By Holly Black, author of White Cat, out now in hardback.
My new book, White Cat, is a noirish caper fantasy, set in a world where magic is illegal and mostly controlled by the Mob. Its protagonist is a young man named Cassel, who has to investigate his own past and figure out who he really is and what he’s really done, despite mysterious gaps in his memory. It was different than anything I’d written before – but fun too, writing about a con artist struggling with his sense of morality.
There is something really fascinating about liars and cheats to shy people like me, people who get palm-sweatingly nervous before giving speeches, people who had no idea that being a writer would involve standing up in front of real live people and saying things. A con artist wouldn’t be nervous. She would know how to manipulate people into trusting her. She would know how to manipulate people, period. I bet she could sell lots of books.
White Cat by Holly Black
In researching White Cat, I got to read about the techniques of the con. Basically, there are four phases – make the mark trust you, suggest the score, get the payoff, and get out without getting caught. Not so different from what a writer has to accomplish in a book, I guess — make the reader trust you, invest them in the plot, bring it to a grand conclusion — then speed away, leaving them wanting more.
Researching the history and types of cons made it more fun to experience the regular cons one runs into in daily life: the train station lurker who had her wallet stolen and only needs a little money to get a ticket home, the person who wants to sell you “authentic” designer purses out of the back of his truck, the store clerk who "accidentally" short-changes you.
Or, for instance, when I was in Paris this past year and my husband (who was off by himself) got stopped by a youngish guy speaking perfect English.
“Did you drop this?” the guy asked him, lifting a gold ring – almost like a wedding band – from the sidewalk.
Okay, it was not so much a gold ring as a golden ring. Goldish, even. Goldesque.
“No,” my husband said, confused.
“Well,” said they guy, with a shrug. “It looks like it might fit you. Try it on.”
He did.
“It looks good,” said the guy. “How about you give me 20 euros and keep it?”
My husband did, gleefully. I had been talking endlessly about my research and he was looking forward to telling me he’d actually been conned.
He headed back to our rented flat, when another guy stopped him.
“Did you drop this?” the guy said.
My husband smiled and held up the hand with the golden ring on it.
The guy walked away, shamelessly.
It's that audacious swagger I most admire.
When I do events, I like to ask people if they've ever pulled a con or a scam themselves. I've been surprised how many people have. What about you? Have a favorite scam you'd care to tell us about? Post it on our Facebook page for your chance to win a copy of White Cat.
