From “Letters in Time” by Susan Reiss: Emma Chase moves to a quaint Cottage she inherited outside St. Michaels, Maryland. Her plan is to rest and recover from the horrendous car accident that almost took her life. When the movers find an antique plantation desk hidden in the garage, she has it moved into the Cottage. The next morning, a mysterious letter appears dated 1862 and signed by a stranger named Daniel, who declares his love for Emma. Does she believe in ghosts? Should she respond?
Irresistible. How can you NOT want to read a thriller set in St. Michaels that has you walking along familiar streets and perhaps, just perhaps, running into characters that might be recognizable (although their names are surely changed)?
Available this month, Letters in Time is the latest book by author Susan Reiss, although not her first book set on the Eastern Shore. The Spy recently sat down with the author to talk about her creative process and find out how and why St. Michaels is a source of inspiration.
The first thing we learned was that writing was not her first career, nor her second, not even her third. But like all that Reiss has done before becoming an author, it was an award-winning decision.
Originally trained as a concert pianist, she started working as a television writer/producer, which won her various accolades and awards, three Tellys and TWENTY-SEVEN Emmy nominations (with no wins). She then started her own production company doing programming for everybody from PBS to ESPN. But as Reiss explains, “It was like a little girl who has curly hair, who wants straight hair and vice versa. I wanted something on the shelf. So., I figured, hey, no problem, I’m a television writer. This should be a no-brainer.” And she started, as she said, ‘playing with stories.’ But to continue her prize-winning streak, she needed something more–a muse of sorts. And it came in the form of a town.
Her fascination with the Eastern Shore, like for many of us who were not from the area, happened when she and her then-husband passed through on their way to Ocean City. They already had a home on Cape Cod, but an unexpected diversion to St. Michaels sealed the deal, and they bought a house there. “I needed a place,” said Reiss, “where I could figuratively drop my briefcase at the bridge.” The marriage may not have lasted, but the attraction remained. That was almost 30 years ago.” Thirty years led to six books in the acclaimed Silver Series set in St. Michaels and also won her the Scribe of the Eastern Shore designation in 2015.
But if you ask Reiss what it is about St. Michaels that inspires her, be prepared not to get a definitive answer. “I wish I knew,” she’ll respond. “I think it’s the water,” she might speculate, “but it could also be the boats and the history.”
Whatever it is, the formula works, and she sees no reason to change. After all, it is her readers who keep asking for more. “When I first started the Silver Series, I had people ask me, ‘oh, dear God, why are you writing about the Eastern Shore? You live in a rural area.’ And I’m thinking to myself; you can’t take three steps without bumping into history or some past of sorts. You want characters? If I need a new character, all I have to do is go out the front door and take a stroll down Talbot Street and do a little observation because we not only have the residents of the Eastern Shore, but we have close to 100,000 tourists that used to come here. Grab a seat and a cup of coffee and just watch.”
Mysteries seem to be what she gravitates to in her stories, and the Oxford-based Mystery Loves Company bookstore couldn’t be happier. “My friend, Susan,” says owner Kathy Harig, “is a special person and a wonderfully creative author. Her Eastern Shore stories are based on events embellished by her research and imagination. Her books are best sellers at my store, and her followers are thrilled when she has a new offering.”
So, what is it about the genre that is so appealing to Reiss? “I’ve always been drawn to mysteries as a reader,” she says. “But I tend to step away if it’s a story of a stalker or something that is extremely threatening. I mean, there were threats in my books, but there’s a difference with a stalker. I call my stories ‘cozy mysteries,’ meaning you can take them to bed with you and read without having nightmares like you do with some books. Also, I tend not to get into what I call the grizzly parts. Patricia Cornwell does a phenomenal job writing about her medical examiner. But slinging intestines over a telephone pole? No thanks, I can’t do that.”
This type of descriptive commentary made us want to know more about the creative process she uses when writing, but the answer was not surprising given her past. “In television, you have to conceive of an idea before you write the script. Then when you’re writing the script, you have to direct it in your head because if you can’t direct it in your head, it’s no good on paper. When you’re shooting, you have to edit in your head. And if you have a scene that is not working when you’re shooting, then you have to say: ‘Cut,’ and start again.”
Envisioning also comes in handy when writing realistic-sounding dialogue because… well, she’s not alone in that task. “I visualize everything. They’re not words. They’re just really a written report of what I’m seeing and what I’m hearing because, yes, my characters talk to me. I’ve had circumstances where I’ll be writing dialogue, and all of a sudden, that dialogue will stop. And the character in my head will say, ‘No way I’d say that!’ The first time it happened, it was like, ‘Hello? Okay, what would you say? How would you say that?’ I don’t know; maybe writers are just a little bit insane.”
There is someone outside of the descriptive ‘voices,’ who she credits in helping her with references and research: libraries—specifically, the St. Michaels branch, calling the librarian a writer’s best friend. Reiss says, ‘A librarian doesn’t know everything. But he or she knows where to find it.” In case you doubt her fidelity, her latest book is dedicated to Betty Dorbin, a St. Michael’s librarian (whose mother, Elizabeth Carroll, began the library in St. Michaels—but that’s another story….).
What it all comes down to is that Reiss will continue to write about what she loves and what people want to hear about, and that includes the Eastern Shore. “People feel the magic of this area. And they want to know more. And they love stories that are set here. It’s something that connects with their psyche. And I think if you asked me who I was writing for, I’d have to say I’m writing for people who like a good story.”
Of course, as any writer can attest, the whole writing process is tedious. What took months (or years) to write will be read in a day or a week. “Then people start asking,” says Reiss, “when’s the next one? Well, that’s quite a compliment. But it took you just nanoseconds to read it. And it took me quite a while and a lot of effort to write it. Yes. So, it’s quite a challenge. And sometimes I think alligator wrangling might be a little easier.”
Not that she would have it any other way, but which, of course, begs the question, when is the next one? Says Reiss: ‘Well, actually, the first chapter of the next one will be released in the back of the upcoming book. It’s the first time I’ve done that. How it happened was I woke up at six o’clock one Sunday morning with a jolt and sat up straight up in bed. And I realized that I had the first chapter in my head of Book Two.”
Somehow, that didn’t surprise us.
Val Cavalheri is a recent transplant to the Eastern Shore, having lived in Northern Virginia for the past 20 years. She’s been a writer, editor and professional photographer for various publications, including the Washington Post.
Letters in Time is available on Amazon and the following local retailers: Mystery Loves Company, Oxford, MD; Pemberton Pharmacy and Gifts, St Michaels, MD; The Blue Crab, St Michaels, MD; Flying Cloud Booksellers, Easton, MD
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