MYSTERY AUTHOR GRACE TOPPING NEVER GAVE UP!

Grace Topping is a recovering technical writer and IT project manager accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Now she’s a USA Today bestselling author of the Laura Bishop home staging cozy mystery series where she kills off characters who remind her of people she dealt with during her career. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

People often say they would like to write a book or that they are writing one. But statistics show that a whopping ninety-seven percent of people who start a book never finish it. Startling statistics. It made me wonder what enabled me to write a book and have it published and not end up part of the ninety-seven percent. 

 

I don’t have outstanding writing talent, nor do I possess compelling stories that nearly write themselves. I spent a career writing technical manuals, procedural guides, and policy. All pretty boring stuff. And although that experience helped me develop a good sense of grammar and organization, it didn’t help move me into writing anything that required some imagination—especially writing murder mysteries. What if I had thought I couldn’t write fiction?

 

So what did I possess that helped me become a published author? I can only chalk it up to sheer stubbornness. I was like the character in the film, Galaxy Quest, who continually states, “Never give up, never surrender.” Once I decided to write a cozy mystery, I was just too stubborn to give up. What if I hadn’t been so stubborn?

 

I began my mystery-writing journey when I signed up for an online course on mystery writing through my local community college. The course required work, and I noticed as the course progressed how many people began dropping out. I kept at it and came out of it with a complete outline for my mystery. What if I had found the course too much work and quit?

 

With the outline, I had a road map for my story. It didn’t take me long to flesh it out, but when I finished the complete first draft and wrote The End, I only had 45,000 words. A far cry from the 70,000 words required by most publishers for a cozy mystery. What if I had decided I didn’t have anything more to add to the story and had given up?

 

So I brainstormed and thought of things I could add. Some of my ideas were pretty lame, but somehow I got them to work. I polished my manuscript and gave it to five friends to read and give me feedback. They were supportive and gave me suggestions on which to base changes. What if I had been reluctant to show my work to anyone or been discouraged by their comments and stopped there?

 

I kept learning all I could about writing novels, specifically mysteries, and attended several mystery conferences. I met other aspiring writers there and formed friendships. They encouraged me and offered to read my manuscript and provide feedback—this time from experienced mystery writers. I took their suggestions and started rewriting. What if I had been reluctant to attend a conference or had been too shy to approach other writers?

 

Having made strides in my writing, I joined professional organizations that support mystery writers, specifically Sisters in Crime (SINC) and Mystery Writers of America. Through SINC, I discovered an online chapter, the Guppies, that consisted of unpublished mystery writers helping each other to move ahead. They kept me going when I got discouraged. What if I had viewed myself as unworthy of being a member of a professional organization?

 

Throughout the intervening years, ten in fact, I learned much about writing mysteries. I revised my first manuscript thirty-eight times. What if I had stopped at version ten, twenty, or even thirty-seven?

 

Then I took the next hard step—querying agents requesting representation. I sent out queries, week after week, sometimes hearing no thanks, and other times hearing nothing at all. What if I decided I couldn’t deal with rejection?

 

No matter what, I didn’t give up, and when that call came from an agent saying that she liked my manuscript and wanted to represent me, I was sure glad I hadn’t. She sold my manuscript to a small publisher, and my first book, Staging is Murder came out—almost ten years from the month I completed that online course. It became an Agatha Award finalist for Best First Mystery and a USA Today bestseller. My second book, Staging Wars, came out April 2020. This past April, Upstaged by Murder was published. 

 

So if you want to write a mystery or accomplish anything else, remember, never give up, never surrender. 

 

Have you ever thought about writing a book?

 

Upstaged by Murder

A Laura Bishop Home Staging Cozy Mystery, Book 3

 

When professional home stager Laura Bishop enters a competition to become the next TV home staging star, she figures it will be murder—but she doesn’t expect it to include a body. As tensions rise and rivalries rage, a coded notebook flips the script and Laura’s on the case.

 

But she’s not alone. Her closest confidantes pitch in by sleuthing, eavesdropping, and even staging a sting to protect those near and dear. Yet she’s still corralling a runaway teen, sparring with a handsome detective, and handling the shock of her life with a blast from her past. All while creating a cozy cabin retreat fit for first place.

 

Amidst constant cameras and glaring lights, Laura tries to style the stage and pull back the curtain on a killer before her career—and her life—get cut.

 

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MYSTERY AUTHOR GRACE TOPPING ON STAGING HOMES AND STAGING MURDERS

A Staged Kitchen

Grace Topping is a recovering technical writer and IT project manager, accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Let loose to write fiction, she is now creating murder mysteries and killing off characters who remind her of some of the people she dealt with during her career. Learn more about Grace and her books at her website. 

Home Staging for Now and Later

When I decided to write a cozy mystery, I learned that I needed to give my main character a business or interest, or what writers refer to as a hook. For example, having the main character own a bakery, walk dogs, run a bed and breakfast, be a librarian—things that would be a key element of the story.

Other writers advised me to select a hook that I would enjoy, since I could possible spend years writing about it. I also needed to select a hook that I knew something about or could learn enough about it to write with some knowledge.

My experience at work had been with computer systems related to banking, but that would make for a pretty boring hook. And I didn’t have any hobbies. So I wondered what I could use as a hook that would interest me enough to write about it book after book and that readers might find interesting.

By the time I came home from work and finished with dinner and dishes, all I wanted to do was sit in a chair and turn on HGTV and mindlessly watch home stagers turn ugly duckling homes into swans that would sell fast and for more money. I loved those programs and eventually started helping friends stage their homes. I actually had a knack for it. Either that or I had watched so many staging shows that I was able to do what I saw the designers do. 

That would be my hook. I would have my main character be a home stager, start her own business, and solve the murders she came across.

Home staging is a new concept to many people. When my first book, Staging is Murder, came out, I was asked a lot of questions about home staging. What does a home stager do versus an interior decorator? (Takes the personality out of a home décor so potential buyers could imagine themselves living there.) Why would I want to use a home stager when I put my house up for sale? (To make your home appeal to more buyers and sell faster.) What type of things can I do myself to stage my home? (Declutter, upgrade, minimize, and give every room a fresh coat of paint, etc.) 

To answer questions like this, I drew on the knowledge I gained from watching home staging programs, reading books about home staging, following home staging Facebook groups, and gathering information from the Staging Studio Society, a home staging training and certifying organization. I got so involved in it that when I read about something new, I would start stressing about how I would do that, and had to remind myself that I didn’t have to—I only had to write about it. To explain it more, I added home staging tips to the beginning of each chapter. 

People spend years getting their homes exactly the way they want them, only to be told to change it to appeal to potential buyers, which is very hard for homeowners. Step one for homeowners when they decide to sell their homes is to stop thinking like a homeowner and start thinking like a home seller. For example, a homeowner may love their plaid carpeting, but they need to ask themselves if it would appeal to buyers? A perspective buyer might see it and wonder how much the cost of replacing it would add to the total cost of the house?

People often upgrade their homes to appeal to buyers and regret they didn’t do it sooner.

So even if you aren’t planning to sell your home any time soon, start staging your home now—so you can enjoy the changes.

What changes could you make to your home now so you could enjoy them? 

Staging Wars

A Laura Bishop Mystery, Book 2

Laura Bishop’s new home staging business is growing in popularity, though not with her nemesis. Laura has long suspected established interior designer Monica Heller of sabotaging her fledgling company—and having an affair with her late husband. 

When the ultra-chic Monica is caught at the scene of a murder, Laura is plenty happy to imagine her languishing in a prison cell with bedsheets far from her normal 600-thread Egyptian cotton. But her delight is short-lived.

When Laura’s friends land on the police radar, Laura must overcome her dislike of Monica to help solve the crime. Not an easy task since Laura and Monica have been at war since second grade.

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MEET AUTHOR GRACE TOPPING'S HOME STAGER AND AMATEUR SLEUTH LAURA BISHOP

A Staged Home Office

Laura Bishop, from mystery author Grace Topping’s Laura Bishop Mysteries, stops by to introduce herself today.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

Pretty boring. I worked as an Information Technology specialist, which paid well, but bored me to tears. Investigating a system problem and finding a bug in the system was about as exciting as my job or life got. Since I was a natural problem solver, I yearned for more interesting problems to solve.

After my husband was killed in an automotive accident, with his female passenger (long story), I decided to change careers and do something that made me happy instead of what others thought I should do. From a young age, I’d always had a knack for interior decorating—so strong that I had to control my instinct to give friends, and even total strangers, advice about their décor. I learned the hard way that people don’t always appreciate unsolicited opinions or advice.

But I was determined to go into a career that could draw on my talents. I began by helping friends “stage” their homes for sale (making them as appealing as possible to sell quickly and for a good price). To make a living doing staging, I realized I needed to get some training and accreditation as a professional home stager, which I did.

Little did I realize that when I nabbed my first staging job, I would be introduced to the world of murder and mayhem. I knew trying to stage a 19^th century mansion that hadn’t been updated in decades could be murder. I just didn’t expect it to involve a body. Suddenly, my old boring life looked more appealing.

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

As I mentioned earlier, I’m a natural born problem solver, and I love a challenge. I also don’t give up easily—good instincts for someone trying find just the right paint color for a room. I’m also someone who follows through on my commitments, even when I would rather run away to a Florida beach and hide out.  

What do you like least about yourself?

Sometimes the best thing about a person can also be the worst thing. I have a hard time saying no to people, and once I make a commitment, I follow through, sometimes to my own detriment. When Mrs. Webster, the grandmother of a murder suspect, beseeches me to help him by finding the murderer, how can I say no? I tried explaining that my only experience in solving a mystery was finding those pesky system bugs and that I had no experience uncovering a murderer. But since she has such faith in me, I ended up agreeing to at least try. Now I’m stuck trying to find a cold-blooded murderer, and at the same time, deal with the awful flowered wallpaper in the mansion.

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

Would you believe, she had me and my BFF, Nita Martino, go to a campground at night to investigate whether some men living there in a rickety camper could be the ones who committed the murder? First we had to cross a field to get there, which we discovered had been used to graze cows. You can imagine the stuff we ran (or stepped) into. She also dragged Mrs. Webster and me to the same campground searching for some members of Hell’s Angels who might have been involved with the murder. Mrs. Webster is one tough old bird—brave and determined. She probably should have conducted her own investigation.

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

Since I figured Grace knew what she was doing with my life, I didn’t argue with her. However, when I discovered that this was her first mystery, I realized that I should have spoken up. Who in their right minds would have a character taste a suspicious substance she discovered on the mansion’s kitchen floor. Sara Paretsky wouldn’t have done that to V. I. Warshawski.

What is your greatest fear?

On a professional level, disappointing a client/homeowner by not being able to complete a job. On a personal level, I fear I’ll never see my father again. When he and my mother separated when I was young, I saw him frequently, then less frequently, and then not at all. I don’t know whether he is alive or dead.

What makes you happy?

Doing a good job and pleasing people. Also, being able to provide employment to friends who need work with lots of flexibility.

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

Grace makes me out to be an extremely reluctant amateur sleuth—one who knows her limitations and is afraid of making a mess of things. She would like for me to help, but she knows I don’t have a clue how to identify a murderer. I would rather she portrayed me as a braver sleuth—one who would jump into an investigation with gusto.

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

That would have to be Nita, my BFF. We’ve been friends since second grade when her large and loving Italian-American family took me under their wing. My home life wasn’t the greatest, and Nita’s family filled in the cracks with love and good humor. The problem with Nita is that I frequently end up playing Ethel to her Lucy. She is always coming up with harebrained schemes that get us into trouble. Like the time she brought a psychic to the mansion to sweep the house of negativity. Or when she took us on that visit to the campground. It nearly got us arrested.

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

That would have to be Josh Sheridan who owns Antiques and Other Stuff, an antique store with more other stuff than antiques. Josh stocks a large collection of used books and has plenty of time between customers to read to his heart’s content. If we traded places, I could read, and he could track down murderers. 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Grace Topping is a former IT specialist, technical writer, and project manager, accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Perhaps that’s why when set free, she let her imagination run wild and sent me on some questionable adventures. She did find her former IT work experience valuable when she created her own web site: www.gracetopping.com. She’s also on Facebook and Twitter, where she takes great delight in promoting her friends’ books and sharing helpful writing tips she’s discovered on other writers’ pages.

What's next for you?

Now that my first home staging commission was a huge success (the mansion sold quickly and for more money than anyone anticipated), I have a reputation as a home stager—one who can be relied on to do a good job. In our next adventure, Nita drags me into the world of artists and local art shows. Unfortunately, my nemesis from our school days is doing some underhanded things to hurt my burgeoning business. We’ll see about her. I’m no longer the meek student she used to badger.

Staging is Murder

A Laura Bishop Mystery

Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating commission—staging for sale a 19^th-century mansion that hasn’t been updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at Laura’s feet, removing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties. 

To clear her young assistant of the murder and save her fledgling business, Laura’s determined to find the killer. Turns out it’s not as easy as renovating a manor home, especially with two handsome men complicating her mission: the police detective assigned to the case and the real estate agent trying to save the manse from foreclosure.

Worse still, the meddling of a horoscope-guided friend, a determined grandmother, and the local funeral director could get them all killed before Laura props the first pillow.

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