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Cam Shaw is hoping that her life will be ghost-free from now on. But that hope dies with the appearance of Mac “the Faker” Green, a wise-cracking ghost from Vegas who has followed her grandmother home. And during the opening night of Blithe Spirit, someone has sent Susan Ingram to her ghostly afterlife. What does her death have to do with the death of her mother-in-law fifty years ago? Who is trying to wipe out the Ingram family one person at a time? And when will that Vegas ghost stop sticking his nose into Cam’s business?
Q: Thanks for stopping by Island Confidential, Teresa. Can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Cam?
A: Cam Shaw is a ghostwriter who suddenly found herself able to see and talk to ghosts. You can imagine how unnerving something like that would be. Her first encounter with a ghost was Stanley Ashton in the first Ghostwriter book, and it didn’t leave her with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Her parents live in the same town; her father, Jim, a retired Methodist minister, and her mother, Charlotte, running a coffeehouse that is located downtown. She sometimes finds herself running interference between her mother and her grandmother, Grandma Alma, is a bit of a wild child at times. Overall, Cam loves her life. Being able to communicate with ghosts, well, let’s just say it’s definitely turned her life a bit upside down and sent her in a direction she didn’t expect. Q: How much of you is in Can Shaw? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: Way too much of me is like Cam! I love Dr Pepper, I do have penguin lounging pants, I love to read, I’m a writer (not a ghostwriter like Cam, though), and I have a close relationship with my family. Cam’s parents in the story are based on my own, and Grandma Alma is based on my grandmother, although she was never as wild as Grandma Alma is in the books. Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: This is only the second book in the series, but yes, I think they do. Randy, Cam’s best friend, is starting a new relationship, and Grandma Alma has a relationship. Even Cam has changed, because of this new ghostly ability, as well as her relationship with Mike. She’s learning that she can depend on her family and friends when the chips are down. I think the person who is going to evolve the most is Mike. As a police chief, he’s always been a by-the-book, follow the rules kind of guy. Now, he finds himself dating someone who can talk to ghosts, and it kind of unnerves him that she’s able to provide information that can help him close his cases, but he can’t tell anyone how he got that information. That’s not an easy thing to do for someone who has to be able to provide evidence to solve his cases. He can’t go to a judge and say, “A ghost told me that so and so killed him.” They’d lock him up in the funny farm! Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: You mean you’ve seen my hit list? (laughs) Actually, there are a couple of people that have irritated the bejesus out of me, and I will admit to wondering how to turn them into my next victim. I’ve actually had a couple of people ask me to “kill” them in my books. No, really! Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Very realistic! Waxahachie is the setting for this series, and it is a real place (I live here!). In this book, I do my best to describe the Waxahachie Community Theatre, which was built in the early 1900s, and is located near the entrance of Getzendaner Park. One of my editors sent me a message one night: “Waxahachie has a lake?!” Yes, we really do! It’s called Lake Waxahachie. Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: Oh gosh, what a question! Let me think…Emma Stone as Cam (she’s a redhead like Cam & I); maybe Channing Tatum as Mike; Doris Roberts as Grandma Alma; Len Cariou as Jim; Polly Draper as Charlotte; Ryan Reynolds as Randy. Now I’m going to be thinking about this the rest of the day, so this lineup is subject to change! Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: I’m not sure if this is the worst advice, but it was the worst thing that was ever said to me. A publisher liked the first book I ever wrote, but he wanted me to make it longer (it’s only 84 pages). He said no one would go for a novella from a no-name writer. I thought about it, and declined, because I felt it would ruin the story. Now that goes hand in hand with the best advice, which I got from my father. He told me to remember why I wrote the stories I wrote, why I wrote them the way I wrote them. “Do you write for money, or do you write to tell a story?” he asked me. I said to write a story. “Then be true to yourself, and write them the way you want to. That’s the most important thing.”
I’m the daughter of a semi-retired Methodist minister, and have spent most of my life living in Texas and New Mexico (no, I am not a native Texan; I was born in the state of Washington). I graduated from West Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in 2000. I taught school for a couple of years before realizing that I really wanted to spend my time writing.
I’m a daughter, mother, wife, sister. Currently, I live in North Texas with my husband (still getting used to being an empty nester!). I love sports, and spend my free time harassing my husband about his Cowboys losing to my Redskins (and Steelers). Who Invited the Ghost to Dinner? is my tenth book (second book for the Ghostwriter series). I also write the Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries (next book for this series is Death Drives a Zamboni). Author Links: WebsiteFacebookTwitterGoodReads
Private Detective Claire DeNardo is afraid of everything. Simple things like balloons, roller coasters, and hairpieces make her knees knock loud enough to be a band’s rhythm section. Unfortunately, the only job Claire can find is working for her Uncle Gino in his seedy detective agency. Until now, her cases have all been middle-aged men with trophy wives who needed watching. But Claire gets swept up in a murder case despite being afraid of conflict, bodily harm, and hurting anyone’s feelings. She enlists a jaded security guard, Ed, to help her. But when Ed is attacked and left comatose, Claire must stumble along by herself. Both the client who hired her and the handsome police detective want her off the case. When the wrong person is charged, it’s up to the terrified detective, to summon all the courage she can to find the true killer.
About the Author
Carole Fowkes is the author of the cozy mystery series, “The Terrified Detective.” She has also had stories in a number of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” books and other similar anthologies. She’s a registered nurse and lives with her husband in Dallas, Texas.
When a glass-making competition turns deadly, glass shop owner Savannah Webb must search for a window into a criminal’s mind…
As the new proprietor of Webb’s Glass Shop, Savannah has been appointed to fill her late father’s shoes as a judge for the Spinnaker Arts Festival, held in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. With her innovative glass works, the clear winner is Megan Loyola, a student of Savannah’s former mentor.
But when Megan doesn’t show up to accept her $25,000 award, rumors start flying. And when Savannah discovers the woman’s dead body on festival grounds, the police immediately suspect her of murder. To keep from appearing before a judge herself, Savannah sorts through the broken pieces of glass scattered around the victim for clues as to who took this killer competition too far.
About The Author Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter@CherylHollon. Buy
Love can be deadly. As proven by these traditional mysteries, cunningly crafted by thirteen bestselling and award-winning authors. Nearly 500-pages of heart-warming, brain puzzling, and character-driven reads. Your purchase includes a free gift, a file with recipes and craft ideas sure to put you in a romantic mood any time of the year!
Included in the anthology are:
Cara Mia Delgatto and the Stupid Cupid– (Joanna Campbell Slan) Cara hopes to find the man of her dreams. Instead she gets caught up in a lover’s nightmare.
Bones and Arrows by Carolyn Haines—Sarah Delaney Booth and her partner Tinkie Armstrong tackle a thieving Cupid.
Missing Jacket by Randy Rawls—A two-timing husband hires a retired cop to retrieve a stolen gift. But nothing is as it seems!
Murder at Catmmando Mountain by Anna Celeste Burke—A murder at a theme park puts Georgina “Georgie” Shaw at risk, when the killer sets Georgie up to take the fall. Will the hunky detective assigned to the case believe her plea of innocence?
And today’s interview guest, Nancy Jill Thames, author of Teddy Saves Christmas. When Jillian Bradley finds herself alone for the holidays, her dog Teddy latches onto a homeless woman with a dangerous secret. Jillian is forced to get involved. Can she find a way to save her new friend in time for a Merry Christmas?
Q: Nancy, thanks for stopping by. Can you tell us something about Jillian Bradley, the heroine of Teddy Saves Christmas?
A: Jillian Bradley is a feisty garden columnist for the San Francisco Enterprise living in Clover Hills, a small Bay Area bedroom community. Since she’s widowed and childless she takes her Yorkie, Teddy, with her wherever she goes which makes some consider her eccentric. Jillian does not mind at all. She knows who she is and what she stands for. Truth, justice, and the American way fits her to a T. Jillian has a great tendency to root for the underdog, particularly when she believes the wrong person has been accused of murder. Serving afternoon tea to her garden club friends is her all-time favorite thing to do besides gardening and collecting fine art. Although she’s considered well-to-do, it does not prevent her from being generous when the need arises. Q: How much of you is in Jillian? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: : I once left a stroller with three children at the mall and chased down a young man who had violated me. Some would call that not being afraid of anything which is exactly the way Jillian Bradley is. I created a protagonist that would live my dream life, which is pretty close at the moment except I am married with four grown children and seven grandchildren, so far.
I do serve afternoon tea, but instead of collecting fine art I do my own paintings or have works my mother painted. Unlike me, Jillian does not play the piano. I think if I were to meet Jillian Bradley in real life I would find her gracious, but strong-willed, which some personalities find difficult to be around for a long period of time. Q: That stroller episode sounds like it could be a story in itself! I see that you’ve just released Book Ten of the Jillian Bradley Series, Murder at the Empress Hotel. Have your characters changed throughout consecutive books ?
A: My characters do change and evolve throughout the series. Jillian only grows more like herself while her closest companions, Walter and Cecilia Montoya have gone from him being a hotel valet and she a housekeeper at the same hotel to him being a homicide detective and she working as a journalist for the Half Moon Bay Review. Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Others have suggested possible victims but I only create victims from my imagination, they are never based on anyone I know. Q: How realistic are your settings? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: : The settings are hallmarks of my books since many of them take place in actual resorts and hotels where I have been privileged to stay. Perhaps one day I can take liberties if my imagination allows. For now I write true to life, with the exception of changing the names of the actual place where Jillian lives and some nearby communities. Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: Kim Cattrall for Jillian, Christian Bale for Walter, and Emily Blunt for Cecilia. Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: The worst advice I’ve heard is from the first book I read on how to write a mystery. It said if one desires to be an author they should immediately turn and run the other way.
On the other hand, the best advice I’ve read is to never give up – just keep going, and growing, and getting better at being a writer/author/publisher/marketer.
About The Author
Nancy Jill Thames was born to write mysteries. From her early days as the neighborhood storyteller to the Amazon Author Watch Bestseller List, she’s always had a vivid imagination and loves to solve problems – perfect for plotting whodunits. In 2010, she published her first mystery “Murder in Half Moon Bay,” introducing the well-loved protagonist Jillian Bradley and clue-sniffing Yorkie “Teddy.” When not plotting Jillian’s next perilous adventure, Nancy Jill travels between Texas, California, and Georgia finding new ways to spoil her grandchildren, playing classical favorites on her baby grand, or having afternoon tea with friends. She lives with her husband in Texas and is a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) CenTex Chapter.
Visit: nancyjillthames.com
Or contact: [email protected] Find out about all of the Happy Homicides 2 authors Joanna Campbell Slan | Teresa Trent | Neil Plakcy | Elaine Viets | Annie Adams | Camille Minichino | Kathi Daley | Nancy Jill Thames | Linda Gordon Hengerer | Carolyn Haines | Randy Rawls | Anna Celeste Burke | Maggie Toussaint
One dead body, one interrupted marriage proposal, and too many suspects to count.
On the night of her engagement, Rae Lynn Dobbs stumbles across a dead body on the beach of White Sands, Florida. Not only does she recognize the murder victim as one of the retirement-home residents where she serves dinner, but it looks increasingly likely that someone there also killed him.
To her fiancé’s dismay, Rae Lynn launches her own investigation. Between the gossipy widows, the home’s last surviving bachelor, and her coworkers, Rae Lynn doesn’t have any shortage of suspects. But the more she learns, the more it seems anyone could be guilty. And if she doesn’t find out “whodunit” quickly, her fiancé might just become fed up enough to leave.
Rae Lynn Dobbs has just accepted her boyfriend Caleb’s marriage proposal (and the hideous ring that accompanies it) when the couple come upon a body face-down in the sand. When the deceased turns out to be someone Rae Lynn knows, she finds herself compelled to try to solve the case herself, which causes more than a few difficulties in both her personal and her work life. Murder in White Sands is a fun (and funny) read. Rae Lynn, the narrator and main character, is sympathetic without being saccharine. A retirement-home worker, Rae-Lynn can be understandably exasperated with her demanding boss, her pillock of a fiance, and her sometimes-tedious job, but she’s unfailingly kind to the elderly residents of the White Sands Retirement Village.
The murder was well-plotted, deftly interwoven with other plot elements. While the murderer’s identity wasn’t obvious at all before the reveal, it made sense in retrospect, striking the perfect balance between too much foreshadowing and too little. One of my favorite elements of the book was Rae Lynn’s ongoing struggle to be balance truth and tact on the topic of her fiance’s taste in wedding jewelry. I envisioned the ring as looking something like this
except with cats’ paws instead of human hands.
The various plotlines in this sweet and good-natured story wrap up nicely. If I were to make any suggestion, it would be to shorten the first chapter and jump right into the second, with its entertaining description of Rae Lynn’s encounter with White Sands’ finest.
Murder in White Sands is a funny, readable cozy mystery with a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended for readers who are looking for a light, funny, and engaging mystery with a likable protagonist.
Q: Marla, thanks for stopping by! I really enjoyed reading Murder in White Sands. For those who haven’t yet read it, tell us about your protagonist, Rae Lynn.
A: Rae Lynn Dobbs is a 36-year-old retirement home waitress who has just gotten engaged when she finds the dead body of one of the home residents. She’s a little curious by nature, but who wouldn’t be if someone they knew died mysteriously? She doesn’t like cats, and she really doesn’t like engagement rings that feature cat paws. Overall, she’s basically a good person who wants to do what’s right. Q: How much of you is in Rae Lynn? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: Rae Lynn is similar to me in the way she thinks. We’re both sarcastic. I used to be a waitress in a retirement home too, so we share that. However, I didn’t set out to model her after me, and we differ in a lot of respects too (I love cats, for the record). If we met in real life, I’m sure we’d get along great. Since I have control over everything she does, I could make her fold my laundry, wash dishes, etc. Seriously though, I’m fond of all my protagonists. If they weren’t fictional, they would be the type of people I’d like to hang out with. Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books, or do you prefer to write stand-alones?
A: My novels are all stand-alones. I do like my main characters to evolve somewhat throughout their individual stories, even if that’s just to become more aware of themselves and their own motives. I mean, there has to be more to life than finding dead bodies, right? Q: Have you ever thought of killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: Never! Everyone I murder is completely fictional (in name, anyway). Q: How true to life is the town of White Sands?
A: White Sands is a fictional town, but it’s roughly based on Sarasota, Florida. The original setting was going to be Sarasota, but the story needed more of a small-town feel so I made up a place. For my novels that take place in real cities, I try to stay true to the city layout, but I make up most businesses. I will say though, when my Seattle characters drive around, traffic moves much more quickly than it does in real life. Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: I’m going to really date myself here because I don’t watch much TV and I have no idea what a lot of the recently famous actors look like. Personally, I love Sandra Bullock, and I think she’d be great as Rae Lynn (although I think she’d be great in any role). Betty White would be fantastic as one of the retirement home residents. She has the right mix of energy and humor. That said though, I’d really like to see a lot of unknowns cast. As an indie author I know how hard it is to gain public attention, and I’d love for my book’s movie version to pave the way for some lesser-known actors. Now if only someone offered to buy the film rights! Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: This is a tough one because I’ve learned so much from other authors since I started self-publishing. I suppose the best advice would be to write every day, whether you feel like it or not. Establishing a routine is the only way I can ever finish a book. I haven’t really received any bad advice. I’ve tried a lot of things that haven’t been very effective, but I think that’s part of the process of figuring out what works for you and your stories.
About The Author
Marla Bradeen previously worked as a software consultant and analyst. In 2012, she gave up a traditional job for no other reason than to have more time to pursue personal interests, such as sleeping in late and taking naps. Although she misses seeing regular deposits into her bank account, she hasn’t once regretted that decision.
She didn’t initially intend to begin writing novels, but after several weeks of doing nothing, she realized sleeping all day isn’t as easy or enjoyable as her cats led her to believe. Over the ensuing months, she wrote Lethal Injection, which she self-published in 2013.
Join her readers’ group to receive a free copy of her cozy, chick-lit mystery novel Lost Witness: http://hyperurl.co/rg2 Keep up with Marla
“You can’t get away with it. You’re a scoundrel and a cheat.” Penn’s face was set into deep lines, hatred aging him prematurely.
“I’m not a cheat. I arrived first, fair and square.
You have to accept it.”
Tension twisted my shoulders. I held my breath.
“That’s what you think!” Penn pulled out a Colt and fired.
A flash of light—popping sounds—two men fell to the ground.
The feud between the Graces and the Gaynors is still going strong more than a century after its inception in the 1891 Oklahoma land run. Newspaper editor Penn Hardy is murdered during the reenactment of the most famous gunfight in the history of Grace Gulch, Oklahoma. Cici Wilde, owner of a vintage clothing store, feels compelled to investigate when police suspect people close to her. She soon discovers her talent for sleuthing equals her flare for wearing period clothing. Theater director Audie Howe never expected the reenactment to end in a real murder. He cares too much for the future of the Magda Grace Mallory Theater – and the charming Cici Wilde – to let her face danger alone. Cici and Audie take a dangerous gamble to nail the killer – and lay their lives on the line.
Today we’re chatting with Darlene Franklin, author of Gunfight at Grace Gulch. Q: Introduce us to Cici. What is it about her that appeals to you as a writer?
A: Cici is the first character I wrote in first person. The story flies out, her personality comes to life, and I know how she’s going to react. She’s is the middle Wilde sister. That should make her the peace-maker, and maybe that’s why she’s pulled between “Hurricane Jenna,” her older sister, and Dina, her younger sister who changes her hair color to match her clothes.
Cici’s an Okie, and proud of it. The longer I live in the state, the more I come to appreciate its turbulent history and its vibrant culture. She’s the kind of friend I’d like to have. She’s loyal to a fault, and will fight for her loved if she has to—and in Gunfight at Grace Gulch, she has to. Her little sister and her childhood friend are both suspects in the murder. Q: How much of Cici is you?
A: Cici enjoys living in other times vicariously, by wearing vintage clothing from different eras. I do that, too; writing is the perfect escape from the dreariness of half of a nursing home room. She feels overshadowed, and perhaps insecure, between her two sisters. I don’t have sisters, but I know the feeling of disappearing in a crowd. But she’s more of a people-person than I am. I couldn’t stand running a retail shop.
Then again, I don’t look a thing like Cici. My hair is fine and straight, nothing like the “dandelion seed” that describe her struggles with her hair. I also don’t know what it’s like to grow up in a town where everyone has known each other for a hundred years. Q: Do you expect to keep your characters unchanged throughout the series, or will they develop and change circumstances?
A: Oh, I definitely expect them to develop and change. That comes from my background in writing romance. The basic theme and conflict always include personal change. The original publisher for the Dressed in Death series stipulated that our stories should be 50/50 romance and mystery. I had to learn to rein in the romance at times, but at other times, I got caught up in the mystery and forgot the romance. Q: If I didn’t know in advance that this was a Christian novel, would I figure it out by reading it?
A: I believe you would. Cici is quite outspoken about her faith and brings God into her life on a regular basis. Her hero, Audie Howe, quotes the Bible as often as he quotes Oscar Wilde. Q: Your author bio says that you write full time from a nursing home. How does that work?
A: People find the subject fascinating, so I always mention it. It’s really not that different from finding a way to write around other obstacles—working full time, raising children, housework, etc. Exchange those obstacles for uncertain health, unpredictable schedules, limited space, and you get an idea of my life here. Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: As realistic as I could make it. I took a trip through Lincoln County, Oklahoma, and took plenty of pictures. I saw a spot that looked like a gulch and that’s why I named the town Grace Gulch. I used real, historical, restaurants in the story—and then they were blown away by a tornado. That’s Oklahoma. I’ve also been told that OU’s colors aren’t red and white but crimson and cream. During the trip, I reached a point where which red clay changed to common brown dirt. The literal transformation inspired me to make the physical environment an element in the story. I didn’t include this in my story, but I also spent time in the town that served as the model for the animated movie Cars. A restaurant had memorabilia signed by crew members. I believe that was the restaurant torn down by the tornado. Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: Ryan Gosling for Audie Howe and Kristi Wiig for Cici Wilde. And if we can add Meryl Streep for Magda Grace Mallory, that would be marvelous. Q: What’s the worst advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: I don’t know if I’ve had any terrible advice. I had one miserable encounter with an editor at a writer’s conference who said I was writing like a beginner—when I had won awards and been writing for ten years. That left me very shaken.
This isn’t bad advice, but it’s overused: write what you know. In writing nonfiction, that might be relevant. But my rule for writing fiction is write what you’re (a) passionate about and (b) what interests you. I considered writing a mystery series about a team of storm chasers, but decided I didn’t want to do the research required to make it believable. My next series, however, Murder on the Case, features a home health aide. After receiving help at home and living in a nursing home, I know a lot about the subject. But I’ve written about steamboat pilots, apple orchards, vintage clothing—all things I had fun learning about. Q: And what’s the best advice you’ve received?
A: These are the simplest but the most basic of all weapons in the writer’s arsenal:
Read, read, read—everything. Bestsellers. Your genre. Other genres. The classics.
Write, write, write—There is no substitute for writing to improve in the craft. Of course, today there are a zillion online tools to speed up the process that I learned by trial and error.
Get involved with a critique group, in person or online.
Author bio: Best-selling author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written over fifty books and more than 250 devotionals. Her historical fiction ranges from the Revolutionary War to World War II, from Wyoming to Vermont.
When a priceless antique is stolen, murder unravels the peaceful seaside town of Haven Harbor, Maine…
Angie Curtis and her fellow Mainely Needlepointers know how to enjoy their holidays. But nothing grabs their attention like tying up loose threads. So when Mary Clough drops in on the group’s Fourth of July supper with a question about antique needlepoint she’s discovered in her family Colonial-era home, Angie and her ravelers are happy to look into the matter.
Q: Aloha Lea, thanks for stopping by! Angie Curtis, of the Mainely Needlepointers, has some history. Tell us about her.
A: Angie Curtis, my protagonist, had a rough childhood in Haven Harbor, Maine. She never knew who her dad was, and her mom had lots of boyfriends. When Angie was ten her mother walked out … and never came back. Angie’s more conventional grandmother brought her up, but people in town expected Angie to take after her mother. She had a rocky adolescence, and headed west, as far away from Maine as she could get, after high school. In Mesa, Arizona, she got a job working for a private investigator, learned how to “follow and photo,” and bought a Glock. When she was twenty-seven her grandmother’s call, “Angie, it’s time to come home. They’ve found your mother,” brought her back to Haven Harbor, where she has to confront her memories, and possibly find her future. Q: How much of you is in Angie? How would you feel about her if you met her in real life?
A: Although, like me, Angie loves the sea and the sea coast, she is younger than I am, braver, has less education, and is still figuring out who she is. She drinks a little too much, trusts too little, but is “street smart,” and a hard worker. I like her. Q: Do your characters change and evolve throughout consecutive books in the series?
A: Some of my younger characters, especially Angie, change as the Mainely Needlepoint series progresses. But, even more important, all my characters have secrets and pasts, and in each book Angie (and my readers) will find out a little more about who they are. Few people are as they appear on the surface. Q: You mention in your author bio that you left the corporate world a few years ago. Have you ever thought of going back to your old workplace and killing someone–on the pages of a murder mystery, I mean?
A: So far I have no desire to go back to the corporate world – fictionally or in person. But that doesn’t mean some of the people I knew there, and things I learned, won’t pop up in various books! Q: How realistic is your setting? Do you take liberties, or are you true to life?
A: Haven Harbor is a fictional seaport, but it’s very realistic. It has a working waterfront, seafood restaurants, antique stores and art galleries, a bakery and a small police force. The postmaster and minister know everyone in town. In the summer the town is flooded with tourists. Mainers who live there year ‘round respect each other’s privacy (and secrets) and may work three or four different jobs during the year to support their families. People from away might describe Haven Harbor as “scenic” or “quaint.” But they don’t see what goes on in the rooms behind those wide porches and green-painted doors. Q: When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major parts?
A: That’s a tough one! I see Angie as a younger Angie Dickinson. Her Gram could be Helen Mirren or Angela Lansbury. As for the other characters … I think the readers should picture them. Q: What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author?
A: Worst advice? “Write what you know.” I think it should be, “Start with what you know.” Research and imagination will take you the rest of the way. Best advice? Be productive. Keep reading. Keep writing. And know when it’s time to write “The End” and move on.
About The Author
About The Author – Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in (where else?) nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.
Herbert L. Smith (Herb to his friends) is a native of Glenwood, Iowa, the town that is the prototype for Hillville, the setting for his Starfire Mystery Series.
The stories are set in the 1950’s, and Hillville appears to be enjoying a Golden Age of mid-century, Midwestern optimism and wholesomeness–that is, except for the murders.
in addition to being well-published (eight books and counting!) and well-traveled (Egypt and the Middle East, Argentina, Idaho, and even exotic central California), Herb is an accomplished musician, with a strong interest in sacred music. He has worked in different churches as organist, sometimes doubling as choir master as well.
Herb currently lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife, Glenda, where, despite the demands of his literary and musical endeavors, he claims to be “retired.”
Q: Herb, thanks for stopping by! Can you tell us a little about your Starfire Mysteries, and about Hurricane Kingdom?
A: Hurricane Kingdom is number three (of four – so far) in the Starfire Mystery series. The books are all set in the semi-fictional Hillville, Iowa and feature a team of detectives who work together there. The running theme through all the books is life in Southwest Iowa in the 1950’s. For some of us it is a nostalgic look at our past, and for many others it’s the discovery of life as it was in that time, which they have heard about but can’t really understand – unless they read books like this. As an author who lived there at mid-century, I can tell it like it was.
Iowa, especially Hillville, may not seem very interesting initially, but just beneath the surface of little rural towns – whether in Iowa or any place else in the world – there’s another kind of society, one that isn’t out in the open and obvious to casual glances, but it’s there, and it influences everyone who lives in and around the community. It’s a world of criminality and vice, corruption in many different forms, and intrigues that can get folks into all kinds of trouble, even murder, either as a victim or a perpetrator. I can tell you about that world, too, because for some strange reason I developed a good ‘nose’ that searched out that kind of thing. I listened and learned from my earliest memories, and was able to put it together at a shockingly young age.
Q: On a scale of Michael Connelly to Joanne Fluke, how “gritty” versus “cozy” would you say your books are? Do you include graphic details, or does most of the unpleasantness happen offstage?
A: I don’t report most of the crimes I write about in savage or disturbing mental visuals, and there are lots of comedic twists and sub-plots that go on all the time. Sub-plots are really the glue that hold the books together and make them live. They are real, too, and are great fun to recall and report. Food, social interplay, music, history, the town layout, specific places, and even events are dredged out of memory and placed on the pages of the books. One interesting thing is that all the houses and buildings I describe are really there – places I lived or visited often, and I can see and smell them as I write. Hoffman’s Bakery, the Hog Ranch, the Starfire office, the house on Green Street (the place where my memories begin) are mostly still sitting in their places after more than sixty five years, and will go on for a great many more, I hope. The one great loss is the County Court House, a beautiful, graceful, Pre-Civil-War building, which was replaced in the late 1950’s. Its destruction still raises hackles among people who recall its grand and gracious presence.
Q: Guy and Caleb seem like unlikely friends; they have different personalities and a considerable age difference as well. Can you tell us a little bit about them, and what draws them together?
A: Caleb is mostly a fictional character. He is young and eager to get ahead, and has a good sense of self, but often gets into trouble due to a mouth that speaks before he thinks very much. In my young years I was a lot like Caleb, so I suppose I am Caleb, at least to some extent. I didn’t have the experiences he has, nor lead the same kind of life, but did live for a short time in the house on Vine Street that his parents bought when he was young, as well as the little ‘honeymoon house’on Green Street, where I came to fully conscious memory when I was three.
In many more ways, I am also Guy, the older and more thoughtful (sometimes) part of the equation. He is almost forty years older than Caleb, and the intergenerational relationship they have is key to the whole plot. Over time, they have become friends, and they treat each other as equal partners in their business. It was Guy who insisted on naming the Starfire Agency after Caleb. He didn’t expect to remain active in it very long, but Caleb felt the need for the stability that age and experience brought, so Guy was persuaded to stay.
Q: So what do these two very different men have in common?
A: Both men have a lot of faults and flaws, but both have lots of integrity when the chips are down, and they work together in a kind of bantering (sometimes intense) style that does them both credit. They argue and get angry at times, but all things considered, they are good people to write about.
Guy has a secret; a criminal past. He was convicted of rum-running in New Jersey during the prohibition days of the late 1920’s and served eight years in a prison there. After he got out he went to work – after quite a long time trying to figure things out again – in a ‘bank’ in New York City, but the so-called bank was nothing but a crooked ponzi scheme. He managed to embezzle a little more than two-hundred-thousand-dollars before he knew time was short and he’d better get away. He escaped just in time with pockets full of money. He left the rest of the loot in safety deposit boxes in Chicago, which he managed to recover after about a year in Hillville.
He planned a quiet retirement somewhere near Omaha – Hillville is about twenty miles south – and settled in for the duration of a long and peaceful life. That was only a dream, of course. When he helped Caleb (with a little of the stolen loot) get the detective agency going, he also set himself up for a life of renewed danger and the possibility of being discovered and hauled back to New York for another prison term. He faces that all the time, and that’s one of the reasons he acts and reacts as he does.
Q: What originally inspired you to start writing the Starfire Mysteries?
A: When we retired in 2004, my wife and I moved to Eugene, Oregon. One of my sisters lives in a nearby town, and we soon developed a close relationship. She read my earliest books (some memoirs and novels about Egypt which I had written a few years before) and asked me why I didn’t write about Iowa memories. She repeated the questions several times over about two years, so I set out a plan and started writing. A mystery series set in Iowa isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but it has served me well. I managed to get a lot of Iowa flavor into the stories as well as some of the characters and I have (mostly) fun creating them. It helps that I still have a good memory!
Q: In writing about midcentury Iowa, do you rely on your memory alone, or do you supplement it with research?
A: I study Hillville – its actual name is Glenwood – on the internet and look at current videos of people and places on You Tube. I take tours of the town with Google maps, and move up and down the familiar streets, looking at the houses and other buildings as I go. I walk along the routes I took to school, recalling lots of things by sight, and study the names of people – there are family names that are still prominent in town – and find any connections I can relate to.
Q: Have you found any differences between what you remember, and what you’re finding in your current research?
A: Of course, things have changed! The town hasn’t grown a lot in population, but there are new schools and churches and business buildings. Some of the old places have disappeared, although the seriously old buildings – which were built about the same time as the courthouse – around the ‘Square’ seem much the same. The house where I lived for most of my Hillville years has fallen into terrible decay, but was recently sold and I am hoping it will be restored. Everything changes, but a lot of it is, at present, much the same as it was in 1955.
Q: Tell us about the kinds of reader reactions you’ve had to the Starfire Mysteries. Any surprises?
A: I am surprised at the reactions I have gotten from writing about food! I didn’t know much about food in any other place when I was growing up in Iowa, but I don’t believe cooking and eating was a lot different there than in most places in the U.S. During the 1950’s we experienced some changes in the way we ate, but the entire nation, with the possible exception of the Southeast, experienced the same things. (The Southeast was more traditional and had lots more delicious regional foods than most other areas of the country at that time.)
Q: How would you describe the Iowan culinary culture that you grew up with?
A: Food was plentiful in those days, and we tended to eat well. Meat was a mainstay, as it was across the country, and the kinds of things we usually ate were from popular southern and mid-western style recipes. Cooking and eating was important, but probably no more so than anywhere else.
The idea that Iowa’s food is or was second rate is a strange one to me. As time moved forward, Iowans moved along with it, and although it wasn’t (and still isn’t) a foodie haven, it was good and solid and tasty. I recall all the good food with pleasure.
Q: Is there a character you identify with most? Guy? Caleb? Someone else?
A: As I said before, I am Guy, and Guy is me. Simply put. We are far from the same (criminal past and all that) but we look exactly alike now, and behave in much the same way toward most if not all situations we encounter. I am now just a bit older than he is, but the time warp works well, so I can still project myself into 1955 or 56 and be in my sixties there and then, as Guy is.
I wanted to develop an accidental ‘hero’ when I set Guy up. He isn’t slick, not good looking, and doesn’t have a lot of the skills he needs for smooth social interaction, but he has a good mind and is able to work through the tangles of criminal activity to find a culprit. (I have never solved crimes, but I do enjoy setting them up and letting Guy have at it.)
Guy and I are both overweight, older, silver haired, and bearded. We tend to wear slouchy clothes, and both of us are pianists. That’s for starters. There are lots of other, much more subtle, ways in which we are alike, and probably even more in which we are not. He isn’t my clone, but he is what I want him to be; a smart, capable, considerate man who can help other people solve their problems, murder notwithstanding. Guy is compassionate. He helps in (sometimes) subtle ways to get people to look at themselves more positively, and to advance and enhance their lives. And that enhances and advances his life as well.
But to some extent I am all the characters. As I write, I inject myself into all of them to some degree, and I decide what they will finally say and do, unless they wrest the story from me and go off on their own. Then I become merely a recorder of events. (At times I feel that I am.)
Q: Is the Hog Ranch a product of literary license, or is it based on a real place?
The Hog Ranch
A: The Hog Ranch is a real place. It’s a two-and-a-half-story log structure which sits on the edge of the Missouri River far to the north and west of town, and was subjected to all the floods that inundated the ‘river bottom’ for many years. It’s still there, and is still vulnerable to the whims of the River.
The ranch, built sometime around the turn of the 20th century, was originally designed as a gambling, drinking, and bordello establishment. There was illegal horse racing there, too, and that attracted people from far away. I’m not sure if it was ever raided, but for some reason it closed and was sold in 1922 to a farmer who set it up as a pork emporium. He called it the Hog Ranch, and it operated as such for a short time. Since then, the place has been owned by a large number of different farmers, and currently (2015), it is once again on the market.
An interesting touch to add to its history: my father and mother lived and worked on the Hog Ranch for about a year, starting when they were married in 1929. They left because my mother was frightened by the ‘creepy’ place. I juggled the years of operation as a gambling den a bit, but the basics, as described in Hurricane Kingdom, are historic.
Q: Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?
A: Visit my website at http://www.herbertlsmith.com/
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