August Snow was one of last year’s sleeper hits—and deservedly so. The beautifully written, fast-paced thriller gave readers a tour of Detroit and its suburbs, and introduced them to a charming new literary hero: the half-black, half-Mexican lead character, the eponymous Mr. Snow.
Author Stephen Mack Jones has had an life interesting journey himself. I discussed that with him over email, along with his hometown, crime fiction, and the most important question of all: When can we expect a sequel?
A transcript is below:
Ethan Epstein: August Snow has a profound sense of place; it’s almost journalistic or even like a travel guide in how it brings Detroit to life. How did you go about evoking such detail? Did you do serious reportage, like a journalist? Or was it simply based on your memories and lived experiences?
Stephen Mack Jones: There’s a kind of persistent stereotype shorthand that’s often used to talk about Detroit; it’s the corroded buckle in the Rust Belt or the former glory of Motown. The truth is Detroit is a very deep, intriguing, and nuanced enigma. I mean, if you’ve lived here for as long as I have, you see, hear, feel, taste and touch the distinctions and details that are often neglected in representations of the city. Bringing Detroit to life in August Snow was both recollection and investigation. It was memories and experiences balanced with research. I’m nowhere near being a journalist—that’s hard work! But in writing August Snow I certainly came to appreciate the tenacity with which journalists go after details and accuracy. And, if you’ve ever read any of my publisher’s other books (Soho Press)—James Benn’s “Billy Boyle” World War II mysteries or Sujata Massey’s incredible The Widows of Malabar Hill—you see how towns, villages and cities become characters with their own distinct rhythms and color palettes. That’s the kind of writing that draws me in. Like Pelecanos’s Washington, D.C., Connelly’s L.A. or Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh.
EE: August Snow deals with serious themes: race relations, police corruption, the tense relations between rich suburbs and poor cities. How did writing a fast-paced thriller help to bring out those ideas? Did you consider writing a different kind of novel? Or even a non-fiction book?
SMJ: I’ve always loved mystery novels. Mystery and science fiction. Anything from Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie, Robert B. Parker, Ray Bradbury and Walter Mosely. Nothing like being down for the count with a cold or the flu and having a nice cup of tea and an Agatha Christie novel as comfort! So, me writing a thriller wasn’t much of a stretch. I never considered any other form; non-fiction is too rigorous for me. I have friends who are reporters and their patience, persistence, organization skills, and overall resolve are way beyond what capacity I have! But social commentary through popular fiction is nothing new; it’s often been how important ideas and powerful opinions get mainstreamed. That’s what Charles Dickens did when it came to his disgust with child labor. That’s what Octavia Butler did by showing futures populated with powerful black protagonists. So, frankly, I’m just another guy with a laptop dispensing bitter bits of reality—social injustice, racial, and economic inequity—through the always delicious Concord grape flavor of the thriller genre.
EE: This is your first published novel, though I note you are in your early 60s! Do you have dozens of others lying around in filing cabinets? Or is this the first novel you completed?
SMJ: Yeah, man, I’m 63! Seriously, I feel like I should be the AARP poster-elder for exciting second careers! And no, I don’t have drawers full of unpublished novels waiting to be recycled. I do have notes, outlines, scribbles and chapters for several other novels I’m currently working on and have in mind. August Snow is really my third novel, but it’s the only one I’ve been very pleased with and the first accepted by an established, well-respected publishing house (Soho Press).
EE: Relatedly, can you talk a little about your career path? What brought you to this point?
SMJ: If you actually charted my “career path” it would probably look like a sugared up 2-year-old child’s crayon scribble. I was in advertising/marketing communications for over 30 years. Young & Rubicam, McCann-Erickson, Wunderman. Somewhere in there was a software company, a toy store, and two produced stage plays (Back in the World, The American Boys.) What brought me to August Snow was mowing the lawn three years ago. For whatever reason, those two words—“august” and “snow”—settled on my mind. After three or four days, the words occupied a growing section of my brain. I thought, I’d better do something about this—write a story around those words, or seek therapy. I chose the cheaper option; write a story. I already had a basic story outline with a nameless protagonist. That was when I named my baby.
EE: Your book deals with a profound split in the Detroit area: the impoverished urban core versus rich suburbs. It seems you have (justifiable) anger about what happened to the city of Detroit. Yet I note you yourself live in the suburbs. I’m not questioning that choice per se. Just wondering, does it leave you open to charges of hypocrisy?
SMJ: Years ago, I may have been angered by Detroit’s socio-economic dichotomy. These days I’m more puzzled by it. If you discovered a vein of gold within easy reach, what possible reason would you have not to mine it? Detroit’s always been that rich vein of gold when it comes to black people, their abundance of talents, vision, educational stature and work ethic. But, as an example, I once worked with a white lady—the vice president of human resources at a software company—who joked during a meeting that she could and had fiddled with numbers making it look like the company had more black employees than it actually did. Never mind the company was desperate for people with IT skills! Why would you be within reach of actual gold, but refuse to mine it? Isn’t that counterintuitive? I’ve lived in Detroit and, yeah, now I live in the ‘burbs. I don’t regret moving to the ‘burbs and I don’t apologize for it. If anyone wants to call me a hypocrite for living in the ‘burbs, cool. Couldn’t care less. Might’ve cared up to the age of 40. I’m 23 years past the age of caring about that. Aretha Franklin lives in Bloomfield Hills. Ain’t nobody calling for her to relinquish her “Queen of Soul” crown. My wife and I were responsible for making sure our kids went to good schools and that’s something the city still struggles with. Plus, I like being surrounded by nature. I like mowing the lawn. It’s kind of Zen, ya know? And there’s nothing like a hot cup of Michigan cherry-infused coffee and watching deer chew on your rose bushes.
EE: How has the book been received in Detroit in particular? It is critical (though loving) in many ways.
SMJ: August Snow has been well-received, with the exception being the local media where word about the book—any word—has been fairly muted. People who’ve read it here have been very positive about the book. I’ve spoken at number of libraries including the Grosse Pointe Ewald Branch Library, Farmington Library, Parchment Library (Kalamazoo), Madonna University Library and the Southfield Public Library. At each visit I’ve talked to anywhere from 30 to 60 people. Folks who’ve read the book. The response has been overwhelmingly positive for which I’m grateful. I got a letter from a retired university professor originally from Detroit who has lived and worked in Southern California for the past 40 years. She loved the book! She said it brought back fond memories of places she’d gone to with her parents, restaurants she’d eaten at, people she had known. For the most part, Detroiters own up to the harsher aspects of living here. Why deny it? It’s a tough town! It’s also a very generous city.
EE: Will a TV or film be made of August Snow? I know that Harvey Weinstein expressed interest in doing one, but obviously that is probably no longer possible.
SMJ: I’ve just secured an option with a really fantastic production company. I’d love to tell you who they are, but I’d rather wait until they make the announcement themselves. I’ve talked with these folks a couple times and I know what they can do and have done worldwide in both film and television. They’re dedicated to great storytelling.
EE: The big question: Will there be more August Snow novels? Please say yes!
SMJ: Okay—yes! The second August Snow book will be released January 9, 2019. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work on book three. And I thought this was going to be a nice, quiet Ovaltine-and-Netflix retirement…
