A local blogger has just reported a serial killer is on the loose in the city of Albany. The first two victims were local young women without any apparent connection, and the third is a Broadway actress known as “The Red Queen.”
• What: Visiting Writers Series
• When: Jan. 30-May 2
• Where: The University at Albany
• How much: Free, with charges for some special events
• Info: www.albany.edu/writers-inst
No, this isn’t an actual headline pulled from the 5 o’clock news, but rather the latest creation from author and University at Albany criminal justice professor, Frankie Y. Bailey, one of the writers who will take part in the upcoming New York State Writers Institute’s Visiting Writers Series.
“It is set in a place that looks a lot like Albany … a parallel universe,” Bailey said. “I used a lot of the social issues in the world as we know it, but I use Albany in the past … Albany’s history and geography.”
Bailey’s novel “Red Queen Dies” is the first novel in a “near-future” police procedural series. Bailey is the author of five books in the “Silver Dagger” mystery series, as well as non-fiction titles that explore crime, history and popular culture.
The professor said her work as a criminal justice professor and novelist tends to overlap.
“I can’t really separate the two. I have always been feeding into that other part of my life and drawing from that life,” she said.
Bailey will appear at the University at Albany as part of the writers series that runs from Thursday, Jan. 30, through Friday, May 2.
The series will feature seminars and readings from award-winning writers from all over the world.
“In the past we have had 12 or 13 Pulitzer prize winners,” said Donald Faulkner, director of the New York State Writers Institute. “And it’s all free and open to the public.”
portunity for students, writers and the community to get advice or to discuss a book the authors have written.
“It’s really done in kind of a conversation,” Faulkner said. “In the evening, it’s more of a traditional reading from the book at hand – the most recent publication the author has had. There is also time for a question-and-answer session after the reading, and we have booksellers on hand with copies available for purchase and signature.”
Though this is Bailey’s first time joining the series, she said the interaction with the readers benefits her work tremendously.
“It’s always a great opportunity for a writer to interact with people who are reading his or her book or will read his or her book,” she said. “I love talking to people who read the book. They tell me things that I didn’t realize when I was writing it. The whole process of moving the book from the writer’s mind to those reading it and reacting to it, and bringing to it something that I, as a writer, can’t imagine.”
Bailey said the input from readers is priceless.
“With my other series of five books … with each book they told me what they expected of the characters and the people I created. It’s always informative to me as a writer,” she said.
James Redwood, a professor at Albany Law School and author of a collection of stories based on Redwood’s experience as an English teacher in Vietnam, “Love Beneath the Napalm,” will also appear at the event.
Redwood said his stories are all fiction, but they are based on photos, facts or true events from the Vietnam era.
“A picture of a young woman playing a guitar, a young Vietnamese youth unfortunately killed the following day. That photo moved me and prompted the first story in the collection, ‘The Photograph,’” he said.
Redwood likes to think that retelling these stories can help the present day.
“It’s like the old adage, ‘Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them,’” he said.
Redwood said he didn’t actually begin writing the stories until the late 1980s when his life settled down a bit.
“I think, to a certain extent, the stories had a chance to percolate,” he said. “After leaving Vietnam, I got involved in teaching English and French in Southern California and going to law school. I actually didn’t start writing until 1987. The first story was published in 1993.”
Redwood said as a writer “you are constantly hitting your stride and then getting off and then back on.”
Bailey said it can be difficult for a writer to stay motivated when life is going on around him or her, and she finds support in other writers.
“There are writers groups in the Albany area. I’m a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America,” she said.
Bailey said joining the writers group gave her a place to tell people what she was writing and where she was held her accountable for her work.
Redwood said it can be tough to find the time everyday, but knowing that there are others out there in the same position can help.
“While still teaching law full time, preparing classes, working with students and other commitments, it’s hard for me to find the time,” he said. “One thing that happens as a writer is you work a lot in isolation, and it’s easy to get the feeling that you are struggling. I think everyone goes through the same process”
Among the other top names scheduled for a seminar and reading is Walter Mosley, bestselling author of more than 40 books; Walter Kirn, a journalist and fiction writer; Akhil Sharma, an Indian-American fiction writer; and fiction writer E.L. Doctorow.
“Look at programs in New York City where writers may be speaking at, and they charge $25-$30 a ticket,” Faulkner said. “Our mission is to promote literature and create a place for writers and talk about writing and to share with as many people as possible.”
Faulker said the events are also videotaped.
“Gradually we have amassed a huge library of this and lot of the stuff is up on YouTube. We will put more and more up and even create a virtual digital library,” Faulkner said. “There is a link off the writers institute home page where there are over 300 videos now.”
For more information about the series, contact the New York State Writers Institute at 442-5620 or visit www.albany.edu/writers-inst.