The Secrets of...Linda Fairstein!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: How much do we all love Linda Fairstein? Such an icon, such a treasure, she’s an incredible example of how to be  successful and fabulous and generous and talented and loving—all at the same time.  We're so happy she's here today! 

Most readers know Linda from her Alexandra Cooper mysteries (book twenty in the series will be published on March 26, 2019!) and her pioneering work in the district attorney's office in Manhattan for more than two decades.

She began her lifelong love affair with libraries and books as a kid. Like me, like so many of us? She was devoted to Nancy Drew.  So her her middle-grade Devlin Quick mystery series pays homage to Nancy—as well as her passion for instilling a love for books and reading in young people.  (On November 6, the third book in the kid lit series, SECRETS FROM THE DEEP, hit the bookshelves everywhere. Yay!)

And mysteries are all about secrets, right So what are Linda’s? Let’s find out!  And a copy of her new SECRETS FROM THE DEEP to one lucky commenter!   

Guilty pleasure?When I’m in my most intense writing lockdown — trying to meet my deadline — I look forward to typing THE END, and then booking a 90-minute massage. That massage restores all the twisted muscles I’ve used at the computer for weeks and releases the murder suspects who’ve been lurking in my brain. Then I pour a glass of chilled white wine and settle in with a great crime novel by one of my friends. No interruptions, please!

First car?My first car was magical. I got it for my senior year at college, and it was a magnet for good times and great, long drives. It was a 1968 Mustang convertible, and the color (always my favorite) was Tahoe Turquoise, with a white rag top. If I could find the VIN number and track it down today, it’s the one thing I’d like to buy myself as a present. That car holds some precious memories.

Favorite class in school?As far back as I can remember, my favorite class in school was English — literature, in particular. I have loved being around books for my entire life — from the time my mother read me to sleep at night to this very day. Every English teacher I had passed along his or her love of language and fine storytelling and introduced me to the novels and poems that helped form my taste and gave me the incomparable gift of the joy of reading. I chose to go to Vassar, which was at that time a women’s college with a splendid English department, and I am grateful every day of my life that I was given that opportunity.

Favorite thing a reader has said/done?One of the most remarkable things that happens to a writer — if you’re extremely fortunate — is that your characters come alive to the readers who follow you. One of my most loyal and wonderful readers — Elaine L, who lives in California, not only drove huge distances to come to my signings (always with a bottle of Dewar’s to smooth my book tour hotel stays), but she then created a series of notebooks with clippings and reviews and illustrations that documented the “birth” and creation and growth of my protagonist, Alexandra Cooper. Volumes of thick notebooks kept on coming— and they are extraordinary. Elaine found reviews in small-town newspapers and online sites that I had never seen. 

Then, in the most stunning labor of love, she documented the life of my late husband in the very same way — she even found a photograph of Justin in his fencing gear at a tournament when he was a student at Columbia University. He was overwhelmed. And so am I, constantly, by the devotion of good readers.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?It’s really hard to know which superpower I would choose, if given the chance. Some — which would include saving lives of others — seem too much even for the imagination. I think, though, because I saw so much pain and trauma in my long prosecutorial career — caused to people by others — I would ask for the power to prevent men (and women!) from harming others. Forever.

Nickname as a kid?My grandmother, whom I simply adored, called me Linny — and she was the only one in the family who did. Then along came my best friend through my adolescence and teens — and she called me Linny, too. And now, I have a precious granddaughter who is 2 — and she has settled on Linny as her chosen name for me, which takes me back to my youth, and a delightfully happy connection to my own grandmother.

First author hero?There was no competition for my first author hero — it was Carolyn Keene (or, as you may know, all the women who used the pen name Carolyn Keene). The Nancy Drew books were my favorites as a kid and really inspired me to want to be a storyteller — and in particular, a mystery writer. I’ve actually dedicated this new novel — Deadfall— to the women who were Carolyn Keene, and I’ve started a second series of mysteries for young readers — the Devlin Quick mysteries — in homage to Nancy Drew.

By the time I was a teenager, my author hero was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. To this day, I don’t believe anyone practiced the literary craft of solving crimes as well as Conan Doyle.

What would you be if not an author?My other goal as a young kid was to grow up to be a dancer with American Ballet Theater — or a backup dancer, once I saw Tina Turner perform. It’s a talent I outgrew.

What TV show must you see, no matter what?The two TV shows that are no-miss for me are Luther and Longmire. I would love to cast Idris Elba as a character in a series I’d write for TV — I think he’s such a powerful actor and really draws me into Luther. And Longmire — well, the man’s a serious sheriff and I recognize that, but he needs a love life, and here I am, right down the road from his hometown while I’m in Big Timber. I take these two shows very seriously.

TV show you’ve recently binge-watched? I ignored the advice of so many of my close friends over the last four years when they repeatedly insisted I watch The Americans. A few months ago, I decided to give the show a try, starting with season one, episode one. Some serious binge-watching ensued, as we raced through five seasons. It has “over the top” moments, but I think it’s just a spectacular job of creating a unique TV series.

What movie made you cry the most?The movie that has made me cry the most — the first time I saw it (on its first major theatrical re-release, when I was a teenager) and every single time since — is Gone With the Wind. I love the epic nature of the story-telling, and I do recognize of course the political incorrectness and racism of what it presents as history — but oh, that Scarlett O’Hara! Every time someone died (and lots of people died — beyond the soldiers fighting the war), or Scarlett came up with some mean-spirited plan to hurt someone else, or you’d see the adorable young Bonnie and know her fate — and then, the Rhett and Scarlett romance — well, I start to cry as soon as I hear that familiar music swell for the opening scene. I’ve used several cartons of tissues over the years for GWTW.

HANK: Such fun, Reds and readers! Pick any question—and answer it!  And Linda will pick a winner of her book. Yay!  (Binge-watched? Ozark. Must-see TV? Madam Secretary. Movie that made me cry? I try not to watch sad movies. They are too sad. To Kill A Mockingbird  though. I can cry just thinking about it.) ) And Happy Saturday—a few of us are at CrimeBake—but we’ll check in all day, Thank you, dear Linda!

Linda Fairstein – lawyer, former prosecutor, and author of twenty-three books – is one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children.

For three decades, from 1972 until 2002, Fairstein served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was chief of the country’s pioneering Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-six years. In that position, she supervised the investigation and trial of cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and homicides arising out of those crimes.

Fairstein is an honors graduate of Vassar College (1969) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972).  In 1998, several of Fairstein’s law school classmates established a scholarship fund in her honor, supporting law students pursuing careers in the public sector.

She has received dozens of awards for her legal work and advocacy, and in many instances was the first woman to be so honored.  These include the Federal Bar Council’s Emory Buckner Award for Public Service and the UJA Federation’s Proskauer Award. For her groundbreaking work on behalf of victims of violence, Fairstein received Columbia University’s School of Medicine Award for Excellence; the Anti-Violence Project’s “Courage” Award; GlamourMagazine’s Woman of the Year Award; the American Heart Association Women of Courage Award, and many similar honors. In 2010, Fairstein was awarded the New York Women’s Agenda Lifetime Achievement Award for her leadership in the field of domestic violence.

In 1993, Linda Fairstein published her first book – a non-fiction work entitled SEXUAL VIOLENCE:  Our War Against Rape – which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Fairstein is the author of nineteen crime novels, published by Dutton, featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. The most recent of these – DEADFALL – was published in August, 2017, and like the fifteen which preceded it became an “instant”

New York Timesbestseller.  Many of the books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.  The 20^thbook in the series – BLOOD OATH – will be published in March, 2018.

In November, 2016, Fairstein debuted a second series for middle-grade readers featuring a twelve-year old sleuth named Devlin Quick.  That novel, INTO THE LION’S DEN, was inspired by the author’s childhood devotion to the famed Nancy Drew series.  The second Devlin Quick mystery, DIGGING FOR TROUBLE, was published in November, 2017, and the third, SECRETS FROM THE DEEP, will be published in November, 2018.

www.lindafairstein.com

www.devlinquick.com

ü  Linda's Facebook page link is: https://www.facebook.com/LindaFairstein

ü  Linda on Twitter @lindafairstein

ü  Linda on Instagram @lindafairstein

Fairstein was awarded the Nero Wolfe Award for Excellence in Crime Writing in 2008, and in 2010 received the Silver Bullet Award of the International Thriller Writers.

Fairstein is a trustee of Vassar College.  She is on the boards of several non-profits:  Safe Horizon, which is the country’s largest victim advocacy organization; God’s Love We Deliver, which feeds seriously ill New Yorkers; and she leads the national project to end the rape evidence kit backlog at the Joyful Heart Foundation, led by Mariska Hargitay.  She is the board chair emeritus of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Fairstein consults regularly on sexual assault investigations.  Her work involves advising lawyers and investigators on Title IX complaints, working with the NBA on domestic violence/sexual assault allegations involving players, and engaging in case work as a result of the #MeToo movement.

Fairstein lives in Manhattan and is married to Michael Goldberg.

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For more information:

www.lindafairstein.com

www.devlinquick.com

Based on and excerpted from USA TODAY

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https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/2017/07/25/linda-fairstein-interview-deadfall/

from Nancy to Alexandra to Devlin: the sleuthing adventures continue!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Hurray. And all the Reds are giving a standing ovation. (Can you see us?) We are thrilled to welcome the fabulous Linda Fairstein--who, after so many bestselling years writing a smart, tough, determined prosecutor—is now also writing a smart, tough,  determined teenager.

Linda, welcome! And where did YA  heroine Devlin Quick come from?

((And whoo hoo--Linda is giving THREE Devlin Quick "packages"--including books--to lucky commenters!)

LINDA FAIRSTEIN: Thank you! And hello Reds and readers. Let’s see.  I’ve published nineteen crime novels in a series about New York City sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, who has the tough job that I held for thirty years, and which gave me plenty to write about.  I thought I had the perfect forum for all I wanted to say.

 But two years ago, something deep inside me kept bubbling up until it became impossible to ignore.  I had been devoted to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew when I was a young reader, and I kept thinking about how much I wanted to give kids an updated view of sleuthing, through the eyes of a 12-year old city kid who didn’t have a roadster but who had a keen curiosity about forensics and doing justice.  So I set out to tell my first story featuring Devlin Quick, whose mother just happened to be the city’s first woman police commissioner.

HANK: Was that a big step? What came next?

LINDA:  Then I worried - as did my agent - about whether I could change speeds and write for pre-adolescents instead of adult thriller-readers.

HANK: But obviously—and successfully—those questions were answered.  And hurray. Still, it must have been such a transition for you! I mean, Devlin is, ahem, so much younger that Alex.  Usually the big obstacle is coming up with the plot—was that the case here?

LINDA: Plotting a caper wasn’t the issue since I had done that so many times in my career.  Instead of the story-telling being my problem, I was worried about capturing the voice of a kid, and so I spent an inordinate amount of time with friends and family who had readers that age, and found myself listening to dialects and slang words and conversational tones of pre-teens.  The good news is that writing for young readers lessened the intensity of my emotions - no murders, no deaths, no dealing with medical examiners and post-mortems.  

HANK: Oh, right! I never thought about that. But thinking about a mystery through the eyes of a pre-teen must have been so—entertaining?

LINDA: Yes! It has actually become fun to go into my writing room and enter a zone where all the mystery-solving is less stressful than adult detective work.  Sometimes I feel like I have a split personality - channeling a 12-year old on some days, and a 38 year old on others.  But it’s been enlightening to develop both characters and I am certain that they will meet in the pages of a crime novel before very long.

HANK: That’d be so much fun to read! And my writer-brain is already imagining how that might work. Either way, right?   Devlin meets Alex, that could be fun. Or—Alex encounters Devlin. Love it. Do you feel like—a new Carolyn Keene?  

I know you’re a fan—you had that wonderful essay in the Washington Post! Hey—let’s give the reds and readers a taste of it.

Here’s just part of Linda’s essay from the Post—with a link to the rest!

Nancy Drew was my fictional role model throughout most of my youth. I was more fortunate than she in some ways. Nancy had lost her mother when she was 3 years old. She was devoted to her single dad, but they were living in a town rife with crime. I had both loving parents — it was my mother who read to me every night before I went to sleep — and Mount Vernon, N.Y., seemed a much safer place than River Heights.

 But I did envy Nancy the blue roadster and the steady partnership of Ned Nickerson. That was true until I found my real-life colleagues — mostly guys in the early days — in the D.A.’s office, and we started to solve cases with the great men and women of the NYPD, riding in unmarked black cars on our way to crime scenes. I didn’t leave home with Nancy’s trusty flashlight, but there was plenty of her moxie driving my desire to do the right thing.

  

I smile whenever I hear an accomplished woman mention Nancy Drew — who made her first appearance in 1930 — as an inspirational figure. Former justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote about being pulled away from Nancy’s exploits to do more serious work on the family ranch; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg responded to the young woman’s adventurous nature and her daring; and Justice Sonia Sotomayor — who has described reading as her “rocket ship out of the second floor apartment” in a South Bronx housing project — admired Nancy’s character and her courage. Hillary Clinton, too, is a fan, respecting how smart and brave Nancy was, also her ability to multitask: taking care of her dad’s house, keeping up with her schoolwork and solving capers on top of it all. Laura Bush also loved reading Nancy Drew mysteries.

Though the Nancy Drew books have been updated to eliminate racist stereotypes, they suffer from a striking lack of diversity. The folks in River Heights were all white, and the bad guys were always foreign and usually dark-skinned or swarthy. And yet the appeal of the girl detective — she was originally penned as an 18-year-old and later adjusted to 16 — remained widespread.

 My friend Faye Wattleton spent her pre-adolescent years in Nebraska, an African American child whose mother pastored an all-white church. Wattleton told me that Nancy’s “indomitable independence, fearless inquisitiveness and determination to get the job done — never forgetting to ‘freshen up’ her appearance — was a bridge, from multiple layers of isolation to imagining the power of challenging the conventional in order for good to triumph over evil.”

For me, both dreams that emerged from the pages of Nancy’s adventure have come true. I have spent 45 years as a lawyer, fighting for justice for women and children who have been victims of violence. And I have written 21 mysteries — two of them for young readers — in which my protagonists, one a prosecutor and the other a 12-year-old sleuth, channel the character and courage of a fictional heroine. I never wanted to imitate Nancy Drew in either career. But I ached to run along beside her, and that has been a run well worth taking.

 HANK: And we love that you took the risk! Reds and readers, Linda will stop by today to chat and answer your questions—about her books, or the law, or Devlin Quick.  Or even the next Alexandra Cooper!

I’d love to know more about changing mindsets—and vocabularies—to channel a pre-teen.

Do you all have any pre-teen pals? What do they do—or say—that surprises you? Or that you don’t understand? What are their favorite phrases?

((And remember--Linda is giving THREE Devlin Quick "packages"--including books--to lucky commenters!)

 And don't forget to come meet Linda in person!

(And here’s a link to Linda's essay.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/why-nancy-drew-is-an-ideal-role-model-for-todays-girls-and-boys/2017/11/02/33fd763c-a9ed-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html )