"I honestly think we did make history this week, and while we have been on the bestseller list with books we wrote as a team, we never had titles at the same time together on the list. It's very exciting." Mary Higgins Clark, the queen of suspense and one of the most successful living writers on the planet, is clearly enthused about the success of her new novel, Where Are You Now?, but the success of her daughter Carol's book adds an element of motherly pride that is hard to contain in our recent conversation.
Carol Higgins Clark, who just published Zapped at the same time, was recently perched in the 12th spot on the New York Times bestseller list.
Both Where Are You Now? and Zapped are spun using the most wholesome fabrics that makes for great beach blanket reading.
In the first, Charles "Mack" MacKenzie is a Columbia University student who walks out of an apartment shared with two friends, never to be seen again. His sister Carol MacKenzie is a young lawyer who is determined to find her missing brother. She knows he is alive because he calls his mother each year on Mother's Day.
When Carol snatches the phone from her mother to tell her brother she is coming to look for him, he scrawls a note in the poor box at a church run by his uncle. The note says, "tell Carolyn she must not look for me."
Soon after she begins her investigation, she discovers dark storm clouds around her brother's disappearance, including accusations about murder and abduction. This thrill-a-minute story reaches an exciting climax when Carolyn is summoned in the middle of the night to meet with Mack.
In a CSI world where dead, bloated bodies are fished out of the East River in all of their gory glory, the characters in the Mary and Carol Higgins Clark's novels go about solving their crimes without the hint of grit under their nails. That's just the way the author likes it.
"I never use explicit sex, language, or violence in my books, and neither does Carol," says Mary. "Teachers and parents know that when they give kids my novels, there will not be any nasty surprises in the stories. If you want to know why my readers demographics span from 12 to 95, that's the reason why."
Where Are You Now? springs from the pen of a woman who has over 85 million copies of her books in circulation, but the success was achieved against heavy odds. Born and raised in the Bronx, Mary's father died when she was 11 and her mother struggled to raise her and her two brothers.
After flying for a year as a stewardess, she married a neighbor, Warren Clark, and began writing short stories. She sold her first to Extension Magazine in 1956 for $100.
Left a young widow by the death of her husband from a heart attack in 1964, Mary went to work writing radio scripts and, in addition, decided to try her hand at writing books.
Her first suspense novel, Where Are the Children? was published by Simon and Schuster in 1975. It became a bestseller and marked a turning point in her life and career. It is currently in its 75th edition in paperback and was re-issued in hardcover as a Simon and Schuster classic.
When asked if the author of Where Are You Now? would have any advice for the writer who wrote Where Are the Children?, Mary answers, "Continue what you're doing. With my first book, I took a true case from the headlines and turned it into fiction.
"I based Where Are You Now? on a true case of a college student who disappears out of the dorms of Columbia University and only calls his mother once a year. Sometimes he says he's fine, sometimes, he doesn't say anything other than breathe into the phone. That was an intriguing idea for a suspense story, so I began to build on that premise."
Each time I chat with Mary Higgins Clark, I am left with the distinct impression that there are two distinct characters that drive the author. The first is a disciplined writer who is motivated to tell the best story possible.
"I love to write and am restless if I do not," she says. "I haven't written since January because I have been traveling with book publicity and vacations. So, I have to sell the book in France next week and will write as soon as I return.
"I know I have a deadline to meet by December and have never missed a deadline. There is no pressure really. I feel good when I write. The compulsion is my own doing."
The other character within her persona that is equally fascinating is that of a savvy businesswoman who, while assuring me she only writes for herself and never writes to please fans or a certain demographic, admits that she times her books for spring releases because, in her words, "they make a nice gift for Mother's Day, and I don't want to miss that."
While she claims her contract allows her to take a couple of years off now and then, you get the sense that she is aware of the need to keep her brand in front of the loyal readers once a year. She is refreshingly honest in conversation, and even provides a taste of the secret sauce that is part of her recipe for success.
"I use the short chapters, which is a good way of making suspense," she says. "I also think it works to have the story take place in a short period of time. Where Are the Children? came about in 14 hours; this happens within the span of something like a week. I like the sense of immediate imminence that is important when you are keeping it tight"
They say your first novel is the most personal, so one would assume that there is nothing left to reveal about your life in your writing after you've published dozens of books. Mary disagrees.
"I wouldn't say my novels are personal per se, but you do weave your own experiences into each book," she feels.
"My brother died in 18 at the service. He would be 81 right now and I miss him. So, I could definitely identify with the sister trying to reach her missing brother in Where Are You Now?."
The business never seems to get old for Clark, who is clearly excited that the new book has, in her words, been "beautifully reviewed." The top spot on the New York Times list doesn't hurt her mood.
And the next Mary Higgins Clark offering?
"It's always during the holidays that the book is due. I hope to have it finished by early December. I never failed them yet."
The Higgins Clark brand name is electrifying audiences this year, so it's totally logical for Carol to name her new novel Zapped.
Zapped takes place during a blackout on a hot summer night in New York. Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, are in the process of renovating their recently purchased TriBeCa loft and find a hidden safe in the wall. Two people are desperate to get a crack at the safe, and the suspense ensues when the Regan and Jack return to their apartment and find a stun gun on the floor.
"I was here for the blackout of 2003," Carol explains. "I had foot surgery and the power went off. My apartment was hot and I had no food. I went down 19 flights of steps with this bad leg to my car and went uptown to stay at a friend's house. It was a scary experience, and I was thinking that it would make a good story someday."
She brings a rare element to the crime novel - humor. It makes for a unique, refreshingly original voice that loyal readers can't get enough of.
I spoke with Carol about the book, the writing process, and her ongoing relationship with Jack and Reilly. Here's how it went.
Walk us through your writing discipline. How do you churn out books so fast and what is your inspiration?
Well, this is my job. Like everyone else who works, you just get up and do it. I get up in the morning before the phone rings and just make coffee and write. Because I have the continuing characters Regan and Jack they are like old friends that you want to put in different situations.
I know my book has to be in by December, so I pace myself quite a bit. I usually write a few hours a day, first thing in the morning. You can read a lot on the Internet to get little plot ideas.
Like in Zapped, the thief was after glass sculptures, so I would have researched that kind of thing on the Internet. I also have poster boards where I write down good ideas. I usually put in five or six hours a day, but there are many 12 hour days toward the end.
Laced, your last novel, was set in Ireland as Reilly and Jack honeymooned there. What was the reaction to the book?
It was great. More than any book, they enjoyed Laced. A lot of Irish people would come up to me at the signings stating they had a relative named Higgins and wondering if we were related. I got a lot of positive feedback. Setting the last book in Ireland was great because it has an atmosphere to it that people responded to.
Is anything you write drawing from personal experiences? How close are you to the Reilly character?
There are similarities. She and I both have a mom who is a mystery writer. We have the same outlook and sense of humor about things. I started writing her at first when a director friend of mine encouraged me to write a part you could possibly play. She is someone I would want to have as a friend, but she is not me. She is the character closest to me, I suppose.
You've written 11 novels using the same characters. I know it has been successful, but have you ever contemplated playing with the formula at all?
Not really. I want to be in their company. I enjoy these characters. I don't have any desire or time to do anything different now.