Carol O'Connell is the author of eight previous Mallory novels, including the national bestseller Winter House, and of Judas Child.
Interviews
Q:
I've read that you have been living in New York City since 1983. What would you consider the craziest thing you have seen since moving to New York?
A:
King Kong. My second day in the city, I noticed a group of people standing on the sidewalk, craning their necks uptown. I turned north and saw a gigantic balloon in the shape of King Kong attached to the top of the Empire State Building. That marked the beginning of the "love" portion in my love-hate relationship with New York. On my worst day, I can forgive the city for whatever it does to me -- all because of that giant monkey.
Q:
Who are some of your literary influences?
A:
James Joyce and Woody Allen. Although I find Joyce's work more accessible than Allen's novellas, because, unlike Woody, he doesn't make all those annoying esoteric references to Nietzsche, existentialism, and the least memorable Marx brother.
Q:
What movies or books would you recommend for fans of your novels?
A:
I pay homage to Faulkner in the prologue of Stone Angel, but my tastes are wide. I recommend that readers travel outside their comfort zones. Take a deviant step and pick up a book with a lurid cover. Or read poetry on the bus in full view of everyone. In the hands of a man, Rilke's Sonnets To Orpheus will attract more women than can be beaten off with a stick. Books change your life in and outside of your head. Having a bad day? Kafka will trivialize all your problems. Gravity's Rainbow has a bizarre cult membership, and you can draw these people to you by merely displaying the book cover on the street. With every leap in literature, you acquire more interesting people. In New York this is both a joy and a danger. But who wants the mundane death of tripping in one's own rut? So live dangerously, read widely.
Q:
What do you enjoy doing outside of writing?
A:
When I complete my contract obligations, I intend to explore this thing called free time.
Q:
Have you gotten any feedback from the New York Police Department on your NYPD Sergeant Kathleen Mallory?
A:
Not yet. If they were really upset, they would have knocked on my door by now. My local precinct is just around the corner.