S. 3, Ep. 15: A Chat with Mystery Author Curtis Bausse

Debbi Mack interviews mystery author Curtis Bausse. The transcript is below, if you’d like to read it. Or download the PDF copy and read it later. Debbi: Hi everyone. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host, Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’d like to remind you that the Crime Cafe Nine Book Set and Crime Cafe Short Story Anthology, are available for sale on my website, debbimack.com and just click on “Crime Café”, and you’ll get to the buy links as well as the podcast subscribe buttons and the merchandise store. Now, having said that, I’m very pleased to have today with me mystery author Curtis Bausse [Pron: Bowse]. Did I say that correctly? Curtis: Well, it should be Bausse [Pron: Bose] normally, the French pronunciation. Debbi: Curtis Bausse. Curtis: I accept anything these days, you know. Debbi: But you go by Curtis, I assume. Curtis: Yeah, yeah sure. Debbi: Okay, Curtis, who comes to us from Provence. Am I saying that right? Curtis: That’s perfect, yeah. Debbi: Oh, fantastic! Well, it’s great to have you on and you are originally from Wales though. Curtis: Indeed, yes. Debbi: That’s awesome. Curtis: I grew up in Wales, educated in England and then I moved to France like ages ago. Shall we just say ages ago. Debbi: Ages ago. So you lived in Wales for a while. Curtis: I lived in Wales all my childhood and then went to school in England. I was actually, I’m pretty much Welsh. I’m 75%, but we lived very close to the border with England and I never learned to speak Welsh for example. I couldn’t understand Welsh, so my education is more English. Debbi: [agrees] Curtis: And then I moved to France. So, I’m a bit of a mix, yeah. Debbi: Okay, well I just have to ask, have you ever been to Portmeirion? Curtis: In Wales? Debbi: In Wales. Curtis: Uh, yes, a long, long time ago. Why do you have to ask that? Have you been? Debbi: I have to ask that because I’m a big huge fan of the TV show that was set there, The Prisoner. Curtis: The Prisoner. Yeah. Debbi: Whenever I see that place, I always think creepy, small town [laughs]. Curtis: You’re right, yeah. No, I went when I was a kid and that series was amazing. And I think afterwards it actually burnt down. Did you read about that? Debbi: I didn’t read about that, no. Curtis: There was a fire there in Portmeirion and I think that whole kind of set that they used burnt down. Whether they rebuilt it, I don’t know, but yeah. There was a fire there. Debbi: Wow! Because I know that there was quite an uproar after they aired the ending of the series. Curtis: Yeah. Debbi: To the point where Patrick McGoohan actually fled the country as I understand it. Curtis: Yeah, I didn’t know that. Debbi: Oh! I love that show though. So, what inspired you to move to France? Curtis: What inspired me? Well, my parents were always Francophiles. We came to France when I was a kid for holidays from the age of like eight or 10 onwards; you know we would come to France every year. I studied French at uni and I had what we call a sandwich year abroad when you study languages. So, I came to France during that year at the university and more or less fell in love with the country. Well, I was already pretty much, you know, and met my wife at that time. Debbi: [agrees] Curtis: And so settled there as soon as I left, as soon as I left uni in fact. Britain at that time (the UK) was not in a very great state. This is kind of the mid 70’s. More or less bankrupt and there wasn’t much that would, you know, want you to stay in Britain, and France was a very attractive proposition at that time. So, I came and settled and stayed ever since. Debbi: Huh. And where did you get the idea to write about Magali in your mysteries? Curtis: You mean where did I… Debbi: Why Curtis: …find her as a particular…