AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR LORIE LEWIS HAM

Photo by Lorie Lewis Ham

Today we sit down for a chat with mystery author Lorie Lewis Ham. Learn more about her and her books at her website where you’ll also find links to social media. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

I started making up short stories as soon as I could put sentences together. My first song and poem were published when I was thirteen. I’ve gone on to publish many articles, short stories, and poems throughout the years, as well as write for a local newspaper, and publish seven mystery novels.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

My first mystery novel was published in 2000.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

My first four books were published by a small press, the rest I have published myself though my Kings River Life Magazine. 

 

Where do you write? 

Mostly at the dining room table these days. 

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I used to listen to Frank Sinatra but these days I prefer silence—or as much as you can have with a house full of pets.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular? 

With the first series, a lot. With the new one not as much of the plots, but many of the characters are at least loosely based on someone I know in the Tower District. I do share a lot of interests with my main character.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

I honestly don’t have a process. Some have come from gravestones, street signs, and most just from playing around with names until something fits. 

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

My current series is set in a slightly fictionalized version of the Tower District in Fresno, CA (the arts district there)

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

Not sure if this qualifies, but my main character knows how to use a sword.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours? 

That is tough because the choices I’ve made have made me who I am and given me the life I have now, so offhand I am not sure. Maybe insisting that my father let me buy the ’57 Chevy Bel Aire convertible that was for sale across the street for only $1000.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

People not doing their research—as example, people on podcasts not making sure they have their facts or pronunciations correct, and people contacting me about a guest post or interview who obviously have never listened to our podcast or read Kings River Life.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 

Sherlock Holmes Collection, my pets, and a way to watch my favorite TV shows (this is assuming we are talking about objects not people). 

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

Waitress when I was pregnant.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

Sherlock Holmes He’s quirky and smart, interesting, and loyal to those he cares about (Watson). Uses his brain, not his brawn. 

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Ocean

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

City

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

Continuing to write more books in the Tower District Mystery series, babysitting the new grandbaby, and hopefully some travel.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books? 

If you like quirky places, theatre, and unique pets, be sure to check out the Tower District Mysteries. 

 

I recommend reading my books in order. Even though the mysteries stand on their own there is character development you miss out on and a through story that will hopefully be resolved in book 3. The first book in this series is One of Us.

 

One of You

A Tower District Mystery, Book 2

 

With her life on the California Coast behind her, Roxi Carlucci is beginning to feel at home in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno, CA—where she now lives with her cousin P.I. Stephen Carlucci, her pet rat Merlin, a Pit Bull named Watson, and a black cat named Dan. She has a new entertainment podcast, works as a part-time P.I., and is helping local bookstore owner Clark Halliwell put on the first-ever Tower Halloween Mysteryfest! The brutal summer heat is gone and has been replaced by the dense tule fog—perfect for Halloween!

 

She just wishes everyone would stop calling her the “Jessica Fletcher” of the Tower District simply because she found a dead body when she first arrived. But when one of the Mysteryfest authors is found dead, she fears she jinxed herself! The Carlucci’s are hired to find the killer before they strike again. Will Mysteryfest turn into a murder fest? How is the local gossip website back, and what does it know about the death of Roxi’s parents? 

 

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