5 questions with Cricket McRae



Cricke McRae



Today Cricket McRae is my 5 questions victim.  Her most recent Home Crafting Mystery, Wined and Died, is already shipping.  If you haven't stopped by your local store, or placed your online order, now is a perfect time!!  Cricket has a great blog.  I am so jealous and inspired when I read what she is cooking, making or growing!

Was there an author or a book that inspired you to write?

 I read so much as a child that I can't name just one. It was more like the accumulation of all the authors and their stories. However once I decided to be a writer, Starting from Scratch by Rita Mae Brown and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott were influential and inspirational.

Your books revolve around home crafting – soap making, canning, cheese making – did you already know how to do those things, or do you learn a new craft for each book?

When I started the first Home Crafting Mystery I wanted to write about something I already knew about rather than doing a lot of research. I had a soap making business for a while, and gave that occupation to my main character, Sophie Mae Reynolds. Besides writing, I also pickle and can, garden, make cheese and butter, spin yarn, knit and crochet. However, I did have to research mead making for my latest, Wined and Died, which I understand is already shipping from Amazon. ; )

Do you have a favorite movie, book or artist? 

The Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I go back to them over and over, amazed at how they're such accurate tutorials for colonial skills. As for movies, I confess to watching Dirty Dancing and Tremors far too often. 

You have several books in your series – is it getting harder or easier with each book?

Both. It's easier in that the world building is largely done. The primary characters are like family, so keeping them consistent is no problem. But can be challenging to keep things fresh, and since the series is set in a small town I have to avoid the "Jessica Fletcher" syndrome -- there are only so many dead bodies that can keep turning up.  

If you needed to bribe your editor, what you make/buy her? 

I wonder if she likes molasses-oatmeal cookies ...?  (I believe she may...*big grin*)

Click here for a list of all of Cricket's books:  http://www.midnightinkbooks.com/products_by_series_list.php?series_id=28

5 questions with Joanna Campbell Slan

Today's Midnight Ink author subject to my 5 questions is Joanna Campbell Slan.  I have had the pleasure of hanging out with Joanna at several conventions and enjoy our conversations about the mystery world, the current market, trends, etc.  If you haven't yet entered the world of Kiki Lowenstein, do yourself a favor and pick up Joanna's books asap!

Was there an author or a book that inspired you to write? 

There were several. Jane Eyre saved my life. My father was a violent alcoholic, and my mother was an enabler. Jane Eyre encouraged me to believe that I could escape that environment by getting a good education. So I did. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith showed me that I was not responsible for my father’s disease, as he and my mother would have me think. These books taught me that reading offered both an escape and a game plan. Recognizing their powerful influence on my life spurred me to want to become an author.

Your books involve scrapbooking, but also with strong social themes.  Was it a conscious decision to go in that direction?

Yes. I wanted my work to matter. I aim to offer my readers entertainment, so they can forget their own troubles, and edification, so they can change their lives. Including scrapbooking was a marketing decision. I am a scrapbooker. I do enjoy it, but my books have strong appeal to those who have no interest in gluing photos onto pages. I don’t write books about scrapbooking. (Not any more. I have written seven scrapbooking technique books.) I write books about a character who happens to like to scrapbook. There’s a big difference.

Do you have a favorite movie, book or artist?

Since I’ve answered the portion about books, let me tackle movies: Michael with John Travolta; Bell, Book and Candle with Kim Novak, Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon; The Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison; Cross Creek with Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, and Peter Coyote; and Starman with Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen. Oh, and of course, Gone with the Wind. I think you’ll quickly spot the common themes in them. All feature outsiders, who don’t fit in but who manage to make their way in this world.

Do you have a daily writing routine?  Is it harder now that you are juggling two series?

I write every day for as long as I can. (I get stopped by aching wrists and back and so on.) I start my day by taking care of my dogs, checking my email, and so on. I try to work in an exercise class, so I can stave off the dreaded “writers’ butt.” Actually, with two series it’s both harder and easier. Harder because there’s more to juggle. Easier because I tend to feel sad when I finish I book and don’t have another assignment. I’m one of the few authors I know who actually loves the process of writing. Everyone enjoys “having written,” but I love the act and process of writing.

If you needed to bribe your editor, what you make/buy her? 

I would make her a scrapbook so she could savor her memories of her three growing boys. As the mother of a guy who’s now a senior at University of Miami, I would remind her that they really do grow fast—although at some stages, time really grinds along slowly. And as my old friend Liz Curtis Higgs once said, “You’re the only person who has the title of ‘Mom’ to them.”

       

Books 1 - 4

Thanks Joanna!!  I appreciate you playing along with me today!

5 questions with Sue Ann Jaffarian





Sue Ann Jaffarian



Finally, blogger is back up and I can post again!  Today Sue Ann Jaffarian was kind enough to endure my 5 questions!  :)  If you don't know of Sue Ann, you should.  She is the author of three series - Odelia Grey, Granny Apples and Madison Rose series.  Odelia is a plus sized paralegal who has a nose for trouble and dead bodies.  Granny Apples is the great, great (I forget how many greats) grandmother of Emma Whitecastle.  As a ghost, Granny helps Emma help other ghosts to solve mysteries surrounding their lives and deaths - mysteries that keep them from passing over peacefully.  Madison Rose my kind of girl - alone in the world, she fends for herself until one day she is attacked and an elderly vampire couple save her from the attack.  Thus starts Madison's relationship with a group of vampires.  Three very different series yet all fantastic.

Was there an author or a book that inspired you to write?

So many authors have inspired me in different ways.  As a kid, I was a voracious reader. I remember dreaming of seeing my name on a book on a library shelf and my name in the card catalogue.  I wanted to write books like To Kill A Mockingbird and The Yearling.  In the end, it was the late Anne George who inspired me to write humorous mysteries.  When I first decided to turn my attention to writing mysteries, I read a couple dozen books from various series written by women about female sleuths.  While reading Anne George’s Murder Runs In The Family, I realized I wanted to write funny mysteries.  I wanted to make people laugh out loud and invest themselves in the lives of the characters as she did with her down home humor and charming characters.   

You’ve been writing for a while now – how has social media affected your platform/marketing/career?

It has greatly enhanced all three. Through various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging, I have been able to reach many more potential readers than I might have otherwise.  With social media, midlist authors can compete better with the authors who are benefited by big PR budgets and campaigns.  I also get to know my readers and they get to know me.  Sometimes that can be touchy, but most of the time it helps sales and boosts interest in my work. I can better picture my audience.  During the many hours I spend writing, I imagine the people who are going to read the latest Odelia or Granny or vampire mystery.  It makes me feel like I’m telling my friends a story in a more intimate setting and writing becomes less lonely.

Do you have a favorite movie, book or artist?

Favorite movies:  The Color Purple, As Good As It Gets

Favorite books:  To Kill A Mockingbird, Angela’s Ashes

You and I have talked about being a professional writer.  Would you mind explaining what that means to you?

For me, being a professional writer means taking it seriously and not treating it as a hobby that you do from time to time as you feel like it or when you can squeeze it in.  I view my writing with the same eye I do my paralegal career at the law firm. There are deadlines and expectations in both venues and I strive to meet them in both careers.  In my writing, I make a schedule and stick to it as carefully as I can. A large part of being a professional writer is also understanding that writing is a business.  Learning about and keeping up with the business aspect of it is part of being a professional writer, just as keeping abreast of continuing legal education is important to my being a professional paralegal.

 If you needed to bribe your editor, what you make/buy her? 

Hmmm, if my editor was still Barbara Moore, I’d buy her a pair of very expensive shoes. That would be a no-brainer.  But I’m not sure about you.  Maybe season tickets to your favorite sports team – best seats in the house or a box – with catered food and drink for you and a couple of friends?  Stock in Starbucks? Give me a hint.

You know me pretty well, Sue Ann.  I love sports and Starbucks.  :)

If you haven't read Sue Ann yet, you owe it to yourself to check out her website.  She currently has first chapters from each of her three series posted.  http://www.sueannjaffarian.com/  Sue Ann also posts on the Criminal Minds blog http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend, y'all!!

1

5 questions with Jess Lourey

Today, I am chatting with Inker Jess Lourey.  Jess is the first Midnight Ink author I met so it's deserving she is the first I subject to random questions!  :)  Her Murder by Month series starts with May Day, October Fest is now available and November Hunt is scheduled for March 2012.  In my opinion, Jess keeps getting better with each book.  I love that about her series.  And I love Mira James.  She is my kind of heroine!

1.)     How did the idea of the Murder by Month series come to you?
In 2002, I was living in Battle Lake, a Minnesota town with a population of around 800 people. I was a single mother of a newborn and a three-year-old, working full time, feeling both smothered and comforted by the small town rhythm, and so lonely that I had developed a crush on a 23-foot fiberglass statue. I tried self-soothing by reading Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, and Tony Hillerman and drinking lots of wine after the kids were asleep. Eventually, the authors I was reading weren't writing fast enough, and I needed a solid mix of humor and justice to get me through the day. I decided to try writing it myself. Out of this grew the Murder-by-Month mysteries.

2.)    What is your proudest publishing/writing moment?

My proudest publishing moment is when I signed the contract for my first book--May Day--with Midnight Ink. There's something about realizing for the first time that your story is going to be a physical book that people can hold. It's indescribable, and a memory I'll always treasure. Incidentally, I was so green when I signed that first contract that I had an actual person fill out the witness signature rather than forging it myself, like I do now.

3.)    What is your worst publishing/writing moment?

I haven't had any terrible writing or publishing moments. It still stings when I get a bad review, but mostly, I'm just glad to be published, especially in today's climate.

4.)     What is your favorite movie, book or artist?
My favorite book is often the last one I read, but if I had to choose three of my all-times, I'd select Gone with the Wind, The Handmaid's Tale, and Main Street. Weird, I know. I don't have any favorite films, but I am a huge fan of b-movie creature features and am working on what I hope will be a SyFy channel original titled Hog! The exclamation point is part of the title and not part of my sentence. Hog!

5.)    If you needed to bribe your editor, what would you get/make her?
If I needed to bribe my editor, I'd give her the December manuscript early, dark chocolate, a bottle of wine, and a whole day off. Odd...those are the same things I use to bribe myself. Is this why we get along so well, Terri?

The day off would be fantastic.  An early manuscript - fantastic!  But chocolate and wine...  I'll be in touch!!


I wish I could nap at my desk!!  :)  Happy Monday.