Writing Blockbuster Novels Part II: An Interview with T. J. MacGregor

DC: Let's talk specifically about your latest blockbuster. BLACK WATER. Publisher's Weekly says this about it: "Fans of the Twilight Zone should relish MacGregor's newest offering (after OUT OF SIGHT); reading this spine-tingling suspense novel is like spiralling headfirst into the most disturbing episode ever aired . . . Though some may find the book's paranormal elements hard to swallow, MacGregor skilfully builds the tension to a heart-pounding conclusion."

Great review! This interest in the paranormal, is it an interest you had before you started writing fiction? Is it the reason for the success of your books?

TJM: The paranormal intrigues me, always has. When my husband, Rob, and I first started out as writers, we did a lot of magazine articles on various aspects of the paranormal. We covered UFO conferences for Omni Magazine, did a couple of pieces for Fate Magazine on psychic detectives, divination systems, that kind of thing. I've practised astrology for years, read the tarot, have studied the I Ching since I was in my teens, and my nonfiction books touch on a lot of these topics. It's difficult to keep these interests out of my fiction.

When I was at Ballantine, I was told to write straight mysteries. But when my present editor, Kate Duffy, bought THE HANGED MAN in 1997, she told me to write what I love. So I do. It's the greatest gift an editor can give to a writer. And thanks to TV shows like the X-Files and movies with paranormal themes, I think readers are more open to this sort of thing now.

DC: BLACK WATER takes place in Florida. Do you think choosing a setting where you live makes a difference to your readers? How much of your own life do you put into your stories?

TJM: BLACK WATER takes place on the fictional island of Tango Key, which I actually created in the Alison Drake books. I wanted an island that would be the sort of place where I would like to live, to write, so Tango Key is completely out of whack in terms of topography. The Florida Keys are flat, but Tango has hills. The year round population is about 5,000, but that swells during the tourist season. I continue to discover new things about this island, so the place is a genuine mystery to me!

I don't know if writing about the area where you live makes a difference to readers. The only time I got a fan letter about a setting was from a reader who had written to inform me that the Florida keys do not have hills and that I should visit the state so I could see that for myself. I wrote her back and told her Tango Key is fictional and that I had lived in Florida for more than half my life.

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