Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 23 F OREIGN CORRESPONDENT TO ACCLAIMED MYSTERY WRITER isn't usually a career trajectory seen outside Cold War spy movies, so Gwen Florio is a rare bird in that respect. Her day job as a journalist took her to places as far away as Afghanistan and Somalia, and as close as Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain Front. Most recently, she was editor of the Missoulian. After 40 years in the news- room, Florio turned her attention to writing fiction full-time. Montana, the first book in the Lola Wicks mystery series, was published in 2013 and won several awards, including the inaugural Pinck- ley Prize for Crime Fiction and a High Plains Book Award. Florio dedicated four more books to Lola, war correspondent turned reluctant small-town reporter in the fictitious communi- ty of Magpie, Montana. She is at work on two more series, whose respective protagonists (Nora Best and Julia Geary) are both women at turning points in their lives. She has written nine novels so far with two more forthcoming in the next year and has also contributed to several anthologies. We spoke with Florio about her favorite places in Montana, works-in-progress, what she's reading, and eating camp stove ramen on book tours. It was a lively and funny con- versation that underscored how much she has to offer readers who crave the fast-paced and gritty stories that she tells so well. DISTINCTLY MONTANA: YOU STARTED PUBLISHING FICTION AFTER YOU HAD ALREADY ESTABLISHED YOURSELF AS A JOURNALIST. HAVE YOU ALWAYS WRITTEN FICTION, EVEN BEFORE THE LOLA WICKS SE- RIES WAS PUBLISHED? EITHER WAY, WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO START WRITING FICTION? GWEN FLORIO: I'd written fiction for years—de- cades!—before my first book was published. I published a few short stories in very small literary magazines and wrote a novel that was rightfully rejected all over the place be- fore Montana was published in 2013. Proba- bly like most writers, I wanted to write fiction because I so love to read—my dream is to create that same sort of magic for a reader. CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAMS ARE GREAT IN THAT THEY CAN EXPOSE YOU TO LEARNING OP- PORTUNITIES AND AFFORD YOU THE TIME TO WRITE, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE THE TENDENCY TO GENERATE THEIR OWN MYTHS AROUND THE WRITING PROCESS. WHAT DOES THE TERM "WRITER'S LIFESTYLE" MEAN TO YOU? I think there's the dream of a writer's lifestyle, where you spend all day at a desk, preferably in a lovely quiet office or studio with a beautiful view, overflowing bookshelves, cof- fee and snacks close at hand, and a well-behaved dog lying at your feet, with no interruptions to keep you from thinking great thoughts and putting them down on paper or screen. This fantasy lifestyle also involves fully-funded book tours and parties with other writers, agents, editors, adoring readers, etc. Oh, and selling enough books so you don't need a day job. Even just writing all of that makes me want to laugh hysterically. Or maybe cry. In reality, until very recently my own writ- er's lifestyle involved getting up in time to be at a coffee shop when it opened at 6 a.m., where I wrote feverishly until it was time to go to work at 9 a.m., and then squeezing in more writing time on weekends when my family and friends were out having lives. Book tours? I once scheduled a three-state tour that involved nights in a tent rather than motels, meals of ramen cooked on my camp stove, and of course gas money came out of my own pocket. Now that I'm retired I have the luxury of writing time, something for which I'm thankful. Every. Single. Day. THE MYSTERY GENRE HAS ALWAYS HAD VERY PROLIFIC WOMEN WRITERS, BUT FOR SOME REASON, IT STILL COMES AS A SURPRISE TO MANY READERS WHEN THE NARRATOR IS A "STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST" LIKE LOLA WICKS. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS? The "strong female protagonist" label makes me want to scream, and writers' con- ferences finally—far, far too late—are get- ting away from panels on the subject, prob- ably because so many strong female writers objected. Why the label? Good ol' fash- ioned sexism is the only reason I can come up with. The women in crime novels do the same things male protagonists have always done—face down killers, solve crimes, pre- vent more crimes—except nobody thinks it's remarkable when men do them. Good grief. Excuse me while I scream some more. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MONTANA CITY OR TOWN? WHAT ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE PLACE IN MONTANA, PERIOD? That's a tough one. I love Missoula—I've wanted to live here ever since my first trip here in the 1990s and the reality has, as they say, exceeded expectations. I love visiting the state's other cities and particularly its small towns, especially their libraries and independent bookstores, who are incredibly supportive of local writers. You could drop me just about anywhere in Montana and I'd be happy, but as I mentioned interview by LINDSAY TRAN

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