How can such nice people write such scary novels? The breadth of the authors making up the panel at the Scene of the Crime Festival gave the audience interesting insight into the art of mystery writing. Throughout the day, the authors were available to meet and talk with the audience.

The festival took place on Wolfe Island, a short ferry ride from Kingston Ontario.

The photo is of the panel getting ready. From left to right: Howard Shrier, Elizabeth Duncan, C.B. Forrest, Maureen Jennings, R.J. Harlick and moderator: Vicki Delany.

I thought it would be fun to put some of their comments here. I, of course, am paraphrasing and have put in only portions of the answers. The following are a selection of questions Vicky asked the panel.

Vicki Delany asked: How much time does the author spend on their antagonist?

Howard Shier said: He likes his antagonist to be complex and human. In almost all of his books, the antagonist pushed the protagonist forward or backward. He stressed for his mob characters, he did a large amount of research to get the villain to seem real.

Vicki Delany asked: Does real life inspire the author?

Elizabeth Duncan said: The idea from her first book was inspired by an article in the newspaper, and the story took off.

Vicki Delany asked: Is the antagonist influenced by the protagonist?

C.B. Forrest said: Circumstances create the hero and the villain. A villain can cause a weak person to be a hero in the right circumstances.

Vicki Delany asked: What kind of person would do a bad thing?

Maureen Jennings had the following advice when writing your antagonist: Ask yourself what was the antagonist thinking of when he/she committed crime?  Was he/she born bad? Does he/she know they’re bad?

Vicki Delany asked: Does the author use non-human antagonists?

R.J. Harlick said: Her main character, Meg, struggles with alcohol, but she didn’t think of it as a creating a non-human antagonist. She felt it gave Meg character and baggage to carry around. She also uses nature. Ice storms and forests fires have a place as an antagonist too.

More to come on the workshop led by Vicki Delany.