Whenever an author names a piece of art in a novel, I must look it up. I have to know if it’s just a fictitious name from the author’s imagination, or if this piece truly inspired the author. I know better with Deanna Raybourn. She shows her inspiration in the written word as if you were looking at the piece yourself. So when she described, The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes by Lenor Fini from 1941 in her latest release KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE as having:
“Lavish ’80s hair, rising up tawny and tousled. She was wearing a sort of
armored piece over her genitals, a metallic bathing suit if you squinted while
you studied it…Their expressions were serene as they surveyed their gentle
pasture dotted with flowers and the bones of the dead men they’d eaten. It
was ghoulish and beautiful, a perfect representation of the terrible feminine
power of life and death.”
I had to see it. Because I left out the best part of her description, and seriously I was picturing a Def Leppard album cover.
It turns out, that the real painting is a little over 18×15 inches, not much bigger than an album cover. Some rock bands missed the boat, or maybe the Go-Go’s missed the opportunity for some rock of the ages cover art, cause seriously, it’s an awesome piece of art—and it depicts the characters in Deanna Raybourn’s new release, Killers of a Certain Age to perfection. (Maybe it should be an inside cover for Deanna’s book?)
Ms. Raybourn describes another piece of art depicting female empowerment, but I will leave that for you to explore. The hunt is part of the fun for mystery lovers;) I have, however, attached a link at the end of the interview for you to appreciate The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes. Enjoy!
Kym: Welcome to the Cozy Corner, Deanna!
Deanna: Thanks so much for having me!
Kym: You’ve had an incredibly busy year with the release of your seventh Veronica Speedwell Mystery, AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSTOR, in February and the launch of your female assassins novel, Killers of a Certain Age, in September. What made you delve into a new project when Veronica Speedwell is so popular?
Deanna: It all began with an invitation from my editor in 2019. The executives at the publishing company had been chatting about wanting something kickass featuring older women, and they decided I was the person to write it. They were particularly interested in how older women are consistently overlooked. I was immediately hooked because I’d spent the last few years grumping about that very thing—especially when it came to action films. We all loved Helen Mirren in RED but there was so little follow-up to that! I watched Diane Lane as Clark Kent’s mom and Marisa Tomei as Peter Parker’s aunt, and I kept wondering, “Where are their capes?” We all felt like it was time to put older women front and center, doing unexpected things because there’s just not enough of that happening in fiction or films.
Kym: Yes! So true! You have a knack for writing historical mysteries that entertain your readers with intrigue and witticism. Why do you gravitate toward historical storytelling?
Deanna: I think the Victorian era—and most of my novels have been set in the 1880s—is comfortably exotic. Victorians might have had petticoats and gaslights, but they also had department stores and escalators. It’s a different world, but it’s not so different that it’s difficult for modern readers to access. I remember my great-grandmother, who was born in Victoria’s reign, so it isn’t that far removed. And the more you dig into that period, the more you realize things haven’t changed all that much. We’re still wrestling with concepts that Victorians were quite familiar with—understanding gender identity and roles, navigating new technology, changing borders, and addressing housing, immigration, and public health questions.
Kym: You’ve stepped into a new era, the 1970’s and modern day, with your new release, Killers of a Certain Age. Give our readers a three-sentence elevator pitch for the book.
Deanna: What happens when a quartet of female assassins is targeted by the bosses who would rather see them dead than let them retire?
Kym: Love it! At the end of the book, you hint at there being a second female assassins’ book. Please tell us it’s in the works!
Deanna: I could tell you but I’d have to kill you…
Kym: LOL, we will wait with bated breath. Like Veronica Speedwell, your current heroines in Killers of a Certain Age are well ahead of their time with their forward-thinking approach toward life. You could have kept your characters in the present day for this storyline, but you chose to tell their backstory with a trip to the past. What made you travel back in time for parts of this book?
Deanna: It was important to show where they had come from and how they got to where they are. Each flashback scene gives context for the present-day scenes to come and helps flesh out these women and their decades-long friendship. And writing the 1970s scenes was just plain fun.
Kym: You are a master weaver! Let me just say, of your four heroines, three are names from my immediate family—Billie, Mary Alice, and Helen—freaky! And I have a close friend named Natalie, so I guess their secret lives are out of the bag! LOL. Are any of your four assassins modeled after women you know?
Deanna: None of them are modeled on anyone in particular, but they certainly contain pieces of women I have known. I borrowed Billie’s name from a beloved great-aunt whom I miss dearly, and the fact that this aunt married several times was a quality I loaned to Natalie. I had a cousin who was almost a decade my senior, and the pop culture she loved as a teenager is something I drew on for my assassins. My own Texas upbringing was really important for creating Billie too. Each character has a thread of something personal which makes them very special to me.
Kym: Many people of retirement age are ‘written off as harmless or not capable of doing the job anymore. I love that you prove killers of a certain age are still a force to be reckoned with! Since you’re not of that age yet, what made you think of this storyline?
Deanna: When my publisher offered me the chance to write about older women, they were very clear that I could make them anything I wanted—spies, cat burglars, etc. But there’s nothing more over-the-top than assassins. Making them straight-up killers was the boldest, brashest thing I could imagine to do with them, and that’s the energy I wanted for this book.
Kym: I love their retirement energy! What kind of research did you do for your four assassins, and are any alphabet agencies watching your google history?
Deanna: I’d be shocked if I weren’t on a few watchlists! I screened a lot of films featuring women in action roles even though the characters were much younger than my assassins—Black Widow, Atomic Blonde, etc. I read a few spy memoirs just to get the vibe of what it is like to work for an agency engaged in clandestine and ethically questionable activities. And I reread novels like Little Women that I hadn’t read in years because they dealt with the dynamic of several women navigating their relationships with each other. I approached the book from every angle I could think of—female friendships, action, mission. It took a long time to assemble all the pieces, but I think that approach is why it worked in the end.
Kym: That is freaking awesome! Thank you for the insight into your craft! With your last name RayBOURN and the ladies being assassins, I easily associated them with Jason Bourne—lol. So with Jason Bourne in mind, who would you cast in the four leading ladies’ roles? And who will be Taverner? (I mean he will be doing naked tai chi in the next book, right?)
Deanna: I hate dream casting because I’m always worried readers will think their choice is somehow wrong if it doesn’t match mine! But I will tell you that a picture of Diane Lane was taped to my computer as I wrote. She’s Billie’s present-day face for me while Florence Pugh is young Billie. (I’m ignoring your question about the next book, BTW. Nice try!)
Kym: I tried people;) But I’m loving Diane Lane! Do you identify with one of the four women more than the others?
Deanna: Billie. She’s the only one of the four who gets to narrate her chapters. She has my Texas roots, my love of travel and languages, and she can be stubborn as hell—also one of my traits.
Kym: LOL, I know a few Texas women like that;) What was the hardest part of writing Killers of a Certain Age, and what was the most rewarding?
Deanna: The hardest part was finding the voice. I pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone with this book that I couldn’t even see it in my rearview mirror. To do that, I had to create a strong narrative voice that suited Billie as well as the third-person flashback scenes. Writing the book took three and a half years; that’s an AGE for me. It took multiple drafts, and my editor at the time was the perfect balance of exacting and encouraging. She kept pushing me to go further, to do more, because she knew I had it in me. I finally cracked the book with just a few days left before my deadline. For 96 hours, I did nothing but eat, sleep, and write. It was BONKERS. But at the end of it, the book was exactly where it needed to be. (I don’t recommend this, by the way. It’s just how things turned out.)
Kym: Well, you killed it! Are you one of those writers who swears to kill off obnoxious people you meet in your next novel? (A friend of mine has a t-shirt that says, “You are dangerously close to being killed off in my next novel”)
Deanna: Never. I don’t base my characters on people I know, good, bad, or indifferent. Even borrowing a name for Billie in KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE was a huge departure for me because I like my characters to be my creations.
Kym: If you could travel back in time and meet any one of your characters, who would it be and why?
Deanna: Veronica Speedwell. She would drive me up the wall, but I’d have such fun getting there!
Kym: She is sooo bold, I love her;) Does one of your books stand out to you as requiring more research than the others? If so, which novel?
Deanna: The first Julia Grey book required a ton of research for me to build my version of Victorian London. I built on that for the Veronica Speedwell series, but I had to add the natural history elements because I don’t have a background in lepidoptery or botany or any of the other sciences I write about. I really should have thought that through first…
Kym: You’re a true lepidoptery expert now! I listen to your Veronica Speedwell series on audiobook and absolutely love Angéle Masters telling of the story and I’ve downloaded your Lady Julia Grey Mystery Silent in the Grave performed by Ellen Archer. What is your favorite aspect of audiobooks?
Deanna: I’ve been extremely fortunate to have truly wonderful narrators, and I am so appreciative of how much work they put in to make the books come to life. I don’t actually listen to audiobooks myself because it’s not a format that works for me.
Kym: What are you working on now?
Deanna: I’ve just put Veronica Speedwell #8, A SINISTER REVENGE, to bed and I’m starting Veronica #9 as well as a few other projects.
Kym: LOL, “…as well as a few other projects.” Her lips are truly sealed people! Where can our readers find you on the web?
Deanna: I’m active on Twitter and Instagram and my website.
Kym: Thank you for joining us at the Cozy Corner!
Deanna: My pleasure, Kym!
Kym: P.S. A little tip I learned from the Killers of a Certain Age: stay away from nondairy creamer, it can be hazardous to your health;)
Until next time when Susanna Shore visits to talk about her new release, The Perfect Scam, get cozy and read on! (And visit The Shepherdess of the Sphinxes by Lenora Fini courtesy of the Guggenheim collection in Venice, Italy.)
https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/en/art/works/the-shepherdess-of-the-sphinxes/
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and Deanna for an advanced copy of Killers of a Certain Age.
KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.
When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death.
Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.
Suspense | Thriller Spy [Berkley, On Sale: September 6, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593200681 / eISBN: 9780593200698]
Buy KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Love’s Sweet Arrow | Walmart.com | Book Depository | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Deanna Raybourn
New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist Deanna Raybourn is a 6th-generation native Texan. She graduated with a double major in English and history from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of one, Raybourn makes her home in Virginia. Her novels have been nominated for numerous awards including two RT Reviewers’ Choice awards, the Agatha, two Dilys Winns, a Last Laugh, three du Mauriers, and most recently the 2019 Edgar Award for Best Novel.
She launched a new Victorian mystery series with the 2015 release of A CURIOUS BEGINNING, featuring intrepid butterfly-hunter and amateur sleuth, Veronica Speedwell. Veronica returned in 2017’s A Perilous Undertaking, and A Treacherous Curse, 2018. A Dangerous Collaboration was released in 2019, and book five, A Murderous Relation, was a March 2020 release. An Unexpected Peril, Veronica’s sixth adventure, will be published in March 2021.
In addition to further Veronica books, Deanna is writing a contemporary novel about four female assassins on the cusp of retirement.
Veronica Speedwell
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About Kym Roberts
Kym Roberts writes by day and is a pro-surfer in her dreams by night. Her humor is often raunchy, her jokes are often bad, but her hunger for a story keeps the adventures coming fast. Experience the thrill & catch the wave of passion, mystery, and suspense with her at kymroberts.com, on Facebook @KymRobertsAuthor911, and on Twitter @kymroberts911.
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