 Fame
& Fortune: Author Carol Higgins Clark
Follows mom's lead in career and investments
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Children of doctors, lawyers and
other professionals routinely follow in a parent's footsteps
without undue fanfare. But just let the offspring of a beloved best-selling
novelist dare to spin a tale and you'd think the pope was sporting
plaid.
Carol Higgins Clark raised eyebrows
initially by daring to place her name on the same mystery rack ruled
by her mother Mary Higgins Clark, America's No. 1-selling suspense
writer. But once readers read her charming 1992 debut "Decked"
and got to know Los Angeles private eye Regan Reilly through eight
best-selling comedic mysteries (each title is a single word ending
in "-ed"), there was little doubt that "like mother,
like daughter" (to paraphrase an old maxim) prevailed in the
Clark household.
Growing
up in New Jersey, Carol had her sights set on an acting career. When her mother
was having trouble finding time to launch a literary career and work full time
to support her five children, Carol volunteered to retype her manuscripts. Her
apprenticeship paid off. Mary's suspenseful 1975 debut, "Where Are the Children?"
was a runaway hit. Carol, fresh out of Mount Holyoke College, continued as kitchen-table
collaborator and was soon dispatched to Los Angeles to record the audio versions
of her mother's books. When an audio editor suggested that Carol try her hand
at her mother's trade, she did so, giving it her own humorous spin.
Mother and daughter have teamed
up on three best-selling holiday suspense novels, "Deck the
Halls," "He Sees You When You're Sleeping" and "The
Christmas Thief." In Carol's latest Regan Reilly adventure,
"Hitched," she marries her heroine to steady boyfriend
Jack "No Relation" Reilly, ushering in a new chapter to
her popular series.
Bankrate
grilled Clark by phone as she gazed out over the East River from the 38th-floor
Manhattan apartment she calls the wisest investment she ever made. Bankrate:
You and your mother both grew up in the New York area.
Carol Higgins Clark:
Yes, I grew up in New Jersey, and she grew up in the Bronx. She
met my father there and they moved to Manhattan and lived in Stuyvesant
Town, which is a development that couples moved to after World War
II. They lived there in a two-bedroom apartment until my mother
was pregnant with me -- I'm the fourth of five kids -- and she said
to my father, "We have to go house hunting this weekend."
They ended up in New Jersey.
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