In Conversation with Ang Pompano

You amble along a sidewalk reminiscent of a many-hued carpet that crackles and rustles as your feet plow through tiny drifts of burnished copper, crimson, caramelized bronze and honeyed old gold. The familiar scent of wood smoke drifting on the breeze paints the homey scene of someone putting another log on their fire. The amber leaves of the mountain ash droop, its branches laden with bright red berries portending a harsh winter ahead. Passing a towering evergreen hedge you hear the sigh of a sorrowful keen as the wind bemoans the slipping away of golden summer days.

The damp autumn leaves littering the sidewalk cling to your shoes as you climb the three steps to the front door of the Reading Room. Opening the door you are greeted by the comforting scents of old books, apple cider and cinnamon.

The ancient wooden floorboards creak and groan with every step as you make your way among the magical journeys, fascinating characters and exciting adventures yet to be experienced. The soft glow of a reading lamp and the low murmur of amiable voices let you know you’re nearing your destination. You take the only empty chair left in the circle and immediately you sense you are among friends.

A hush falls over the room as a well modulated baritone voice begins, “Welcome to the Reading Room, my friends. We’re glad you could join our conversation.

Our guest tonight is author, Ang Pompano, whose short stories have appeared in many anthologies, including Malice Domestic’s Anthony Award-Winning, Mystery Most Edible. His first novel When It’s Time for Leaving was nominated for an Agatha Best First Novel Award. His second novel, Diet of Death has been highly acclaimed. A member of Mystery Writers of America, he was awarded a Helen McCloy / MWA Scholarship for a novel in progress. He is the co-founder and editor of Crime Spell Books which publishes the annual anthology Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories. He served for many years as a board member of Sisters in Crime New England and has been on the New England Crime Bake Committee for fifteen years. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, and their two rescue dogs.

Please join me in welcoming our esteemed guest, author, Ang Pompano.

Thank you kindly my friend for taking the time to talk with us.

James: Have been any changes in your life since we last spoke, Ang?

Ang: James, it’s so great to be doing this interview with you. Thank you for all you do for writers and readers. My life has been pretty busy since we last talked. A doctor gave me a bad diagnosis a year or so ago. Thankfully he was very wrong. To celebrate my blessings, and to prove how wrong he was, I threw myself into my work along with a good measure of fun. I realized that life is too short to waste my time. I didn’t publish my first novel, When It’s Time for Leaving, until I was 72 years old. Talk about procrastination. I asked myself what I had been waiting for. So between having good times with family and friends, I wrote a second novel, Diet of Death, that I had been thinking about for a long time. It’s kind of Christmas in Connecticut meets Agatha Christie. I also co-founded Crime Spell Books along with Susan Oleksiw and Leslie Wheeler. They are both icons in the New England writing community. We edited and published Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories.

James: It’s my pleasure, my friend.

That must have been a very stressful time for you until you found out it was a misdiagnosis; even though something positive came out of your bad experience.

You certainly have been busy.

Would you care to tell us more about Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories and Crime Spell Books?

Ang: Thank you for asking that question, James. Best New England Crime Stories has had a close relationship with the New England Crime Bake since 2003. Crime Bake presents an annual award for the best short story by a New England author in honor of the late Al Blanchard, one of the conference founders. Part of the prize is publication in the anthology which was published by Level Best Books. When the last editors decided to move on to full-length mysteries, those of us on the Crime Bake Committee decided that the anthology had to continue not only for the sake of the Al Blanchard Award but for New England writers. When none of the options seemed acceptable three of us on the committee decided to take on the project. Susan and Leslie were both part of the original publishing teams. Their tactic knowledge has been invaluable. The beautiful cover for Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories, this year’s collection, was designed by Dar Albert who also designed the cover for Diet of Death.

James: What do you most value in a friend?

Ang: A friend to me is someone who looks out for you even when you don’t realize you need looking out for. They are someone who jumps in and helps without being asked and they want nothing in return. You have done that for me and many other authors in the past.

James: I like your description of a friend, it sounds like Proverbs 17:17 - “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

Describe yourself in three words.

Ang: Three positive words that I hope apply to me would be honest, sincere, and loyal. Three negative words would be procrastinator, slightly irreverent, shy. We all have two or more sides.

James: Well observed, unfortunately, a conversation on our natures is a deeply philosophical one best left for another day, I think.

Who in your life most inspired you?

Ang: I think a lot of people would say their parents. Mine certainly did. And my wife Annette constantly inspires me because she’s such a talented and strong woman. And this might be a bit of a role reversal, but my kids have given me a lot of inspiration. My daughter, Rosemarie, is a TV producer and writer who has made cracks in Hollywood’s glass ceiling. She has now moved on to producing Internet content. My son, Mike, works with blind students. He taught himself Braille and is working on his Ph.D. He writes academic pieces.

James: You have been blessed to be surrounded by a very gifted family, Ang.

Is there a difference between a writer and an author and if so, how would you make the distinction between the two?

Ang: I know there is a technical difference between the two. An author is a person who originates an idea and puts it on paper. A writer puts ideas on paper that are not necessarily their own. But in a broader sense, which is what I think you are asking about, the difference between a writer and an author is attitude. I wrote short stories and was published for many years but I did not consider myself an author. Then I noticed that the people who were the most successful were those who ate, drank, and slept the writing business. They wrote daily, they networked, they promoted, they were quick to call themselves authors. You are what you consider yourself to be.

James: How very astute; I like your conclusion, “You are what you consider yourself to be.”

Out of all of the books you’ve written or been a part of do you have a favourite?

Ang: I think every writer has a soft spot for their first book. The thrill of finally getting published and all that goes with it sticks with you. But my favorite is always the work in progress. It has to be my favorite otherwise I’m not able to put my all into it. My goal was to use what I learned when writing When It’s Time for Leaving to make Diet of Death a better book. My goal now is to use what I learned from both of them to make the next book better.

James: Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in our mind. Everything that is past is a learning experience to grow on, a beautiful memory to reflect on or a motivating factor to act on.

What part of Diet of Death did you find the most challenging to write?

Ang: For the most part, I had fun writing Diet of Death. It was my pandemic project and I wanted it to be fun for myself and my readers. I did rely on my wife, who is an RN, to get the medical parts correct. I also have to give a shout-out to my writing group of twenty years. Lucy Burdette and Chris Falcone gave me tons of advice and encouragement.

James: What part of Diet of Death did you have the most fun writing?

Ang: That’s easy. I had a ball coming up with the off-the-wall recipes that Quincy Lazzaro makes. My favorite was the one for Tiramisu. I made it substituting the standard ingredients with the more everyday ingredients such as Twinkies and Cool Whip that I found in our kitchen. At the time I had no idea that Twinkie Tiramisu was a real thing. You can find many recipes for it on the Internet. Most of them are more palatable than the one Quincy makes.

James: I’m gobsmacked; you had Twinkies in your kitchen? LOL

Which of the Characters in the Quincy Lazzaro, Mike St. Martin, Nike DeNardo, or Al DeSantis novels do you relate to most and why?

Ang: I relate in some way to all of my protagonists, even Nike DeNardo who runs a one-woman detective agency. Each of them, Quincy, Mike, Nike, and Al have flaws just as I do. But each in their way tries to be honest, caring, and strives to make the world a better place. I’ve tried to write them to be a version of the me I wish to be.

James: If you were to write a spin-off about a side character from any of your books, which would you pick?

Ang: It’s been suggested that Mary Ticarelli, the outspoken but well-meaning octogenarian who teams up with Quincy to ghostwrite the “Cooking with Betty” column would make a good protagonist in her own mystery series. I have a soft spot for older people and I think it’s time to give Mary a book.

James: I look forward to that.

What is the single question no one ever asks you that you wish someone would ask?

Ang: Nobody has ever asked me why I write. It may be just as well because I don’t have a good answer for that. I was looking through my high school yearbook and I noticed that many teachers and classmates wrote that they hoped I’d continue writing. At the time I wrote for the school newspaper and literary journal. That seems to show that I’ve been writing all of my life, but that doesn’t answer why. It might be because I’m shy and writing gives me the chance to express myself without the filter that I use when talking directly to someone. It might be because I can type as fast as I can think, yet I have the chance to edit out that which I decide I don’t want to share. Or it might be that just like everyone else, I have something to say and writing is the best way to reach as many people as possible.

James: It seems that you’ve given that question considerable thought.

Pick one excerpt from one of your books you would like to share with readers.

Ang: This exchange with Mary takes place when Quincy shows up to interview Dr. Tolzer for the “Cooking with Betty” food column and the diet guru demands to talk to Betty. What the doctor and the rest of the world don’t know is that Betty doesn’t exist. The column is written by Quincy, who is cooking challenged, and Mary who happens to be an excellent cook. Later Quincy and Mary team up to solve Tolzer’s murder.

"Betty, I'm at the interview with Dr. Tolzer." I held my phone tight to my ear and turned away so Tolzer couldn't hear Mary's side of the conversation.

"Betty? Are you hopped up on something?"

Hopped up? Where does she get this stuff?

"I'm not right now, Betty. But I may be later."

"Tolzer? Westport? You mean that diet guy? I thought he hated you, or at least Betty."

"Not anymore."

"So, are you in drag or something?"

"Of course not. Betty, he wants to meet you."

"He wants to meet me?"

"Yes, Betty. The interview is so important that he wants you here in person tomorrow morning. Nine sharp. I told him you were very busy and most likely couldn't make it."

"Ahh, so you need me, huh?"

I was holding my phone so tight against my head that I could feel my ear getting hot. "That's right, Betty."

"Let me talk to him." There was excitement in her voice.

Tolzer was standing and shifting from foot to foot. "Well?" he said.

I put a disappointed look on my face. "So, you can't make it, Betty. That's too bad."

Mary was getting agitated on the other end of the line. "I can make it. Tell him. I made eggplant parmigiana, none for you if you don't tell him. No more recipes either, if you want to be stubborn about it." Most old people hold their wills over your head. Mary holds her recipes.

James: What made you choose this particular excerpt?

Ang: I picked this excerpt because it shows how feisty Mary can be and possibly why it’s been suggested that she deserves a book of her own.

Thanks again for having me here, James. I had fun!

James: It has been a privilege and my pleasure to get to know you better, my friend.