This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Who, what, when, where, why and how.
For 25 years, Joe Costanzo spent his days answering these six questions as a self-described "old-school" reporter at the Deseret News . He never put a hint of himself into any of the hundreds of crime and courts stories he wrote; just the facts, in black and white. In that way he resembles Anthony Logan, the main character in Graphic Times , Costanzo's first novel published earlier this year.
Costanzo says the murder mystery is pure fiction, but acknowledges there is something of himself in his character of a hard-boiled but disgraced reporter on a quest to redeem himself with the help of his photographer friend Jettie Wetherill, a woman Logan portrays as the polar opposite of himself. She's "the most credulous, impressionable person I had ever met," Logan remarks early in the book.
Costanzo left the Deseret News 10 years ago and made writing a novel his goal. He knew creating fiction would challenge him to write in a much less straightforward way.
He mirrors his own transformation from journalist to novelist in Logan, who in the novel finds himself in the midst of a story that cannot be retold without some speculation and personal involvement despite Logan's penchant for what he calls " AP Stylebook journalism," meaning journalism that meticulously follows every rule.
Logan begins his story as a reporter humiliated (and fired) for having inadvertently causing a mistrial in a sensational murder case he was covering, in which a introverted scholar stood accused of killing his mobster father. Logan's offhand comment to an elderly woman he didn't recognize tainted the jury and derailed what had been a promising career at a respected regional newspaper.
But when the defendant freed by Logan's mistake decides to trust him with the story of a desert sighting of the Virgin Mary, Logan recognizes an opportunity to save face by convincing the man to confess his father's murder. He leaves for Two Hat, Ariz., with Wetherill in tow to photograph his planned scoop.
What they confront in Two Hat is a cast of eccentric characters, scorched yet stunning scenery and an intriguing web of murder and lies.
Logan, at least partially through Wetherill's openness to all things magical, discovers another side of himself as a journalist and as a human being. He doesn't get what he wants, necessarily, but he may get something he needs.
Costanzo set the novel in Arizona because he believes it's a place where strange incidents can have credibility. "In the desert you can begin to see things and believe things you wouldn't in a city," he says. "I wanted a place that was sort of magical, where a vision of the Virgin Mary was believable."
From there, he "just let loose." "I let myself write with the feeling like the flood gates had just opened up," he says. "Instead of who, what, when, where, what ... there were a lot of what ifs and maybes."
The result is an interesting tale that answers some questions but poses many more, and Costanzo says he is happy with that outcome.
Already, the Utah writer has taken on a new challenge. His current writing project takes him back to his native Calabria to tell the story of a man who immigrated to the United States as a child, as Costanzo did. His new protagonist returns to Italy to explore what his life could have been like had his family stayed put.
Costanzo is working on finding a publisher for the book.
lisac@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">lisac@sltrib.com