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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MYSTERY AUTHOR LORIE LEWIS HAM ON BLENDING LOCAL EATING ESTABLISHMENTS INTO HER NEW SERIES

The iconic Tower Theater of the Fresno Tower District

Lorie Lewis Ham has been writing most of her life. For the past eleven years, she’s been the editor-in-chief and publisher of Kings River Life Magazine, and she produces Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast where you can now hear an excerpt of her new book One of Us. Today Lorie joins us to talk about the role food plays in her new series. Learn more about Lorie and her new book on her website mysteryrat.com where you can also find links to other social media. 

Experiencing the Food in One of Us

My new book, One of Us, is the first in a new series featuring Roxi Carlucci, who by the end of the book has become a part time P.I. and podcaster. It is set in one of my favorite places, the historic Tower District in Fresno, California. The Tower District is the cultural hub of the area and is filled with theatre, art galleries, music venues, interesting shops, and a lot of great food! 

 

Roxi and I both love the food in the Tower District. For Roxi, who has just moved there, it is a new experience—one that I enjoyed being able to share with Roxi and with readers.  And of course, much brainstorming about the murder investigation takes place over food or coffee! The Tower has a very unique feel—like you have just gone back in time. Here is what Roxi had to say about it:

 

“As we walked to the heart of the Tower and its many shops and restaurants, I felt like I'd gone back in time. I had read in an article that most of the houses had been built between the 1920s and the 1950s. There wasn't a new house in sight—each home had the kind of character only houses built before the 1960s seemed to have. The streets were lined with various kinds of tall trees. Even the sidewalks had a bit of character with its cracks and unevenness here and there.”

 

With that setting in mind, go with us to my favorite place to eat there, Irene’s Café, where you can find one of the best turkey burgers anywhere. 

 

Irene's was on a corner and had tables both inside and out. The bright yellow and medium blue colors were cheerful and welcoming, and there were painted palm trees all over the walls. It probably wouldn't have suited Gordon Ramsey's taste, but to me it was perfect. Heavenly diner smells hit my nose the second we walked through the door. It was a small cozy place—typical diner style with faux brown leather booths and a few tables by the window and around the corner. Like much of the Tower, it was like stepping back in time. 

 

Roxi also gets the best Chinese take-out in the Tower from Golden Restaurant, which has been featured in Kings River Life. Their orange chicken is amazing, and with every dish, you get enough food for two meals, and who doesn’t love leftover Chinese! Since she and her PI cousin Stephen are so busy investigating the murder in the book, they get a lot of take-out and another popular place is Pacifica Pizza, said to have the best pizza in the Tower, and being Italian, Roxi knows her pizza! They also get their donuts (what investigation can function without them?) from Supreme Donuts.   

 

There are two coffee shops in the Tower, not counting Starbucks, that Roxi and I both frequent regularly—The Revue, and Hi-Top. The Revue has a more classic coffee shop feel that fits right in with the historical setting of the Tower, while Hi-Top is the modern industrial style that has been popular with coffee shops the last few years. The Revue serves a great mocha latte, and I have enjoyed many an Earl Grey tea at Hi-Top. 

 

While Roxi doesn’t do much cooking, her cousin Stephen is an excellent cook. Stephen cooks up meatloaf and spaghetti during the times they aren’t too busy. He also treats them to many cups of Peets coffee as they pour over clues. 

 

A restaurant in the book that was created for the story is Frank’s Place. While there is a Frank’s Place in Fresno, the real one is a music venue downtown. One of the suspects is the chef at Frank’s Place and Stephen and Roxi go there to speak with him. It is one of the more upscale places in their version of the Tower District.

 

As the series continues, I look forward to sharing more of the wonderful food of the Tower District with my readers and with Roxi, and I hope if you are ever in Fresno you will check it out for yourself!

 

My new book, One of Us, is available on Amazon, on the Nook at Barnes and Noble, and Kobo. 

 

One of Us

A Tower District Mystery, Book 1

 

At thirty-five, children’s book author Roxi Carlucci finds herself starting over again after her publisher drops her book series. With no income, she has to pack up her life on the California Coast, along with her pet rat, Merlin, and move in with her cousin, P.I. Stephen Carlucci, who lives in Fresno, California. The one redeeming factor is that Stephen lives in the Tower District—the cultural oasis of Fresno. 

 

Stephen talks Roxi into helping out with a community theatre production, which is also a fundraiser for a local animal rescue. Then someone is murdered during a rehearsal in the locked theatre, and now she and Stephen are hired to find the killer. The killer has to be one of Roxi’s new acquaintances since the theatre was locked at the time of the murder, but no one seems to have a motive. How can they solve a murder without a motive? Could the local gossip website hold any clues? Can they stop the killer before they strike again?

 

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