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Page 3
When did you first start publishing?
ANGELA: In '93. I had sent a story to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (AHMM) and they'd kept it for eight months. I found a new place to send it, so I wrote AHMM a letter withdrawing the story. A few days later, Cathleen Jordan phoned, exclaiming "But I wanted to BUY that story!" My first sale, after only eight long years. As I floated up into the stratosphere I agreed to 'allow' her to buy it. And since then I have written many more stories, but the ones that sold were always Mrs. Risk--until just lately. In 1999, I sold my first non-Mrs. Risk story and Publisher's Weekly reviewed it, calling it 'magical.' (Another trip to the stratosphere!) I've since sold other non-Mrs. Risk stories, in the suspense genre. Over those years, I also sold a batch of journalistic articles co-written with my husband, Barry, about mystery book collecting and the history of the mystery, all of which have sold repeatedly to great success. I admit, though, the fiction is what I care most about. So to me, those article sales were gratifying, but didn't 'count.' SUITE: Do you have a day job? ANGELA: Do I ever. I write! Oh, you mean for MONEY? I have held a great number and variety of day jobs, including the best and last gig--running my own business-to-business advertising agency in New Jersey, doing my own copywriting. That job taught me to love my words when I write them, then re-write with a cold, analytical eye. If the client pitched out my beloved phrases, it was either agree or don't get paid. Amazing how supporting a child and an aging mother all by yourself can jolt you into a professional attitude. I met my current husband, Barry, at Mystery Writers of America, and in our second year of marriage, he took a job on Long Island that put too much distance between me and my clients. So he and I decided this was my chance to write full time and I closed up shop. So since 1992 I've been what I call a 'subsidized' writer, full time. And full time for me has turned out to means 24/7, not 40 hours a week. Anyone who thinks how lovely it must be to write professionally, dozing among the flowers or lunching with 'other' famous writers, waiting for the inspiration that will earn the first million dollars, has a painful lesson to learn. This image, by the way, came not from me, but from innocents, expressing to me their longing to have 'my' life. Hah. SUITE: Do you have something you wish to accomplish with the things you
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