Interview with C.R. Cardin
Chris Cardin was born in Santa Monica, California, and lived a tomboy life dreaming of being Tarzan, a cowboy, and James Bond. When that didn’t work out, she went to the University of Florida, and played in an all girl rock band, Gossip, modeling herself after her idol Ringo Starr. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Since then, she has worked in the business world, developing the system that allows cellular phones to work, and is now a business consultant, assisting clients with strategic planning and information systems. Chris’s first thoughts of becoming a writer resulted from her methodical attention to writing executive reports. It was then that her main character, Taylor Case was born. When not writing and working, Chris fulfills her passion for travel: she has touched the Great Pyramid, ridden a camel to the top of Mount Sinai, walked the gardens at Versailles, stood on the acropolis in Athens, toured the catacombs, seen the Mona Lisa, tasted French Bordeaux wine straight from the barrel, traveled all the way up the Nile, spent the night on Capri, stood at Stonehenge, climbed the steps to the top of the monastery at Mont St. Michel, dined in Monte Carlo, and explored the lost city of Petra. “Case Study” is Chris’s first novel. She is currently working on the next book in the series, as well as another series to follow it. Tyler: Thank you, Chris, for joining me today. I’m excited to have you here to talk about your new book, “Case Study.” I understand the book is a thriller/mystery about child abduction. To begin, what inspired you to write the book?
Tyler: The title “Case Study” is a play on the main character, Professor Taylor Case’s name. Will you tell us a little bit about Professor Case, and why you think she will be an appealing main character to readers? Chris: “Case Study” plays on many levels. As students we are given case studies to learn from. Taylor is also an educator. “Case Study” is Taylor’s personal learning experience about how to forgive herself. Case is not a one-dimensional protagonist. Dr. Case possesses an unusual amalgam of traits; a passionate lover and a quiet person, shy and assertive, self-sacrificing and indulgent, insular and giving of herself. Dedicated to family and students, and driven to put herself at risk. Tyler: Would you tell us also about the role of Dr. Haas in the novel? Chris: Alex Haas is the mirror that Taylor can see herself in. As you might imagine, Taylor is comforted by hard science; things that make sense and can be proven. Alex begins to soften those edges and reminds Taylor that there is a little more to life if she can just forgive herself. Tyler: The plot centers around the abduction of a child and Professor Case trying to find and rescue the child from the predator. At the same time, the case hits home for Professor Case because her own brother was abducted. What, as the author, did you hope to gain by this similarity between the abduction and Case’s past? Chris: A good book always has a parallel story and irony. It’s this tragic event that causes Taylor to react in an extreme manner because it is similar to her past. She holds herself responsible, unable to shed the guilt until she realizes that she had the power to forgive herself all along. Tyler: Will you give us an example of how Taylor reacts in an extreme manner? Chris: Going to New York, in pursuit of Kevin is extreme in that she is going to find a missing child. Her work prior to this had been much more behind the scenes, merely putting the bad guys away on technicalities and evidence, never pursuing of the victim. Tyler: In the search for the child, Professor Case gets drawn into the world of child brokering. What kind of research into crime and child brokering did you have to do in writing the book? Chris: That was the easy part. Unfortunately, stories of child abductions are prolific. Basically all I had to do was read the paper and watch the news. Tyler: What did you find most interesting in your research while writing “Case Study”? Chris: Believe it or not, it was the use of breadcrumbs to clean the oil paintings; the composition of Vermeer’s paint; all the art history. You may have picked up on the parallelism with Caravaggio’s David. Tyler: Chris, will you tell us a little bit more about the importance of art to the plot of “Case Study”? Chris: Most people would not put works of art and forensics together (that is the idea behind the cover by the way). It is through art that Dr. Haas breaks through to Taylor. First they bond by using science to analyze a potentially priceless masterpiece. Then though a conversation they have about Carravagio, his style, and a particular painting of his that they both have seen, the moment after David slays Goliath, Taylor ever so subtly gives in to the notion that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel she has been living in. Tyler: Did you find it difficult to write about child pornography? Our reviewer, Paige Lovitt, said you did it very tastefully. How did you balance between being accurate and yet not repulsing the reader completely? Chris: The trick is to know when to leave out the details. The reader will ‘fill in the blanks’ to the degree they wish. Tyler: Since Taylor is a professor of forensics, you give a lot of details about forensics in the book. You are apparently knowledgeable about forensics. Have you always had an interest in it? Chris: I was introduced to the double helix in high school biology class. At the time I asked the teacher, “How does that the one cell, or zygote that is formed when egg and sperm meet, know how to make all the other kinds of cells?” I was a little ahead of my time. Today we know that the secret lies in stem cells and the particular kind of DNA they have. What got me thinking about it again was the OJ trial. And then the initiative of mapping the entire human genome received broad press. And know we have bio-chips. I can’t keep up! I read books on the human genome and of course, Watson’s “DNA: The Secret of Life.” But the most detailed research involved understanding the step-by-step laboratory procedures in processing DNA. That took a while. Tyler: How is forensics used in the plot of “Case Study”? Chris: Well, everyone who watches CSI knows about DNA but the show really doesn’t explain the science or the procedures (and sometimes it bends the rules). I felt the need to give better insight but not enough to bore the reader. Since Taylor is a scientist it is important to share some of the details of her world. It also illustrates the contrast between her lab (computer printouts and sterile utensils) versus Dr. Haas’s (oil on canvas and breadcrumbs). Tyler: Chris, the trick to writing a good suspense story is to keep the reader turning the page. Do you have any writing secrets about how to keep the suspense and not give too much away so that the reader figures out where the book is going before the author clues them in to details? Chris: These aren’t really secrets. They are a part of learning the craft. Most authors are familiar with them, i.e. knowing where to place a chapter break. You want to end with a big unresolved question, even if you answer it in the first paragraph in the next chapter. The key is getting the pacing of the novel correct (I make that sound easy). The suspense should flow like a rollercoaster, building up to one big drop after another until the final plunge. Tyler: Do you have any favorite authors or books that influenced your writing of mysteries and thrillers? Chris: This started at a very young age, seven, I believe. I read Ellery Queen and especially loved solving the one page mystery puzzles. I could not put down the “Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators” series. Three boys have a secret fort in the middle of a junkyard where they meet to solve mysteries. And of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes. Tyler: I loved “The Three Investigators” myself. But what about your childhood dreams of being Tarzan or Indiana Jones? Do you think films had an equally big influence on your writing? Chris: It wasn’t the films so much as the characters themselves. I read Tarzan comic books too. The dichotomy of Indiana Jones in the first movie was endearing; he plays the meek naive professor until he dons his hat and picks up his whip and becomes dashing, brave and relentless in his pursuit of treasure. I was drawn to the independence of these characters and their indefatigable free spirit. Tyler: Do you have any plans to write more stories about Professor Case? Is there any hope that she will find out more about her brother? Chris: Absolutely! In the fourth or fifth book, you will find out exactly what happened to David–and you won’t like it. The series is constructed so that each separate story has clues and references in them that can’t be fully appreciated until David’s story is told. The larger theme of the series is the marriage between art and science; the contrasts and the similarities. Taylor discovers that she needs both in her life. Tyler: How many books do you intend to write about Taylor Case? Chris: As many as I can think of that will interest readers. Tyler: I understand you also have ideas for another series about an Agent Devereaux? How will that series be different from the Taylor Case books? Chris: Agent Devereaux is just as complex as Dr Case. She also has a love/hate relationship with her father but you’ll be very surprised and intrigued about why. Devereaux’s father is French and there are some cultural references. Devereaux’s sport is fencing. Devereaux is always profiling; she can’t turn it off. Moreover, she can’t sleep with the same person twice. The irony here is she is as deeply disturbed as the monsters she pursues. Devereaux’s motto is that ‘Love is for lesser beings.’ Tyler: Thank you for joining me today, Chris. Before we go, will you tell our readers where they can go to buy a copy of “Case Study” or to find out more information about your book? Chris: My book can be ordered at any bookstore, and purchased on Amazon. |
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