AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHRISTIE WALDMAN

Today we sit down for a chat with Christie Waldman, author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Learn more about Christine and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

When I was seven, I had a second-grade teacher who thought kids should be writing stories and plays. We even wrote a class play which we performed for the parents with paper mâché puppets we made ourselves. When, for my story about a talking horse, I kept going back for more yellow paper, my teacher said, “I think you’re writing a novel.” Oh! I liked that!

 

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

Sixty years! From first draft to publication of The Voice of the Wooden Dragon was forty-one years.

 

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

Hybrid

 

Where do you write? 

Home office

 

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

Silence

 

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

Most are imagined, but some details come from history or my own life. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

Mostly, the names just come to me. They need to sound “right.” “Meredith” was the name of the statue that inspired The Voice of the Wooden Dragon (carved by Bill Loomis of Carbondale, Illinois).

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

My novel has both: the Land of Deweydaire and Philadelphia.

 

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

Dr. Sampson, an oddball dragon doctor, performs hypnosis with a yo-yo.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

Chewing on pens and pencils

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why? 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. It is such a great story—so full of heart! 

 

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

Everything happens for a reason, even things that look like wrong turns, is how I see it. If, for example, I had gone to a college other than SIU in Carbondale, Illinois, I would not have met Bill Loomis or seen his dragon statue, “Meredith,” which gave me the idea for The Voice of the Wooden Dragon, the book I feel I was meant to write. 

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

People who automatically find some reason to disagree with you instead of looking for common ground.

 

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

Aside from the essentials, food, water, and sunshine: the music of birds, the beauty of nature, and fresh air. 

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

“Walking beans” (hoeing rows of soybeans) 

 

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

Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables. She’s loving and lovable. She’s an imaginative dreamer who grows up into a lovely young woman. She’s probably based on her author’s life.

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Mountains

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

Country girl

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

Perhaps I will try to write some short stories. Maybe one will turn into a novel. Also, I have Francis Bacon-related research to complete and patchwork quilts to make for my grandchildren.

 

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

I would love to see children’s creative writing, art, and music cultivated in homes and schools. I did not get this nurturing growing up, other than from that one teacher. Still, I went to college seeking a liberal arts, humanities education that would prepare me to become a “serious fiction writer.” Bernard Malamud once offered this advice to would-be writers: “You must know and love literature and read and think of it endlessly.”

 

The Voice of the Wooden Dragon. 

“Wanted: Princess Meredith!” Friend and foe seek the outlaw dragon princess who fights on behalf of oppressed human farmers. Things go from bad to worse when her cousin Prince Rupert—that bully!—takes the throne. Somehow, with the help of her friends, the boy Peter, court-jester dragon Felix, and a little girl in America named Suse, she must find a way to defeat Carlos’s magic, reclaim her power, and fulfill her destiny.

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY, SCI-FI, AND HORROR AUTHOR JOANNE McLAUGHLIN

Today we sit down for a chat with mystery, science fiction, and horror author Joanne McLaughlin who assures us that her vampires are more darkly romantic than scary. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

When I was about nine years old, after reading Little Women for the first time.

 

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

Several decades. I first attempted novel writing in my late twenties, but then I spent many years doing things other than creating fiction.

 

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

All of the above. My first novel, Never Before Noon, was published by a small traditional press that later folded. I regained my rights and republished the novel. By then, I had already independently published the second book in the trilogy, Never Until Now, because the small press was foundering. I also indie-published the trilogy’s final installment, Never More Human. My latest book, Chasing Ashes, is a hybrid publication with Celestial Echo Press, whose owners, Ann Stolinsky and Ruth Littner, I had already known for a decade as writers and the editors behind Gemini Wordsmiths.

 

Where do you write? 

At my dining room table, where I have more room to spread out. Also, a better view than my tiny office offers.

 

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

I need silence now, after too many years listening to news radio while I was an editor at newspapers and public media. 

 

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

All of my published novels include journalists—I worked as a reporter or editor for decades. And I try to keep my plots true to the era in which they are written. In my vampire books, for example, the reporter is covering the pre-Brexit European Union and eurozone. I wrote those novels when I was a business editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Chasing Ashes includes a scene loosely inspired by an incident I observed with two of my college roommates many years ago, and several characters in that book are composites based on those roommates. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

My main Chasing Ashes character, reporter Laura Cunningham, is a reserved, hardworking, and fiercely loyal woman who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I gave her a name that felt strong and steady, not trendy or something pegged to the decade in which she would have been born. But I named the protagonist of my vampire novels after my first cat, Chloe, who was my pal during many early novel-writing sessions. 

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

Both, though many of the fictional settings are based either on places where I have lived or where friends have lived. 

 

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

Laura suffers from stage fright in Chasing Ashes, complete with nausea and panic attacks.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

I’m claustrophobic, so I’m extremely uncomfortable in library buildings with tall shelves all around. As a hungry reader and a writer, I’m obviously grateful for libraries, but I can’t remember when I last had a library card. Probably in elementary school.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why? 

Room by Emma Donoghue. The claustrophobia of the setting struck a chord, as did the child’s POV. Amazing. 

 

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

I wish I could remake some career decisions made when I was just out of college. I thought I knew all there was to know. Hah!

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

Finding toothpaste blobs in the bathroom sink.

 

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

The people I love most, books, and warmth. I’d prefer a deserted tropical island.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

In college, I made credit collection calls for a major retail-store chain that was also noted for its catalog sales. On Saturday mornings, I would contact military families stationed overseas. No fun calling Okinawa, who knows how many time zones away, to ask why the refrigerator still hadn’t been paid off. Lots of awkward pauses on that far end of the phone line.

 

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

Jo March. She’s smart, talented, a bit impulsive but wise enough to see her mistakes and shift gears as needed; a 19^th-century woman who figures out the work-family thing in her own, unconventional way.  

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Ocean

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

City, but not downtown. I like a small yard and a front porch. 

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

My romantic mystery, A Poetic Puzzle, will be published February 1^st. A second book in the series I call Verse Case Scenarios (only half-joking here) is in progress. Fingers crossed.

 

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

I try to inject humor and family dysfunction into all my books. I’m a funny, snarky girl too chicken to try improv or stand-up, so there you go. Just don’t give me a straight line.

 

Chasing Ashes

Reporter Laura Cunningham’s childhood friend and college roommate vanished the day a deadly fire destroyed The Challenge, a residential counseling center for troubled students. Not something Laura could just forget—not after a year, not after almost twenty-five. So Laura writes a true-crime book demanding a new investigation, and envisions uncovering past secrets. What she can’t imagine is the fresh torment her book will unleash.

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AN INTERVIEW AND A BISCOTTI RECIPE FROM DEBUT MYSTERY AUTHOR ELLE JAUFFRET

Today we sit down for an interview with mystery and speculative fiction author Elle Jauffret who also offers us a recipe for some delicious biscotti. Learn more about her and her books at her website where you can also find links to her social media accounts.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I have always crafted stories since I could write. I finished the first draft of my first novel in 2004 and never really stopped after that. I realized I wanted to write novels seriously and for a living in 2015.

 

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

Being traditionally published became a desire in 2015, but a serious goal in 2020. So nine years as a dream and four years as a goal.

 

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

Traditionally.

 

Where do you write?

At my desk at home and wherever I can (in the car, waiting for my kids after school/practice, at the doctor’s office, etc.)

 

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

I write in silence or with the sound of the rain/storm.

 

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

Claire Fontaine, the main character of Threads of Deception, is a former criminal attorney who wakes up with a French foreign accent syndrome. She is based on my life as a former criminal attorney who speaks with a French accent (though my accent is native French, not a speech disorder). Her struggles with her accent are similar to mine, but I have never investigated a murder like she does. All the characters in the story are also composites of my friends (especially Suggie Oh, Ben Torres and Vikram Thomas.)

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I have a book in which I write names I like and what they mean to me. When I write a novel, I review the list and pick the ones that fit the best. In the case of Threads of Deception, I named my character after Clairefontaine, my favorite brand of notebooks.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Threads of Deception is set in San Diego County, a real location in California, but takes place in the fictional town of Caper Town. Using a fictional setting allows me to reference people and places freely without concerns that real individuals might assume they're being portrayed. Plus, it gives me the creative freedom to build my own world.

 

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

My main character, Claire Fontaine, has a speech disorder that causes her to speak with a French accent, even though she doesn't actually know the language. She despises it, much to the bewilderment of her best friend Suggie Oh, who finds the accent attractive and can't grasp why Claire is so eager to be rid of it.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I tend to stare at people without breaking gaze. It’s not intentional—I just get really focused. Sometimes I have to remind myself to look away. Otherwise, it can get a little intense. Some people find it unsettling, but others say it makes them feel like I’m really listening.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

The Harry Potter series. It’s an amalgam of all the myths and stories I grew up with, perfectly woven into a modern setting with captivating characters. What really stands out to me are the social themes—friendship, identity, justice—that resonate so strongly, making the story feel both timeless and relevant.

 

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

I wouldn’t know where to start (laugh).

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Texting while driving (blocking traffic/dangerous driving)

 

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

I want to say satellite phone with a solar charger, a notebook and a pen.

Otherwise: machete, lighter/fire starter, survival blanket/tarp.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

My worst job was working in the Biotherm makeup manufacturing company in Monaco, where I had to put tiny stickers under sample products by hand because the machine was broken. The rhythm of the work was frantic and the task incredibly monotonous, leading to aching hands by the end of the day. To make matters worse, it was hot inside the facility—there was no air conditioning and we weren't allowed to open the windows. 

 

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

Hermione Granger because she is intelligent, compassionate, courageous, and independent. I love how she fights for what’s right. She is the ideal best friend.

 

Ocean or mountains?

I’ve been pondering that question for ages and never found an answer.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl. I spent my early childhood in the French countryside (Provence) but lived in the city since I was nine years old. I love the city’s vibrancy, architecture, and diversity. 

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have two more books coming in the Suddenly French Mystery series. Threads of Deception is the first book of the series. The second book will come out in 2025 and the third in 2026.

 

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

I am a French-born American lawyer, a US Navy wife, and the mother of two boys. I worked as a jurist for The Embassy of France, as a criminal attorney for the California Attorney General’s Office, and as a writer for a literary magazine’s “fiction food” column.

Threads of Deception is my debut novel and the first of the Suddenly French mystery series.

 

One of my favorite snacks are lemon-thyme biscotti. They represent my childhood: running barefoot through the woods and the sandy beaches of the French Riviera.

 

Lemon-thyme Biscotti 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour


1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


2/3 cup granulated sugar


3 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)


1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme


6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature


1-1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and thyme. Set aside.

 

In a second bowl, mix lemon zest and sugar until smooth and well combined. Then add eggs, butter, and almond extract.

 

With mixer set to low, combine contents of both bowls until incorporated.

 

Divide the dough in half and flatten each half into a 9”x6” rectangle (1/2-inch thick) on a baking sheet. Use wet fingers if needed.

 

Bake 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on a rack. 

 

Cut 3/4-inch-thick slices (they should be 9” long). Prop the slices sideways on the baking sheet and return to the oven. 

Lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Then turn them on their other side for another 10 minutes.

 

Biscotti should be golden and feel dry. Set on rack to cool completely.

 

Threads of Deception

A Suddenly French Mystery, Book 1

 

High-profile D.C. criminal attorney, Claire Fontaine, is leaving the legal world behind to become a private chef after a criminal explosion destroyed her law firm and left her with a French Foreign Accent Syndrome. In order to heal and reassess her life, she returns to Caper Cove, California to cater for a fashion TV show on the request of a rising designer friend, only to find said friend dead. Determined to prove that it's not a suicide but a murder, Claire teams up with childhood best friend, Suggie Oh, and clashes with Detective Ben Torres who happens to be her new roommate.  

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AND ROMANCE AUTHOR RHONDA BLACKHURST

Cozy mystery, romantic suspense and Hallmark-style contemporary women’s fiction author Rhonda Blackhurst enjoys hiding behind her computer screen, where she can unashamedly enjoy her addictions of dark chocolate and coffee. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

I knew I wanted to write before I could write—literally. At four years old, I scribbled with crayon on the knotty pine walls of our home. My parents weren’t impressed! I started out writing poetry but discovered novels were my true love.

 

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

In 2010, I heard about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and participated for the first time. That’s when publication popped into my head. In 2012, I published my first novel, The Inheritance. From there, I was hooked.

 

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

When I set out for publication, I made a pros and cons list for both trad and indie. The only pro on the trad side was validation, so I chose indie. Validation from my readers was more important. Ten years later, the idea of trad publishing wiggled its way into my head, so I tried it. Inn the Spirit of Murder and Inn the Dead of Winterhave been picked up by The Wild Rose Press.

 

Where do you write? 

I focus best in my home offices in Colorado and Arizona. I’ve placed window film on the windows in CO. It lets the light in, but also keeps my attention in. My desk in AZ faces the window where I see citrus and palm trees, quail, and even a frequent coyote. If my mind gets “squirrely,” I pull the shade.

 

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

Silence, nature sounds, or music without lyrics.

 

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

I retired from the Adams County District Attorney’s Office two years ago, where I handled some off-the-wall weird cases; some were too good from which to not pull threads. When I hear a reader say, “There’s no way that could happen,” I know that yes, it can and it does.

 

Describe your process for naming your character? 

I take care when naming characters. In my latest series, the main character is Andie Rose Kaczmarek. The surname is Polish for innkeeper, of which she is both.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

All three series (including the duology) are set in fictional towns loosely based on real ones. I use the real names of close-by larger cities.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written) which one would it be? Why? 

Where the Crawdads Sing. It’s absolutely brilliant!

 

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

Raising my boys. There is so much I would do differently as I’ve learned more. That said, they’ve grown into fine young men I couldn’t possibly be prouder of. 

 

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

Coffee, dark chocolate, and a box of books. (A box is considered one thing, yes?) 😊

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy? 

As a kid, it was always my dream to be a reporter in New York City. Now I’m 100% a country girl!

 

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

Inn the Spirit of Murder was released July 24, 2024. Book two, Inn the Dead of Winter, is well on its way once I hit the final okay button, zipping it off to production. Book three, Inn Hallowed Ground, is well underway. I’m also plotting a standalone mystery from multiple points of view and am included in a mystery merge short story anthology, hopefully to be released by the end of this year.

 

Inn the Spirit of Murder

A Spirit Lake Mystery, Book 1

Six-year-sober life coach and skeptic, Andie Rose Kaczmarek, and her red retriever emotional support animal, Aspen, become the new owners of the surmised haunted Spirit Lake Inn in Minnesota. When Andie Rose finds a body in the inn's kitchen, she fears it will be the death of what's most important-the stellar reputation of the inn her grandparents, Grandpop and Honey, built. Aware of the risk of stress in sobriety, she gets an AA sponsor-feisty, spirited Sister Alice who, 30 years ago, traded in one habit for another. 

 

Andie Rose falls prey to a new, potentially more dangerous addiction—solving the murder. But in typical Sister Alice fashion, she transforms the danger of solving a murder into a spirited good time. Will Andie Rose flip from skeptic to believer?

 

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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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AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR M.E. PROCTOR

Today we sit down for a chat with crime, detective, and mystery author M.E. Proctor whose also dipped her pen in short fiction and a 4-book dystopian science fiction series. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

There was no lightning strike! I slid into it …

 

I’ve been writing all my life—advertising, corporate communications, freelance journalism. I wrote short stories on the weekends, to relax. I didn’t think I had the stamina or the time for a book-length project. Then, I took an intensive writing class (5 days a week for a year) to get professional feedback on my work. The Monday evening session was focused on novel writing. A few months later, I had a short crime novel, and I thought, okay, I can do long form after all. 

 

Soon after, a friend suggested we write a science fiction book together. He never followed up on the idea, but I had caught the bug and did it on my own. It led to the 4-book Savage Crown series. At that point I had completely given up on short stories. Ten years ago, with the science fiction saga concluded and out of my head, I went back to writing crime, both books and short stories. There’s spillover, characters from the crime stories find their way into the books.  

 

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

That’s a hard question because it depends on how you look at the timeline. 

 

I started the science fiction series thirty years ago. I don’t think that counts. My querying efforts were non-existent. I lived in Europe at the time and sending stuff via snail mail with prepaid international vouchers was like climbing Mt Everest. The eBook of Elymore, the first episode in the SF series, came out thirteen years ago when Kindle publishing became an option.

 

I believe what happened with Love You Till Tuesday is more representative of what authors looking at publication face today. I imagined the main character, Houston PI Declan Shaw, in 2014. I wrote three books with him in the starring role before this one. I started working on LYTT in 2020 and found a publisher in 2021. It languished in limbo for two years and the publishing contract expired. Shotgun Honey took the book on board last year. It released in August. I’ve been living with Declan Shaw for ten years. I know him very well by now.

 

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

Hybrid. Family and Other Ailments and Love You Till Tuesday are traditionally published. The Savage Crown series was independently published.

 

Where do you write?

I don’t have an office or designated writing spot. I live on a lake in Texas, and the view is stunning. I either use a corner of our big dining room table, sit on the back porch, or nestle in a big chair in the sitting room. And my laptop goes with me everywhere. 

 

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

I’ve never been able to work in complete silence. The hush of a library stresses me. I’m used to having people around me, chatting, TV sounds. I often have music on when I write, movie soundtracks and jazz mostly. Moody songs too, nothing that hops or makes me want to sing along.

 

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

I often use snippets of memories in short stories. They help me create a mood or set a scene. Riding my bike by the railroad track, the sound of roller skates on uneven concrete, sugary doughnuts … that kind of thing. The shred of memory is never the entire story, just a touch of color. In Love You Till Tuesday, the inciting event comes straight from a news headline. I will not reveal what it is because the reader will not find out about it for a while. I’ve also given my main protagonist some of my own personality traits, his impatience in particular, and taste in films, food, and music. We have a lot in common, good and not so good. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I avoid character names that end in S or Z because possessives are clunky: Zeiss’s, Parsons’s, Miles’s. It gets annoying. For the rest, I have few rules. I prefer plain first names: Frank, Kate, Jack, Annie, Steve. No names that sound the same, no Lenny and Benny, Carol and Clare. I will borrow the last names of people I know, if they sound right for the character’s personality. The “harmony” is important. How does the name ring when said aloud, is it smooth or does it rankle? My main character’s name, Declan Shaw, felt right, balanced, from the start. I didn’t spend more than five minutes on it. 

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Real settings, or close to real. Love You Till Tuesday takes place in Houston where I lived for twenty years. The plot moves through several neighborhoods. The next book in the series is set in a fictional town with features similar to a couple of real ones.

 

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

Declan is a Texas PI who hates guns (for good reasons) which strikes people as odd. On the other hand, he keeps a hunting knife in his cowboy boots, so he’s not completely toothless.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

You should ask my husband. I’m sure he can come up with a few. I’m blissfully blind to my own quirkiness.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Hard choice. I am head over heels in love with Tana French’s Faithful Place. She wraps a murder investigation around rich and complex family relationships and every character is wonderfully multi-dimensional. There’s so much heart in that book, and yet it’s never over-sentimental. The writing is so crisp and sharp. I’m in awe. 

 

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

I wish I’d started writing crime stories sooner. As a reader, it’s my favorite genre and I grew up surrounded by classic noir novels. Maybe that’s the problem, maybe I was intimidated.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Not being able to watch classic French movies on cable. Tomorrow, I might give you another answer.

 

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

Beyond the indispensables, like food, water, and shelter? I’ll need my reading glasses and a couple of good books. Lord of the Rings and Seven Pillars of Wisdom. That should keep me going until a cruise ship shows up on the horizon.  

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

A six-month stint at an ad agency where I fought with my sabotaging boss every single day. I slammed the door very hard on my way out.

 

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

Arsène Lupin, the original character written by Maurice Leblanc. He’s perfect. A smart thief, an occasional detective, fun, romantic with a wink, a bad boy with a sense of humor. I read the books as a kid, I reread them often as a grown up and I have just as much fun on my multiple visits. Now that I think about it, Declan owes a lot to Lupin. I definitely have a type!  

 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean, no contest. I never get bored looking at water.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City girl, but I hate traffic and crowds and standing in line for everything and public transport, and it’s so nice by the lakeside, so …..

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

More in the Declan Shaw series. Catch Me on a Blue Day is slated for a 2025 release. Hopefully we’ll keep going after that. Then there’s a retro-noir novella written in collaboration that will come out in September next year, Bop City Swing. I’m looking forward to that. And I’m considering another short story collection geared towards horror and speculative fiction.  

 

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

I love burying myself in writing a book. There’s a moment in a first draft, about one third down, when the characters and the plot gather speed. It’s a great feeling. Then, after the first draft is done, comes a lull. Some kind of intermission. I go back to writing short stories, to clear my head. I take a break from my main character. I’m unfaithful for a while. Eventually, I go back to him, and we fall in step again. I like that dance.

 

Love You Till Tuesday

A Declan Shaw Mystery, Book 

The murder of jazz singer April Easton makes no sense, and yet she appears to have been targeted. Steve Robledo, the Houston cop in charge of the investigation, has nothing to work with. Local PI Declan Shaw who spent the night with April has little to contribute. He’d just met her and she was asleep when he left. The case seems doomed to remain unsolved, forever open, and quickly erased from the headlines. And it would be if Declan’s accidental connection with the murder didn’t have unexpected consequences. The men responsible for April’s death are worried. Declan is known to be stubborn and nosy. There is no telling what he’ll find if he starts digging. He must be watched. He might have to be stopped. He’s a risk the killers cannot afford. The stakes are high: a major trial with the death penalty written all over it.

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AUTHOR MARK EDWARD LANGLEY

Today we sit down for an interview with mystery author Mark Edward Langley. Learn more about him and his books at his website.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

About thirty years ago. I was hired by B. Dalton Bookseller forty years ago, and the world of books was opened up to me. I was watching Spenser: For Hire on ABC when one of my co-workers said, “If you like the show, you should read Robert B. Parker’s novels.” I did. Then I began reading Mickey Spillane, John D. MacDonald, Tony Hillerman, and Ernest Hemingway. I like to think I learned from each of them. 

 

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

From the moment I returned from a two-week trip out west in my early thirties, I began formulating a story. I had dictated everything into a tape recorder, came home, and transcribed it all; then began creating characters, back stories and plotline. I did some research on serial killers and how they act and began writing. That was in early 1992. Twenty-five years later, my dream came true because, as John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans.”

 

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

I am both traditionally published and Indie. My first two novels were part of a two-book publishing deal my agent secured, but when the publisher chose not to publish the 3rd novel (When Silence Screams) I published it while they published the audiobook, continuing with the narrator, award-winning actor Bronson Pinchot. My latest novel, Bloodlines, the first Skye Roanhorse novel, is currently with my new agent, and I have faith she will secure a deal soon.

 

Where do you write?

I write in my home office where I am surrounded by things that give me that creative vibe, like my first edition novel collections of Robert B. Parker, Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Tony & Anne Hillerman, Craig Johnson, CJ Box, and others. I write on a laptop perched on my father’s roll top desk. 

 

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

There are times when I write in silence, but mostly I have music to keep the creativity flowing. My taste ranges from smooth jazz to motion picture soundtracks like Body Heat, 80s rock and, my favorite…Pink Floyd.

 

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

A lot of it. I think every writer pulls from the wealth of people they have known, worked with, or seen everywhere they’ve ever gone. And of course, some characters are based on real killers, like the killer who holds April Manygoats hostage in When Silence Screams. I based him on the Internet's first serial killer, John Edward Robinson, aka The Slavemaster. Monsters are real.

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

First, I conjure up a title, then I begin to give that title a story idea, and then I think of names that would fit those characters. Some are mixtures of names of people I’ve known, some are mixtures of people I read about, and some–like the Native American names–are created during my research phase of what name lives where the story takes place, what clan they would belong to and what type of backstory they would have. My goal is to always strive for authenticity in my writing. I also have several Navajo friends I consult when it comes to aspects of some characters and their behaviors.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

I, like many writers, use a mixture of both. There are, of course, real locations for everyday situations and fictional locations for more serious parts, like murder. Let’s face it, you really can’t have someone killed at the actual Ritz Carlton Hotel, so creating a place in the same area, or changing a town's name, is what needs to be done to give yourself the freedom of creation.

 

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

Arthur Nakai reads books, and Skye Roanhorse only drinks iced tea.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I have two: Collecting motion picture memorabilia and collecting first edition hardcover novels, which I mentioned above. My film memorabilia collection spans from 1923 to the late 1980s.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II. Because I am in awe at how a novel published in 1962 could be so relevant to today’s world sixty-four years later.

 

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

I wish I had gone to college or a university when I had the chance, but then I wouldn’t have had the life experiences that have given me my creativity. Help or hindrance, I’m still not sure.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

For better or worse, people who are not organized. 

 

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

Water, food, and books.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Selling windows and doors. The constant travel was a daily thing, and I couldn’t stand being told to sell at no matter the cost to the consumer.

 

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

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser. Every book was a delight, and when you read them in order, you see Parker’s growth as a writer. Much like you can see yours as you progress in your writing. We can all learn something from reading the best in our fields.

 

Ocean or mountains?

Definitely mountains (and desert). When you are among nature in the American West, you can’t do any better. Concrete and skyscrapers aren’t for me and never will be. Give me a log home on a lake any day with a whiskey and a cigar and I’m happy. 

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

Country guy. Period. Nothing better than freedom in the wild.

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, my latest novel is the first of my second series, the Skye Roanhorse Novels. I am also working on book four of my Arthur Nakai Mystery series (working title: The Source) and Deadfall, Book Two of the Roanhorse series. Since we as writers can never rest, I always try to keep working no matter what. Don’t get me wrong, I do have my moments or days of second guessing myself and wondering if I should keep going. But I always seem to push myself to get back to writing.

 

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

I’d just like to say that anyone who thinks writing is easy, has never attempted it. They do not understand how much effort and hours go into creating a world that doesn't exist. Like a Navajo weaver creating a rug, a writer weaves a tapestry in their own right; a tapestry, like the Spider Woman weaving her rug, that tells a story. 

 

I have always wanted to write and have achieved only a small portion of what I started out to do. I hope I can write novels that readers clammer for someday, but if I can at least make someone think, understand, or enjoy a story, then I have attained what I wanted to achieve.

 

When Silence Screams

An Arthur Nakai Mystery, Book 1

 

Navajo PI Arthur Nakai is asked to locate a missing teenage girl by her mother. When he discovers she has been lured away from her family by a fake online profile and forced into a world of prostitution, his is already one step behind, Arthur learns, however, she has already been sold to a man known to everyone in the sex trafficking trade as the Cuban. But after she daringly escapes from him, the tables get turned as Arthur if forced into retrieving the girl for the Cuban in order to save the life of his own wife.

 

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