Bain, Donald

BWG: You have several more works in the pipeline, I believe. Prescription for Murder will be out next month on April 2, and others are anticipated in late 2013 or early 2014. Do you have more adventures planned for the series beyond those books?

DB: Close-Up on Murder, coming out in October 2013, is the last book on our previous contract. We’ve just negotiated a new contract calling for three more books. We’re hoping to take Jessica to Hawaii for the first of those books. One book will be set in Cabot Cove. And we’ll see what adventures we can dream up for the third.

BWG: You seem to alternate between "Cabot Cove" based stories and those that take Jessica Fletcher out to different locations, much as the television show did. Is this to avoid what mystery writers call "Cabot Cove syndrome" where a sleepy little town has a higher per capita murder rate than major cities? Does it give you a chance to take tax-deductible trips to all those locations?

DB: Many readers prefer us to stay in the familiar environs of Cabot Cove, while others are eager to travel with Jessica to see the sights at new locations. We do love to travel, and yes, the trips are tax-deductible if we use the settings in a book. But getting Jessica Fletcher out of Cabot Cove is more than simply trying to curb the murder rate in that charming small town. A new location gives us lots of interesting elements with which to play in creating the story. We’ve found our readers enjoy seeing a different city through Jessica’s eyes, sampling the local fare at a restaurant, and learning about the history and culture of someplace new. So do we. Occasionally we even have her friends from Cabot Cove tag along on Jessica’s trips, giving the reader a bit of both home and away.

BWG: You have also been acknowledged as the author of Margaret Truman's mysteries, correct? You have continued her series since her death. But you write so much more than mysteries. Among your credits are historical romances, comedies, westerns (J. D. Hardin series), and nonfiction written under a variety of names. Do you find writing in different genres to be refreshing, or is it hard to switch gears?

DB: I actually find tackling books in different genres not only to be refreshing, but it’s invigorating. It forces me to break from something I’ve been doing for a while and explore new areas, new sources of research, and the challenge of adopting a fresh tone and approach in my writing. The latest novel in the Margaret Truman Capital Crimes series, Experiment in Murder, carries my byline. Margaret and I were good friends and worked closely together. I suppose you could say that I’ve finally come out of the literary closet regarding my involvement in this bestselling series. For this latest Truman novel I changed the approach and wrote it as a hard-edged political thriller, unlike previous books in the series.

Of course, over the years of having written more than 115 books, making a living, especially in the early days, tended to favorably dispose me to whatever writing projects came along. The literary moralist Kingsley Amis once wrote, “Any proper writer ought to be able to write anything from an Easter Day sermon to a sheep-dip handout.” Although I’ve never written an Easter Day sermon or a sheep-dip handout, I’d be willing to try, and I’m sure that I’d enjoy it.

BWG: You have ghost written some best-selling books, yet you can't tell us what they are, and don't receive any of the credit. Is that hard to handle? Do you find other satisfactions from ghost writing besides getting paid?

DB: It’s never been a problem for me because I have what I suppose you could call an intact ego. Sure, when a book I’ve ghosted ends up on the bestseller list, or receives a rave review, I kind of wish that others knew of my involvement. Then again, sometimes a ghosted book fails in the marketplace or gets panned. In that case—fortunately a rarity—it’s nice not having my name attached to it. There’s no doubt that I write as a means of earning a living, and ghostwriting is a solid way for a writer to make money. But I never take on a ghosting job with someone I dislike, or with a book that covers a subject with which I’m uncomfortable. I’ve turned down a number of lucrative ghosting proposals over the years, sometimes to my agent’s chagrin. Speaking of agents, after having the same agent for more than 40 years, we now have a terrific new one, Bob Diforio of the D4EO Agency. We met at the Love is Murder conference in Chicago last year and really hit it off.

BWG: In your 1967 book, Coffee Tea or Me?: The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses, you took anecdotes from two flight attendants and turned them into a best seller that, along with its three sequels, sold over five million copies. Originally the authors were listed as Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones, but in later editions, you are acknowledged as the author. How did you finally get to take credit for this iconic book from the golden age of air travel?

DB: It was many years after I wrote Coffee, Tea or Me? that I took public credit for it, and that was only after I received permission from the publisher. The situation came about when a TV news program wanted to do a piece on me and my other career as a professional jazz musician. The show’s producer knew that I’d written the book and asked if they could mention it on-air. The publisher’s clearance allowed me to do that. When Penguin brought out a new edition in 2003, which they billed as a “Penguin Comedy Classic,” they asked me to write a new introduction, and insisted that my name be on the cover. Although my ghostwriting contracts don’t specifically preclude my taking public credit, it would be unprofessional for me to do so without the okay from the publisher and/or the person for whom I’ve ghosted.

BWG: Does the process of ghost writing vary depending on genre and/or the person for whom you're writing?

DB: Sure it does. As a ghostwriter it’s my obligation to capture the “voice” of the person whose name goes on the book, and to become immersed enough in whatever subject the book deals with to do an intelligent job. A lot also depends upon the working arrangement established with the ostensible author. Some like to play an active role and be involved in every phase. Others are content to stand back and let me do what I’m being paid to do; they respect my professionalism. Unless a solid understanding exists between the ghost and the other person, and trust has been established, the project probably isn’t going to be successful, and I’ve walked away from projects when it became obvious to me early-on that it wasn’t going to work.

BWG: In the Murder She Wrote books and Coffee Tea or Me? you write in first person from a female point of view. Do you find this to be a challenge? What have you learned from this experience?

DB: So much of my writing has either been in the first-person female voice, or ghosting novels for a female collaborator. I’m comfortable with that, although there have been times when it’s been pointed out to me that I’ve allowed my masculinity to creep in where it doesn’t belong. Among many advantages of now collaborating with my wife on the Murder, She Wrote novels is that she adds that necessary female dimension—and is on hand to call me up short when I’ve missed the point in describing the female psyche. However, while there are significant differences between the sexes, we’re all human beings who think and react the same. We’re all part of the human dilemma, and our many foibles and flaws don’t have gender as a dividing line.

BWG: You've also written a good bit of nonfiction, including two memoirs. Which do you find harder to write, fiction or nonfiction?

DB: No question about it, writing fiction is harder than writing non-fiction. At least it is for me. While writing non-fiction demands the same solid writing as fiction, the novel adds another dimension, namely creating the story rather than having it laid for you. The hardest part of writing a novel is coming up with a story that sustains itself over many pages, and inventing three-dimensional characters. With non-fiction those things are given to you. But non-fiction presents its own set of problems that a novelist doesn’t usually have to contend with. Researching non-fiction is the key to a good book, and I’ve worked on non-fiction books that involved months, and sometimes years of research. I spent more than a year researching mind control and hypnosis for a non-fiction book I wrote years ago, The CIA’s Control of Candy Jones. I used the knowledge I gained from that research as the scientific basis for the thriller, Experiment in Murder. Working with former Hollywood star Veronica Lake also involved more than a year of digging into her life.

BWG: You're now working with your wife, Renée Paley-Bain, on the Murder She Wrote series. Does this change the process--or the results?

DB: Renée and I have been collaborating on the series for some time now. We work well together. We brainstorm our plots. When we know the direction we’re going, one writes and the other edits, and then we switch sides. Since the books are written in first person, both of us want the leading character to sound like Jessica Fletcher as played by the incomparable Angela Lansbury. Our favorite compliment is when fans say reading one of the books feels like they’re back on a Sunday night of years ago, watching the television show.

BWG: You and Renée are not only writers, but you're publishers. What inspired you to open Hyphenates Books?

DB: Our company, Hyphenates, Ltd., was established more than two decades ago, when we were doing editorial work for a variety of clients, and needed a corporate identity. The rise of e-books and the success of some of our colleagues who were putting their backlist books online inspired us to dip our toe into publishing, and so we created Hyphenates Books. Our intent was to bring out e-versions of some of my out-of-print books and see how they would do. However, we had been editing an exciting novel written by Joe Stockdale, my former drama teacher at Purdue, and decided the first book we’d publish was Joe’s Taking Tennessee to Hart. It’s doing nicely, selling slowly at a regular pace. Anyone who reads the reader reviews on Amazon would be hard pressed not to buy a copy. It’s a terrific book.

In addition we’ve published an e-version of my autobiography, Murder, He Wrote, which is also available as a trade paperback from Purdue University Press. We’re planning to issue more of my books in the future.

BWG: The publishing world is experiencing such rapid change. What advice would you give to young writers now getting into the field?

DB: Read. Write. This may sound axiomatic but too many aspiring writers fail to not only read as much as possible, they talk more about what they intend to write than actually doing it. I encourage young writers to be open to every opportunity to write, including those sermons and sheep-dip handouts I mentioned earlier. Writing is a craft that you learn by doing, even if what you’ve written doesn’t sell, or isn’t very good according to your standards. My wife often says that you have to flex your writing muscles every day. That’s true. Take on every opportunity you have to write, be it corporate speeches, brochures, position papers, no matter what. Learn to work with editors; a good editor is gold to a writer. Don’t be lazy. Turn in the most perfect manuscript you possibly can to make an editor’s job easier (they’ll love you for it). All good writing is rewriting. Don’t think your first pass is enough. Finally, develop a thick skin. No matter how good a book you’ve written, there will be those who don’t agree. Learn from their comments, exercise those writing muscles, and get on to the next project.

Interview by BWG member Carol L. Wright