Celebrate National Library Week at the Port Jefferson Free Library: Meet Local Author Toby Speed

        On Saturday April 20, 2013 at 2pm in the Reading Room the Port Jefferson Free Library will be hosting an extra special National Library Week Celebration Event!

When at the Public Library Association Library Conference last year, librarian Monica Williams made the acquaintance of a group of mystery writers Sisters in Crime http://www.sistersincrime.org/. Sisters in Crime an organization composed of publishers, editors, readers, and librarians who are fans of mysteries and are united by their support of women mystery authors and a. Sisters in Crime is an American Library Association “Library Champion” and offers a “We Love Libraries” award which is a $1,000 grant that is to be used towards the purchase of books. In August 2012 Monica Williams entered the Port Jefferson Free Library as a possible candidate for the award. Word came in January that the Port Jefferson Free Library was the winner. Sisters in Crime has a Long Island Chapter and six authors will be visiting the Library on April 20. Each author will be discussing her own works. All are invited to attend this event. There is no sign up required. We hope you will be able to stay after the presentation and award presentation for author signings. Light refreshments will be served.

Several members of the Long Island Chapter of Sisters in Crime kindly consented to be interviewed via email. Questions were sent  and the authors sent back their replies. This is the first in a series of author interviews. Sisters in Crime author Toby Speed discusses her work as a writer and how she came to Long Island.

MW:. Where are you from originally? If not a LI native, how did you end up on Long Island?
I grew up in Syosset, in one of those little ranch houses that cost my parents $13,000 in 1950. My dad was an artist and calligrapher, and my mom a needlecrafter – quilts, rug-hooking, sewing and embroidery. Both my parents played instruments and folk-danced, so my brother and I grew up in a very creative atmosphere, where the radio was always tuned to the classical station and the record player played songs of The Weavers. I started writing stories in first grade and never stopped. My first story was published in fifth grade, in a magazine called “The Creative Writer.” I’ve been living in Selden for the past 30 years, where I raised three wonderful daughters. Writing has taken me on a variety of paths. In my day job I’ve been a writer at Stony Brook University for many years, producing web stories and recruitment materials. On my own time I write poetry, have published seven children’s books, and have written many stories for Highlights for Children and other magazines. Now I’m enjoying creating murder and mayhem in Port Jefferson, the location for my Emma Trace mystery series, beginning with DEATH OVER EASY. Emma’s story will continue with DEATH UNDER THE RADAR.

MW: How did you get interested in mysteries?
I always loved reading mysteries, from the time I picked up my first Nancy Drew. Since I love reading them, I thought I’d try my hand at writing one. So glad I did!

MW: What was the first mystery you ever read? What mysteries did you read before becoming a mystery writer?
I read Nancy Drew as a kid. But the books that truly inspired and launched me were the alphabet series by Sue Grafton. I fell in love with Kinsey Milhone and was fascinated by the possibilities for character and plot development that I was missing in writing children’s books and stories.

MW: What mystery authors have inspired your own work?
Besides Sue Grafton, I’m totally inspired by Michael Connolly’s books. He’s an intelligent, insightful, concise, funny writer who has taught me much about writing. M.C. Beaton and Ngaio Marsh are two other favorites.

MW: Please tell the reader about your mysteries
Meet Emma Trace: mid-thirties, risk-averse, eeking out a living as a freelance editor and going nowhere fast. Emma grew up risk-averse in a family of gamblers and aerial daredevils. She is determined to keep both feet on the ground as she deals with the annual family birthday bet: find a hidden present or pay the price with an aerobatic airplane flight. When the short order cook at her favorite breakfast spot is found face down in the pancake batter, Emma is under suspicion after police find her library card at the crime scene. When they also learn that the murder victim is the woman who stole Emma's ex-boyfriend, Emma is forced to step out of her safe world to look for clues to clear her name. She becomes the target of a vicious killer when she happens upon an elaborate blackmail scheme involving folks in her small community, much to the chagrin of Suffolk County Police Detective Pete Zahn.Using her improv acting skills and insider’s knowledge of the town, Emma and her sidekick LaRue confront a string of sleazy characters and uncovers a grisly crime more than 20 years old as they track the murderer from bowling alley to pool hall, laundromat to library, and even into the chilly waters of the Long Island Sound. And although she’s terrified to fly, Emma enlists the help of her pilot uncle and takes to the skies in what might be her only chance to prevent further killings — including the man she loves.During the writing of this book, I learned how to fly and earned my private pilot’s certificate, followed by ten months of aerobatic training. I also completed a local 16-week citizens’ police academy in which I learned about crime scene procedures, experienced a high-speed chase, learned to shoot a gun, and picked the brains of the generous police officers who taught me.

MW: How has living on Long Island impacted your work?
Living on Long Island has impacted my work tremendously. I thoroughly enjoy the people of Long Island, the mixing of cultures and the hustle and bustle of life. I enjoy all of Long Island’s icons: the boardwalk at Jones Beach, the waterways and beaches a short drive from anywhere, the lighthouses, trails, North and South Forks, the food, all of the cultural traditions and activities. Even the parts of Long Island I don’t brag about (traffic, for example), I am proud to be part of. Traffic is one of the things that comes along with many opportunities for work and fun. I think Long Islanders should be able to look at themselves and laugh, and I was eager to give Long Island a face in the mystery world. Hence, my mystery series set on Long Island.

MW:  What are your future writing plans?
I plan to follow DEATH OVER EASY with at least two sequels, possibly a prequel. In the meantime, for variety and when I’m stuck with the book I’m writing, I divert my energy into short stories and poems. Mystery short stories have their own challenges, and I’m enjoying tackling them.