Why This Year's Malice Was Different

Jeff Cohen

Forgive me if I sound tired.

I just returned from Bethesda, Maryland, the scene of the annual Malice Domestic conference of traditional mystery writers, readers, editors, agents, booksellers and for all I know bookbinders, always a highlight of the year. This year's is a little more of a blur than usual for reasons that have nothing to do with writing, but it was still a fun and interesting weekend.

Sure, I had my room upgraded (because my non-smoking room's previous guest appeared to have been the Marlboro Man) to one with a terrace, and there was the traditional dinner from my wonderful publisher Friday night, at which I not only got to sit next to the incomparable Shannon Jamieson Vazquez, but also met the lovely and funny Diane Vallere, who respects comedy and writes about Doris Day (sort of). Yes, I was on a panel with swell fellow panelists and a fantastic moderator, and there was the usual camaraderie among the authors. Sure, there was a very enjoyable lunch with my good friend Julia Spencer-Fleming, her equally hyphenated husband Ross Hugo-Vidal and the terrific Jenny Milchman. It was all fun.

But let's face it, the highlight was meeting Maggie Evans.

Kathryn Leigh Scott, author of a number of fiction and non-fiction books, has written more than one mystery in her career. But her secret life (not at all secret, actually) was the reason I went to Author's Alley to hear her talk. Ms. Scott was once the fiancee of Barnabas Collins of Collinsport, Maine.

Kathryn Leigh Scott was a cast member of Dark Shadows.

Now, to anyone who grew up at the right time (the series began in 1966), I shouldn't have to say more. To anyone who saw the 2012 Johnny Depp version of Dark Shadows, suffice it to say the TV version wasn't like that. There were times when it was indeed hilarious, but unintentionally--the subject matter was always treated seriously, even with vampires, mad scientists, werewolves, Frankenstein monsters and really unconvincing bats.

To suggest that a daytime soap opera was a cultural phenomenon is usually the kind of thing that would smack of a publcist's hyperbole. But Dark Shadows, the very definition of an unusual TV soap opera, reached that height. After all, the other daytime shows might have had infidelities, amnesia, tortured doctors and perhaps even the occasional murder, but that was pedestrian stuff.

Dark Shadows had a tortured vampire, Barnabas Collins, and he was in love with (depending on whether the storyline was taking place in the 1960s or the 1760s--it was like that) Josette DuPres or Maggie Evans.

Kathryn Leigh Scott was both of those women, and even at that age (I was nine when the show premiered, and probably started watching it about a year later), I thought Barnabas had a point. I had a massive crush on Josette. Or Maggie. Or Ms. Scott.

So when she appeared at Malice, I had to be there to say hello and grin like an idiot, because even all these years later--perhaps especially all these years later--that's what you do. One of the other attendees at Ms. Scott's Author's Alley talk noted, "This is the one that all the guys came to see."

Later (after I'd bought one of her novels-- Dark Passages, an affectionate homage to a certain soap--and asked her to sign it, something I was also happy to do for anyone who asked, of course) she happened to walk over near the inevitable bar and we struck up a conversation. She was gracious, charming and unpretentious, talking about stage performances she'd seen and thought especially interesting and how humor can be written in any situation, a topic near and dear to my heart.

And that was it. We talked for a while, it was nice to meet her, and then I went to say hi to Janet Reid and the wonderful Hank Phillipi Ryan (winner of this year's Agatha for best novel--good for you, Hank!) and Con Lehane and the musical Brad Parks and Terri Bischoff and Nikki Bonnani and Luci Zahray and PJ Coldren and Debbi Mack and... I could go on.

I like going to Malice. Always lots of very nice readers (a few of whom mentioned DEAD GUY favorably--thank you!) and pals you don't get to see nearly enough. Each year it's fun to renew acquaintances and make new friends.

But I'll remember this one as the year I met Maggie Evans.

Comments

[toni lotempio]

I was a Dark Shadows nut too, Jeff. And I actually went to the studio and met Jonathan Frid and Lara Parker back when I was in High School. It's something I'll always remember. And I've met Kathryn at a couple of DS conventions when they used to hold them in NY at the Marriott and WTC - hopefully she'll be at Malice next year!

[Matt Kaufhold]

Nice one!

[Patty]

Another huge Dark Shadows fan here. Too bad I'll never get a chance to meet someone like Kathryn, people almost never come to South Dakota and since the con in Omaha seems to have gone away it is unlikely I'll make it to one anytime soon.

[PJ Nunn]

I wasn't allowed to watch Dark Shadows back then, so when we'd visit my Grandma, I'd sneak back into her dark den and turn it on while my folks were otherwise occupied. It was bigger than life, wasn't it? Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing and reminding me how old we are =)

[Mario in DC]

Closest I ever got was seeing Jonathan Frid playing Jonathon Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC many many years ago, and I felt that "OMG it's really *him*!" frisson from all the way out in the audience. The very idea of being in the same room, at the same bar, within talking distance of Maggie Evans ... Actually having a conversation with her ... Be still, my all-too-rapidly-beating heart!

I watched DS almost from the beginning while I was in high school and managed to hook my mother on it. On the days neither of us could watch it, my very patient father taped it for us so we could at least listen to it. (Audio tape. This was long before the VCR!) What a show that was.

[Julia Spencer-Fleming]

Ross, as a kid in Maine, was of course a huge DARK SHADOWS fan. He just about popped his cork when he saw that Kathryn Leigh Scott was, through the intercession of the alphabet, sitting next to me.

You're right, I think every man at the convention turned out to buy her books and get her signature. (And a lot of ladies as well!) Also, up close and personal? She looks amazing. I would have guessed you were the adult and she was the nine-year-old in this account.

[toni lotempio]

OMG - my mother used to write it down for me when I had Glee club! good times.

[Jeff Cohen]

Gee, thanks, Julia .

[Nina Ogle]

For you "original" fans out there - we do have conventions every year and Kathryn, along with many of the other members of the cast, graciously attend. You should too! www.DarkShadowsFestival.com for info.

[Diane Vallere]

Thanks for the shout out, Jeff! I've already changed up my Netflix queue based on your suggestions.

[BigFan]

DARK PASSAGES is interesting for Dark Shadows fans, but tame compared to DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HEELS. Heels is an A+ page turner and I think has been optioned for a film. She's even written a sequel.