Spotlighting local author: Mary Saums

 

 

With a melody in her heart and a mystery in her mind, she writes like a performer – with drive, humor and vision. She left Muscle Shoals, Alabama where she had been working “as a recording engineer on gold and platinum albums by Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, and many other artists” to come to Nashville and become a writer.

 

She stumbled upon Davis Kidd and the writing groups it offered. Mary started “reading more and writing.” Being with a group helped her carve her way. “You have to bring pages and participate” in a workshop, and the deadlines kept her trying, pushing her on.

 

She next entered the Tennessee Writers Alliance poetry contest where her poetry was a runner-up. From doing so, she met her first writing friends: the other poets. What Mary learned is, “If you are a writer you need to be around other writers.” The sense of community and support is priceless.

 

Mary has always been a mystery reader. As a child the book mobile would make frequent stops by her home. The woman who ran the book mobile brought her mystery novels, as Mary says, she was her “Agatha Christie pusher,” feeding her appetite for literary knowledge.

 

Her Willi Taft series was born from Mary’s frustration of wanting to write what she knew and answering the telephone one evening when a telemarketer called. She had a background in music, and the background made the telling of story easy. When she was trying to form the idea of where to go, the character “just kind of showed up.”

 

The telemarketer called her and triggered the notion of a character answering a call from a telemarketer. This began the thread of the story about why the character was frustrated, which illustrated who she was and where she was in her life.

 

She began the Thistle and Twigg series because she “had been wanting to write about older ladies.” A fan of the Anne George series, Southern Sisters, Mary decided to create her own sisterhood. She combined her love of British mysteries with her knowledge of Southern ladies, who Mary believes “have crazy ideas but in the end they are right.”

 

She created a British character, Jane, who having lived in the Southern United States for fifty years, allows Mary to keep the voice authentic. Mary “loves when there is positive energy,” so she added optimistic elements to Jane and Phoebe. She wanted to “write a happy escape” because it is what she enjoys to read.

 

Mary doesn’t outline. Outlining has never worked for her. As she says, her” characters lead and I follow.” She is also a big believer in writing until you reach the end of the story. Once you have finished you can look back and edit.

 

Editing, for Mary, is the most important part of writing. At the end of the novel “the theme stands out and editing allows you to reinforce the idea and clean up the novel.” 'Plot is what happens when you follow the characters.'

 

Plot is the weaker element of writing for Mary, so she lets the characters lead as she follows. If she gets stuck she throws on her Robicheaux bait and tackle cap or stares down her Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, action figure.

 

Mary has a dream of winning an Agatha Christie Award, but most of all, she wants to keep writing and bringing joy to her readers. Her favorite part of writing is getting emails from the people who read her novels.

 

She initially thought that only Southerners read Southern books. But has quickly discovered this is not the case. Her “wonderful readers” tell her that “the town in the book reminds them of where they grew up, or the character reminds them of someone they know.” As she says, “That makes it worth while. Hearing from a reader; that now is the push.”

 

Mary classifies her novels as cozies or traditional mysteries. What is a cozy? According to Mary, the definition has changed somewhat in the last few years. Originally, cozies were considered any type of mystery in which the murder is done offstage and with no sex, foul language or graphic violence. Today, the word 'cozy' is used more to describe a new sub-genre, a kind of 'super-cozy' in which the stories have to do with female hobby interests - gardening, cooking, knitting, scrapbooking and other crafts, for example.

Mary's Thistle & Twigg books don't have hobbies as a main interest, so they fall more into the traditional mystery category. Mary references local author Jennie Bentley's new series, centered on fixing up houses, as an example of one that fits into both cozy and traditional categories."
 

Mary advises that writers “get your inner critic out of the way. Let the words flow. Write what brings you joy – write what you want to write.” She says to “sit down and just keep going forward. Don’t look back until you come to the end. Then start editing.”

 

Don’t get frustrated. Not even by the economy. While the economy is affecting everything, such as book reviews fading and book titles not being out in the face of public as much, a balance will come.

 

It’s a small price to pay when you spend money on a book. If you can’t afford a trip to Italy, you can disappear in a story about it. The Kindle has taken off, and Mary is a fan. She says, “it’s great because you can change the font on the page; it’s perfect for poor eyesight.” Or, “you can take it on a trip; it’s going to keep growing.” Change is change; it’s not bad, just different.

 

So, if you are new to the writing game, stay focused. There are many things going on in the Publishing world.

 

As for Mary? She is going to keep creating the wonderful world of Phoebe and Jane for her Thistle and Twigg series. The two ladies will keep sleuthing it up, bringing quirk and laughter to all their readers. So stay tuned.

 

To visit Mary, check out her website at: http://www.marysaums.com/. Mary will also be attending the Killer Nashville conference this August. To learn more about Killer Nashville go to: http://www.killernashville.com/