When you walk into Janet Costello’s ‘library in the sky’, you know just the kind of person she is: smart, articulate, and extremely well read. And we’re not kidding about ‘library’. Wall to wall bookcases line Janet’s living room, which includes a centre isle of back-to-back bookcases. Heaven. Take a peek into her closets and you’ll know even more about her: cases of red wine signal the warm and generous person she is.
Rather than write fiction, Janet says she prefers to shine the spotlight on others, and indeed she does this by doing interviews with writers. She is a supporter of all mystery writers, with extra shout-outs for Canadians, Sisters in Crime and her blogmates. Janet has volunteered for several conferences, including Bouchercon 2004, Bloody Words 2010, and can be seen any place where she can pitch in. She has a special knack for creating a variety of puzzles, which are regularly featured in the SinC newsletter.
But reading is where Janet truly inspires awe. Her rush reading pile…well, actually, it’s three bookcases. Rush Rush reading pile – twenty-four books at the moment. She says her influences are biographer Nancy Mitford, Inside the Actor’s Studio’s James Lipton, Edgar Wallace, Nevil Shute, Dick Francis and Ruth Rendell. For their gracious and generous manner at all times, Canadian mystery writers Louise Penny and Anthony Bidulka.
Frankly, if we’re talking gracious and generous, Janet embodies these attributes in spades. I’m proud to call her my friend. Her first post will be on Tuesday May 31.
Melodie Campbell
