The Wall Street Journal has an interview with Walter Mosley about his unusual publishing deals; Diablerie, his (a little creepy, y’all) latest book;  the state of the literary mystery world and his experiences with Hollywood.

Because the WSJ still is a paid site (although He Who Shall Not Be Named has said he plans to change that in the near future), some excerpts:

The Wall Street Journal: Mysteries have grown increasingly dark in recent years, both bleaker and more fatalistic. What’s driving this?

Walter Mosley: The mystery genre is there to help us deal with what’s going on in our world socially and politically. We’re in a time where Americans feel that the world they know is falling apart. The atmosphere is in trouble, the euro is worth more than a dollar, we’re fighting a war where we don’t want to be. Americans feel very pressed. Literature helps in many ways by talking about this. Also, mysteries tie up everything neatly at the end: the lost girl is saved, the stolen bullion is returned.

WSJ: The characters in your book betray their spouses or boyfriends. Is fidelity overrated?

Mr. Mosley: The book is about deep-seated unhappiness buried in your past that comes out in your present. Until there is self-awareness, there is nothing

….

WSJ: What happened to the model where an author stays with one house for his entire career?

Mr. Mosley: A publishing house is defined by the vision of the publisher. If Roger Strauss is no longer the publisher, then the vision is gone. If a publisher becomes corporate, then the house assumes a new identity. W.W. Norton stays the same. John Wiley & Sons stays the same with one family. But my publishers haven’t stayed the same. Whether you stay or go, the publisher is different.

WSJ: Only a tiny number of black authors hit the New York Times best-seller list last year. Are you surprised that there aren’t more?

Mr. Mosley: No. The New York Times list, like most other lists, is skewed. I don’t know if that number reflects sales necessarily. All kinds of black writers sell in all kinds of places that the Times doesn’t and can’t count. So I’m not surprised by it. I do know that black authors are selling a lot of books.