Bust of Pericles
from Wikimedia Commons

Death in Athens

Marianne Wilski Strong writes mysteries featuring
Kleides of Athens,
a Sophist philosopher of the 5th Century B.C.E.
Several short stories have appeared in AHMM.

Marianne was kind enough to discuss her Greek detective with The Sibyl & Sleuth:

(read interview below)

Marianne Wilski Strong Interview

S&S: Marianne Wilski Strong, thank you so much for speaking with The Sibyl & Sleuth about your series character, Kleides of Athens.

MWS: First, thank you, Kris, for this opportunity to talk to fans and aspiring writers.  

S&S: How did the Kleides of Athens mysteries come about?

MWS: Kleides sprang from my interest in and admiration for two real Greek people, Pericles and his mistress Aspasia, living in the 5th Century, B.C.E. Pericles' integrity, his persuasive rhetoric, his vision for an Athens of beauty and knowledge drew my admiration. Aspasia's intelligence, her putative influence on Pericles' vision, her courage drew my fascination. She, as far as scholars know, was an extraordinary woman, the mistress of an extraordinary man.

So I wanted to write about them. But I wanted a fictional character who could move freely in real historic events and among real people without the restrictions of having been real himself. Thus Kleides was born: friend of Pericles and Socrates, admirer of Aspasia, and eventually an acquaintance of Plato.

S&S: Do you have a background in the classics, or mythology?

MWS: Yes, I took a number of courses at the University of Maryland in the field. I taught a course in Mythology at a community college for many years and also taught a course in World Literature, a course that dealt with the ancient Greek epics and plays. With another colleague, I wrote, won, and ran three grants for seminars on ancient Greece, seminars that featured Dr. Bernard Knox, one of the foremost scholars in the field.

S&S: So far, Kleides has only been featured in short stories in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Will he ever get his own full-length novel?

MWS: I am very loyal to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and will continue to offer Kleides' adventures to it. But, perhaps before too long, Kleides' son will want his own stories and, since he is studying with Plato, he will need a full novel.

[N.B. Kleides' son will make his first appearance in a forthcoming story. Check back at The Sibyl & Sleuth for details.]

S&S: What other types of writing have you done? 

MWS: I have published numerous professional articles on teaching mythology and other subjects.

I have published numerous short stories in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. One series features Aunt Chesla, a kind of modern day "Fury," (in Greek mythology, the Furies were women who pursued murderers) who refuses to allow wife-beaters, exploiters of the elderly, and other predators to get away with it.

I have finished a mystery novel for young girls.

S&S: When did you first want to become a writer? And what path did you take to become one?

MWS: From childhood, I wanted to be a writer. I began, as many writers do, by storytelling when I was very young. I think sometimes my stories seemed more real to me than reality itself. Of course, I loved reading and so eventually went to college to study English Literature. I loved Chaucer who created wonderful, unforgettable characters. I wanted to do that too. After years of teaching with little time to write, I decided that some of the images rattling around in my head just had to get on paper. I had one image of a woman looking through a window into the house of her neighbor where another woman is burning something. That image turned into my first short story, published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. After that, writing became a habit.

S&S: What is a typical day in the life of Marianne Wilski Strong?

MWS: I use the morning for mundane tasks: cleaning, exercising. But this time allows me to think: to work out a plot, to devise a character, to work through a knotty problem. Then comes a break: lunch with my husband or a friend. Late afternoon is for reading. In the evening, I write, usually for several hours.

S&S: Do you have a writing routine? (i.e. sit  in a special chair? drink a certain kind of tea? Write first thing in the morning/late at night?)

MWS: I often have a cup of tea on the little table next to my computer when I write, but I also confess to having a pack of sugarless gum. I am not sure of this, but I think the harder I am working on a plot, the harder I chew.

I am very fortunate to have a lovely room with stained glass windows. The stained glass is beautiful to gaze at during moments of thinking, and the room is at the far end of the house: very quiet. Once I start writing, I stay in the room until I reach a natural end point. That could be the end of a scene, the solution to a plot problem, the end of key dialogue. I like to stop on a high note which often gives me a good starting point for the next day.

S&S: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? 

MWS: First, read. Read extensively in the genre in which you wish to write. Think of this process as entering a conversation. First you have to listen to what those already talking are saying. Only then will you be ready to contribute your point of view.

Second, write about what you love. Your material does not have to be personal experience (I don't see myself as having once lived in ancient Greece), but it does have to be something to which you have some emotional attachment.

S&S: What's on the horizon for you? And will we see Kleides again? 

MWS: As I said, Kleides' son is beginning to demand some attention. But he will have to compete with a modern woman, the daughter of Polish immigrants, who gets involved with solving murders when she researches the exploitation of the people and the environment of Pennsylvania by the coal companies. She is shocked, as is her creator, by the degree of exploitation and its continuance in today's world. I have begun work on the first of what I hope will be a novel series.

Of course, Kleides himself has many adventures ahead: being Greek, he will travel on the wine-dark sea, as Homer puts it. He will go to the Greek colony of Syracusa in Sicily to help solve a murder, to the Greek colony of Paestum, and even further afield.

S&S: Do you have any final words for your readers? And how can fans contact you? 

MWS: I would like to thanks my fans who enjoy Kleides. The ancient Greeks had much to teach us; after all, they were the best story tellers of all.

I would love to hear from fans of Kleides: I can be reached at the following e-mail address:
RETIRED508-at-YAHOO-dot-COM

(S&S: To avoid automated spambots, I've altered Marianne's address slightly. Before writing to her, remove the hyphens, replace "at" with "@", and replace the "dot" with ".")

S&S: Marianne, thank you for speaking with us! Congratulations on all your success!

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- Kris Swank, interviewer
The Sibyl & Sleuth: Historical Mystery Fiction of Ancient Greece
(personal.riverusers.com/~swanky/greece.htm)