… "Well, Colwyn Bay is bigger than we are. We'd let them handle it."

So in real life that poor body would still be lying there!

I have visited all the police departments and spoken with local police. I also have a local contact whose brother-in-law is with the North Wales police, so I can ask questions. I know the basic hierarchy. I get Welsh newspapers with reporting of local crimes so everything is fairly accurate.

Of course, in a village the size of Llanfair, there is probably one murder every twenty years. In the whole of North Wales probably one murder a year. I try to make my murders believable ones for the region, even though there are too many of them.

Crescent Blues: When you wrote Evan Above, did you know you were writing the first in a series? If you were to do it all over again, is there anything you would do differently in the series?

Rhys Bowen: Yes, I had a three-book contract, so I knew it would be a series, but I didn't think beyond the first book, apart from introducing ongoing characters and the triangle of Betsy and Bronwen. I can't say there is much I'd do differently, except from making sure I got everything right. There were several small things I got wrong in the first book, including the current wording for the "right to remain silent" clause. I hate getting anything wrong.

On the promotion side, I'd have done a lot more for the first book. I've only learned about promoting my own books as I've gone along.

Crescent Blues: What is the one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about Constable Evans?

Rhys Bowen: I don't think he has any deep dark secrets. He's a very open sort of chap. He doesn't wear women's panties or watch porno movies. Goodness, he sounds boring, doesn't he?

In Evan Can Wait we learn that he is capable of very strong emotions and thoughts of violence, but they would be only natural, given the circumstances.

I think the first time reader might underestimate his intelligence. Just because he hasn't been to college doesn't mean that he's either slow or stupid.

Crescent Blues: You had several writing careers before turning your hand to mystery. Could you tell our readers something about them and what prompted the switch?

Rhys Bowen: My first career, right after college, was in the drama department of the BBC. I was a studio manager and while I was there I started writing my own plays. I would probably still be there today except that the weather was so bloody awful.

I went to work for Australian Broadcasting in Sydney, met my future husband and wound up in San Francisco. There was no broadcasting job for me so I started writing children's books. My first book, Peter Penny's Dance, and written under my married name of Janet Quin-Harkin, was illustrated by Anita Lobel and won lots of awards. Several picture books followed and then my agent asked me if I could write a teenage novel in a hurry. I wasn't sure if I could, but I sent her the sample chapters. They were accepted. I finished the book and then learned that it was one of the books with which Bantam was going to launch the Sweet Dreams series.

This was the first really popular teenage series and sold oodles of books. Going through a printing of 100,000 in a week was not unusual. Suddenly I was very much in demand. I wrote a book called Ten Boy Summer that rose to number one on B. Dalton's list and sold half a million copies. I found myself writing book after book, as many as ten a year! (All written under the name of Janet Quin-Harkin. Check me out on Amazon!)

The good side of this was that it put four children through college and paid off a mortgage. The bad side was that I was trapped on a teenage treadmill, with no time or energy to write other things. Finally the kids were through college, and I could write what I wanted to write.

My reading preference has always been mysteries. I was raised on the "Famous Five," the Agatha Christie, etc. So I decided it was time to write what I liked to read. I came up with the idea for the Constable Evans series. My agent felt I should use a pseudonym, as this was so different from the rest of my work. She also felt that I might be prejudged and not given a fair chance -- you know, "Oh, she writes for kiddies."

So I chose my Welsh grandfather's name, Rhys Bowen. I'm really enjoying this second identity. I'm also still loving every moment of writing mysteries. In fact I'm adding a second series this year. I have finished the first book, about an Irish immigrant girl who comes to Ellis Island in 1900 and has to solve a murder there. It's called Murphy's Law and it will be out in time for Bouchercon.

Crescent Blues: What are the pluses and minuses to living in a state like California that boasts such a high number of good mystery writers?

Rhys Bowen: I love the fact that so many mystery writers live in the Bay Area. So many of them have become true friends and meeting with them is a fantastic support group. I have found all mystery writers to be so generous and helpful. I belong to Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, both of which have regular local meetings. Since writing is such a lonely life, it's great to feel connected in this way.

The only downside to so many published writers in the area is that it's impossible to become a local celebrity. I live in a county full of stellar names, including George Lucas. Nobody is going to put out the red carpet for me, as they would in South Dakota.

Crescent Blues: Do you participate in a critique group?

Rhys Bowen: I don't actually belong to a critique group, but I have my own chain of editors who read my work before it goes out. The first is my daughter who has great feel for pace, timing etc. The second is my husband who is picky and annoying and tells me every time I've used a word twice on one page. My daughter Jane, plus son-in-law Tom are very much average readers. They tell me if they lose the plot, get bored, solve the crime too easily, etc.

I would only share my work with people I completely trust. It's too easy to lose heart or go in the wrong direction on someone else's suggestion.

Crescent Blues: How important do you consider independent bookstores to the development of a writer's career? How does that influence vary by genre?

Rhys Bowen: If anybody knows my name by now, it is because of the mystery bookstores. They are a wonderful resource for mystery writers. Let's face it, if our books came out and sat on the shelves of Borders or Barnes and Noble, nobody would ever get to know us. Mystery bookstores hand sell and recommend new writers. I can't say enough about them and how welcome they make us mystery writers feel.

I have visited most mystery bookstores in the country at this point, and I continue to visit as many as possible. Good general [independent bookstores] are also helpful, but they lack the passion of mystery bookstore owners.

Crescent Blues: How does your reading affect your writing?

Rhys Bowen: I have always been an ardent mystery reader. I tend to like traditional mysteries -- the sort of books I try to write. My favorite writers were Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers when I was young.

As an adult I discovered Tony Hillerman, Reginald Hill then Peter Robinson. (I guess they are all men. I hadn't realized that before -- I don't particularly choose to read male writers.) But I also admire Deborah Crombie and Nevada Barr. When I want something lighter and a good laugh, I read Jill Churchill, Jerrilyn Farmer and Alan Beechey. I just wish he'd hurry up and write more books.

I don't read much when I'm writing. I don't have the time and I tend to pick up styles if I'm not careful. My modus operandi is to do research for several months and let the story develop in my head, then start writing and write for three months -- pretty intense at this stage. I wake in the night with rewrites. I work all weekend.

I also enjoy good nonfiction, especially travel books, and I read a lot for research -- especially history for my new series.

Crescent Blues: How has your writing changed over time?

Rhys Bowen: I've gotten better at it! The more I work with words, the easier it is to make those words do what I want to with them. Now I can be pretty confident that the story that comes out on the page is the one that started in my head.

I started by writing scripts and this has influenced my writing every since. I tend to think of books in series of scenes. Dialogue is a very important element in my books. In fact, I love to reveal plot and character through dialogue.

Having written so many books to a very tight deadline has made me very disciplined. So many of my teenage books were humorous, which has sharpened by ability to write humor. And writing teenage books has meant that I have learned to weed out excessive verbage.

Crescent Blues: Are there things that still scare you as a writer?

Rhys Bowen: What still scares me? When I begin every book I have an irrational fear that it will be too short, that I'll say everything I want to in 100 pages. It never is but I can't get over the fear.

Crescent Blues: What do you consider the most important element in your writing?

Rhys Bowen: It's hard to say if one element is more important than others. I think I have learned to tell a story well. I think I create real characters who speak in real dialogue and I think I create a good sense of place. The most important one thing to me is that I love doing it!

Crescent Blues: Anything you'd like to add?

Rhys Bowen: I'd just like to mention what a great resource the Internet has become for us writers. All kinds of opportunities to introduce our work to new readers, wonderful research sites. It makes life so much easier!

Click here to learn more about Rhys Bowen.

Suzanne Frisbee and Jean Marie Ward