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Meet the Author: Rita Mae Brown
The creator of the ever-popular Mrs. Murphy mystery series, Rita Mae Brown, hails from Charlottesville, VA. She received her BA in English from NYU, a Cinematography degree from the School of the Visual Arts, and followed up with a Ph.D. in English and Political Science from the Institute for Policy Studies.
Sneaky Pie, her fantastic feline, is her real life pet, discovered in a local Albermarle, VA SPCA, and whose antics share the spotlight in her mysteries, now in its 11th title of the hugely popular series. Both witty and socially active, Rita Mae Brown offers a peek of her indomitable spirit, as seen in one of her classic quotes….”Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides.”
Q&A with Rita Mae Brown
Q: What author or authors do you admire and why?
A: Aristophanes, comic playwright, Fifth Century B. C. Athens. Wrote "The Birds," "The Frogs," "The Wasps," "Lysistrata," etc. Eleven plays still exist although he wrote more. He was younger than Sophocles, a little bit, a contemporary of Euripides. All these writers knew one another. He combined lush lyricism with savage wit and delicious silliness. I prize his work above all others although it is Old Comedy, a different format then what is used today. Takes some adjustment.
Q: The Mrs. Murphy series is such a contrast to titles like Rubyfruit Jungle and High Hearts. How and why did you decide to go to the lighter side of fiction?
A: The cat made the decision. I do what Sneaky Pie commands as do most cat owners.
Q: Does a novel take shape in your mind with sudden inspiration, or do you slowly build the plot over time?
A: Personally, I sit down and just do it. Sneaky doesn't reveal her methods for her books but I note an increase mice, mole, and the occasional bird corpse on the desk.
Q: Unless the original Sneaky Pie Brown is a very old cat, he has been replaced. What is the “new” Sneaky Pie like and is he or she as imaginative as the first?
A: Sneaky Pie lived to 18 1/2. Pewter is still alive and will be 24 on Feb 23, 2004. Sneaky's daughter, Ibid, has taken over the business. Looks Like her mother except Sneaky's eyes were yellow, Ibid's are green. The Biggest difference between mother and daughter isn't talent but temperament. Sneaky Pie was a ham. Ibid is introverted.
Q: What is the difference in the process of creating dialogue between the anthropomorphic characters and their human counterparts?
A: One tries to stay inside the animal range of perception while it is difficult since their senses are much better than our own. Also the animals are not burdened by elaborate unrealistic belief systems.
Q: If you were to give a fledging writer some advice, what would it be?
A: Learn Latin. You don't know English if you donąt' know Latin. A semester of Anglo-Saxon in college won't hurt you either. Language is your tool. If you donąt' want to develop your abilities, you donąt' really want to write. Would a neurosurgeon dream of operating without being able to use every tool on the tray? Same difference.
Interview Date: Autumn 2003
Profile and questions compiled by Rosanne L., Matthews Branch Library
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