FINAL CUT by Marjorie McCown

Jenn McKinlay: One thing I love about the writing community is the introductions from author to author. In this case, our friend Ellen Byron introduced me via email to Marjorie McCown, today's guest, and I was delighted when I read her post (I have a thing for hats, you know). But here's our guest to tell us more. Welcome, Marjorie!

Marjorie McCown: Many thanks to Jenn McKinlay and her Jungle Red colleagues for inviting me to be here today! 

     I began writing FINAL CUT, a murder mystery that takes place behind-the-scenes of a big budget Hollywood film in production, during the second year of the pandemic -- four years after I retired from the film industry. My protagonist, Joey Jessop, is a key costumer who finds the body of a murdered coworker on set and winds up having to investigate the crime in order to save herself. 

     I spent 27 years as a costumer and costume designer for movies, so setting my story within the professional community that I was part of for a quarter century gave me a lot of comfort as a fledgling author. But as I got farther into the process of writing the book, I realized there was a deeper meaning for me in the return to that familiar world than knowing the customs and vocabulary of the film industry back to front. 

Marjorie's Desk

     Writing became my comfort zone during those Covid years, an activity that not only occupied my creative mind but also helped soothe some of my social anxiety about being cut off from direct contact with so many of the people I love. And that's why revisiting my film career, at least in the pages of the book I was writing, became an important lifeline for me not only as creative inspiration, but as a way to console the part of me longing for connection. 

     There is a strong sense of community within the costuming profession. It's a job that requires the collaboration of many talented people working together as a team toward a common goal. That interdependence fosters lasting bonds with colleagues, many of whom become lifelong friends. For me, those relationships are the most enduring benefit from my film career. 

     One of my greatest hopes as I worked to make the transition from costuming to writing was to become part of a new creative community, though I didn't really know what to expect. I'd always viewed writing as a largely solitary profession, and of course there are hours spent sitting at the computer with only imaginary characters for company. But despite my debut author status, I've already been the beneficiary of great kindness from authors who have been welcoming and helpful -- again, many thanks to Jenn McKinlay for the opportunity to post on this wonderful blog and to Ellen Byron, who introduced us. 

     I do see significant parallels between the occupations of costuming and writing that hadn't necessarily occurred to me before I had a better view of both disciplines, beyond the obvious that they're both creative endeavors. Both have similar processes -- a lot of research accompanied by an obsessive quest to select the combination of elements that will produce the best work. 

     For a costumer, that might mean looking at 500 men's fedora hats at 6 different costume houses in addition to an exhaustive online search to find the perfectly proportioned hat for a character in one particular scene of the movie. 

     The writerly version of that quest is the continual hunt for the exact word or phrase that sparks the emotion we hope to stir in our reader or reveals the soul of one of our characters or propels our narrative forward. And that's one of the shared bonds throughout the writing and costuming communities, one of the most basic features that makes us all true colleagues. It is that obsession we all share as artists, that endless search for perfection. 

 Question for Readers: Do you believe you have an obsessive streak that fuels your work or any of your other interests or activities? 

Leave a comment and be entered in the random drawing for a signed copy of Final Cut (limited to the U.S.). 

ABOUT THE BOOK: FINAL CUT

Every day on a big-budget Hollywood movie in production is full of surprises, but the last thing key costumer Joey Jessop expected to find on the first day of shooting was the body of a murdered coworker. Because Joey found the body, and the victim was seeing her ex, she’s suspected of being the killer. The story soon blows up in the press and social media -- and Joey finds her well-ordered life in shambles. That's when things really start to go wrong for Joey and the movie as a series of dangerous mishaps interrupt the shoot. As circumstances spiral out of control, at work and at home, Joey is forced to take matters into her own hands to try to salvage her career, and to save her own life.

     Marjorie McCown spent 27 years working as a key member of the costume design teams for a string of successful movies that includes Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, The Firm, A Bronx Tale, Wag the Dog, The Aviator, Hairspray, Angels & Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and X-Men Days of Future Past. Her debut murder mystery, FINAL CUT, is set behind-the-scenes of a blockbuster Hollywood movie in production. Marjorie is a member of Sisters-in-Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Southern California with her cats Monkey and Max.