About
The Author Excerpt:
Mary Higgins Clark
Just
as Alfred Hitchcock specialized in films about ordinary people suddenly
caught up in extraordinary events, Mary Higgins Clark writes about
"terror lurking beneath the surface of everyday life"
(Washington Post). A smart, sophisticated investment banker treats
herself to a luxury cruise and meets a captivating man, but something
is not right. A mother looks out into the backyard where her little
boy and girl were playing just moments earlier and sees only one
red mitten. Two friends make a habit of dating men through the personal
ads-until one is found dead on a Manhattan pier wearing one of her
own shoes and one dancing slipper.
A
smart, entertaining storyteller with a gift for creating strong,
believable female characters (who she then puts in jeopardy), Mary
Higgins Clark is possessed of some writerly magic that makes it
all work. "What's amazing," wrote the Detroit News, "is
how expertly she manages to keep us hooked time after time, and
even better, create new plots, each fresh as a mountain stream."
"I
write for the mainstream," says the Queen of Suspense. "I
write about nice people not looking for trouble. They find evil
in their own car, home, everyday life." Although Clark's more
recent novels are often set in glamorous locations, each offers
yet another demonstration of her skill as a master manipulator-one
who can build the tension and suspense to an often shattering (and
always satisfying) conclusion.
Good
to Know
-
Mary Higgins Clark (MHC for short) sold her first story to Extension
magazine in 1956 for $100-after six years and 40 rejection slips.
Widowed at 35 with five children, she also wrote four-minute radio
scripts. ("It taught me to write tightly," she says.).
Jobs in radio and advertising followed.
- Her
first book, a biography of George Washington called Aspire to
the Heavens (1969), was a colossal failure-due at least in part
to the fact that bookstores mistakenly thought it was a prayer
book and shelved it in the religion section.
-
Success came six years later when her first novel, Where Are the
Children? (1975), became an instant bestseller, and four-figure
advances became a thing of the past. She was paid just $3,000
to write Where Are the Children?, but when it came time to sell
the paperback rights to her second novel, A Stranger Is Watching
(1978), she asked for and got over a million dollars. The story
was filmed by MGM in 1982.
-
When she's in the midst of a book, MHC usually begins work at
5 a.m.-a habit she developed when her children were small and
she had no choice but to do most of her writing at the kitchen
table between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Under deadline pressure, she may
work until midnight. The walls of her home office are painted
deep crimson. "Red keeps you awake, don't you think?"
she told the Wall Street Journal.
-
Two other Clarks you may encounter on the mystery shelves: MHC's
daughter Carol Higgins Clark, author of Twanged and several other
titles featuring detective Regan Reilly, and former daughter-in-law
Mary Jane Clark, a CBS news producer who recently published her
first mystery novel, Do You Want to Know a Secret?.
Treatises
and Treats
Companions
and Special Publications
Mary
Higgins Clark: A Critical Companion (Greenwood Publishing,
1995) by Linda Claycomb Pelzer, associate professor of English at
Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. Covers Clark's first 14 books
(through Let Me Call You Sweetheart), revealing "the
serious intent of a popular writer of popular fiction." The
book examines common themes, explores Clark's treatment of social
issues, and highlights the "surprising depth of Clark's work."
MHC
Library of Suspense, a special "collector's edition"
of Mary Higgins Clark novels, with matching hardcover bindings and
new forewords by the author. Available from the Mystery Guild mail-order
book club. For more information, write to MHC Library of Suspense,
Mystery Guild, P.O. Box 5249, Clifton, NJ 07015-9421.
Mary
Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine, published by Family Circle
as a periodic "special issue." In addition to MHC, contributors
have included Elmore Leonard, P. D. James, Edna Buchanan, and other
notable authors. For subscription information, write to Mary Higgins
Clark Mystery Magazine, Family Circle, P.O. Box 5172, Harlan, IA
51593-2672.
Best
of the Net
Mary
Higgins Clark Home Page
www.maryhigginsclark.com
MHC publisher Simon & Schuster has done a wonderful job with
this Web site. Part of its main www.simonsays.com
site, the MHC home page offers summaries of all the author's books
and their corresponding audio versions and TV and movie adaptations,
as well as text excerpts and reader reviews. S&S even offers
a mailing list to inform subscribers of the latest MHC news and
novels and a bulletin board for exchanging comments with other fans.
You'll also find a great deal of information about Mary Higgins
Clark herself, including her answers to a list of fan questions.
Suspense,
Inc.
Novels
Where Are the Children?, 1975
A Stranger Is Watching, 1978
The Cradle Will Fall, 1980
A Cry in the Night, 1982
Stillwatch, 1984
Weep No More, My Lady, 1987
While My Pretty One Sleeps, 1989
Loves Music, Loves to Dance, 1991
All Around the Town, 1992
I'll Be Seeing You, 1993
Remember Me, 1994
Let Me Call You Sweetheart, 1995
Silent Night: A Novel, 1995
Moonlight Becomes You, 1996
Pretend You Don't See Her, 1997
All Through the Night, 1998
You Belong to Me, 1998
We'll Meet Again, 1999
Story
Collections
The Anastasia Syndrome and Other Stories, 1989
The Lottery Winner: Alvirah and Willy Stories, 1994
My Gal Sunday, 1996
If You Like
Mary Higgins Clark…
Try
some of these "novelists of suspense" recommended by Jean
Swanson and Dean James in their book, By a Woman's Hand: A Guide
to Mystery Fiction by Women (Berkley Prime Crime, 1996):
Patricia Cornwell
Kate Green
Nancy Baker Jacobs
Judith Kelman
Rochelle Mager Krich
T. J. MacGregor
D. F. Mills
Other
Excerpts
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