch! Interview with Susan McBride

I'm thrilled to have as my guest in the Lunch Room today the lively, lovely Susan McBride. Susan is the author of the Debutante Dropout chick-lit mystery series featuring Andrea (Andy) Kendricks as well as a darker mystery/thriller series featuring Detective Maggie Ryan. The Deb Dropout debut, Blue Blood, won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery of 2004 and received an Anthony Award nomination for Best Paperback Original.

JB: We all know Andrea Kendricks as a web designer who ditched her own debut to go to art school. Without giving too much away, can you tell us a few things about Andy that aren't in the books?

SMcB: Andy's my inner "new kid on the block," as my family moved around a lot when I was growing up. So I suffered the how-do-I-fit-in syndrome a lot, until I finally gave up and just decided to be myself. Andy has a hard to please mother in Cissy (which, thankfully, I don't), and, though raised in privilege, has never felt like she belonged. So throughout the series, Andy's discovering more and more of herself - and feeling comfortable with the growing understanding that she is not her mother nor will she ever be - and coming to accept who Cissy is as well. There's a lot of love between them, despite how differently they see the world around them.

JB: What prompted the switch from the darker Maggie books to the lighter Deb series?

SMcB: Well, I wrote Blue Blood in between the first two Maggie books, And Then She Was Gone and Overkill. It was a great way to exorcise the demons left behind by writing about a missing child in GONE. I wanted to make myself laugh basically. I had titled the comic mystery, Stabbed in the Back, which morphed into Death and the Debutante Dropout. It wasn't named Blue Blood until after I'd signed with Avon. It sat on a shelf for years before there was a market for so-called "chick lit mysteries," and so I didn't get an agent interested in it until after Overkill had come out. I love doing humor. I'm such a smart ass so that comes through pretty clearly in Andy's voice. I want to write all kinds of books (and have - you should see the variety of unpubbed manuscripts stacked in my linen closet!) as I think flexing one's literary muscles only makes a writer better.

JB: Walk Into Silence is the next book you've written in the Maggie Ryan series. What's the latest news? Can we expect a release announcement any time soon?

SMcB: I hope so! Keep your fingers crossed, please. I really love that one. It's full of layers and more suspenseful than anything I've written.

JB: Some of your fans believe that Andy's life parallels yours, although that might be a misconception [wink]. What are some of the similarities/differences between you and Andy?

SMcB: As I mentioned already, Andy's voice is pretty close to my own, in that I tend toward sarcasm and self-deprecation with a dollop of cynicism. I lived in Texas for 20 years (Houston and Dallas with a year at UT-Austin), so I knew I wanted the setting for those books to be Big D. I pledged a sorority at UT with a bunch of Dallas debutantes, and they were just ripe for making fun of; so it's nice I get to do it now, in my mysteries. I always had a more unsettled life, because of the constant moving (my dad worked for IBM), and Andy's mom still lives in the house on Beverly Drive where Andy grew up. So Andy has the kind of roots I never had. Cissy is about as opposite my mom as you could get, but she does have a profound love for her daughter. She just doesn't understand her. On the other hand, my mom and I are so much alike it's scary. My boyfriend got it pretty well on the nose when he said that Andy's about 60% to 65% me. The rest is pure fiction.

JB: Night of the Living Deb, the fourth Dropout book, is due out in January 2007. Can you give us a sneak preview of what the story is about (just the elevator pitch, maybe)?

SMcB: Hmm, first off, it starts out with scenes in two different strip clubs (okay, one's a Chippendale's show, but that counts, right?). Andy's boyfriend, Brian Malone, goes to The Men's Club for a bachelor party, and he ends up vanishing, and all sorts of weird explanations for his disappearance start popping up. Then a dead stripper is found in the trunk of his car, parked illegally at Love Field, and soon the cops are looking for Malone as well…and Andy goes from thinking she's been ditched to realizing Malone's life is in danger. My editor called the pace "breakneck," which works for me!

JB: When you're not writing, touring or speaking, what other things do you like to do?

SMcB: I'm finally done with four months of speaking and touring (with just a few gigs left on my schedule), so I'm excited to nest for awhile, catch up on reading, put on that garage sale my mom has been begging me to help with 'cuz her basement looks like a bomb went off down there. Oh, and I'm house hunting with Ed, so that's exciting! Basically, I'm a homebody and a goofball. Bowling and putt-putt are on my list of things I want to do, believe it or not! I will need to start writing Book Five soon, however, so I'll have to squeeze that in.

JB: Time for the fun questions. What's your dream car? (Are you driving it now?)

SMcB: I drive a Saturn coupe, which I love, but I think my dream car is a Volvo SUV. I know, sad, isn't it? I'm channeling my inner soccer mom or something. My brother is the car aficionado in my family. He has a Lotus Esprit, and I have a feeling he'll get that Lamborghini someday. Though he just bought a VW Tourag because a child seat fits easily, and he and his wife are expecting their first baby. How cute is that?

JB: Where's the most beautiful place you've ever watched the sun rise?

SMcB: Can it be a sunset instead? I'm not usually up for sunrise. When I was with Ed in Mount Dora, Florida, for a book festival this past April, we watched a lovely sunset from the upstairs porch of the B&B where we stayed. I have the photo as my computer wallpaper. It's so pretty.

JB: If you could have lived in another time period, which would you choose and why?

SMcB: I like where I am right now - I'm having the time of my life. Besides, much as I like history, I would miss air conditioning. So I think I'll stay put, if that's okay. ;-)

JB: Of course it is - we kinda like having you here, too. Thanks so much, Susan, for visiting with us today!

Susan is a frequent speaker at mystery conventions, writing conferences, and book festivals. She blogs with three other authors at The Lipstick Chronicles and participates in group promotion with The Mystery Chicks. Learn more about Susan and her books at http://www.susanmcbride.com.