The Montana Standard
Newspaper Article on May 2, 1993
Writer Elated, Terrified Over Success of First Mystery Book
“Editor’ note: Sandra West Prowell will sign her new book, “By Evil Means,” at Plaza Books Saturday, May 8, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.
By Carmen Winslow, Standard Lifestyles Editor
Phoebe Siegel’s appearance into author Sandra West Prowell’s head was so profound, “it woke me up in the middle of the night,’
That’s what Prowell says about Siegel, the sensitive yet strong private eye and the main character in Prowell’s new book, “By Evil Means,” which has recently gone into a second printing after a sold-out first edition of 2,500 copies. Her publisher is Walker and Co. of New York.
A Montana Person
Prowell, a Helena native who lives in Billings, conjured Siegel from the depths of her imagination.
“She’s a Montana person, her father was Jewish and her mother an Irish-Catholic,” which gives the character “all the guilt and angst” one could possibly imagine. Prowell says, and then she laughs.
“By Evil Means” weaves a mysterious tale of cover-ups, bribery, and murder with Siegel, a divorced ex-cop from Billings, at the helm of a tangled and twisted investigation.
Prowell, 49, who launched her writing career seven years ago, says Siegel “is not the kind of female that needs rescuing. I have a problem with the victim role with women … women a lot of times are born into victim roles. I think there is a time when you choose not to be a victim.”
As a writer, Prowell believes she has an obligation to do more than entertain: she wants to educate.
“I want (Siegel) to be a role model. I wanted her to be real, to be human. That was important.”
Though Prowell is relatively new to the world of writing, especially the world of the PUBLISHED author, she is finding the experience memorable, to say the least.
“This business can chew you up and spit you out. It’s very humbling. You have to figure I’m a poor kid off the south side of Helena with limited education, and for something like this to happen is a dream come true and terrifying at the same time.”
In a telephone interview from her Billings homes, where her parrots squawked loudly in the background (one mimics the arguments of its former owners), Prowell explained that she is a fourth-generation Montanan with a ninth-grade education. She describes her youth as “errant” but declines to expound.
Though the formal schooling is not there, the real-life experiences are: She has pressed draperies, worked in a hospital laundry, groomed poodles, and taught ceramics in her basement. She is married, has two adult children and five grandchildren, and lives with her husband, a 10-year-old grandson, three parrots, two cats, and two dogs.
“This is truly the fourth dimension,” says Prowell.
She looks at the success of “By Evil Means” – and her own achievement in the fickle books industry – with that Montana matter-of-factness: “It’s not that I’m flat-lining this. I think I’m a grounded person. We’re very reality-based here (in Montana). And that’s the way it should be. I have a family. I have a life. This (writing) is what I do, but it’s a small part of my life, although it has consumed me.”
Fishing Anticipation
Perspective is key, and in the wake of a busy promotional circuit, Prowell said she’s anxious about getting her 1993 fishing license and for the season to begin.
Prowell said she’s always been a writer and a voracious reader (“My mother passed that on to me”), but the impetus to churn out a novel didn’t surface until her daughter got married.
“I decided to stop teaching ceramics and write. It’s just something I always wanted to do.”
Her first book, “Season of the Bear,” written seven years ago, is the tale of a grizzly in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where Prowell grew up hunting and fishing. The book was never published. Undaunted, Prowell then slipped into the genre of mystery writing, penning the rough draft of “By Evil Means” in 30 days.
Just Sat Down
“I just sat down and started writing. I think stories build up in your mind over the years. And I’ve always loved mysteries.”
Prowell says she has “a weird process of writing,” in that the segments “have to be completely written in my head with all the plot problems worked out” before her fingers touch the keyboard.
“I need to know what the character eats, sleeps, and thinks … I need to define them, and then it’s just a matter of transcribing it. I sit down at my computer and kind of puke it out.”
