About SJ Rozan
SJ Rozan, a native New Yorker, is the author of nine novels. She
has won the the Edgar, Nero, Macavity, Shamus and Anthony
awards for Best Novel and the Edgar award for Best Short Story.
She is a former Mystery Writers of America National Board
member, a current Sisters in Crime National Board member, and
President of the Private Eye Writers of America. In January 2003
she was an invited speaker at the Annual Meeting of the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In February 2005 she
will be Guest of Honor at the Left Coast Crime convention in El
Paso, Texas. A former architect in a practice that focussed on
police stations, firehouses, and zoos, SJ Rozan lives in lower
Manhattan.
Visit her website at: www.sjrozan.com
SJ Rozan, a native New Yorker, is the author of nine novels. She
has won the the Edgar, Nero, Macavity, Shamus and Anthony
awards for Best Novel and the Edgar award for Best Short Story.
She is a former Mystery Writers of America National Board
member, a current Sisters in Crime National Board member, and
President of the Private Eye Writers of America. In January 2003
she was an invited speaker at the Annual Meeting of the World
Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In February 2005 she
will be Guest of Honor at the Left Coast Crime convention in El
Paso, Texas. A former architect in a practice that focussed on
police stations, firehouses, and zoos, SJ Rozan lives in lower
Manhattan.
Visit her website at: www.sjrozan.com
Post Meeting Write-up
Face the Fiction's November guest, S.J. Rozan, provided us with a
delightful evening. Ms. Rozan not only discussed her books,
short stories and editing credits, but gave us a glimpse into more
personal aspects. Her candor and humor made for a good time.
Ms. Rozan began by discussing the ins and outs of how her
novel, In This Rain, came to be. She described it as being set
"at the intersection of politics, real estate development, and
crime." When asked, "Why?" her response was that "It's a broad
intersection. Lots of room to maneuver." The book has a large
cast, ranging from street kids to the Mayor of the City of New
York, with a myriad of twists and turns. When writing, S.J. often
puts to use her experience of having been an architect in a
practice that focused on police stations, firehouses, and zoos. S.J.
Rozan lives in lower Manhattan too. She knows of what she
writes. Her credentials as winner of the Edgar, Nero, Macavity,
Shamus and Anthony awards for Best Novel and the Edgar
award for Best Short Story, are no coincidence.
S.J. Rozan, a native New Yorker, then moved on to discussing
how she came to edit the Bronx Noir collection of stories. She's
a Bronx girl. Her insightful honesty about the writing and editing
process was both funny and informative. Her line about
"everyone in America is either from the Bronx or wishes they
were," to explain the high number of sales of the book, Bronx
Noir, in Florida had many heads nodding and more than one
smile. Of course, our own Bronx boy, Gene, heartily agreed.
S.J. was very honest in telling us what motivated her writing,
influenced her writing and why she needed to write her book
Absent Friends. This book was a cathartic release following
9/11. It wasn't so much a 9/11 story as it was a story around
9/11 and the aftermath of that day. "Secrets of a group of
childhood friends unravel in this haunting thriller set in New York
in the unforgettable aftermath of September 11." Absent Friends
was meant to capture a time of confusion, hurt, anger and
questions, in short, a world changed forever on a deceptively
beautiful September morning.
Ms. Rozan then moved on to Winter and Night, set in New
Jersey. This book has two main characters, investigator Bill Smith,
and his partner Lydia Chin (and a funny story about people
asking her why she writes about being a Chinese woman). They
are trying to help a 15-year-old boy, Gary, who is being held for a
crime. Gary goes missing and they try to find the missing teen
and uncover what it is that led him so far from home. They go
to his home in a small town in New Jersey. Bill finds himself in
a town where nothing matters but high school football, where
the secrets of the past—both the town's and Bill's own—threaten
to destroy the present. It was the need to express her feelings
over Columbine that evoked the emotion to tell this tale. As S.J.
explained, so many schools focus on the "jocks" because of the
money sports can generate and how the "non-jock" that is
supposed to have a place to fit in, doesn't. How many times are
"jocks" allowed to get away with bad behavior, substandard
grades and more all because of their status as a "jock." When
they finally do go and rape someone, or some other horrible
crime, people have the audacity to ask, "how could this have
happened?"
S.J. opened up to questions, as she put it, "because it's easier."
Questions were varied and interesting. One of the best
questions came from a newcomer (a young man who was there
due to his interest in Absent Friends - he was not a jock and
related to the story), in the form of "is there a book you absolutely
despise?" This led to an interesting discussion. Books, authors,
movies and more were covered. She is a fan of the old noir
movies and defines noir in that vein - the reformed bad-boy who
tries to touch goodness and can't. A purist. Mike P liked her take
on noir and agreed. We then asked her to read a passage for us
from Bronx Noir. She got us hooked and left off at a part in
the story where you just "had to know" what came next - Todd
bought 3 copies of the book! (we so need to work on this
behavior - he's too good at sliding up to the front before anyone
else and hogging the inventory - intervention anyone?) I mean,
really, it's like alligator wrestling - poor Aurelia barely made it out
with her own copy!
S.J. is a former Mystery Writers of America National Board
member, a current Sisters in Crime National Board member, and
President of the Private Eye Writers of America. She is also a
great speaker with a raw honesty that was a welcome thing. In
fact, Ms. Rozan had to wrap up a bit early so she could catch her
10:00 bus home - what's so notable about that you wonder?
She had to get home so she could get to bed early because she
had a basketball game in the morning. Imagine looking at this
petite, tiny woman and trying to connect her to basketball - lol!
In her own words, "yeah, I play, not well, but I play. I'm a point
guard. I'm little, stay low and pass the ball." Honesty and humor,
therein lies S.J. Rozan.
Todd escorted S.J. to the bus, we hid evidence of us having been
there, and a group of us headed over to the diner (15 of us). Liz
B headed home, as did a few others. Conversation was fun and
continued late into the night. Taras and I continued to convert
Chris into the Buffyverse, while planning many evil deeds. Bill
stripped. Todd was quite lively due to sleep deprivation. Mike P
held court at his end of the table, entertaining Aurelia, Deena,
Jim and Steve. Good time as always. Don't miss next month
when once again we are spooked & entertained by Sandy
Schlosser while enjoying a catered holiday event, and possibly
another surprise for our very dedicated moderators ;)
Face the Fiction's November guest, S.J. Rozan, provided us with a
delightful evening. Ms. Rozan not only discussed her books,
short stories and editing credits, but gave us a glimpse into more
personal aspects. Her candor and humor made for a good time.
Ms. Rozan began by discussing the ins and outs of how her
novel, In This Rain, came to be. She described it as being set
"at the intersection of politics, real estate development, and
crime." When asked, "Why?" her response was that "It's a broad
intersection. Lots of room to maneuver." The book has a large
cast, ranging from street kids to the Mayor of the City of New
York, with a myriad of twists and turns. When writing, S.J. often
puts to use her experience of having been an architect in a
practice that focused on police stations, firehouses, and zoos. S.J.
Rozan lives in lower Manhattan too. She knows of what she
writes. Her credentials as winner of the Edgar, Nero, Macavity,
Shamus and Anthony awards for Best Novel and the Edgar
award for Best Short Story, are no coincidence.
S.J. Rozan, a native New Yorker, then moved on to discussing
how she came to edit the Bronx Noir collection of stories. She's
a Bronx girl. Her insightful honesty about the writing and editing
process was both funny and informative. Her line about
"everyone in America is either from the Bronx or wishes they
were," to explain the high number of sales of the book, Bronx
Noir, in Florida had many heads nodding and more than one
smile. Of course, our own Bronx boy, Gene, heartily agreed.
S.J. was very honest in telling us what motivated her writing,
influenced her writing and why she needed to write her book
Absent Friends. This book was a cathartic release following
9/11. It wasn't so much a 9/11 story as it was a story around
9/11 and the aftermath of that day. "Secrets of a group of
childhood friends unravel in this haunting thriller set in New York
in the unforgettable aftermath of September 11." Absent Friends
was meant to capture a time of confusion, hurt, anger and
questions, in short, a world changed forever on a deceptively
beautiful September morning.
Ms. Rozan then moved on to Winter and Night, set in New
Jersey. This book has two main characters, investigator Bill Smith,
and his partner Lydia Chin (and a funny story about people
asking her why she writes about being a Chinese woman). They
are trying to help a 15-year-old boy, Gary, who is being held for a
crime. Gary goes missing and they try to find the missing teen
and uncover what it is that led him so far from home. They go
to his home in a small town in New Jersey. Bill finds himself in
a town where nothing matters but high school football, where
the secrets of the past—both the town's and Bill's own—threaten
to destroy the present. It was the need to express her feelings
over Columbine that evoked the emotion to tell this tale. As S.J.
explained, so many schools focus on the "jocks" because of the
money sports can generate and how the "non-jock" that is
supposed to have a place to fit in, doesn't. How many times are
"jocks" allowed to get away with bad behavior, substandard
grades and more all because of their status as a "jock." When
they finally do go and rape someone, or some other horrible
crime, people have the audacity to ask, "how could this have
happened?"
S.J. opened up to questions, as she put it, "because it's easier."
Questions were varied and interesting. One of the best
questions came from a newcomer (a young man who was there
due to his interest in Absent Friends - he was not a jock and
related to the story), in the form of "is there a book you absolutely
despise?" This led to an interesting discussion. Books, authors,
movies and more were covered. She is a fan of the old noir
movies and defines noir in that vein - the reformed bad-boy who
tries to touch goodness and can't. A purist. Mike P liked her take
on noir and agreed. We then asked her to read a passage for us
from Bronx Noir. She got us hooked and left off at a part in
the story where you just "had to know" what came next - Todd
bought 3 copies of the book! (we so need to work on this
behavior - he's too good at sliding up to the front before anyone
else and hogging the inventory - intervention anyone?) I mean,
really, it's like alligator wrestling - poor Aurelia barely made it out
with her own copy!
S.J. is a former Mystery Writers of America National Board
member, a current Sisters in Crime National Board member, and
President of the Private Eye Writers of America. She is also a
great speaker with a raw honesty that was a welcome thing. In
fact, Ms. Rozan had to wrap up a bit early so she could catch her
10:00 bus home - what's so notable about that you wonder?
She had to get home so she could get to bed early because she
had a basketball game in the morning. Imagine looking at this
petite, tiny woman and trying to connect her to basketball - lol!
In her own words, "yeah, I play, not well, but I play. I'm a point
guard. I'm little, stay low and pass the ball." Honesty and humor,
therein lies S.J. Rozan.
Todd escorted S.J. to the bus, we hid evidence of us having been
there, and a group of us headed over to the diner (15 of us). Liz
B headed home, as did a few others. Conversation was fun and
continued late into the night. Taras and I continued to convert
Chris into the Buffyverse, while planning many evil deeds. Bill
stripped. Todd was quite lively due to sleep deprivation. Mike P
held court at his end of the table, entertaining Aurelia, Deena,
Jim and Steve. Good time as always. Don't miss next month
when once again we are spooked & entertained by Sandy
Schlosser while enjoying a catered holiday event, and possibly
another surprise for our very dedicated moderators ;)
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