Ripped from the headlines is such a cliché these days. Can we go back to the much classier sounding roman a clef? Why is the RFTH label so compelling to editors, publishers, reviewers and, one would assume, readers? Isn’t everything, sort of, RFTH? Haven’t writers from Lady Murasaki to Shakespeare to Dominick Dunne ripped from the headlines?
I have been on so many RFTH panels that I recently said No Mas to one at a mystery conference. Believe me, I thought long and hard before pushing that Send button. There are few things a new writer enjoys more than yakking about her path to publication, her protagonist’s dysfunctional family or damaged relationship with her partner and her struggle to get attention for her masterpiece at a publishing house where a book is old news before it even hits the shelves. All of which you can do no matter what question you are asked if you are skillful and polished enough. (“I’m glad you asked that question, Sarah, let me tell you about…”) I was thrilled to be invited, but wasn’t sure I could contribute to the discussion without sounding like I was phoning it in. And I did push Send. Mercifully the conference organizers put me on another panel.
