Alex Kenna
What Meets The Eye
DOSSIER: You admire art, understand its history, and are known to play string instruments badly. Would your family prefer you just pick up a paintbrush and see what happens on a sheet of canvas, or are you going to continue working on the opening act for your world tour as a coffee house musician who’s hit the big time?
KENNA: When I say “play string instruments badly,” I really mean it. I taught myself basic chords on a couple instruments to entertain my toddler. My father-in-law also gave us this wonderful Appalachian dulcimer that he got from an old girlfriend in the 70s – it even came in a case lined with neon yellow shag. I played around on that for a bit, and I have a lot of fun making noise. But sadly, I have just enough of an ear to know that I’m no musician. My kid is now old enough to realize that I suck and sometimes pleads “don’t sing mommy!”
On the other hand, the toddler also thinks that most of my paintings are “too scary,” and begs me to take them down (I went through a bit of a dinosaur-skull and giant-dead-insect phase). So, my husband would probably prefer for me to paint, since painting is never off-key. And the kid would beg me not to quit my day job.
DOSSIER: As a student of art and art history, as well as being a damn good lawyer, how does the intersection of those two things affect your writing? I mean, do you think that your future books will always have elements of each in them, or do you see yourself going off into writing cozy romcoms and taking your knitting basket to book club meetings in Peoria to talk about your stories someday?
KENNA: I’ve practiced criminal law for about a decade. That background has been hugely useful in writing crime fiction. At the same time, it can make things a bit daunting because I’m very aware of what I don’t know. WHAT MEETS THE EYE started out with a cop as the protagonist. But I couldn’t stop obsessing over the fact that I didn’t know some of the little details about how police officers investigate. So I made my protagonist an ex-cop-turned-PI because I could use my knowledge about crime and criminal investigation without being held back by technical nuances.
As for art, studying painting weirdly taught me how to write. In art school, you basically start with a blank canvas, which is pretty similar to a blank page, and put stuff on it while mean people tell you it’s awful. Eventually, your scribbles become something good, or you cut your losses and begin again. Art school taught me to obsessively erase and revise, and to think critically about how to make something better. I use all of those skills in novel writing.
The topic of art isn’t going to factor into all my books, but I am very drawn to writing about creative types. My next project isn’t about art, but it does feature an actress and a fiddle playing chainsaw sculptor.
As for cozy romcoms, that’s probably not in my future. My tastes run pretty noir.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Listening to professionals play string instruments well/silence/on steps of the courthouse?)
KENNA: When I read or write, I hear every word in my head. I can’t have a lot of noise, like music or TV, because it’s too much of a distraction. Cafés are ok because they kind of function like white noise. These days, between work and wrangling an insomniac two-year-old, I write in short spurts wherever I can find a quiet moment, usually on my porch or in bed with a large cup of coffee next to me and a dog curled up at my feet.
DOSSIER: Publisher’s Weekly called WHAT MEETS THE EYE an “…impressive debut…” and it was a finalist for a 2023 Shamus Award: Best First P.I. Novel. The Amazon reviews are off the chart. You’d done some writing before, but when you finally finished all your book edits, did you have a special feeling about it, or were you just hoping someone would respond to a query letter?
KENNA: I was very attached to Margot, my half evil but brilliant dead artist. I did think that she made the book special because she was really a character that only I could write. Margot was my age, and I went to art school when she did. I could put myself in her head, and I knew who her influences would be. It was really fun thinking up insane art projects for her that were usually also crimes.
At the same time, part of me felt that if this book didn’t sell, I should take it as a sign from the universe that I wasn’t going to make it. I had previously queried a political thriller that I really believed in, but didn’t get any bites. I got dozens of rejections from agents on WHAT MEETS THE EYE too. Eventually, right before my son was due, I kind of said “f*ck it,” and submitted the manuscript directly to a publisher – in the same way that you buy a lottery ticket when you’re having a bad day – just in case. I never expected to hear back from them, and it truly felt like I’d won the lottery when they reached out a few months later.
DOSSIER: As someone who actively uses both sides of her brain (the artsy creative on one side and the prosecuting attorney on the other) what do you find yourself thinking about more as you go about your day: all the details of a case you’re working on, or how some of the things you run across that might somehow be adapted into a character in one of your future stories? (Don’t worry about your boss seeing this. Nobody reads The Dosser!)
KENNA: When I’m in prosecutor mode, I’m thinking about that. But the second I switch out, I’m thinking about my novel in progress. It’s hard to find time to do book research these days, so I also listen to a ton of podcasts and books on tape about topics that pertain to my book research. I spent months walking around downtown LA in a suit and listening to podcasts about dysfunctional families, because it related to what I was writing. I’ve also come up with some great murders while entertaining my kid on the weekends. After all, what adult wouldn’t feel homicidal at Chuck E. Cheese?
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Jeff Circle 