Introducing Jonathan Santlofer…

I know that your writing career was born, in part, out of an art tragedy, the loss of a portion of your artwork to fire. Is there any other way that your life as an artist has inspired you, trained you for life as a writer? Any lessons you taken direct from the studio and translated to the writer's garret?

Oh yes. Art training is very intense, at least it was in my day. Full days of drawing classes and learning all sorts of art techniques. Learning your craft and putting in time is very important; that, and being alone. Both occupations demand that you spend hours alone so you had better be ready for that and like it-- and be happy spending time with yourself. But the main thing I've taken from being an artist is that it's a job: You get up every day and you work. You can't wait for "inspiration." If you do, you'll never get anywhere. Inspiration (if that's what it is) comes in the act of working. It happens in painting and it happens in writing. Losing more than 5 years of artwork in a fire was traumatic, but it taught me many things, among them that nothing other than life is precious, and that you can always begin again.

As an artist, who are your most direct influences? (I'm imagining Warhol but only because you've painted his portrait and I don't know any other names to throw out.) And as a writer? Which writers have you rebelled against, reacted to, imitated, etc.?

That's a tough question for me because I take influences wherever I see them. I have been inspired by many artists from early Renaissance masters like Giotto and Piero della Francesca to Velasquez, Manet, Cezanne, Picasso, deKooning, and so many more. But I can also be equally inspired by billboards, comic books, and peeling advertisements on city walls. Personally, Warhol is not a favorite, but he is an art icon and I'm very interested in icons in our culture--people or things that almost everyone recognizes.

As for writers... I'm an avid reader. The only thing I don't read is sci-fi and romance. Nothing against them if that's your thing, it just ain't mine. I also stop reading something if I think the writing is bad because I'm afraid it will someone get stuck in my brain and I'll start writing badly too. I love Phillip Roth, anything he writes, and Nobakov's "Lolita" is, I think, one of the best novels of the century along with all of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Hardy, and J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace" is one of my favorite books of the last few years. Of course I love crime fiction, and read tons of it. I taught myself to read with comic books and still love them. It's why my new book has over 100 illustrations in it.

Having read The Death Artist, I feel like I've been introduced to some part of the living art world. Have I? Certainly not the murder part, but do I now know something about the way the art world works? Was there something specific you wanted to say about the Universe you've inhabited for so long and so successfully?

Yes. It's all true. ALL OF IT. Except for the murders. I never lie about art. In "The Death Artist" I wanted to give the reader a real picture of the contemporary art world, which is hilarious, snobby, brilliant, glamorous, and horrendous all at once. Everything I write about it is true, much of it based on actual experience and literal conversations I've had over the years. I am always being asked "Was that true?" in regard to something outrageous I've written about the art world, and the answer is always YES.

It's a small world where practically everyone knows of everyone else and everyone is fighting for the same things. The art world can be ruthless. I always say the worst equipped people for the art world are artists--sensitive people who are about to get really beaten up in a very tough world. Of course I have many artist friends who I love; people who have dedicated their lives to making art and not making money, and I wanted that in the book too. The art world gives "The Death Artist" an exotic setting that not too many people know about, so I'm glad you came away feeling as if you know it better. Of course it's just a setting. I wanted the book to be a real page turner, scary and thrilling, too, and I hope it does that as well.

Yes, poor Kate. She started with everything: a penthouse on Central Park, a wealthy husband, the perfect life, and by the third book she's practically got nothing. I didn't plan it that way; it just happened. A lot of the fans of the book were upset by all the bad stuff that happened to Kate, because they really care about her-- which makes me very happy-- but they also like how she became a more vulnerable and regular woman. I love Kate, I really do, so I've given her a well-deserved vacation. My next book, "Anatomy of Fear," which is coming out in April, is a stand alone, about a police forensic artist, Nate Rodriguez, and I sort of put him through hell, too. I don't ever intend to when I start, but... it happens.

I try to outline, but can never follow them. My characters refuse to behave.

They are always doing unexpected things so it's hopeless. I make copious notes before and during the writing process, which are very important to me. I wrote "The Death Artist" almost entirely at night, over a five year period. But now I write both day and night. I like writing certain scenes, scary ones in particular, very late at night, when I can scare myself. I make constant revisions. I'm never satisfied. I write and rewrite every day. I would really like to put the rewriting off, but I can't. And it's a shame because it slows me down. But what can you do? You are who you are.

I need silence when I write, which kills me because I love music more than anything. When I paint I have music on all the time, and I really miss it when I'm writing. I listened mostly to Latin music when I made the drawings for my new book, but I had to turn it off when I was writing. It's the thing I miss most when I'm writing.

Actually, I started the first book, "The Death Artist," in Rome. I was living there for almost year after the fire. I'm not really sure how place inspires writing. I know it inspires painting, but writing takes place so much in one's head. And I'm one of those people who can work anywhere. Lock me in a closet with a pencil and I'll emerge with a drawing or a scribbled novel. It's what keeps me going. I love to work.

Rituals? Hmmm... Bad ones. I eat bags and bags of Goldfish, and drink lots of tea and coffee when I'm writing. By the end of a book I'm a physical wreck.

If it's not a good idea for a novel you'll know soon enough because there won't be enough to sustain the novel, or your interest. As for the publication process... Just remember that writing and publishing are two different animals, like paintings and having a show. One is art; one is business. And they don't mix very well. Try to separate them. If it's your first book, stay on your publisher and everyone else to do what they can to get your book out there and noticed. Fight for the things you care about, and be an advocate for your book. Don't be a pest, but remember: No one else cares as much about your book as you do.

Grand Master Level: After years of writing, are you better now than you were? (I'm assuming the answer is yes.) In what ways? What lessons have you learned that you wish you knew about writing novels before you first sat to write?

If I didn't think I was getting better, I'd quit. I want to learn things and I want to improve. Otherwise, for me, there would be no point. What do I wish I knew? It's hard to say. I had to struggle through the first book because I was teaching myself to write. I rewrote that book at least 50 times, and probably more. I guess now I've learned how to structure a book. I actually think of my books very classically, in three acts. I've also learned that novels are about a character. The plot has to be good, but the reader has to care about your character, has to see them grow and change. I didn't know that for the first 20 or so versions of "The Death Artist." When I finally realized that, the book clicked.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I guess the best thing for me is that the two parts of my life have come together, art and writing, because I've begun to illustrate my books. It started in my last book, the third Kate McKinnon book, "The Killing Art." I made paintings for that book (supposedly made by the killer), which Kate, the NYPD, and the reader get to interpret as clues to the mystery. It was tons of fun for me and readers tell me it was tons of fun for them, too, and that's what matters. In my new book, "Anatomy of Fear," Nate draws all the time, and the killer does too, so there are drawings throughout the book. It was really important to me that the drawings moved the plot and didn't stop it. Any picture that did, was cut. The two things had to work in a way that just felt natural. It was a challenge, but I feel very good about it. I think what we all want to do is tell a story that only we can tell in our own special way. It's what you do so well in your "Precinct Puerto Rico" books, Steven. For me, having the two loves in my life come together, well, it just feels right.