Today’s Cluesletter featured author is Shelley Blanton-Stroud, whose latest release, Poster Girl, is the third World War II-era mystery starring cynical gossip columnist Jane Benjamin. In Poster Girl, Jane attempts to find a Wendy-the-Welder poster girl at a San Francisco shipyard, but ends up investigates the deaths of women welders.
Those of you who caught my review of Poster Girl on Instagram know I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and its wry heroine. Everything about it—setting, characters, time period—felt refreshingly realistic. In my opinion, it can be read as a standalone (though I may have to nab the first book in the future!).
In the interview below, Shelley and I chat about Jane’s character, historical research, and writing advice. I hope you enjoy!
Connect with Shelley on Instagram, Facebook, BookBub, and her website. Sign up for her newsletter here (and get a free eBook of the first Jane Benjamin mystery, Copy Boy!). Grab a copy of Poster Girl from your retailer of choice here.
Hi Shelley, it’s great to have you! Poster Girl is your third novel starring cynical gossip columnist turned amateur detective Jane Benjamin as she lives and works in World War II era San Francisco. I loved Jane’s cynicism and tenacity—why do you think she makes a good investigator? What inspired her character?
Thank you! Jane was inspired by a few people. One of the early inspirations was the iconic San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Herb Caen, who became the voice of the city for many decades. Like Jane, Herb came to San Francisco from Sacramento, as something of a rube. But because he was smart and savvy and naturally stylish, he came to embody the city. He arrived in San Francisco at 18 years old and by 19 he had a newspaper column. I was always so curious about what exactly happened in the gap of that year that prepared him for the life he would live. That was the beginning premise with Jane. How could she turn herself into an iconic figure, when she starts out picking tomatoes in the fields outside Sacramento.
Here’s my second inspiration—my father who, with his big family, migrated from Texas to California during the dust bowl. I got lots of details about Jane’s beginning from their family stories. I liked the contrast between her dusty beginnings and the socialite world she would ultimately find herself in.
With the series incorporating real-life events and characters, what kind of historical research do you do while writing? What are the challenges and joys of setting a mystery in this time period?
In addition to a lifetime of overheard family stories, I read a lot, I have good friends who are librarians who help me so much, and I visit museums like the Rosie the Riveter Museum in Richmond, CA, the exact setting where Poster Girl takes place.
One particular resource that meant a lot to my research for this book was the documentary Invisible Warriors: The African American Women in World War II, by producer/director Gregory S. Cooke. It was incredibly helpful to see and hear the real Rosie the Riveters’ voices, looking back at their experiences, both painful and exhilarating.
Your background is in education, teaching writing at Sacramento State University. How has teaching how to write informed your own writing practice? What is your favorite piece of advice to offer new (or experienced!) writers?
Well, Write. I hate to say what everybody says, but it’s true. Writers write. Don’t just think about writing. Write. Don’t idealize writing. Write. Don’t just read books about writing. Write. Don’t worry your writing won’t be good enough. Just write. And after you’ve written, you’ll have something to work with and editing will feel like the most gratifying, creative thing in the world.
But beyond that familiar advice, I would also say, excavate your own bones. When were you broken by the topic of your writing? How did you heal? What you write won’t resonate with you or anyone else if you haven’t dug up what you’ve really thought or felt or experienced about it. Even if you are not the subject matter of your writing, you are its consciousness. So figure out what in your history affects how you think about this content. Even if that information never goes explicitly into the text, it will be there, just underneath, informing what you write, how you write.
What made you choose to write a mystery series? How do you plot your mysteries?
I write what I love to read—historical mystery—I think because there is so much escape in it. That escape is what drives me to read. But also, I made my decision to focus on mystery because of what I perceived as my strengths and weaknesses. I knew I did just fine at sentences. It wasn’t hard for me to get words on the page in a shape that basically made sense.
But what I found difficult was the architecture of story. When I wrote without a thought to genre, my stories just . . . wandered. Ugh. Then, when I began to learn more about the actual shape of a story normally revealed in mystery, I found the limitations that set me free!
Lastly, what are you currently working on? Can we expect more Jane Benjamin mysteries, or do you have any other projects in the works?
I am working on a novel set in 1945. Though it will be in the same universe as the Jane Benjamin novels, this one will be a standalone, with a different protagonist (though Jane will appear in the novel). The period is San Francisco on V-J Day, when the celebration turned into a brutal riot—over a thousand people hospitalized, eleven killed, and six women raped. That is the historical moment I’m currently writing about.
Thanks so much to Shelley for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.