Bad Girls?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  It's one of the buzziest  topics in publishing--do readers need to LIKE a main character? I vote a big no. I think they simply have to be interested in them, and compelled to find out what happens to them. For better or for worse.

There are endless readers who disagree."I just didn't fall in love with her/him," they'll say about someone's book. Or "I had no one to root for." And yes, I so agree, that's fun! And a joy to be on the book-train with a character you adore.

But the brilliantly talented (and dear friend of the Reds) Hilary Davidson has been thinking about "bad" girls. And their allure, and their compelling stories, and the need to write about them. And she's written a very special one in her brand new and "such a satisfying page turner" (says Kirkus!) DON'T LOOK DOWN.

 BAD GIRLS

BY HILARY DAVIDSON

When I sat down to write my latest book, I could tell you an awful lot about Jo Greaver, the suspect at the center of the case. She was being blackmailed by someone she didn’t know. She’d grown up poor, and she’d fled Kentucky after her mother died, arriving in New York at fourteen. She’d been trafficked by someone she trusted, and the photographic and video evidence of that terrible time was bubbling up years later, threatening the good life Jo had managed to build for herself.

What I didn’t realize—until after I’d finished writing the first draft of Don’t Look Down—was that I’d written an unlikeable female character. I didn’t see it for myself, either; someone else pointed it out to me. “She’s pretty bad,” an early reader said of Jo.

            “You think she’s badass?” I asked, mistaking the comment for a compliment.

“More like evil. I can’t believe she shot that guy.”

This isn’t a spoiler: chapter one begins with Jo lugging a bag of money to a face-to-face meeting with her blackmailer. She has a plan, which is to pay off the person once and for all. But she’s also carrying a gun, because she’s afraid for her own safety. The thing is, she’s not wrong to be afraid. The chapter ends with Jo and her blackmailer shooting at each other.

Writing the book, I tended to admire Jo for her toughness and her resilience. I don’t necessarily agree with certain choices she makes (such as lying to the people she’s closest to), but I understand the fear that drives her to make those choices. She’s a survivor who’s never really processed her traumatic adolescence, and that trauma seeps out in different ways—Jo’s headaches, claustrophobia, and tendency to drink too much are all related to it. 

But for all of her suffering, she’s also a person who knows how to take care of herself. She can be violent if her life is threatened. At the same time, she’s a young entrepreneur who’s devoted to doing good in the world; ever since she started her business, it’s been donating to an organization that helps girls who’ve been trafficked.

            At first, I thought of the criticism of Jo in personal terms; she’s my brainchild, after all, so I’m going to view her in a gentler light than anyone who’s meeting her for the first time would.

 But because the book deals with sex trafficking, I started looking at real-life cases.

 What I found disturbed me: girls and women who are trafficked and commit acts of violence to protect themselves are punished with unusual harshness in the criminal justice system. At first, I thought this might be because of a twisted sort of morality (basically, a desire to punish prostitutes), but the more research I did, the more disturbing statistics turned up.

 Overall, girls are punished more harshly than boys for misdemeanors, and they are far more likely to end up in front of a judge for probation violations such as running away or breaking curfew. The expectation for girls’ behavior is much higher than it is for boys, and the consequences for anything perceived as bad behavior is more severe.

The research did have one major effect on my writing: it made me give up on the idea of making Jo likeable. She’s sharp and loyal and occasionally brutal, and I decided that would have to do. When I think of novels I’ve read and loved lately (Jennifer Hillier’s Jar of Hearts, Megan Abbott’s Give Me Your Hand, and Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister the Serial Killer all come to mind) their central characters fascinate me. Whether I like them or not seems beside the point. Quite simply, I don’t want to take my eyes off them. For any character in this day and age, that seems like enough to ask.

           

PS Thanks for having me visit again, Hank and the rest of the Reds. It’s always an honor to stop by!

HANK: And we love having you here, dear Hilary! Congratulations on this wonderful new book--and rejoice, Reds and readers, generous Hilary is giving away a copy to one lucky commenter! (US only, we fear, because the postage is almost more that the price of the book!)

So tell us: what do you think about bad girls? Who's your favorite "bad girl" in books or movies or TV?  

Hilary Davidson has won two Anthony Awards as well as the Derringer, Spinetingler, and Crimespree awards. She is the author of the Lily Moore series—which includes The Damage Done, The Next One to Fall, and Evil in All Its Disguises—the standalone thriller Blood Always Tells, and a short-story collection called The Black Widow Club. Her new series began with 2019’s One Small Sacrifice, and continues with Don’t Look Down, which was just released by Thomas & Mercer. Here’s what Kirkus had to say about it: “A blackmail plot produces complications upon complications in a story of sex trafficking, class wars, and stolen identities... such a satisfying page-turner.” Visit Hilary online at https://www.hilarydavidson.com

Going AGAINST Your Gut

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HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We've all wondered--what would I do if? 

And sure, some people have training for some kinds of things...but sometimes, in this unpredictable world, unpredictable things happen. It's easy enough to say--well, I'd just  go with my gut. And figure out what to do when the time comes. IF the time comes.

Reading the fab Hilary Davidson's essay today I realized I might have to think again.  And then her amazing new book, One Small Sacrifice, confirms it.

You know Hilary, right? A dear pal, and a dear friend of Jungle Red, and a terrifically talented author. Truly one of the loveliest people in the biz.  (Did you know she used to be a travel writer?Ask her about finding gluten free food in the Peru. I bet she knows!)

The Case for Going Against Your Gut

By Hilary Davidson

How many times have you have you heard the phrase “Go with your gut” or “Trust your instincts”? 

When I was a kid, that always made me think of the scene at the end of the original Star Wars movie, when the ghost of Obi Wan Kenobi whispers to Luke Skywalker to trust the Force, and Luke turns off his targeting system and lets instinct guide him to destroy the Death Star. 

The idea that the truth you need to know is already inside you is an intoxicating one that comes up over and over in popular culture. But there’s another side of the story we need to be honest about: Your gut is entirely capable of leading you astray.

That’s not a popular point of view, because it can feel like an insult to one’s instincts, which are deeply personal. But that’s the point: our gut reactions are the products of our own personal histories and beliefs and biases, and they’re influenced by what happens to us, good and bad. 

I learned this the hard way.

At my first job out of college when I was twenty-two, I was a victim in a workplace violence attack. I was working in a government office that served veterans, and one very disturbed vet decided that he wanted to kill his counselor and everyone else in the office. The fire he set destroyed three floors of our office building and injured several people.

 I would be the first to admit that, on that day, my gut worked perfectly well. Some of my coworkers saw the flames and froze; I ran like hell.

 But in the weeks after the trauma, my instincts started to malfunction. I would notice someone on the subway who seemed shifty or suspicious, and my gut would whisper that this person was getting ready to attack. My brain knew that this was deranged, but my gut looked at strangers through a dark prism, ever-ready to run like hell again.

 I didn’t understand for some time that I had PTSD, but I knew early on that my gut was no longer able to discern a genuinely threatening situation from an everyday scene. The trauma I’d experienced had colored my perceptions.

 The experience made me think more critically about gut reactions. We’re all marked by what we experience, for good or ill, and those imprints can stay with us for all our lives. 

  In my latest novel, One Small Sacrifice, the fallibility of gut instincts is a question my main character, NYPD Detective Sheryn Sterling, grapples with. She’s investigating a case in which a doctor has vanished, and the case is particularly troubling because the doctor’s boyfriend was involved in another woman’s death a year earlier.

 Sheryn knows that the boyfriend suffers from PTSD, and that deepens her suspicions. In her gut, she knows he’s guilty, and that belief shapes her investigation. But Sheryn’s husband forces her to take a harder look at what her gut is telling her; he’s aware that Sheryn’s father suffered from PTSD, too, and that has shaped Sheryn’s world view.

 “Instinct’s not a superpower,” he tells her. “It’s made of experience and memory and belief. Prejudice is part of that.”  

 That’s not to say that there aren’t times to trust your gut. But we should think about where those instincts come from, and how our own histories can blind us to what we need to see.

PS Thanks for having me visit again, Hank and the rest of the Reds. It’s always an honor to stop by!

HANK: And it happens, too, in less stressful situations. You think--oh, that guy just LOOKS guilty. Hmm. 

On the other hand--the gut can be pretty darn smart.

What do you think, Reds and Readers? And a copy of ONE SMALL SACRIFICE to one lucky commenter! 

(US only please--sorry, I know,  international postage mail is more expensive than the book itself. 

*************

(and the winner of THOSE PEOPLE is Triss! Email me with your address! And congratulations!)********

Hilary Davidson has won two Anthony Awards as well as the Derringer, Spinetingler, and Crimespree awards. She is the author of the Lily Moore series—which includes The Damage Done, The Next One to Fall, and Evil in All Its Disguises—the standalone thriller Blood Always Tells, and a short-story collection called The Black Widow Club. Her latest novel, One Small Sacrifice, was just published by Thomas & Mercer, and received a starred review from Library Journal, which said, “Fans of Karin Slaughter, Tana French, and Lisa Gardner will devour this new police procedural, which boasts a strong female detective and an intriguing antagonist. Sheryn [Sterling] will draw in readers, and Davidson’s complex storytelling will keep them wanting more.” Visit her online at https://www.hilarydavidson.com

Life’s Playlist by Holly West

JENN McKINLAY: I love the cover of this book SO much! Yes, because I was a tween of the 80's and a total fan of the Go Go's. Heck, I wanted to be one of the Go Go's! Holly West is our guest today and she's talking about what transports us. Welcome, Holly.

Holly West: Many things have the power to transport us to other times and places. Scent, for example. One whiff of Polo by Ralph Lauren and I’m walking through my high school’s corridors, keeping an eye out for my latest crush (thankfully, Polo isn’t on trend these days so those whiffs are few and far between). 

Books and movies, too. The mere mention of Judy Blume or Laura Ingalls Wilder takes me back to my childhood bedroom, where I spent untold hours reading and re-reading books. And films like “Bob Roberts,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “The Crying Game” remind me of my twenties, when I was single and broke and spent every weekend in the bargain matinee at the Beverly Connection in Los Angeles.

But music, I’ve found, is the ultimate time machine. I’ve already dated myself, so I don’t mind telling you that I recently turned fifty. As part of the celebrations, I compiled a playlist of songs representing all of the seasons of my life. It was a long list, spanning not only the decades I’ve lived through myself but those of my grandparents and parents since their musical preferences comprised much of the soundtrack of my earliest years. I can’t listen to Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, or Hank Williams without thinking of my grandparents—they instilled in me an abiding love for twangy country music, as did my mother for the cheerful Broadway musicals of the 60s.

I loved music from an early age and dreamed of being a singer when I grew up (a dream I haven’t quite let go of, by the way). Friday nights were dedicated to the Donny & Marie Show, before I understood that Donny’s version of rock ‘n’ roll bore as little resemblance to the real thing as Marie’s rendition of country did. Still, I loved them. Next came the Bee Gees, Rick Springfield (oh, how I wanted to be Jessie’s girl), and Journey, all of whom I still love, followed by that vast swath of music we call “80s.”

My brother, who works in marketing and PR, told me that supermarkets play 80s music now because that’s the generation—my generation—that’s doing the shopping. And he’s right. I can’t go into Ralph’s without hearing Madonna, Duran Duran, the Go-Go’s or The Cure. There I am, standing in the checkout line, when Whitney Houston comes on the sound system singing “How Will I Know,” reminding me of my senior prom date, who, years later, came out to me at a Mexican restaurant in our hometown.

Not so long ago, supermarkets were playing Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles—songs I knew, but were firmly classified as “before my time.” I suppose Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Pitbull will sing the next wave of supermarket hits. Even, perhaps, cleaned up radio re-mixes by Post Malone or Cardi-B. That’s when I’ll know I’m really old.

On a side note, one of the best things about living in the digital age is having all the music we want at our fingertips. Kids today will never know the exhilaration—and sometimes, the heartbreak—of having a cassette recorder at the ready, waiting for a song to come on the radio and pressing record at just the right moment. In those days, every recording had Casey Kasem’s voice floating over the song’s opening bars (if you were quick enough to catch those opening bars at all).

Much like books, the music we embrace in our youth becomes an integral part of who we are. I keep semi-current with today’s music and enjoy much of it, but none of it will touch me the way that early music did. I’m no expert in these matters, but it seems that as we get older, we lose our tendency to internalize external things like music. We’re able to enjoy and appreciate it, but it doesn’t have the same impact. We’re older now, and mostly, wiser, with our hearts steeled against every sentimental love song.

Okay, so Lady Gaga’s and Bradley Cooper’s live performance of “Shallow” at the Grammy Awards touched me, but that’s something else entirely. Or maybe, it’s not. Maybe I’m not the hardened old lady I think I am after all.

What about you, Reds and Readers, what music transports you?

***

Holly West is the Anthony Award-nominated author of the Mistress of Fortune historical mystery series. Her debut, Mistress of Fortune, was nominated for the Left Coast Crime Rosebud Award for Best First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared online and in numerous anthologies, and her latest story, “The Best Laid Plans,” appears in Florida Happens, the 2018 Bouchercon anthology. She’s also the editor of Murder-A-Go-Go’s, a crime fiction anthology inspired by the music of the Go-Go’s. Visit hollywest.com for more info.

Hilary Davidson's Love-Hate Relationship with HBO's True Detective

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Remember when all the Jungle Reds were sick and I was the one with pneumonia? 

Well, one of the good things to come out of the experience is that I  was able to binge-watch TV in a way I never have time to do. And one of the shows I devoured was HBO's True Detective. It premiered last January and you've probably heard of it — an Emmy-winning crime drama starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. It uses multiple timelines and unreliable narrators (one of my favorite plot devices) as two detectives in Louisiana hunt down a serial killer.

It was fantastic. 

And it was awful. 

I was talking with Hilary about it — and she had the exact same reaction. (So did plenty of television critics as well, including Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker.) 

Online debate proved problematic as women (me, for one) voiced concerns about the misogyny of the series — that all the female characters were there for sex and/or killing. (And that's really it. Few of them even have names.)

Several men took it on themselves to explain to me "how noir works" — basically women are victims. (I called it "mansplaining" — especially because there was a certain patronizing tone involved). None of them seemed to even notice how the female characters were treated — let alone consider it problematic.

But I wasn't convinced. And so I went to Anthony Award-winning novelist Hilary Davidson, who certainly knows her way around noir, to get her take on True Detective.

And here it is.

HILARY DAVIDSON: I’m shameless about my addiction to certain TV shows. I love The Americans, Sleepy Hollow, Justified, Orphan Black, Scandal, and Game of Thrones, and I’ve recommended each one to people in person and online, at parties and on planes. I’m also quick to make up my mind about shows I don’t want to watch, jettisoning them after one or two episodes.

But HBO’s True Detective, which aired earlier this year, fell somewhere in-between. Watching the first of the series’ eight episodes, I was lured in by the fine performances of the two leads, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as police detectives Marty Hart and Rust Cohle. The landscape of backwoods Louisiana was deftly captured in both its lushness and its loneliness. The music that played in the background was a pitch-perfect accompaniment to what was on the screen. I also liked the structure of the show, which cut between a present-day investigation of ritualistic serial murders and a past investigation that estranged the detectives.

Other parts of the episode left me uneasy, starting with the first murder victim the audience encounters. Her name is Dora Lange, and she’s notable for the antlers attached to her head and the designs imprinted on her body. As a crime writer, I’ve got no problem with gory, even graphic, depictions of violence; what I object to are dehumanized victims whose suffering is only so much window dressing. Dora Lange’s body was presented as a fetish object, and what mattered was the ritualistic nature of her death, not the woman herself.

Still, I kept watching. It was impossible to overlook the show’s cartoonish, cardboard depictions of women — including Hart’s wife and mistress — but I had an explanation for that: True Detective was fully aware of how it objectified and exploited women, and I thought it was offering commentary on how stoic men — like detectives Hart and Cohle — could grow obsessive in their hunt for a killer so they could save women, while abusing the women right in front of them.

If you’ve already watched all eight episodes of True Detective’s first season, you know how stupid I feel about this theory in retrospect. (Spoiler alert: I WAS WRONG. SO WRONG.) But, just as many viewers went down the rabbit hole with their Caracosa and Yellow King theories, I clung to mine. Sometimes, I thought the show was winking at me, such as when Hart gives a teenage prostitute some money and Cohle accuses him of making a down payment, and Hart has sex with the girl an episode later. To me, this suggested an arch self-awareness on the part of the show’s writers, a hint that they had some dark tricks up their sleeves. (Spoiler alert: They did not.)

There was no incisive commentary. I know you can’t sue a TV show for false advertising, but there should be an exception for True Detective. “Spread the darkness” urged the show’s clever social-media campaign. “Something deep and dark,” boasted the show’s Facebook page. Here’s the thing: ultimately, the show had the depth of a cellophane wrapper, and what darkness it contained was dispersed in its weirdly feel-good finale. It was, for all intents and purposes, a Hardy Boys adventure that happened to involve a serial killer and philosophical ramblings that wouldn’t be out of place in a college dorm between rounds of beer pong.

What the show did — and did very well — was represent two men and the demons that drove them. Their relationship was the beating heart of the show, and it was fun to watch. Hart’s expressions while Cohle spouted nihilist philosophy were priceless, as were their verbal jousts. I could (and did) watch Cohle make beer-can dolls for hours. As a buddy show about two misanthropes who can’t have relationships with other humans, it gets an A+. 

But it was a letdown on so many other fronts. Strip away the stylish storytelling, and it was hollow at the core. The show hinted at so many intriguing elements (including the possible abuse of one of Hart’s daughters), then pulled away and never mentioned them again. It was frustrating to see so many intriguing layers of the story cast aside without explanation. The truth was that they didn’t matter. It was always about Hart and Cohle. It was only about Hart and Cohle.

That said, I’m curious about Season 2. The show’s creator, Nic Pizzolatto, has stated that it will have a new cast. There are rumors that one of the leads will be played by a female actor. If that happens to be true, I’ll be tuning in again. A female lead won’t erase the missteps of Season 1, but since the show’s strength was strong writing for its leads, I’d be curious to see when it’s going. 

Otherwise, count me out. 

Time may be a “flat circle,” as Cohle claimed while cutting up beer cans, and we may be doomed to do things over and over again, but I reserve the right to make better TV choices in the future.


Hilary Davidson won the 2011 Anthony
Award for Best First Novel for THE DAMAGE DONE. The book also earned a Crimespree Award and was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis and Macavity awards. The sequel, THE NEXT ONE TO FALL, a mystery set in Peru, was published by Forge in February 2012; the third novel in the series, EVIL IN ALL ITS DISGUISES, was published in March 2013. Hilary's first standalone novel, BLOOD ALWAYS TELLS, will be published by Forge in April 2014.Hilary's widely acclaimed short stories have been featured in publications from Ellery Queen to Thuglit, and in many anthologies. She has won a Spinetingler Award for best short story and an Ellery Queen Reader's Choice Award, and she's been a finalist for a Derringer Award. A Toronto-born travel journalist and the author of 18 nonfiction books, she has lived in New York City since October 2001. Visit her online at www.hilarydavidson.com. She also writes the Gluten-Free Guidebook blog: www.glutenfreeguidebook.com.