An Interview with Returning FWOMP Member and
Mystery Writer Linda Price

Interviewed by Byron Merritt

After a terrible accident involving her husband, FWOMP member Linda Price returned to the group and has been working her butt off getting caught up on what we’ve accomplished in the year-and-a-half during her absence, and how our critiquing sessions function. But she’s a quick study and has plunged into the process with vigor. Check out this very personal and profound interview with one of FWOMP’s returning members, and author of two murder mysteries in Monterey Shorts 2.

FWOMP: You had a rough time a few years ago during which you had to give up writing and focused on your family. Can you tell us what happened and what made you eventually return to FWOMP and writing mysteries?

Linda Price: My husband, Bill, died in a mysterious boating accident. He was missing for nearly four months during the initial development of the first Monterey Shorts anthology, so I left the group, feeling too distracted to concentrate. By the time that book was published, FWOMP offered me an opening when another writer left, and I returned hoping to get back into writing. I am thrilled to be a part of Monterey Shorts 2. Getting back up to speed, however, hasn’t been as smooth as I had hoped because my life was interrupted again …this time by a professional con who robbed me of over $100,000. I appreciate the group’s support.

FWOMP: Do you have any favorite mystery writers that you enjoy reading?

LP: My taste is eclectic …I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite. Besides, my interest grew out of a real crime when I was nine years old. A woman in our quiet little town, where old age or accidents were the only cause of death, was brutally beaten to death. The killer turned out to be a man we all knew. I hounded my father for answers in order to reconcile my confusion over how “one of us” could do such a horrible thing. I took to sneaking into the local market and reading the true crime magazines for answers. Of course, in time, I discovered Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Sherlock Holmes, where clues led the hero to the bad guy. I continue to find true crime with all its loose ends and staggering inhumanity more fascinating than any fiction I have ever read. My recent experience researching and exposing a career con confirm this view!

FWOMP: You have a background in psychology. Has this helped in your writings?

LP: Yes, very much so. I tend to explore human behavior within the context of family, social, and political “systems”. Factor in the influences of early childhood experiences as the individual responds to these systems and, voila, a mystery is born.

FWOMP: Besides FWOMP, do you belong to other writing groups or groups that aid you in writing?

LP: Yes, the Incline Women Writers where I live in Nevada. We are not a critique group. We write from prompts as a form of exercise, and read aloud what we have written. Most of the women in the group have a background in psychology.

FWOMP: What do you see as your strengths when it comes to writing? How about weaknesses?

LP: My ability to create mood around a character’s experience is definitely a strength that all of the FWOMP members have pointed out to me. I am a stickler for creating a sense of place and time. However, when I rewrite, point of view, tense, etc., might change. Grammar, punctuation, etc., are important, too. I sometimes fall short on proofreading and need to pay attention to that.

FWOMP: You’ve written a lot about Carmel Valley in your two Monterey Shorts 2 stories. Do you feel some sort of connection with this area?

LP: I feel a very special connection to Carmel Valley. I moved from Pacific Grove in 1976 and raised my two sons, Rich and Kris Frank, there. The diverse lifestyles and blending of socio-economic groups creates an interesting and stimulating mix from which to create stories. Now that Carmel Valley has been “discovered”, layers and layers of interesting folks force the old to adjust and adapt, adding even more interesting scenarios to the mix.

FWOMP: How much real-life do you put into your fiction? Is there much “you” in there?

LP: I tend to fictionalize ideas that are based on stories and characters that I have researched. I am the storyteller trying to make sense of bizarre human behavior by taking one piece of history and giving that piece a beginning, middle and end. I try to tell the story without judging the actions of the characters so that the reader can view the piece and draw their own conclusion—maybe even ponder choices they have made—or take a look at their own shadow. People make choices that keep them in the mainstream, but …what if? I hope readers can develop understanding and empathy for other people as well as understand their own actions and feelings.

FWOMP: Where do you see yourself (with regards to writing) in the next five years?

LP: In five years, I hope to have completed the many projects that I put on hold during my time off. This fall, I will travel to Berlin, Germany to finish research on my novel, Cry Sky Cry, about a female serial killer who is targeted by a terrorist group to help their political cause. Little do they know her killing is deeply personal …politics don’t figure for her. I have recently worked with a Private Investigator and may start a series of stories based on his career entitled: Warren Kessler, P.I. Also, I am starting a novel entitled Behind the Redwood Curtain based on the real life career con I exposed who is involved in California’s complex drug culture. Interest in a movie about my experience has been expressed. Five years? Wow, hard to say, isn’t it!