Welcome back to the series of guest blogs with authors who write older protagonists. (Like Trixie or Nancy all grown up) Today's guest is Calgary author, Susan Calder.
Susan Calder was born in Montreal and
moved to Calgary in 1996. She came to writing late, at age thirty-nine. Susan
is the author of Deadly Fall (Touchwood
Editions, 2011), a murder mystery novel set in Calgary. Her novel sequel, Ten Days in Summer, made the top three
in this year’s Sandy Writing Contest for unpublished Thriller/Suspense/Mystery novels.
She is currently working on a third novel, a non-mystery set in Calgary and
California. Susan’s short stories, poems and non-fiction articles have appeared
in journals, anthologies, magazines and newspapers. Her short story “Pandemic”
was a finalist in the December 2013 Glimmer Train Fiction Open Contest. Susan
teaches novel and short story writing courses at the Alexandra Writers Centre
Society. When she’s not writing, Susan loves travel to anywhere and hiking the
beautiful Rocky Mountains near Calgary.
Wandering into the boomer market...
Ten years ago—almost to the
date—I decided to finally write my murder mystery novel. For years, I had
contemplated scenarios. Would my protagonist be my age or younger? (Never
older, but always female). Was she deeply troubled or reasonably solid? Did she
live in my current city, the one I grew up in or my favorite holiday place? Whose
murder cut her to the quick and propelled her to action?
Now, it was time to settle on these basic details and go with them.
Rightly or wrongly, I figured
it would be easiest to write a contemporary story set in Calgary, where I live,
featuring a sleuth who is like me. I made Paula my age so I’d be intuitively
aware of the cultural influences at every stage of her life. Paula moved to
Calgary the same year I did. She grew up in my Montreal neighborhood and
attended my schools. Unlike me, Paula is divorced, for more scope for romance.
She has two grown up daughters, while I have sons. With these and other
changes, Paula took on her own life, but she and I still share one vital trait
– we are quintessential baby boomers.
I didn’t target the boomer
market or even realize it existed. I simply wanted to write a book that I’d enjoy
reading on the assumption that others must have similar interests. As much as I
enjoy novels set in other countries or about people totally unlike me, the
stories that have stayed with me are ones with protagonists who could be me under
different circumstances. My childhood favorites were Anne of Green Gables,
Little Women and Trixie Belden. Come to think of it, Paula could be Trixie
grown up (Nancy Drew was too perfect for us both).
Is the boomer market real,
viable and growing? With boomers moving into retirement, we have more reading
time. I’m convinced that, for once, we are technologically ahead of our
children by leading the charge to e-readers that are so convenient for travel
and offer large font settings for our aging eyes. I see Paula’s prime reader
demographic as Canadian boomer women. Yet, from comments, it seems Calgary
readers identify more with the setting than with Paula’s age and I’m always
surprised and pleased when young people and men tell me they liked my novel.
I think if I were targeting
the boomer market, I’d be less concerned about my protagonist’s age and more
with location. Many boomers equate reading time with holidays – lying on the
beach, hours spent in airports and on planes. While traveling, I always look
for books about the locale I’m visiting for a greater understanding of the
place. Others enjoy stories set in countries they long to see. For the boomers,
I’d write books set in appealing, exotic destinations -- and write off my
travel expenses on my income tax. Fiction writing and travel are my two passions,
but I haven’t found a way to blend them – so far.
Excellent post! Thanks for sharing your journey, Susan. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Loanne. Journeys are best when shared :-)
DeleteI meant Joanne - not Loanne. One should always preview.
ReplyDelete