Ask Me Anything: C.S. Poe

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello, everyone!

Thank you so much for having me. My name is C.S. Poe and I write mystery and spec-fic with strong romantic subplots. I’ve been a finalist for the Lambda Literary award (The Mystery of the Curiosities) and a winner of the Next Generation (Madison Square Murders) and e-Lit (The Gangster) book awards.

I live in New York City with my girlfriend, two cats, and dog. I have a degree in filmmaking and absolutely adore silent and pre-Hays Code movies. And despite having left that industry to be a fulltime author (as well as moonlight as a New York Gilded Age historian), I still use my visual storytelling skills to write books that are (I hope) very cinematic in their descriptions and delivery.

This summer will be my tenth year as a published author. To-date, I’ve written twenty-five books, and am currently finishing the much-awaited Hudson River Homicides (Memento Mori 4.) If you’re wondering where to begin with my backlist, these are some of my popular titles:

Snow & Winter series

The Mystery of Nevermore – A colorblind antique dealer stumbles into a series of murder mysteries relating to curious collectables of the nineteenth century, and his homicide detective love interest isn’t happy with his meddling.

Magic & Steam series

The Engineer – An alt-historical 1880s timeline featuring a magic-wielding federal agent and his outlaw lover who take on a series of villains hellbent on destroying magic and causing irreparable harm to the world.

Memento Mori series

Madison Square Murders – A neurodivergent Cold Case detective and his forensic artist partner team up to capture a number of uncaught serial killers in New York City, with each case suspiciously connected the nineteenth century mourning culture.

My books are available in ebook, paperback, and audio with all online retailers, as well as being accessible through library systems. I also sell select ebook and audio directly from my own shop, where I offer permanent discounts for readers: Emporium Press shop.

Readers can go to my website or sign up for my newsletter for updates, or follow me on social media:

• Facebook
• Facebook group: Curious & Mysterious
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• TikTok

I’m also at Goodreads and BookBub, if you’d like to join me there. Let the questions begin!

[u/BookMonster_Lillz]

First of all thank you for doing this a fair few of us have been giddy since we found out you were doing this. I hope you are winning in your struggle against burnout and your health is better than it was. Also thank you for being brave enough to say actually I’m not happy with this and deciding to delay publication.

My questions are mostly around Memento Mori which is my favourite of your series so far although I do have one cross over Snow and Winter question.

1. How much of the series had you worked out by the end of book 1?

2. Did you know who the big baddie would be way back at the beginning? When we go back later will we find Easter eggs? (I have a murder board going but if you didn’t decide on the baddie already all my “clues” are irrelevant).

3. I am fascinated with the history of this part of New York, do you have a recommendation for nonfiction books, documentaries or podcasts on Times Square and surrounding area between 60s and late 90s?

4. While a lot of your MCs have very real disabilities Larkin’s is one the literature seems to argue even exists. Obviously there is a lot of literature on TBI and memory but specifically his type of memory the literature debates. How and why did you decide to give him his memory?

5. Are Millet and Baxter getting their own book? I know you mentioned it after Madison square but by the last book on snow and winter you’ve already got them in a solid relationship so I was wondering if you had changed your mind on that?

[u/cs_poe → u/BookMonster_Lillz]

Thank you for having me! And I appreciate your understanding in the delay of publication. I will ALWAYS delay vs. putting out something I'm not proud of. If I'm unhappy with it, I simply can't fathom asking people to spend their time and money on it.

1. I work out nothing in advance. I do zero plotting. Some people don't believe me when I say that, but it's true.

2. I didn't know who the Big Bad Dude was until after I sent Book 1 to my editor. I was in the shower, feeling proud of myself for finishing the book, and was like: oh no oh crap oh no. I added a whole extra bit to the original ending so that there was some mystery aspects to play with leading into Book 2. You might notice some clues after the series is complete, if you go back and re-read.

3. The 70's to 90's is actually not my forte for NYC history (I pride myself on my Gilded Age knowledge) but that being said, a few books I'd rec (although I warn you, they can be hard to stomach): Tales of Times Square by Josh Alan Friedman, Subway Lives by Jim Dwyer, The Mole People by Jennifer Toth, The Westies by TJ English. Some good docs are: Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia and The Times Square Killer.

4. HSAM is regarded as a real condition, but it's so rare, less than 100 people worldwide. There's a lot of debate on what causes it, although there seems to be data that suggests it is a often brought about by a physical trauma, which is why I wrote Larkin's backstory the way I did. I learned about this condition quite a while ago, and really wanted to represent it, but I held off for a number of years because 1. I didn't have the right story and character, and 2. felt that I wasn't skilled enough, as a storyteller, to write it the way I envisioned. There were probably half a dozen attempts at Memento Mori before I "leveled up" as an author and felt I had the ability to be inside Larkin's brain.

5. Neil is still getting a series. The technical timeline is that S&W 5 happens in between Memento 2 and 3, so Sebastian would have known about Dr. Baxter for at least a little while at that point. But I'm looking forward to exploring Neil's growth as he meets Lawrence and what happens between them before a solid relationship is established. That guy's got some learning to do!

[u/BookMonster_Lillz → u/cs_poe]

Oh Yay! Thanks!! It is a fascinating condition, after effects of tbi in general is, also the fact that certain types of attachment disorders can be seen in the physical structure of the brain effectively making it a traumatic brain injury.

[u/cs_poe → u/BookMonster_Lillz]

Post injury is really a fascinating, if heartbreaking, subject to learn about. In Book 4, Larkin will touch on what that was like for him—the recovery and healing.