Author Libby Hellmann loves reading, writing, the city of Chicago and life on the North Shore. Triblocal recently talked with Hellmann about her writing career and the role that Chicago’s North Shore plays in her own life as well as her crime fiction stories.

Her latest book, “Doubleback,” will be out in October.

Q: How did you get into writing and begin your career as an author?
A: It was all by chance. I never thought that I was going to be writing books. I thought, if anything, that I would be making films. That’s my background. I have a master’s degree in film production from New York University. I worked in feature film and television news for about eight years.

At one point, I was on the news desk in Washington on the overnight shift. I worked from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. After about fourth months of that, I thought maybe there was something else I could do with my life. So I moved to Chicago and started working at a public relations firm, where I worked for eight more years. Then I went out on my own.

It really wasn’t until about 12 years ago that I started writing novels. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I love crime fiction. But I was writing a lot of nonfiction—speeches, manuals, scripts for videos and promotional stuff. I thought I had an appreciation for good language, but some of the books I was reading were so bad that I’d throw them across the room and say, “I could do better than that.”

My dad died shortly after that. Four months later, I came up with arguably the worst mystery novel ever written. But I had caught the bug. Then I wrote another one and another one after that. The fourth book that I wrote was published.

Q: How do you describe your own writing?
A: I tend toward the darker side of crime fiction, but I also want to appeal to people just like me. People who are curious and intelligent and want something a little more than pure entertainment when they escape into a book. I hope that’s what my writing contains.

Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: A lot of ideas come from what’s going on in the world. For example, in “Doubleback,” I was thinking about Blackwater-type firms that were so important in Iraq. There were articles about how they had killed all these civilians and whether they should be subject to military law. They said they weren’t military, but you couldn't really call them civilians either. In fact, they thought they weren’t subject to either civil or military jurisdiction.

I thought the situation was pretty scary. It brought up all sorts of horror stories from the past. So I wanted to write a novel with a security firm at its heart. Of course, there are a lot of security firms in thrillers these days. So I hope mine captures peoples' attention.

At the same time, I had this image of a first chapter that had nothing to do with security issues. It involves six people in an elevator that stops suddenly. The lights go out, and the people think they are going to die. They are in an office building in downtown Chicago.

A few minutes later, the elevator starts up normally, descends to the first floor, and everyone falls out of the elevator. One guy is hurt. The last guy gets off the elevator, looks at his watch, and says to himself, “Right on schedule.”

The rest of the book is my effort to connect that first chapter to the rest of the plot. It was a challenge to say the least. So, to answer your question, some of my ideas come from the news, some come from my subconscious, and others I have no idea.

Q: Your novels all have ties to the North Shore. Why do you include the North Shore in your stories? Some of the start in the North Shore, and your most recent novel actually leaves Chicago and ends in Arizona.
A: Because they say, “Write what you know.” And I do know the North Shore. I’ve lived here over 20 years. I think people get a kick out of reading about locations and the institutions they know so well—the schools, the homes and stores.

Q: What do you like most about living on the North Shore?
A: I love going downtown Chicago. I think it’s the most alive, vibrant, livable city that I’ve ever lived in. But I also love leaving the city and coming up to an area that’s wooded and pastoral and you can hear birds. I live near the forest preserve. Sometimes deer walk across my front yard. It's just a lovely place to live.

Q: What is your process like as a writer?
A: I used to be a lot more disciplined. Ideally, I get up in the morning, spend an hour writing, work out, eat breakfast, then spend the rest of the morning writing. In the afternoon, I'd do errands and promotion.

If I get in a good two hours of writing a day, that’s a great day. Unfortunately, that almost never happens. I can’t believe that I’ve actually written—well this is my sixth novel, and then there were three that weren’t published. At any rate, it’s hard to imagine that I've actually written that much because I feel so scattered and unfocused so much of the time. Now, I try for three to four pages a day, but as I said, there are a lot of days that don’t measure up.

Q: Your latest book, “Doubleback,” will be out in October. What is up next for you?
A: What I’m working on is really different. I’m writing a book that takes place during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It’s more mainstream than my other novels. There is a crime—a murder. But only one. This book is more psychological—and, hopefully, captivating.

The irony is how reality is mirroring my work. Who knew there was going to be another—or almost—Iranian revolution? There is a tremendous amount that was written about the first revolution. The Internet is brimming with informaiton and accounts. In that way, the research I've done has been relatively easy—I really haven't had to leave the house. I also have people that I can talk to who are Iranian American. And I've read about a dozen books about that era.

I hope to have it finished by the end of summer or fall. Then, I'll start another crime fiction book, with Georgia Davis, my private investigator who lives and works on the North Shore. I like alternating between writing about the North Shore and something that's totally different. It keeps me fresh.

Q: You are a volunteer with the Northfield Historical Society. What else do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?
A: I’m a gardener—right now I have a lot of squash. I love to listen to blues and live music, and of course, I read all the time. When my kids are in town, my schedule is a little more crowded, but that’s fun, too.

Hellmann will be appearing at the Northfield Library, the Northbrook Library as well as at The Book Stall this coming fall.

To find out more about Hellmann's past novels and upcoming book, visit her Web site at www.libbyhellmann.com.

See a trailer of Hellmann’s “Doubleback” by clicking here.

Hellmann is also a blogger at www.theoutfitcollective.blogspot.com, where she blogs with nine other Chicago crime fiction authors.

 —Kimberly Reishus
Triblocal.com reporter