LUCY BURDETTE: Let’s give a big JRW welcome back to Elise Hart Kipness, who inhabits the same states I do—Connecticut and Key West. (Yes, we claim that rather than Florida.) You can bet that I lobbied to get her involved with the Friends of the Key West Library as soon as I realized she was available! I can’t wait to hear about the origin story of her Kate Green books, and the second in the series, Dangerous Play, which is out next week.
ELISE HART KIPNESS: When I first considered writing a novel, I played around with the idea of writing from a lawyer’s point of view, even though I’m not a lawyer. As a fan of John Grisham and Scott Turrow, it sort of popped into my head. Writing as a lawyer did not go well for me. The effort died a quick death. I tried putting words down but couldn’t conjure up the nuances of the profession. The talks by the water cooler moments, so to speak.
I have great admiration for writers who can close their eyes and imagine a magical world. Or an imaginary world different from anything they’ve experienced. Dragons, aliens, fantastical creatures. It’s a fabulous gift. One I haven’t found. Heck, I couldn’t even conjure up an attorney and I’m married to one.
My next step was to quickly move to writing from the point of view of a reporter. Specifically, a tv sports reporter, as I reported for Fox Sports Network, after years as a news reporter. That decision clicked for me. I knew what it felt like to stand under glaring television lights and chase athletes through the tunnels of Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium.
I knew the smell of the news van and the talk around the water cooler.
I like to joke that my main character, Kate Green, is a way cooler version of me. We are both tv sports reporters, but she’s an Olympic Soccer Gold medalist and I’m a soccer mom. She chases murder suspects through the tunnels of Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium while I chase my three labradoodles around the yard. Her demons are much darker and more interesting than mine.
For me, there’s also the joy of writing about my past job. I like to close my eyes and return to the world of reporting. A big bonus is I can do that from the comfort of my home (without needing to do my hair and makeup!). I consider that a big win.
Not all of my experiences as a reporter were positive. And I try to incorporate the challenging times into my writing as well. After all, I was one of only a handful of women covering sports, entering locker rooms, and dealing with challenging interpersonal situations. But the experience of writing about those topics proved cathartic for me. And fiction lets me examine issues and stand up to bullies in ways I didn’t on the job.
When you write, do you lean into what you know or what you imagine? Or a combination of both? As readers, do you notice how familiar the writer might be with their characters’ lives?
(Quick note from Elise -- the photo at Shea Stadium is from the 2000 NL Division series between the Mets and San Francisco Giants and the photo of me interviewing Coach Krzyzewski aka Coach K was from the 1999 NCAA tournament.)
About the book: From Amazon bestselling author Elise Hart Kipness comes the next gripping story in the hit Kate Green series. A famous former teammate is found murdered, and the only way to close the case is to open old wounds.
After a tumultuous murder case that almost cost more than her job, sports reporter Kate Green is back on assignment covering women’s Olympic soccer. Between her experience with athletic stardom and days playing with Savannah Baker, head coach of the USA team, Kate is sure to get the story that will reestablish her career. She just didn’t expect that story to involve murder.
BIO: Elise Hart Kipness is a television sports reporter turned crime fiction writer. Like her main character, Elise chased marquee athletes through the tunnels of Madison Square Garden and stood before glaring lights reporting to national audiences for Fox Sports Network.
Now as an author, Elise fused her passion for true crime and sports with the Kate Green series. Her debut novel, Lights Out, is an Amazon bestseller and a Men’s Journal top 10 book of 2023. The second novel in the series, Dangerous Play, comes out September 17, 2024.
Congratulations, Elise, on your new book . . . it does sound as if Kate is facing an intriguing mystery.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I actually notice the writer's familiarity with a character's life . . . somehow, it does not stand out to me in that way; rather, I see it as the way the writer develops the character.
that makes sense Joan--I suppose if you were very familiar with the profession and the writer made errors, it might be obvious?
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DeleteLol-- I hit publish before I finished. I think there are so many ways to get a successful story out. Just like kids learn in different ways (tactile, visual, etc.) authors create from different places. And a good book is a good book! :)
DeleteI do feel that when an author really knows what they are writing about, it shows. Or maybe that's just my internal confirmation bias coming through.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new book!
I do enjoy reading something by someone from the industry they are writing from. John Grisham comes to mind here.
DeleteElise, I like it, too, when someone writes about a profession they’re familiar with, either from work experience or having a family member who is in that profession! When I see a mistake in a book that features issues I know from the inside out, I sometimes have to tell myself “it’s just fiction, Deb”.
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Many congratulations to Elise -- the book sounds incredible! I always find it so fascinating when an author's life experiences and personal areas of expertise come through in their writing. Not only does it give the characters and story so much depth, but it's also just a lovely insight into the mind of the writer!
ReplyDeleteThanks Damyanti---I hear you. It's funny because as a writer, sometimes I finish a book and get new insights into myself. It's astounding what the subconscious adds to a story.
DeleteCongratulations, Elise. I just looked for your series and it sounds perfect for me. I love that your protagonist is a sports reporter, a job you know well. I
ReplyDeletealways like to begin with the first book, so I will.
An author's experience in the area he/she is writing about, comes through in many ways throughout the book. It can be reflected in dialogue, in physical movement, or just atmosphere. Sometimes I'll be reading something and realize that that the author has never done it: sailed a boat, baked a cake, climbed a mountain. If that happens, I begin to doubt everything else in the book.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the series. It is fun to read about those little insights that no one else might know.
DeleteCongratulations, Elise! I love to draw on my past occupations and experiences (farmer, doula, Quaker, native Californian, etc) for some of my novels, but the rest comes from my imagination.
ReplyDeleteEdith, I wondered if the author was drawing from personal experiences or using their own imagination in creating characters. I think it's both? Diana
DeleteI agree. I think any personal experience must be combined with imaginary situations. It's funny, the first draft I wrote of LIGHTS OUT, I didn't just write about a reporter but I wrote it as a reporter, telling the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY. Needless to say it was extremely boring!! It had absolutely no suspense.
DeleteCongratulations on your upcoming release. You can tell if an author's experience is played out in the narrative of the book. It really does show.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dru!
DeleteCongratulations, Elise! I will look for your books. My sister spent many years as a broadcast journalist and her partner is a news photog, so I have some insight into the business I too think it makes a difference if the author brings her life experience into her writing. I would add that it's possible to fill gaps with good research. Many mystery authors write eloquently about the lives of police officers without having been in that profession.
ReplyDeleteHurray! So wonderful to see you here—I am SUCH a fan! And you and I are cut from the same cloth, right? I’ve been a reporter for 43 years—and 10 of my novels are about reporters in some way. BUT—you are so right that it’s the experience that informs the book, but not a specific news story disguised into fiction.
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to read the new book!
Xxxxx
HANK: I was going to ask if you and Elise swap stories about your experiences as television reporters and mystery authors?
DeleteHank, this means the world to me because I absolutely love you and your books. Thank you for saying this. XO
DeleteCan’t wait to read this new one Elise! I loved Lights Out!
ReplyDeleteThe second Kate Green book sounds great. And, like you, Elise, I greatly respect how brilliantly some fantasy and science fiction writers can build extraordinarily consistent and appealing worlds. Think of Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness or Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series (a huge favorite of mine). I certainly write about the city and country I know best (Bern and Switzerland), but I have to draw on help to get the lives of my police detectives right. Thank God for research. For example, in my fourth book (coming April 2025), there's a young man whose job is repairing the magnificent fifteenth-century windows in Bern's cathedral, and I wouldn't have been able to portray him without spending hours with the glass artist in Bern who does this work, along with creating his own windows and sculptures.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim. Yes! Research is key. And I think there are many avenues to reach a believable story. Your new book sounds amazing, by the way!
DeleteI agree, Elise, that Kim’s next book sounds very intriguing!
DeleteCongratulations, Elise! Yes, I often wonder if the author is familiar with the world that she is writing about.
ReplyDeleteNoticed that I used "she" because most of the books that I read are by women. Interesting story about trying to write a character who is a lawyer because my grandfather was an attorney. He read detective novels by attorneys turned authors.
Kate Green sounds like an interesting character. Your novels are new to me and I will look for them at the library.
Hi Diana! Thanks for the good wishes. I really appreciate it.
DeleteCongratulations on your Tuesday release! Sounds like an exciting book and premise.
ReplyDeleteI do tend to lean into what I know (paralegal, scuba diving characters and now a novel set in the north woods of Maine, but there's a lot of make-believe mixed in, too.
Wow Kait--scuba diving? You are braver than me. It's nice to have a mix of what you know and what you imagine. To me, what I know is the touchstone to get me to a spot and then I can wander from there to the imagined.
DeleteElise, a good novel that features places and professions and circumstances I know little or nothing about, often inspires me to do research on them after I finish reading the book. This has led me to find other authors too. It could be said that someone like you is encouraging your readers to educate themselves!
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Hi Deb!! I love that take on the topic.
DeleteOne of the most interesting aspects of crime fiction is the way so much of it focuses on people's jobs. We all want to go behind the green baize door and explore someone else's world, and mysteries let us do that better than almost any other type of fiction. As an added benefit, the genre pays attention to a part of life that lots of other fiction hand waves away - what we do for the eight or ten or twelve hours each day while we make a living.
ReplyDeleteThat's a long, roundabout way to say I'm excited to read DANGEROUS PLAY! :-D
Hi Julia! First, so happy you are excited to read DANGEROUS PLAY. :) And I love what you are describing. I also really enjoy getting immersed in the lives of characters. I never considered that mysteries often provide the best opportunity but now that you mention it, YES!!!
DeleteCongratulations on your upcoming release! I spent my early years behind the cameras in TV studios and on TV crews, as well as a radio station and a print journalism newsroom. I've enjoyed several trips to try different things on the mass media buffet.
ReplyDeleteI think our lives and our pasts, plus our current interests, feed into our imaginations for stories. I did copy my old small newspaper's suburban bureau newsroom layout for my fictional one. I suspect small town newsrooms are a thing of the past, but I like the camaraderie and conflict possible in a bullpen newsroom plus the story's set in a small town that's proud of all of its past and traditions
I'm in Connecticut, too, up closer to Hartford. I may run into you at some point. :) Good wishes!
Hi Rhonda! There is something magical about small town newsrooms. I worked in a few too during my radio days. You are practically a neighbor. I do hope we connect in person. Thanks for the warm wishes! XO
DeleteHi Elise! So nice to see you here! As a person who mostly "makes it up" I love reading books that draw on the author's personal experience. If I had any interesting real life personal experience I'd surely use it!! I loved LIGHT'S OUT, and am so looking forward to the new book!
ReplyDeleteYou are so nice!!! Hope to see you soon. :)
DeleteNice to know of another series, Elise. I look forward to reading the first in the series. Congratulations on your new mystery!
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Thanks Heather! I hope you enjoy it. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new release, Elise!!! We're a big sports playing/crime reading family so we're all thrilled there is a new Kate Green to devour!!! Woo hoo!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenn!! Appreciate that. :)
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