Karen Gilleland is known for her Diamond-Dennison mystery series. Before delving into the world of mystery writing, Karen spent her career as a corporate writer at IBM. Her creative pursuits took a new direction after she became fascinated by the Britcom “Doc Martin” and began to explore FanFiction, which she posted on her blog (www.karengilleland.wordpress.com), attracting close to 670,000 visitors. Married and parent of two adult children, Karen has lived in Boulder since 1965.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory. What inspired you to write it? Where did the story/theme originate?
Gilleland: I enjoy ocean cruises and find ships a microcosm of the world. You meet people from different countries and cultures. It didn’t seem too farfetched to imagine a tale involving a spy, traitor, and assassin coming together on a ship.
SunLit: Place this excerpt in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole? Why did you select it?
Gilleland: The episode is near the end of the book. I chose it because it encompasses several elements in the story: the romance difficulties between the protagonists, the power of the sea, and the female protagonist figuring out the killer while she is fighting for her life in a rogue wave that hits while she is on deck.
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SunLit: Tell us about creating this book. What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
Gilleland: The influence was my experience on board ships. I was never in a rogue wave, but I was certainly in very rough seas in the Atlantic, traveling from Europe to the United States, and in the Pacific, traveling roundtrip from San Francisco to Hawaii.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
Gilleland: I learned a great deal about storms at sea from a former Navy commander and details about how the ship’s security team faces serious crimes at sea. Although the cruise director had handled murders, the crimes were of the domestic variety, where the suspect was obvious. However, the process of investigation would be similar in a mysterious crime. If a murder takes place on a deck, the ship closes the deck down for 24 hours.
SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
Gilleland: The biggest challenge was writing the story so that the readers would stay with it and enjoy it to the end. I have a great mentor in Margaret Coel, author of the New York Times best-selling mystery novels set on the Wind River Reservation. She critiqued the development arc of the book, as well as pointed out places where I had simply “thrown away” key moments that should have been dramatic scenes.
SunLit: What’s the most important thing — a theme, lesson, emotion or realization — that readers should take from this book?
“Diamond on the High Seas”
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Gilleland: There is the underlying theme of love and how the ending of a relationship can be torturous to both parties. In this cozy mystery, of course, the love angle straightens itself out by the ending. There is also the theme of loyalty to one’s country. My male FBI protagonist has served overseas for 10 years, so he is a passionate soldier confronting enemies who are in the game for money.
SunLit: Walk us through your writing process: Where and how do you write?
Gilleland: I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to writing. On my first book, I often started in at five in the morning and worked until 10 at night. On my second book, I tried to be more realistic and just put in an eight- or 10-hour day. I’m keeping to that schedule on my third book.
SunLit: Why did you choose the name of your female protagonist and why is she a security professional?
Gilleland: Her name is Hope Diamond, and she runs Diamond Security. The name appealed to me, and she explains it, perhaps, best in the book I’m writing. “My mother is in show business, and she thought it would be brilliant to have a Hope Diamond of her own.” The reason why she’s in the security business stems from my early years as a freelance writer. I interviewed (writer and security expert) Gavin de Becker not too long after he became a security consultant. The firm is now the most prominent in the country, if not the world.
But when he started, it was a small operation. I spent the day with him driving around as he inspected gates and safes and whatever. At one point about 2:00, I asked the chauffeur, “Does Gavin ever stop to eat?” “Not often,” was his reply. We did eventually stop at a nice restaurant that was still serving lunch. Gavin is such a classy guy. I was staying with my sister in Anaheim, which is a long distance from Beverly Hills. Gavin insisted on having his chauffeur pick me up and take me home. He said, “I wanted you to know how reporters are treated when they come to the City of the Angels.” (I was just a beginning freelancer.) I was touched, and I used the phrase in the last line in my first novel. As to the series, I thought it would be cool to have a woman head a protection firm, thus the start of Diamond Security.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
Gilleland: It will be the third Diamond-Dennison story. Readers will find themselves in Los Angeles, where Hope and Matt Dennison, my FBI protagonist, become part of a very glamorous crime.
A few more quick questions
SunLit: Which do you enjoy more as you work on a book – writing or editing?
Gilleland: Editing, hands down. Editing is easy. Writing is hard work.
SunLit: What’s the first piece of writing – at any age – that you remember being proud of?
Gilleland: Before earning a degree at CU Boulder, I was a secretary in the Los Angeles IBM district office. My manager wanted to put out a newsletter to recognize sales. I copied Ian Fleming’s James Bond character and had great fun writing up the salesmen’s adventures as if they were 007.
When the company had its 100% Club meeting, I understand they gave a nod to the newsletter by ending the film with a car speeding off with the license number 007. That was a kick to hear.
SunLit: What three writers, from any era, would you invite over for a great discussion about literature and writing?
GIlleland: Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Ngaio Marsh (who else?). I’m a cozy mystery writer, but I might hedge and instead of Ngaio, invite Rex Stout. There are so many great authors. It would be tough to choose.
SunLit: Do you have a favorite quote about writing?
Gilleland: Ernest Hemingway rewrote the ending to “A Farewell to Arms” 39 times before he was satisfied. When asked what stumped him, Hemingway replied: “Getting the words right.”
SunLit: What does the current collection of books on your home shelves tell visitors about you?
Gilleland: I love Margaret Coel’s Wind River mysteries, all the Golden Age mysteries (I have stacks of paperbacks of them, including the six Charlie Chan books by Earl Derr Biggers, plus most of the Nero Wolfe stories, and, of course, I have fairly complete collections of the three authors mentioned above.)
SunLit: Soundtrack or silence? What’s the audio background that helps you write?
Gilleland: I like classic country (Willie & Waylon, John Denver, etc.), but I also love Van Cliburn (saw him at the Hollywood Bowl).
SunLit: What music do you listen to for sheer enjoyment?
Gilleland: Country.
SunLit: What event, and at what age, convinced you that you wanted to be a writer?
Gilleland: I remember having to write a story in grade school, but I became discouraged when the teacher read the story my classmate wrote about her and a horse. It was soooo good. At that point, I gave up on fiction.
SunLit: Greatest writing fear?
Gilleland: Getting the words right.
SunLit: Greatest writing satisfaction?
Gilleland: Seeing my books in print.