NANCY PICKARD
The popular mystery writer celebrates a new movie based on one of her books.
Mystery lovers will recognize Pickard, 71, as the author of the Jenny Cain and Marie Lightfoot series. Her novels have won or been nominated for virtually every mystery award, f rom the Agatha to the Shamus, and she has served on the boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, which promotes female mystery writers. She is writing her 19th novel and anticipating the release of the first movie based on one of her books. The Scent of Rain
and Lightning premiered this weekend at the Atlanta Film Festival. You started in journalism. Why did you switch to writing fiction? It hit me like lightning that I wanted to be a mystery novelist. My first published book, Generous
Death, started the Jenny Cain series and was released December 17, 1983—the same day my only son was born. It was an amazing creative year! You’re a native and resident of the Kansas City area. Why did
you set your series in New England and Florida? When I started writing, nobody was buying mysteries set in small-town midAmerica, so I set them in places I’d like to live. These days readers seem happy to read books set anywhere, and I’ve finally been able to come home in my novels. What inspired The Scent of Rain and Lightning? I was always fascinated by how much in common the children of parents who have been murdered have with the children of those who murdered them. They both feel abandoned and wronged; they both suffer consequences. Have you seen the film? Isawa private showing in Beverly Hills last November. I was incredibly tense through the movie, and I already knew how it ended! I also spent a great Sunday on the set during filming near Oklahoma City in the fall of 2015. What’s your typical Sunday like? The things I do on Sunday inspire me for the rest of the week. I take my 100-year-old mother to her church, where the minister is skilled at great storytelling. In the afternoon, I babysit for my granddaughter, go to a friend’s home, take a walk or, during baseball season, watch the Royals. In the evening, I go to dinner with friends at my favorite restaurant, Story. I love watching people who are really good at what they do, so those athletes and the chef inspire me too. Sundays prime me to write on Monday, hoping that I too can take the ordinary details of life and create a story people will love.