Martha C. Lawrence is the
author of the award-nominated astrological mystery series featuring
Dr. Elizabeth Chase, a Stanford trained parapsychologist
turned private eye who uses her psychic ability in her investigations.
The first book in the series, Murder in Scorpio, was short-listed
for the Edgar, Agatha and Anthony awards for Best First Mystery
in 1996. The second, The Cold Heart of Capricorn, appeared
in 1997 and the third, Aquarius Descending, is scheduled for
publication in January 1999. An Elizabeth Chase short story,
"A Little Light on the Subject," appeared in the Spring
1997 issue of Family Circle's Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine.
Inspired by her own real life psychic experiences,
Martha's novels have been published in the US, Britain, Japan,
Germany, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Lithuania. Prior to writing
full time, she worked as an assistant editor at Simon & Schuster
in New York and for several years served as an acquisitions editor
for Harcourt Brace. A member of Mystery Writers of America, The
Private Eye Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime, Martha
lives in Escondido, California. 
"Save a spot on the bestseller's
list for author, Martha Lawrence, and her savvy investigator,
Elizabeth Chase! This solid new series is a natural. . . and
a supernatural, as well."
--Sue Grafton, award-winning, best-selling author
- Page ONE
- "Tell us a little bit about your experience
as a psychic and how has it affected (good/bad) your writing?
To your knowledge, are there any other fiction writers with this
gift out there?"
- Martha
- "Like most people, I cringe at the word
"psychic." The phrase carries a stigma in our culture,
conjuring up images of telephone psychics, palm parlor scams,
and wacky celebrities. Yet the most profound experiences of my
life have been my encounters with the psychic realm. As authors,
I think we write about the things that affect us most deeply.
For me, those are my so-called psychic experiences.
I hated the way psychics were depicted in fiction
and films. Their over-the-top antics didn't look like the real
thing to me. I wanted to see a psychic character I could relate to, one whose abilities were fallible.
Thus the creation of Elizabeth Chase. I write in the hard-boiled
tradition and as far as I know I'm the only one writing about
a licensed P.I. who happens to be psychic. A few authors have
written about psychics solving crimes--Kate Green comes to mind--but
these are not mean streets kind of mysteries.
A few prominent authors have come to me privately
and confessed that they, too, have had psychic experiences, but
they don't have the courage to admit it publicly. I think that's
a sad commentary on the tyranny of public opinion about the subject.
Scientists--straight, credentialed scientists--have proven the
existence of precognition and many other psi phenomena. We need
clear thinking on the subject. Blind faith is silly, but knee-jerk
denial is just as ignorant.
People always ask what my psychic experiences look
like, so I'll toss out a few of them here:
When I was nine I dreamed in exact detail of a
car accident my mother would have years later. I grew up in a
house in Rancho Santa Fe, California that was haunted by a beautiful
blonde woman; things with her became so intense that I had to
leave. Research revealed that the former owners of the property
had committed double suicide. (Ironically, the house neighbored
the Heaven's Gate mansion, where years later 39 cult members
would commit suicide.) I once encountered an enormous being of
light who imbued me with so much love that all I could do was
weep with joy. My stories go on and on. For years I worried that
I was mentally ill. After a psychologist assured me I was sane,
I began writing.
Page ONE
"I read where in college you were actually kidnapped
by a cult. Was the writing of AQUARIUS DESCENDING difficult
because of this experience?"
Martha
"Ah, yes, the dear old Moonies. They misrepresented
themselves as an "alternative community" and invited
me to what I thought would be a weekend 
visit
to a commune. Ten days later I escaped in the middle of the night
by crawling under a barbed-wire-topped cyclone fence. They came
after me and I had to get a police escort home. The cult in AQUARIUS
DESCENDING is not based on the Moonies, although I did draw
from that and other experiences with mind-controlling groups.
It was actually a blast to write. That's the joy of writing crime
novels--you get to skewer the people who've really pissed you
off. More importantly, you get to warn readers what to watch
out for."
Page ONE
"Have you written any non-fiction books on your psychic
experiences and knowledge? What is the lure for you to write
a mystery series and who were your influences growing up? Who
are your influences now?"
Martha
"I haven't written any nonfiction books. However, when
I was an editor for Harcourt Brace I published several nonfiction
books that indirectly dealt with the power of the mind. My favorite
of these was Dr. Susan Jeffers's FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY,
a wonderful guide to moving through fear to develop your full
potential. That book helped me find the courage to write. It's
still in print and I highly recommend it.
My lure into mysteries also came during my days
as an editor for Harcourt, where I worked on a mystery anthology
called THE NEW BLACK MASK QUARTERLY. The NBMQ introduced
me to Elmore Leonard, Sara Paretsky, James Ellroy, Linda Barnes,
Robert Parker, and a host of other mystery greats. Working on
that project never felt like work--just sheer pleasure.
As a very young kid I loved Harriet the Spy. Sorry
to say, the Nancy Drew books disappointed me--the writing never
quite lived up to the potential of those alluring covers. My
biggest influences as a young reader were Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur
Conan Doyle, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. In college I discovered Hammet
and Chandler and those two authors proved to me that mystery
was as viable a form of literature as any other.
Today I'm influenced by different writers for their
different strengths: Michael Connelly and Sue Grafton for plot
and character; Harlan Coben, Sparkle Hayter and G.M. Ford for
humor; Dennis Lehane and Richard Barre for prose style. These
are just a few examples--the list could go on for pages."
Page ONE
"Are you still on the Edgar committee and what's that
experience been like?"
Martha
"For those who may not know, each year the Mystery Writers
of America awards the Edgar in several 
categories--Best
Novel, Best First Novel, Best Paperback Original, etc. My first
novel, MURDER IN SCORPIO, was nominated for an Edgar.
It's a tremendous honor and therefore a weighty responsibility
to serve on a judging committee. Last year I served on the committee
for Best Paperback Original. It involved reading more than 100
novels. Others on the committee were Nevada Barr, Linda Barnes,
Alan Pedrazas, and David Housewright. What amazed me was that
without ever "talking amongst ourselves," all five
of us selected the same top nominees. It showed me that talent
really does stand out.
I swore I'd never take on another judging commitment
(I'd served on the Shamus committee in 1997), but somehow I got
roped into serving on another Edgar committee this year: Best
TV Features and Miniseries. Hey, at least it's not reading, right?"
Page ONE
"So far in the titles of the Elizabeth Chase mysteries,
you have covered three signs (Scorpio, Capricorn and Aquarius).
With only nine more to go -- any idea (looking into the future)
how you will cross that bridge when you get there? And what's
the next novel?"
Martha
"ONLY nine more to go? That sounds like a monumental
task to me, but one I'm delighted to tackle. I'm working on an
outline for a big, mainstream novel--the masterpiece I'll be
writing when I'm not doing the Elizabeth Chase series. I've been
so heavily influenced by Tolstoy--primarily WAR AND PEACE
and "The Death of Ivan
Ilyich." I want to take his themes of social and spiritual
transformation and bring them into a contemporary context."
The next novel in the Elizabeth Chase series is
PISCES RISING, in which Elizabeth is called to investigate
the brutal murder of a casino manager on the Temecu Reservation
northeast of San Diego. During this case, Elizabeth hooks up
with a Luiseno shaman named Satch, who helps her develop her
abilities in a way that hasn't been possible before. I just turned
in the manuscript this week, so don't hold me to that synopsis.
I'm blessed with an editor who's not afraid to tell me where
I fall short of my goals and (here's the good part) what I can
do to reach them.
Writers are like skaters, I think. Very few of
us can sail onto the ice and singlehandedly pull off a triple
axle. We need coaches to do that. Most of us are willing to fall
on our butts on that hard, cold ice and get up and try again.
The applause is worth the pain, but more compelling than that
is the thrill of accomplishing what looks impossible."
