New Releases - November 2016

Don't Miss Midnight Ink's November Releases!

Now available from Midnight Ink, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indiebound and your local bookseller!

Guest Post: C.S. Challinor - Judgment of Murder

The Story Behind the Story

by C.S. Challinor

C.S. Challinor, author of the Rex Graves Cozy Mystery series, tells all in her blog post, "The Story Behind the Story."

The recent updating and revamping of my author website at www.rexgraves.com (plug, plug) prompted the subject of this blog, which I trust you will read with the breathless anticipation you would feel for a new season of “Downton Abbey.”

Christmas Is Murder (2008) was the debut novel for my mystery series, which features Scottish barrister-sleuth, Rex Graves QC, and there was some debate at Midnight Ink as to whether it might prove too seasonal, and thereby have a limited shelf life. The acquisitions editor at the time prevailed, and it still sells best of all the Rex Graves titles to-date. I heavily brainstormed the title for that particular novel, as when naming one’s first child. It wasn't, in fact, intended to be the first book in the series. I had started writing Murder in the Raw, but the Christmas idea just sort of took over.

For Murder in the Raw (2009) I really did spend three weeks au naturel (with my husband) at an exclusive naturist resort on Saint Martin in the French West Indies, the setting for the novel. It was the best beach on the island, picture postcard perfect, and when in Rome... Would I do it again now, a decade later? Probably not. For my conservative Scots barrister, it was certainly an eye-opener.

After Phi Beta Kappa came out in 2010, I had several members of the Phi Beta Kappa Society write to my website informing me that theirs was the most prestigious and oldest existing academic honor society in America, founded at The College of William and Mary in 1776. My fraternity at a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, is quite the reverse. I should have called it Phi Beta Kaput, or similar, to avoid any confusion. Mea culpa. I was educated in the UK, and we didn't have "Greek" sororities and fraternities, though I did study ancient Greek in school and can still recite the entire alphabet. My husband who went to a non-ivy league college in Florida came up with the ΦBK, simply because the letters readily sprang to mind. One member of the illustrious society and a fan of my books, bless her, actually took the time to go through each Rex Graves book and send me a list of editorially missed typos for the “Errata” section on my website, an honor indeed.

Murder on the Moor (2011). In 2010, I returned after a long absence to the Scottish Highlands, which I used to visit as a child when living near Edinburgh from age four to fourteen. I picked out the precise spot for Gleneagle Lodge, Rex's fictional “retreat” on a loch near Spean Bridge, a village known to tourists as the crossroads of the Highlands. The euphemistically-termed retreat hosts two separate murderous events in the series and all the ensuing mayhem. I took numerous photos and made a map of the surrounding untamed countryside to refer to for Murder on the Moor and, later, Murder at Midnight.

Murder of the Bride (2012). You will always find a disclaimer at the front of a work of fiction to the effect that any resemblance of characters in the novel to people in real life is purely coincidental. Not so much. Writers inevitably draw on people they have known or met, if only in one or two physical or personality traits. A character in my wedding mystery is loosely based on someone I knew, although the fictitious person is different in nationality, age, profession, and impending familial status. I just couldn't help myself. Most authors leave a little of themselves in their books, subconsciously dipping into the great computer that is the brain where memory lies dormant, and recapturing fragments.

With Murder at Midnight (2014), I tried to emulate Christmas Is Murder, the first novel in the series, but as a New Year's Eve murder mystery; although I was aiming for more sinister and foreboding. The sort of ending I thought, retrospectively, I should have put in, I incorporated into a subsequent novel. I sometimes wish rewriting real life could be so easy!

A third of Murder Comes Calling (2015) was written on the deck of a cruise ship on the way to Aruba. While solving a spate of murders in a sleepy community in central England, Rex’s fiancée takes this same Caribbean cruise. I would get up early, grab breakfast before the hangover rush, and scribble away in a small legal pad on the newly scrubbed deck. This would go on for hours. I was in the “zone,” which I attribute to the invigorating sea breeze. Traveling is my passion. My son is a licensed boat captain, but I hardly ever get to go out on his boat. If I had my own vessel, I would probably call it Wanderlust. (I just love naming things.)

Judgment of Murder (Nov 8, 2016; Election Day!!) evolved from a short story. The publisher asked if I had a new Rex Graves novel in the works. At the time, I was writing a short story featuring my indefatigable and problem-solving barrister-sleuth. My head was in it, so away I went. The initial plot was about the murder of Lord Gordon Murgatroyd, a once redoubtable judge, in Canterbury, England (where I attended university). I added the abduction of a young girl in nearby Dover, of White Cliffs fame. Somehow the two plots forged together and a book was born of a story.

When people ask where I get my ideas from, I can never come up with a single answer. It starts from a concept (such as a snowbound hotel, a fatal wedding reception, a targeted community of homeowners); a place (a luxury resort, a Florida college); a mood (a desolate moor, a murder on the final midnight of the year); a name (a judge whose surname sounds like murder).

The next Rex Graves novel, which I'm within tantalizing sight of finishing—hopefully before Christmas—was based on what I decided was a totally brilliant idea, and I even have a brilliant title for it, not an easy feat, since my titles are never more than four words, including any definite article and preposition, and must feature the all-important word MURDER. The second most important word aims to give an inkling as to what the mystery is about. A bit of alliteration can help give it a good ring. I write more confidently when I have a satisfactory title locked down. It's my signpost. It informs the story and keeps me on track.

Thank you for letting me share some of my inspirations and experiences with you.

Happy writing and reading!

Caroline 

***

It’s a dark day for Scottish barrister Rex Graves when he learns that Lord Gordon Murgatroyd has passed away. Referred to as “Judge Murder” by Rex’s colleagues, the famously severe judge supposedly died of natural causes—but his daughter Phoebe thinks otherwise. Wanting to honor the man who’d always been uncharacteristically kind to him, Rex thinks it would be a good idea to follow up on Phoebe’s suspicions . . . until a meeting with his first suspect. With a target on his back and a child abduction case gripping the region, Rex fears that the judge’s death won’t be an isolated incident.

C.S. Challinor (Florida) was educated in England and Scotland, and has traveled extensively.  Her short stories have been published in women’s magazines in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Visit all of C.S. Challinor's titles at www.MidnightInkBooks.com.

Q&A with C.S. Challinor!

This week, we sat down with C.S. Challinor, author of the Rex Graves Mysteries. Her latest, Murder Comes Calling, is out now!

Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?
C.S. Challinor: I was a freelance writer in the mid-nineties, writing for Florida lifestyle and real estate publications and selling short fiction to US and UK magazines. I started writing full-time and full-length works in 2006, when I came out of new home/community sales.

MI: What influence have other authors had on your writing?

CSC: I've probably absorbed a lot from such mystery writers as Christie and Simenon, since that's what I read a lot of growing up in Great Britain and France outside of the classics we studied in school. I like Agatha's smooth, unpretentious style and Simenon's atmosphere and humanity in his Maigret novels.

MI: If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing?

CSC: Real estate, which I still do a bit of...

MI: If you have a job outside of writing, what is it?

CSC: Resale: Listing and buying for friends and family.

MI: What are your favorite things to do when you’re not writing or working?CSC: Reading, of course! Movies, playing guitar, live music, traveling, gardening, home improvement.
 
MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?
CSC: Well, it's not Lord Peter Wimsey or Holmes, or even Miss Marple, great creations as they are. I'd have to say, probably, Poirot. There's just no forgetting the fastidious little Belgian sleuth!

MI: Do you have a favorite murder case from a book (either yours or another author’s)?
CSC: The most riveting fictional police procedural I've read so far is Mr. Hillary Waugh's "Last Seen Wearing," published in 1952. It's about a college freshman who goes missing from her dorm. Check it out!

MI: What was your inspiration for the Rex Graves series?
CSC: I really have no idea! I had decided to write a mystery, and Rex Graves, QC, just came to me, complete with name, appearance, and personality. I thought a Scottish barrister might be fun. I lived in Edinburgh for seven of my most formative years, and still go back. It's a beautiful, historic city and I enjoy employing settings from there, for instance, Ramsay Garden, which features quite prominently in my forthcoming novel. 

MI: Tell us about Rex Graves.
CSC: He's a big teddy bear, with a logical brain and a good heart. People tend to trust him and thus confide in him, which gives him an advantage over the police. His mission in life is to seek justice in court and in his private cases.

MI: How does this series compare to your past works?
CSC: I wrote romantic suspense before. I like writing these mysteries better. 

MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.
CSC: Othello (see photo). He's an enormous, plush, all-black cat, about four and a half years old. I got him from a shelter two and a half years ago, and it was mutual love at first sight. My son says I'm about 15 years away from being a batty cat lady. 

MI: What food could you live off of for the rest of your life?
CSC: Thai.

MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?
CSC: Not for Thai. I have a good one (it's not mine) for lemon cream pie, using the spectacular lemons from my tree. I don't profess to be a great cook, but I can usually rise to the occasion as long as I don't have to prepare a meal for more than six people. 

MI: What’s your favorite part about being an Inker?
CSC: Being published :)

Murder Comes Calling is available online and in bookstores now!

Midnight Ink | Indiebound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Your local bookstore

Visit C.S. Challinor online.

August 2014 Books Available Now!

Don't miss Midnight Ink's newest releases! 

"Packed with thrills and high-octane action, Bitter Crossing is an impressive debut with a fearless heroine you'll want to follow for many adventures to come."

—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series on Bitter Crossing

"A classic country-house mystery, with modern day twists and turns adding to the fun."

—Booklist on Murder at Midnight

"A lively debut."

—Kirkus Reviews on Terminated

Available now from Midnight Ink, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or your local bookseller!

On Sale Dates, Laydown Dates and ARCs

Today I was asked about on sales dates, and that sort of surprised me.  It's something I've dealt with for so long that I assume everyone knows what they are.

An on sale date is the date in which every retailer should have the books in their store.  So, we'll use a March Midnight Ink release as an example.  November Hunt by Jess Lourey has a March 8th on sale date.  Last weekend a customer purchased November Hunt at a Barnes and Noble here in the Twin Cities.  I understand some indie stores had them sooner.  Today they began shipping from Amazon.  Why did it take Amazon longer?  Probably because of the freight time from Minnesota to the Amazon warehouse along with their internal process for receiving and stocking books.

Now, let's say Jess is a big time author like J.K. Rowling or Janet Evanovich.  Then as a publisher, we would impose a lay down date.  A lay down date is a set in stone date for which a store can start selling a book.  It's why there are midnight release parties.  This levels the playing field for all retailers.  Often Publishers require stores to sign an agreement not to violate a lay down date and if the store violates that policy, they could face serious penalties.

Uncorrected galley proof/Advanced reading copy (ARC) - are bound copies of a manuscript that are sent out to reviewers and booksellers about six months before the book is actually published.  These are unedited copies that are supposed to used for garnering reviews and pre-publication buzz.  There are some folks who sell ARCs.  They can be highly collectible.  The problem with ARCs in the hands of general readers is that they don't understand that the version they are reading has not been edited and may contain many errors.

Are there other publishing terms you would like explained?  Or maybe I wasn't clear on the ones above?  Ask away, I am here to help!


Our March 2012 releases  :)