TO AGE, OR NOT TO AGE--THAT IS THE QUESTION!

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, Reds and readers, here's a topic that hits close to home. Timely, and timeless at the same time.

 

Remember when I wrote my not-at-all-autobiographical first novel Prime Time? The question for television reporter Charlotte McNally was  “what happens when you’re married to your job in television, and the camera doesn't love you anymore?”

 

(Yes, as a television reporter for 30 years back then, I can totally say that question had never crossed my mind. I will pause now, while you laugh.)

 

How we look in a visual medium is impossible to ignore, right? It's the whole point. And, we hope, how people perceive and judge how people look is the thing that needs to evolve. (And I think it's getting better, she says, crossing fingers.)

 

We'll talk about another element of this on the Reds and Readers Facebook page today– remember, you have to join us to join the fun! And I will give away a copy of one of the Charlotte McNally books to one lucky commenter.

 

But how about other sleuths in mystery world? Do you like them to stay exactly the same, like, say, Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple? Or do you like them to grow and change, like real life?

 

The wonderful Dick Belsky knows both worlds--mystery and media. And he has some fascinating and provocative questions for you!

 

 

   FOREVER YOUNG - OR NOT?

AGING A SERIES CHARACTER--OR NOT?

                               By R.G. Belsky

 

         “Norah O’Donnell is 50 years old. Samantha Guthrie 51. Hoda Kotb 58. Robin Roberts 62 and Gayle King 68. The point I’m trying to make here is that TV newscasters - specifically women TV newscasters - don’t have to be cute, perky, young talking heads to succeed in the media world where I work.”

    

   Those are the opening words for my series character TV journalist Clare Carlson in my new thriller BROADCAST BLUES.

        Clare is thinking a lot about age in BROADCAST BLUES (the 6th book in the series) because she’s about to turn 50 - and worried about the impact this will have on her professional career and her romantic future and the rest of her life.

        As an author, I’m worried about how to deal with Clare’s aging too - because there is no sure way, no right-or-wrong way, to handle the question of a character getting older as a series progresses.

        Some authors have them never really age, a few allow them to get older at a normal rate - and others have decided on their own mathematical formula for adding years to their series character from book to book.

        I remember interviewing Sara Paretsky about this with her iconic female detective V.I. Warshawski not long ago. She explained V.I.’s aging process this way.

        “We were both 30 when she started. And she’s about 50 now, while I’m 70. She’s going to be there for a while. Maybe if I live to be 90 and I’m still writing, 60 might sound good for her - and I’ll move it up a decade.”

        Paretsky said she originally intended for Warshawski to age in real time, but changed her mind as the books went on because “I want her still to be an efficient physical presence.”

        Janet Evanovich on the other hand, keeps Stephanie Plum in her early 30s in her books, while Sue Grafton aged Kinsey Millhone very, very slowly - she was always in her 30s, although moving toward 40 - in the alphabet series books which remained set in the 80s.

        Michael Connelly has notably aged Harry Bosch in the 30 years since his inception - retiring him from the LAPD, giving him all sorts of physical ailments and introducing a new, younger character in Rene Ballard to work him in the series.

        Spenser has aged too since he started during the ‘70s in the books by Robert B. Parker (and later Ace Atkins and Mike Lupica after Parker’s death). But, like with Kinsey Millhone and V.I. Warshawski, he’s not exactly aging at a normal rate. He’s still a tough guy in the Spenser books even though in the real world he’d be well into his 80s by now.

        In BROADCAST BLUES, I have my character Clare Carlson deal with the aging issue the same way she handles a lot of crises in her life - with a combination of denial, humor and determination to throw herself into her work on a big news story to avoid dealing with it at the moment.

        Here’s an exchange between Clare and her best friend Janet Wood which I think seems up her mind set pretty well:

         “Are you still thinking about that age business?” Janet asked.

         “No, not at all, I’m fine with it.”

         “Because it can be kind of traumatic knowing you’re going to turn 50 in a few months.”

         “Two months, one week and four days.’

         “But you’re not obsessing about it or anything.”

         “Hardly ever even give it a thought.”

       At another point Clare says:

“Turning 30 and then 40 never really seemed like that big a deal for me. It was more fun than tragic. Look at me: I’m 40! But 50? I’m not so sure about that one. 50 is something completely different, at least the way I see it at the moment. I’m not sure where I go with my life after 50.”

        And I’m not sure exactly where I go as an author from here either.

        I mean it’s not a critical decision for me right now because this is only the 6th book in the Clare Carlson series.

       But if somehow I’m fortunate enough to be able to write many more Clare Carlson books - like Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Michael Connelly and Robert B. Parker did with their characters - I’m going to have to figure out exactly how to age Clare and how quickly it should happen.

         What do you think?

       Do you like your favorite fictional characters to stay forever young?

      

Do you enjoy seeing them mature and change over the years?

        

Or do you prefer something in between: a gradual, almost imperceptible aging of say one year per decade? (Oh, if we could all only age like that, huh?)

         And, of course, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions….

 

HANK: I love this question! In my series books, Charlotte McNally aged one year for every four books. In my Jane Ryland reporter series, she aged a year over five books. And I simply did that by making very little  fictional time elapse between the fictional stories--After all, a reporter always has something in the works.

What do you all think? And writers, how do YOU handle that?

 

R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, BROADCAST BLUES, has just been published by Oceanview. It is the sixth in an award-winning series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. This newest book focuses on the murder of Wendy Kyle, a controversial private investigator who snoops into people’s love lives. Belsky has published more than 20 novels—all set in the New York city media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star magazine and NBC News. He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry. He is a contributing writer for The Big Thrill magazine and BookTrib.

 

BROADCAST BLUES

Wendy Kyle took secrets to her grave—now, Clare Carlson is digging them up New York City has no shortage of crime, making for a busy schedule for TV newswoman Clare Carlson. But not all crimes are created equal, and when an explosive planted in a car detonates and kills a woman, Clare knows it'll be a huge story for her. But it's not only about the story—Clare also wants justice for the victim, Wendy Kyle. Wendy had sparked controversy as an NYPD officer, ultimately getting kicked off the force after making sexual harassment allegations and getting into a physical altercation with her boss. Then, she started a private investigations business, catering to women who suspected their husbands of cheating. Undoubtedly, Wendy had angered many people with her work, so the list of her suspected murderers is seemingly endless. Despite the daunting investigation, Clare dives in headfirst. As she digs deeper, she attracts the attention of many rich and powerful people who will stop at nothing to keep her from breaking the truth about the death of Wendy Kyle—and exposing their personal secrets that Wendy took to her grave.