Kate Michaelson
Hidden Rooms
DOSSIER: Your writing uses humor and mystery to explore women’s experiences with chronic illness. Does the humor help balance things out or are you just always ready for a national stand-up tour? I hear the local Funny Bone has a few open dates.
MICHAELSON: You definitely don’t want to see me up on stage at the Funny Bone, unless you have plenty of questionable fruits and veggies you’re looking to toss! But I do tend to find comedy in situations, and I love a book where—no matter how dire the content—it still maintains a sense of humor. I knew when I wrote a mystery, especially about illness, I’d weave some levity into it. But, also, I wanted to balance out the seriousness of the topic. Dealing with a disease or chronic pain can be bleak, so it’s good to have some laughs interspersed. Whether a reader is going through their own illness or not, I want the book to explore meaningful themes but also be a fun, enjoyable read.
DOSSIER: Several southern writers have had a lot of success with writing about small town life. What is it about bringing something thrilling like a shocking murder into a rural Ohio setting that’s so compelling to you?
MICHAELSON: Small towns create the impression that everyone knows everything about one another, down to who a person’s grandparents were, who they dated in high school, and more. But, at the same time, people still manage to guard their secrets. That illusion of knowing—mixed with the half-truths and misinformation of speculation and gossip—makes a rich setting for mystery.
I wanted to write about small-town Ohio, in particular, because that’s where I grew up, and it’s an underexplored place. North Haven, the town in Hidden Rooms, is fictionalized, but it’s based on my hometown. Of course, for the sake of crime fiction, I amp up the dysfunction. It’s a really beautiful place with a lot of history, but there’s limited economic opportunity. Plus, there’s a sense that the world looks down on places like this, which can, understandably, put a chip on a person’s shoulder. Ultimately, I wanted to show that those of us from small Midwestern towns are just as interesting and complex (i.e., messed up) as people everywhere else.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Thrilling music/deadly silence/the food court?)
MICHAELSON: I can write nearly anywhere, as long as it’s quiet. The moment I hear a conversation, I’m done for! Background music is good as long as it doesn’t have lyrics. Apparently, my brain is incapable of processing any other words while I’m writing.
I almost always write at home in the morning, though I don’t care too much where I am. My husband and I live in an old, poorly insulated house, so I tend to go wherever it’s warm in the winter and wherever it’s not sweltering in the summer. Mornings are my most creative time, and I love days when I get up and know that I have a pocket of time when I can just get my ideas down or revise.
DOSSIER: Growing up in rural Ohio you couldn’t wait to live closer to a mall. You currently live 20 minutes from The Dossier Guy who happens to have grown up as an 80s mall junkie. What were your favorite things about going to the mall back then? B. Dalton, Orange Julius, Piercing Pagoda, The County Seat, or Spencer’s?
MICHAELSON: Most of what I know about life, I learned by reading the t-shirts and novelty mugs at Spencer’s. And, yes, I may have visited a County Seat (or several) in my day. The Sandusky mall was forty-five minutes away from where I grew up, but the moment my oldest friend got her driver’s license, we were there every chance we got. There was some cheap accessory store where we spent a lot of time, and I remember wandering the big department stores. We’d even look around the home goods department for some reason. We were just desperate for something to do. The only shopping we had in our town was the grocery store and the gas station, so Macy’s felt like Fifth Avenue to us.
DOSSIER: You join Marcy McCreary and fellow Ohio writer Erin Flanagan here in the Writer’s Dossier. At ThrillerFest, we talked about how there’s not really a local support group where we live. How important is it to you to have that network of other writers to rely on when you need to talk to someone who “gets it?”
MICHAELSON: One of the best things about publishing my first book has been finding a community of writers. I joined Sisters in Crime after I completed the first draft of my novel, and I don’t know if I ever would’ve gotten published without the guidance and advice I received there. Plus, there’s the whole matter of dealing with the ups and downs of the query process. It’s so good to be among people who celebrate the little victories and understand the disappointments. I also have a “writing support group” with two women I met at a conference. We talk once a week about what we’re working on, where we’re stuck, and whatever else is going on in our writing and non-writing lives.
I also joined a local critique group in Toledo when I first started writing. The people there don’t write crime fiction, but they know the craft of writing inside-and-out and gave me amazing advice that helped me revise. And, of course, you know how ecstatic I was to meet you and find that you live just twenty miles away! I’m pretty sure this is just the beginning of a small but mighty crime-writing hub in NW Ohio!
DOSSIER: It was great meeting you, too! Can’t wait for our first NW Ohio writer’s group meeting … probably at the mall!
Website: Kate Michaelson | Amazon Page