18 September 7, 2010
Mother and son put pens together Q&A with the bestselling authors Caroline and Charles Todd BY LEXI LOUCA
idea would come along that was so intriguing we’d find the time to work on it.
Caroline and Charles Todd are first and foremost mother and son; however, they are also co-authors of more than a dozen nail-biting mystery novels, 13 of which are about Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked World War I veteran who is haunted by the memory of a man he killed. Caroline, of Wilmington, and Charles, of North Carolina, have worked together since 1992 to produce each novel, whether it be via telephone or face-to-face. At 11 a.m. Saturday, the pair will appear at Hockessin Library to discuss their success as the writers of mystery novels—some of which have appeared on The New York Times bestseller list.
The Review: How does your writing process work? Who comes up with the initial idea?
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The Review: I know that my mother and I can’t even agree on a paint color for my bedroom, let alone agree on an entire novel together. How do you do it? Caroline: When you are writing, it’s the book that counts, the characters and the story you want to tell. So the personal ego has to be set aside. Writing is about creating a world that others can step into and enjoy. It’s a creative partnership, and that means we work together as a team, just as parents and their children can go into any business together. We could have been in a law firm together, or the plumbing business, where you pull together for the sake of the job. The Review: Do you always write as a team, or do you also work on separate, personal novels? Charles: So far we haven’t branched out into writing our own novels. Two series a year has kept us busy enough. But who knows? It’s not impossible that an
Courtesy of Caroline and Charles Todd
Caroline and Charles Todd write mystery novels
Caroline: We had no guidelines for collaborating, so we came up with our own system, which is to work out each scene together, and then put it into words. It’s probably 50-50 over the whole novel, but any one paragraph might be more one than another—whatever feels like the right way to say what we mean. Or one can come up with just the right word, and the other could build on that. You never know. The Review: Why use the pen name Charles Todd? Caroline, do you feel as if you get less recognition? Do you feel cheated at all? Caroline: It was a marketing decision, because that’s the name that fits most easily on the spine—and is easier to read than Charles and Caroline in smaller print. Besides, Charles and Caroline come from the same Latin root. The Review: When did you begin writing? Have you always known you wanted to write mystery novels?
Peter Buffett is a musican, composer and author.
Buffett offers words of wisdom BY ARIELLE FROM Entertainment Editor
Caroline: I suppose when I was 7 and tried to write a book on the back of my father’s latest National In his novel “Life Is What Geographic map—with crayon. I enjoyed reading You Make It,” Emmy awardmysteries, and the advice you hear most often as a winning musician, composer and would-be writer is, write what you know. philanthropist Peter Buffett asks, “Which will you choose: the path Charles: Actually I did more business writing of least resistance or the path of than creative writing, and some of my articles were potentially greatest satisfaction?” published. But I’d always thought about writing—it This is a question that has college was just something I never got around to. I never gave students seriously thinking about [mystery writing] a thought. That is, not until I started their futures, Buffet says. to think about writing. And then, because that was Despite growing up as the son what I read, like Caroline I was drawn to writing them. of a billionaire investor, Buffett I wanted to see if I could really do it. A challenge, you worked to get where he is today. might say. It’s a craft; you have to learn it, just like Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO any other skill. of Berkshire Hathaway, wanted his son to find his own place in the The Review: How have you become so knowledgeable world. about a time period that neither of you have lived “I grew up watching somebody through? loving what he did and being rewarded for it,” Buffett says of his Charles: You have to do your research to the point that father. “It wasn’t so much about you are so familiar with the time frame that writing the money as it was him waking up about it becomes almost second nature. Just as we every day and loving what he was research the history, we also research each setting and doing.” travel to England to make sure we have it right. It’s He began his journey in the hard work, but getting it right is so very important to 1980s as a musician and composer. us and to fans. Buffett scored and choreographed the scene “Fire Dance” in the The Review: Are you working on anything now? If so, Oscar-winning movie “Dances could you tell us a little bit about what it’s about? Will with Wolves.” He then composed Rutledge be back? the full score for Emmy-winning miniseries “500 Nations,” and the Caroline: The next Rutledge has already been turned musical “Spirit: The Seventh Fire.” in and will be published at the end of the year. The title Since 1987, Buffett has is “A Lonely Death,” and finds Rutledge facing a case released 15 records while being that appears to be related to something that happened signed to labels Narada, Epic and in the war. But what? And who waited this long for Hollywood Records. He now owns revenge? Or is this apparent connection no more than two independent labels, BisonHead a red herring? We’re currently finishing the third Bess and BeSide Records. Crawford mystery where an orphan is in jeopardy and Along with his music career, Bess must find her before a possible killer does. he was the host of a talk show, which led to the idea of writing a novel. . “I hadn’t even thought of writing a book, but what I learned from doing my shows was that my story seemed to inspire or resonate with other people,” Buffett says. “So I thought, ‘Well you know if it’s valuable and someone can get something out of it, why not write a book?’” He says people are often surprised when he tells them he is Warren Buffett’s son because he acts like a normal person. “It’s a compliment, but it’s kind of too bad, why would it be a surprise that I’m normal?”
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Courtesy of Peter Buffett
Buffett says. “The book was sort of thinking if I can kind of change the mythology around wealth, privilege and success then I would like to take a crack at it.” His goal for “Life Is What You Make It” is to ultimately change the world’s view of the meaning of success and privilege, targeting people in transition. People graduating high school and moving on to college and those graduating college and entering the world have the largest decisions to make, Buffett says. “College is the time when you say, ‘What am I going to do for the rest of my life?’ It’s also the last chance to say ‘You might want to think again,’ so that’s what the book is hopefully a catalyst for,” he says. “The book says, ‘Why am I here and where do I really want to be? What have I been ignoring and what have I been paying too much attention to?’” Buffett puts a strong emphasis on doing what an individual wants to do rather than what’s asked or expected of them. He says people should forgo the common path and take the road less traveled to find success. “It seems like I’ve gotten people inspired to leave the track they were on in life that may have been what their parents, society, or they, for whatever reasons, thought was safe, secure and led to more money, to doing the things they love and want to do,” Buffett says. He uses the analogy of noise when describing the journey towards picking a career. Noise is television, advertisements, peers and society in general, Buffett says. “The signal is your own gut and voice and what you’re feeling about the direction you’re going,” he says. “In your life you try to hear as much of your own signal and the least amount of noise.” Buffett says the next step is commitment. “When you commit, amazing things start to happen,” he says. “It sounds out there but I’ve found in my life if I commit to something, other things start to work more in my favor; commitment is crucial.”