A Conversation with Mystery Author Barbara Levenson

with Barbara Levenson

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Barbara Levenson to Omnimystery News today.

Barbara's latest mystery to feature Miami criminal defense attorney Mary Magruder Katz is Outrageous October (Barbara Levenson; March 2013 trade paperback and ebook formats).

We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Barbara to talk about the series.

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Omnimystery News: Why did you choose to write a mystery series with a recurring character?

Photo provided courtesy of
Barbara Levenson

Barbara Levenson: I wanted to establish a protagonist that readers would relate to and want to get to know better in each book; someone who feels like a friend who is telling them the latest news in her life. That is why I created Mary Magruder Katz, a criminal defense attorney in Miami, and her hot Latin boyfriend, Carlos.

Readers write that they feel a personal connection to Mary, and they're all in love with Carlos. I think it's important for these continuing characters to change and mature as they deal with problems. No one wants a friend who never changes.

OMN: Tell us something about Outrageous October that isn't mentioned in the synopsis.

BL: The story takes place in a small village in Vermont that is a dead-ringer for the village in the Upper Valley of Vermont where my husband and I have a second home. My first two books take place in Miami where I served as a judge. Our friends in Vermont kept asking, "When do we get a book about us?" We love this area of Northern New England and I wanted to describe it all for my readers. I also thought a different venue spices up a series and allows the characters to change and grow. But one of the important reasons for this setting was to allow the people of the Upper Valley to see the bad along with the good, so the synopsis might have said, "See Vermont, warts and all!"

OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author. And what advice might you give aspiring writers?

BL: The best advice was from a writing instructor who said if you want to write, sit your behind in the chair and write, and that is the first advice I always share with a would-be author. The harshest advice came from a book store owner who fancied herself a writing critic. She said my books lacked enough descriptive passages. As the famous author Elmore Leonard said about lengthy descriptive passages, "these are the parts readers skip over to get back to the plot."

I also tell authors to be realistic in their expectations about what an author earns in dollars. The more important things that I have earned are the entertainment that I am able to bring to readers, and the words that will live beyond my lifetime; words that will be there for my grandchildren and their generation as an example of the times I lived in.

OMN: Describe your writing process for us.

BL: I do not outline or waste time writing synopses or biographies. I think about the book and its plot for a long time before I write it. I know what the central crimes are and how they will be resolved. Some of my best thoughts are while standing over the ironing board or cutting up the components for a stew. (I am the original multi-tasker) The cast of minor characters definitely expands to assist the plot. (Mary Magruder Katz is smart, but not invincible. She needs helpers in solving her cases.) I read aloud a chapter at its end and if it doesn't sound like real people, out it goes with the delete key.

OMN: You mentioned that your books to date have been set in Miami and Vermont. How do you stay true to these settings?

BL: My first two books set in Miami follow the real setting closely. In fact, I have had readers tell me that they feel they could drive into Miami and recognize neighborhoods. I want readers to feel that they've been on a vacation in South Florida. In my latest book, I have taken the liberty of changing the name of the village that Mary stays in, but the surrounding villages kept their actual names. Only one character is an actual person and that is the great gentleman that runs the general store and deli and who draws the village characters who hang out at the store. He is a much beloved person in the Upper Valley who I wanted to share with my readers. All the rest of the characters are composites of people with whom I have interacted over the years.

OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?

BL: I always loved mysteries especially Judy Bolton and Nancy Drew. The Mary Magruder Katz mysteries are Nancy Drew for grownup readers. Nancy Drew is still a part of growing up. A few years ago, my granddaughter said she wanted a blue roadster just like Nancy Drew's. Now that she's a teenager she's reading Mary Magruder Katz but seems unimpressed with Mary's red Ford Explorer.

OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your books?

BL: Absolutely. I raised and showed German Shepherd dogs for twenty years and still have a male shepherd who is much like Mary's dog, Sam. Sam has become an indispensable part of these books. Additionally I love sports especially hockey which is mentioned in this series and is a basic part of a book I have written for middle level children. In the book I am currently writing, Neurotic November, college football plays a major role when the University of Miami quarterback is accused of raping an underage girl. One of my friends said I must be the only woman she knows who can write a chapter that describes an entire football game. Obviously, this is because I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where Ohio State football is something kids learn about before they can read, and then I married a sports nut who grew up on University of Alabama football. Self- preservation meant knowing when to pass, when to run, and when to go for it on fourth and one.

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Barbara Levenson has lived in Miami since 1975.

A cum laude graduate of the University of Miami Law School, Barbara has served as a prosecutor and run her own law practice where she focused on criminal defense and civil rights litigation. Barbara was elected to a judgeship in the circuit court of Miami-Dade County, where she still serves as a senior judge.

Born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Barbara was raised in Columbus, Ohio. She was the first woman elected to the Columbus Board of Education, and later served as the Board's first female president. Barbara was also the first woman to be named the Ohio Newspaper's "Man of the Year".

Barbara and her husband, a retired financial consultant, bred and showed German Shepherd Dogs for 20 years and finished 11 champions in the show ring. They have two sons.

For more information about the author and her books, visit her website at BarbaraLevenson.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Outrageous October
Barbara Levenson
A Mary Magruder Katz Mystery

What happens when Mary Magruder Katz, Miami criminal defense attorney, discovers her hot Latin boyfriend, Carlos, is sneaking away to a rendezvous with his ex-spouse?

Broken-hearted, she returns his humongous engagement ring, packs her dog and her disappointment in her SUV and runs away to Vermont where she holes up in her friend's summer house. The autumn winds bring the chill of an unsolved murder that occurred in Mary's vacation hideout.

Being a hard-charging attorney, Mary can't stay idle for long. She meets a dashing young attorney whose nickname is actually Dash. He persuades her to do some legal work for him, and some extra nighttime work as well. Meanwhile, Mary reconnects with the daughter of a former client who is a coed at nearby Dartmouth College. Sherry Yarmouth confides in Mary that she is in the midst of a torrid affair with a local. When Sherry disappears, Mary's plans for some quiet time disappear too. Mary and Dash comb Vermont's Upper Valley in an all-out search.

As if that isn't enough to keep Mary busy, she lands in the middle of a court fight over a neighborhood spat. Tree removal becomes the village's high publicity case. The plaintiff is dubbed the "tree Nazi, but Mary suspects he may be a real Nazi when he is found murdered. Mary's search for R. and R. leads to murders, kidnapping and a neo-Nazi cell.

It's just another day at the office as Mary finds autumn in Vermont just as out of control as mayhem in Miami. Amid the falling leaves and blustery winds, Mary faces new challenges and new decisions about her love life. Will Carlos win her back? Will Mary find Sherry before she's killed? And who actually killed the Nazi and the owner of the summer house? How and when will Mary return to Miami?