Beth Hilgartner Views
Beth Hilgartner was born in Baltimore and is now a deacon of the Episcopal Church in Barre, Vermont. A MURDER FOR HER MAJESTY was inspired by her experiences singing in a church choir and her interest in the early Elizabethan period. Her husband, Ernest Drown, is a church organist who in no way resembles the grouchy Master Kenton.
Beth Hilgartner leads a varied life. According to her home page, she writes books, is an ordained Episcopal priest, and makes classical music (singing soprano as well as playing recorders). She also teaches private music students (beginning to intermediate piano, voice, and recorder), and makes recorders. She runs a small-scale cut flower and seedling business. One suspects she's also found a way to harness time and isn't telling the rest of us. (Or perhaps Fluffy and PKP are helping her out?)
Elizabeth Hilgartner: Usually, I don't have a clue where my ideas come from, but this time, there's a fairly clear trail. I remember seeing -- some time ago now -- a cartoon in The New Yorker that showed two goofy looking dogs on a street corner. One was saying: e"The great thing about the Internet is that no one knows you're a dog! " I smiled and thought to myself, "That would be really funny if it were cats. The Internet isn't really a dog thing.r" That wasn't quite enough, all by itself, but then, after I started working for Interactive Media Lab at Dartmouth Medical School, I came home from work one evening to find my three cats sitting on the kitchen table with that look of studied innocence that makes me instantly suspicious. I thought, e"I wonder what you guys do all day while I'm at work...o" and ...snap!... I realized that my cats get on the Internet and trade stocks and futures and get into trouble -- because no one can tell they are cats!
Elizabeth Hilgartner: I wrote this story not so much as on a whim as in the grip of a compulsion. Typically, I don't think much about markets and audiences (must be why I have to do so many other things besides just write!), but I was (and remain) convinced that this story has wide appeal and would make a great live-action animated feature film. While I was working on the story, I tried to place it with a number of the bigger book houses; I got an amazing number of very flattering, personal rejection letters, but no one quite dared to take it on. When I sent the manuscript to Meisha Merlin, they snapped it right up -- even though they are dog people (they even have a dog on their logo!!).
Beth Hilgartner Images
