'Write what you most enjoy'

 

“Sometimes the characters develop almost without your knowing it. You find them doing things you hadn't planned on, and then I have to go back to page 42 and fix things. I'm not recommending it as a way to write . . . but it works for me.” – Barbara Mertz

 

Born in Canton, IL on this date in 1927, Mertz wrote under her own name and the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels.  A noted academic, she held multiple degrees in ancient history and Egyptology, including a Ph.D. in the latter field, and one of her mystery series (written as Peters) focuses on a professor who holds a degree in Egyptology.

 

Mertz wrote 71 mostly mystery and suspense books, although two of her nonfiction books on ancient Egypt also are still in print. More than a dozen of her books were nominated for or won best novel or best mystery awards, led by Trojan Gold; Naked Once More; The Last Camel Died at Noon; and Night Train to Memphis.

                                  

Named an Anthony Awards Grandmaster for mystery writing in 1986 and Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster in 1998, she wrote bestsellers right up until her death in 2013.   When asked why she liked writing mysteries, suspense and thrillers instead of “scholarly” works, she replied that it was what she most enjoyed. 

 

“There are lots of things to write about,” she said, “but I think it would be difficult to write books I don't like to read.”