By Nina Livingstone
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“I’ve been a writer all my life — since I could read!” said Clea Simon, the author of 31 mysteries and three nonfiction books. “From the moment I learned how to write I was making up stories and writing them down. It was never a choice — it’s simply who I am!”
The Somerville-based writer describes her latest book, “Bad Boy Beat,” as a classic noir, but instead of a private investigator as its protagonist, “mine is a journalist — a hard-living woman reporter named Em Kelton. She lives for the dark side of life, and I love her!”
Writing about a reporter isn’t too far afield for Simon, who was a journalist for roughly 20 years. “That really let me hone my craft (and pay the rent). It also led me to writing three nonfiction books, before I started writing my mysteries.”
What about that title “Bad Boy Beat”? “She’s on the police beat, but she’s got an affinity for the criminals who are her sources … hence, the ‘Bad Boy’ beat,” explained Simon.
Despite her association with reporters as characters and in real life, it’s cats that fans may align more closely with Simon. After all, she has written over two-dozen books with a cat attached to the plot. (“Cats Can’t Shoot,” “Kittens Can Kill,” “The Ninth Life,” “As Dark as My Fur,” “A Cat on the Case,” … just to name a few.)
“My third nonfiction book was about cats — ‘The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats.’ In that book, I interviewed a cat hoarder. You know, a ‘crazy cat lady.’ And I thought, you know, she has a lot of enemies. If she were killed, there would be a lot of suspects,” said Simon. “That led to my first mystery, ‘Mew is for Murder.’ And I was off!”
(For the record, Simon has one cat and loves “meeting other people’s dogs.”)
So what is it that Simon loves most about writing? “When characters start to reveal themselves to me, and I can go, ‘Of course! This has to happen next!’”
On Nina’s first podcast — “My Three Senses” — Clea shares more about her book, “Bad Boy Beat,” and her writing process.
In Nina’s 9, see the “lighter side” of this bestselling mystery writer.
NINA: Can you share a humorous or poignant (or both) anecdote from your career as a novelist/journalist?
CLEA: My husband and I started out in different careers. He wrote fiction (and taught for a while) and then became a journalist. I, as you know, started as a journalist before starting to write fiction. As a journalist, you need to multiple-source every fact — if you don’t have three people and/or documents showing you that something is true, you can’t trust it! All of which is a lot of work.
So when I started writing fiction, I turned to him and said, “This is great! You can make things up!”
And he said, “Yes, but you HAVE to make things up!” … highlighting the challenge of writing fiction.
This story has stayed with me for years!
NINA: Picture it, you’re 25 years old, where would you be? And would you do anything differently?
CLEA: I’d probably be in a rock club, dancing to my favorite band! If I could do anything differently, I’d probably just tell myself to have more confidence! I doubted myself so much in those days.
NINA: If you could invite four celebrities to your home for dinner, who would they be and what would you serve?
CLEA: Author Hilary Mantel (who I never got to meet during her life), for sure! And if I can continue to invite dead writers, I’d also invite Anthony Trollope, whose books are just great fun, nearly 200 years after they first came out. Then to mix it up, how about the actor Julianne Moore. I don’t always love what she’s in, but she’s always great — and I’d love to ask her about her choices! And then, Malala Yousafzai. THAT would be a party!
I don’t know if any of these folks are vegetarian or vegan, so I’d ask first. But I’d love to serve them my take on Nigella Lawson’s eggplant rollatini. It’s easy, I could prepare it in advance, and it tastes great!
NINA: What is your idea of a getaway vacation?
CLEA: A week at the beach with my husband and a huge pile of books!
NINA: What do you like most about yourself?
CLEA: My resilience. I have down moods, like everyone does. But I bounce back pretty quickly!
NINA: What should we know about you before meeting you?
CLEA: I talk VERY fast! I’m always trying to slow down.
NINA: Rewinding time, what was your happiest moment?
CLEA: Oh, there are so many! My happiest moment in the last 24 hours was when my husband pointed out a robin’s nest under the eaves of the house next door. The mother robin was fussing with it, and we watched for a while. Hoping for eggs and then baby robins soon!
NINA: Are you a Netflix fan? TV streamer? If so, can you share a favorite show?
CLEA: YES! Loved “Ripley” and “Manhunt.” Now watching “Warrior” and “The Sympathizer.”
NINA: What is your most treasured possession?
CLEA: I have several small animal figurines, many of them gifts from my husband, arranged around my computer. They’re not valuable, per se, but I value them.
NINA: Favorite tradition?
CLEA: Our New Year’s Day brunch for all our friends! (Replaced during COVID by a walk.)
NINA: The last good news that …
CLEA: … The last good news that I learned was that the book trailer for “Bad Boy Beat” was chosen as the Shelf Awareness book trailer of the week!
NINA: What is the one thing you can’t live without?
CLEA: That’s a tossup — either coffee or chocolate! I guess I could avoid the problem entirely and say: love!
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To learn more about Clea Simon’s books, visit her website.
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© Nina Livingstone, “Nina’s 9,” Destination Mirth
