Dreams of Jeannie and Other Stories
Page 18
Nevertheless, I think Nancy Drew will grow up and marry Ned Nickerson before Kinsey Millhone or V. I. Warshawski seriously contemplates marriage. For women, even more than for men, there is still a sense that marriage is the end of the adventure and the beginning of the second shift. We've seen that too often in the romance plot. Thus, I can guarantee you that Freddie O'Neal will never be worrying about getting home in time to cook dinner.
A reviewer of Lament for a Dead Cowboy commented that the mystery was more important than the relationship. That's true of any novel descended from the quest plot. With a married PI, the romance plot would be tugging at your ear for equal time. Unless you have Nick and Nora Charles as your model (and if you think that's a good idea, reread The Thin Man before you start—he was the professional in the family, and they both drank too much), some kind of commitment to single living is the way to go.
Cracking the Code
That brings us to the code of honor. Just as with autonomy and fearlessness, I think this is even more important for a female PI in the nineties than for a male. While there is a certain end-justifies-the-means ethic in much private eye fiction, I wouldn't try to take it beyond breaking into the villain's apartment and opening his mail, or tinkering with her computer files.
Again, this probably reflects a personal bias. Nevertheless, if your female private eye kills somebody, even justifiably, I believe that as a person of high principle, she ought to deal with the consequences. One of these days we're probably going to see a female PI with a sociopathic stooge—even a female sociopathic PI—but I'm not enthralled with the idea of a female antihero. Check out Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell for the closest thing to a "good" female sociopath in print and decide for yourself.
The Rest Is up to You
Beyond those three qualities—autonomy, bravery, and integrity—you're free to make whatever choices appeal to you. Cats or no cats springs immediately to mind. I write that lightheartedly, but it isn't a trivial decision. If you have a cat, you have to use her. Linda Barnes tells of receiving a phone call from her editor asking if Carlotta Carlyle's cat had died. Barnes had forgotten to include the cat in the story.
I've heard arguments at recent mystery conferences that a new PI trying to get attention needs to have some sort of gimmick. A gimmick may help—the female PI novel receiving the most attention as I write this stars Martha Lawrence's Elizabeth Chase, who is psychic—but it won't eliminate the need for a strong, likable character in a well-told story. And Lawrence delivers these, too.
As for the story...the story is what you have when you add character to plot. Story is more than plot. Plot is A murders B and C gets blamed for it. Story is how your own very special detective figures out what happened.
Writing one novel-length story about your character requires commitment, and writing an entire series requires compulsion. There must be stories about the character that you need to write.
But that's a subject for another essay.
Additional copyright information:
"Dreams of Jeannie," copyright © 2003 by Catherine Dain. An original story published by arrangement with the author.
"Too Many Cooks," copyright © 1995 by Catherine Dain. First published in Murder Most Delicious.
"Billy the Goat," copyright © 1998 by Catherine Dain. First published in Lethal Ladies II.
"Caught in the Act," copyright © 1995 by Catherine Dain. First published in For Crime Out Loud.
"Self-Defense," copyright © 1990 by Catherine Dain. An earlier version of this story first appeared in Network magazine.
"Defrauding the Cat," copyright © 1994 by Catherine Dain. First published in Feline and Famous.
"Here Today, Dead to Maui," copyright © 1995 by Catherine Dain. First published in Cat Crimes Takes a Vacation.
"The Fountain Street Ghost," copyright © 1997 by Catherine Dain. First published in Marilyn: Shades of Blonde.
"Cat, the Jury," copyright © 2001 by Catherine Dain. First published in Murder Most Feline.
"Not in the Stars," copyright © 2001 by Catherine Dain. First published in Death by Horoscope.
"Many Happy Returns," copyright © 2002 by Catherine Dain. First published in Flesh & Blood: Dark Desires.
"Senses and Sensibility: Female PIs in the Nineties," copyright © 1997 by Catherine Dain. First published in Writing the Private Eye Novel.
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