Sylvia Warsh is the Edgar award-winning author of the Rebecca Temple series of crime novels. She was born in Germany to Holocaust survivors. Listening to her mother’s stories, sparked a life-long interest in history, especially WW2.
Sylvia writes both crime and literary fiction. In addtion to winning the Edgar for Best Paperback for Find Me Again, Sylvia’s work has been short-listed for numerous awards including the CWC Awards of Excellence, the Derringer, Anthony and Relit Awards.
Her literary novel, The Queen of Unforgetting, was chosen by Project Bookmark Canada for a plaque in Little Lake Park, Midland, Ontario, where the book takes place.
The Mesdames: Outwardly you’re respectable, but you have a secret…
Yes! When I meet people I look them over to see if they’d make a good character. I feel like a spider with compound eyes, taking in every detail. I wish I could say that I write it all down and keep it on file, but I’m not that organized.
The Mesdames: LOL! What other secrets can you share with us?
Some decades ago, I was frustrated with my writing. I gave it up for two years while I drew and painted and took art classes. I didn’t realize I could draw until I tried it. I even had an exhibit in a library for a month.
The Mesdames: That’s amazing. But how you did return to writing?
I used what I learned from dabbling in art in my mystery series featuring Dr. Rebecca Temple. She’s a young widow whose late husband was an artist, so she has learned a lot about art by osmosis.
The Mesdames: How have you used art in your writing?
Art is one of the themes in my first book, To Die in Spring. Rebecca recognizes paintings when she sees them in a suspicious character’s house. There’s also the question of a famous painting by Raphael, Portrait of a Young Man, stolen by the Nazis during World War II and still missing.
“The Veiled Heart” and “The Cabin in the Woods” are two of my recently published short stories with art themes.
The Mesdames:
“The Cabin in the Woods,” was published in Murder Most Geographical, a Malice Domestic Anthology, 12018. “The Veiled Heart” appeared in Down and Out Magazine, Volume 2, Issue 1.
Mesdames of Mayhem 