Ask the Author: Michael A. Kahn
Answered Questions (13)
Michael A. Kahn
In a surprise morning Tweet before the start of the third day of the Congressional impeachment hearings, Donald Trump announced his resignation as President of the United States, assuring the nation that this was not "fake news." The swearing in ceremony for the 46th President, Mike Pence, is set for 5 pm this afternoon.
Michael A. Kahn
Great question!
I started by sorting through the fictional worlds of my favorite novels, but I soon realized that I had no interest in spending any length of time in any of those worlds. Moby Dick may be the Great American Novel, but life on the Pequod under the rule of the obsessed Captain Ahab was not my idea of a great time. As for Huckleberry Finn, a day or two floating down the Mississippi River aboard the raft with Huck and Jim would be fun, but once that steamboat destroys the raft and forces Huck (and, if I don't drown, me) onshore, the fun would end. The Roaring 20s version of Long Island with Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway? Nope. The corrupt L.A. of Raymond Chandler's mystery novels? Nope. The English countryside of Jane Austen's 18th Century novels? Maybe for a few days, but that would get old pretty fast. The Deep South of William Faulker's amazing novels? Are you kidding? The Greek siege of the ancient City of Troy in the Iliad? No way--though I'd love to hang with Odysseus for a few days. The 19th Century Russia of Anna Karenina? Not for me. As for roaming the countryside of Spain in the 1600s, I concede that has a certain appeal, especially while sharing a full wineskin with Sancho Panza, However, trying to cope with Don Quixote would drive me crazy. Moreover, given that the Alhambra Decree of 1492 had expelled all Jews from Spain, a picaresque adventure with the Man of La Mancha could have a unhappy ending for yours truly.
A flipped through the rest of my list of favorites. Blood Meridian? Catch-22? The Scarlet Letter? For Whom the Bell Tolls? Nope, nope, nope, nope.
Try it yourself. Run through your own list of favorite works of literature and you will likely discover what I discovered, namely, to borrow that old saying about New York City: it might be a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.
As I was about to give up, I had my epiphany: Shakespeare!
No, not the Denmark of Hamlet or the Scotland of Macbeth or the Venice of poor Shylock.
Instead, I selected that fairyland forest on the outskirts of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Can there be any better place to travel than a magical forest inhabited by fairies, lovers, and those six hilarious amateur actors, including Peter Quince, Nick Bottom and Tom Snout, who comprise Shakespeare's version of the Marx Brothers. As for what I would do on that moonlit evening? Well, if I couldn't convince Peter Quince to find a role for me in the play they plan to present for the wedding of the Duke and the Queen, I'd just find a comfortable spot near that stage, fill a tall glass with wine, and enjoy the evening.
I started by sorting through the fictional worlds of my favorite novels, but I soon realized that I had no interest in spending any length of time in any of those worlds. Moby Dick may be the Great American Novel, but life on the Pequod under the rule of the obsessed Captain Ahab was not my idea of a great time. As for Huckleberry Finn, a day or two floating down the Mississippi River aboard the raft with Huck and Jim would be fun, but once that steamboat destroys the raft and forces Huck (and, if I don't drown, me) onshore, the fun would end. The Roaring 20s version of Long Island with Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway? Nope. The corrupt L.A. of Raymond Chandler's mystery novels? Nope. The English countryside of Jane Austen's 18th Century novels? Maybe for a few days, but that would get old pretty fast. The Deep South of William Faulker's amazing novels? Are you kidding? The Greek siege of the ancient City of Troy in the Iliad? No way--though I'd love to hang with Odysseus for a few days. The 19th Century Russia of Anna Karenina? Not for me. As for roaming the countryside of Spain in the 1600s, I concede that has a certain appeal, especially while sharing a full wineskin with Sancho Panza, However, trying to cope with Don Quixote would drive me crazy. Moreover, given that the Alhambra Decree of 1492 had expelled all Jews from Spain, a picaresque adventure with the Man of La Mancha could have a unhappy ending for yours truly.
A flipped through the rest of my list of favorites. Blood Meridian? Catch-22? The Scarlet Letter? For Whom the Bell Tolls? Nope, nope, nope, nope.
Try it yourself. Run through your own list of favorite works of literature and you will likely discover what I discovered, namely, to borrow that old saying about New York City: it might be a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.
As I was about to give up, I had my epiphany: Shakespeare!
No, not the Denmark of Hamlet or the Scotland of Macbeth or the Venice of poor Shylock.
Instead, I selected that fairyland forest on the outskirts of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Can there be any better place to travel than a magical forest inhabited by fairies, lovers, and those six hilarious amateur actors, including Peter Quince, Nick Bottom and Tom Snout, who comprise Shakespeare's version of the Marx Brothers. As for what I would do on that moonlit evening? Well, if I couldn't convince Peter Quince to find a role for me in the play they plan to present for the wedding of the Duke and the Queen, I'd just find a comfortable spot near that stage, fill a tall glass with wine, and enjoy the evening.
Michael A. Kahn
My nightstand is piled high for the summer. I'm halfway through Tolstoy's War and Peace (for the second time) and halfway through Joseph Epstein's Fabulous Small Jews. Waiting in the pile are some newer books, including House of Names by Colm Toibin, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Sanders, Trajectory by Richard Russo, and Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. And somewhere in there is a Daniel Silva novel--The Fallen Angel, I believe.
Michael A. Kahn
As a trial attorney by day, I get forced to try to solve mysteries in every case, but picking one of those feels like picking one of the low hanging fruits of mysteries.
The deeper, more intriguing, and often more rewarding mysteries are how each of us got to where we are. My marriage is a perfect example. My wife Margi is the child of two Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. They both somehow survived the concentration camps (unlike many in their families and millions of others) and, through a convoluted sequence of post-WWII events, ended up in St. Louis, where someone fixed them up on a blind date. (They had never met before.) They fell in love, got married, and had two little girls, Margi and her little sister Bobbie. I met Margi in high school, promptly fell madly in love, and we were married the summer after her college education.
Now step back and pretend that you are a Las Vegas odds maker. What are the odds that Margi's parents would both have survived the camps, much less both moved to St. Louis, much less met and got married, much less had a little girl named Margi, much less send her to the same high school as me? While those odds seem so astronomical as to qualify as a mystery for the ages, I guarantee that if you trace your own life back a few generations your odds will qualify as well.
The deeper, more intriguing, and often more rewarding mysteries are how each of us got to where we are. My marriage is a perfect example. My wife Margi is the child of two Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. They both somehow survived the concentration camps (unlike many in their families and millions of others) and, through a convoluted sequence of post-WWII events, ended up in St. Louis, where someone fixed them up on a blind date. (They had never met before.) They fell in love, got married, and had two little girls, Margi and her little sister Bobbie. I met Margi in high school, promptly fell madly in love, and we were married the summer after her college education.
Now step back and pretend that you are a Las Vegas odds maker. What are the odds that Margi's parents would both have survived the camps, much less both moved to St. Louis, much less met and got married, much less had a little girl named Margi, much less send her to the same high school as me? While those odds seem so astronomical as to qualify as a mystery for the ages, I guarantee that if you trace your own life back a few generations your odds will qualify as well.
Michael A. Kahn
I have two favorite couples, one romantic and one, well, celestial. My favorite romantic couple: Beatrice and Benedict from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. We in the audience watch in total delight as these two brilliant, witty, sharp-edged characters gradually, hilariously, reluctantly, and incredulously fall in love. My favorite celestial couple: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, who have been the inspiration for fictional adventure companions ever since, from Huck Finn and Jim to Sherlock Holmes and Watson to any number of modern mystery pairs, including Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell. But Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are the best couple of all times.
Michael A. Kahn
Leslie--Your second question is easier to answer than the first. I write at night--usually for an hour or two--with the mantra that if I can write a page a day and I can finish a book a year. Some nights I actually write 3 or 4 pages; other nights, alas, barely a paragraph. But it tends to even out.
As for the inspiration for Rachel--way back at beginning, back when I was a young attorney in a Chicago law firm and struggling to write my first novel--my protagonist was a young male attorney, and the novel was floundering. One day I was in court and watched in dismay as a crusty old male judge humiliated a young female attorney, who left the courtroom in tears. That scene haunted me for days, and eventually my young male attorney protagonist morphed into Rachel Gold--a tough young female attorney who wouldn't put up with crap from some crusty old male judge.
As for the inspiration for Rachel--way back at beginning, back when I was a young attorney in a Chicago law firm and struggling to write my first novel--my protagonist was a young male attorney, and the novel was floundering. One day I was in court and watched in dismay as a crusty old male judge humiliated a young female attorney, who left the courtroom in tears. That scene haunted me for days, and eventually my young male attorney protagonist morphed into Rachel Gold--a tough young female attorney who wouldn't put up with crap from some crusty old male judge.
Michael A. Kahn
I'm writing the next one now. I promise! It's tentatively entitled The Dead Hand. Although my newest novel, The Sirena Quest, is not a Rachel Gold mystery, a much younger Rachel does make a cameo appearance. (The novel is set in 1994--and Rachel has just left her big law firm in Chicago, Abbott & Windsor, to go off on her own.)
Michael A. Kahn
In my newest novel, THE SIRENA QUEST, 4 former freshman-year roommates who have gone their separate ways after college come together again about ten before their 20th year reunion. One of them has stumbled across a possible clue to the whereabouts of Sirena, a legendary statue that mysteriously disappeared from their college 35 years ago.
The missing statue idea came from Sabrina, the legendary bronze statue of the water nymph donated to my alma mater, Amherst College, in 1857. Over the past century and a half, it has been the object of student pranks, kidnappings, thefts, and other hijinks.
The missing statue idea came from Sabrina, the legendary bronze statue of the water nymph donated to my alma mater, Amherst College, in 1857. Over the past century and a half, it has been the object of student pranks, kidnappings, thefts, and other hijinks.
Michael A. Kahn
Good question! I wrote my first book on a dare from my wife Margi, who got tired of hearing me claim after reading a book that I could write a better. "Then do it, honey," she said, "or please shut up about it."
Since then, well, I guess I find it fun to write. So long as it stays fun, I'll keep doing it!
Since then, well, I guess I find it fun to write. So long as it stays fun, I'll keep doing it!
Michael A. Kahn
My next novel, THE SIRENA QUEST, comes out next month. I've been mulling over writing either another stand-alone novel or the next book in the Rachel Gold mystery series. Not sure which yet.
Michael A. Kahn
1. Read, read, read. The more you read, the better you will write.
2. Think small. Rome wasn't built in a day, and your book won't be written in a day. If you can write 1 page a day, you can write a book a year. 1/2 page a day will still get you a book every two years. Not bad.
3. Set aside a "writing time" each day, even if it's only for 30 minutes, and stick to it.
2. Think small. Rome wasn't built in a day, and your book won't be written in a day. If you can write 1 page a day, you can write a book a year. 1/2 page a day will still get you a book every two years. Not bad.
3. Set aside a "writing time" each day, even if it's only for 30 minutes, and stick to it.
Michael A. Kahn
The best--or at least the coolest--thing about being a writer was when my 5 kids were little they could take a copy of one of my books to show-and-tell. In my day job as a lawyer, there wasn't much for my kids to take to school. A set of interrogatories? A memorandum in support of a motion for summary judgment? A Counterclaim? Nah. But a book--even one without any pictures inside--was better than anything I could offer them as an attorney.
Michael A. Kahn
I've been lucky to never suffer one of those genuine blocks where you can't write anything at all. There are, of course, many times when I am confused about what should happen next in a book or short story, but I've learned that the best way to deal with that problem is to sleep on it. I'm amazed at how many times my brain has come up with the solution while I was asleep. Same with crossword puzzles. A solution to a clue that I couldn't figure out at night seems so obvious the next morning.
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