Q&A with Loretta Ross

This week, we sat down with Loretta Ross, whose debut Death and the Redheaded Woman was released last month.

Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?

Loretta Ross: All my life. I made up my first poem when I was three and I think I started my first book when I was about seven. It never got off the ground, though. I wanted to write a story about a ghost called the Lady of the Evening but, for some reason, my mother wouldn't let me.

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

LR: Gosh, that's hard to answer. I've always been fortunate to be rich in books. There are so many great teachers out there. I suppose, in terms of the craft of writing, I'd have to say that I've admired Tolkien and Kipling for their storytelling and the sheer beauty of the language they used, and Shirley Jackson and August Derleth (specifically, his short story Mr. George) for their story structure. I love Terry Pratchett's sense of humor and Brian Jacques was wonderful at creating rich, compelling characters. And then there are all the great mystery writers, who've taught me so much about how to structure a mystery: Sayers, Allingham, Stout, Queen, Doyle (of course!), Hillerman . . . . Really, I've probably learned something from every book I've ever read (even if, occasionally, what I've learned was "do NOT, under any circumstances, ever do THIS!").

Loretta Ross

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

LR: Well, I have a bachelor's degree in archaeology, though I've never done anything with it. I suppose, if I hadn't felt pulled towards writing all my life, I might have pursued that further. I don't know, though. That would be a difficult profession for someone with the temperament of a hobbit, like me. (And not a Bilbo Baggins-type hobbit, either. More a Gaffer Gamgee-type hobbit!)

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

LR: I work full-time in the produce department at the Warsaw, Missouri, Walmart. People call me the Banana Girl, which is ironic because I'm not fond of bananas. I am very good at choosing watermelon, though, if you ever need any help with that. I also make all the gift and liquor baskets we sell at Christmas.

MI: What are your favorite things to do when you’re not writing or working?

LR: I've been working on remodeling my house. I'm doing all the work myself, so it's been going veeeerrry slowly. I am hoping to get done some time before the next ice age, though. Other than that, not much. I read a lot, of course, and there are a handful of TV shows I enjoy. I like crafting, but I just haven't had the time.

MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?

LR: Wow! You like to ask really hard questions! There are so many, it's an almost impossible decision. If I have to pick just one, though, I'm going to go with Joe Hardy. The reason is, the first mystery I vividly remember reading, and therefore the one that introduced me to the genre, was The Cabin Island Mystery, from the Hardy Boys series. I was six, I think. I remember finding it on the bookshelf in the toy department at the old Walmart in Clinton, back before Walmart carried groceries or tires or stayed open all night.

As soon as I started reading I was hooked. I looked for new books each time we went to the store and memorized every detail of the ones I had. I can even describe the price stickers that were on them: they were little black ovals with gold trim and the price printed in gold. From that point on any book with "mystery" in the title became a must-read. In fact, the word "mystery" still makes my heart beat a little bit faster.

I'm choosing Joe because he was the youngest brother. I was also the youngest in my family, so I always identified with him.

MI: Do you have a favorite murder case from a book (either yours or another author’s)?

LR: I have a million of them. I love Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors and Margery Allingham's The China Governess. Anything that has an eerie element to go with the mystery. Also, I've only just begun working on book three in the Auction Block Mysteries and that looks like it's going to be an awful lot of fun to write. (I'm not sure if that really counts, since it's not written yet. And, just for record, I'm not comparing myself to Sayers and Allingham!)

MI: How does it feel to have your first book published?

LR: Amazing. It's been the most positive experience of my life. I can't believe how enthusiastic and supportive my family and friends have been. And, as for me, I almost feel like a different person. I feel like a square peg that finally found a square hole.

MI: What was your inspiration for this series?

LR: To be honest, I wrote the first line as a joke. I was thinking I'd like to try my hand at writing a mystery-romance. With mysteries, you're always told to have a dead body on page one. I figured with a romance, you should have a naked man on page one. So I put them together and came up with a naked dead guy. Then I started thinking about what sort of situation would lead someone to finding a naked dead guy and the book pretty much just wrote itself from there.

MI: Tell us about Wren and Death.

LR: Wren Morgan is an auctioneer working for a small, family-owned company. She's quiet, respectful, a little old fashioned, but not afraid to stand up for herself or for those she cares about. A lot of times, in our society, there's this assumption that a woman can be either nice but flighty or tough but hard, a little bit mean, even. My goal for Wren is for her to be both kind and strong, a nice girl who's not necessarily fierce, but can be when she has to.

Death Bogart is a disabled Marine combat vet turned private investigator and part-time bounty hunter. Death's had a rough time. In addition to a career-ending combat injury, he's suffered personal tragedy and his trust has been badly abused. He's a strong person, but also wounded, and he's someone who doesn't know how to accept help. He was courageous in combat, but admitting that you have problems requires an entirely different kind of courage. He's also intelligent, which is a trait that I think we tend to undervalue in both men and women. He's got to adapt to his disability by being smart, and by being brave enough to allow Wren and his other friends to help him when he needs it.

Fidget

MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.

LR: I'm a crazy cat lady. I have more cats than is sane, but I love them all (even the strays who won't let me pet them). My babies are Julius (he's orange) and Fidget. My two oldest are a pair of enormous toms, Foggy and Bert, who are inseparable. They're practically a comedy team.

I also wind up feeding a lot of wild animals. The other night I stepped outside to check the weather before I went to bed and I startled a possum and a raccoon that were right by the door eating cat food. The raccoon jumped straight up about three feet, landed on the possum, and knocked it off the porch. The raccoon ran away and the poor possum rolled across the yard and then lay there looking bewildered.

MI: If you don’t have a pet, do you have a favorite animal?

Julius

LR: This question doesn't really apply to me, but I love all animals, though I'd just as soon love bitey reptiles from the other side of a television screen. Especially the ones that are big enough to consider me a snack, like alligators and boa constrictors.

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

LR: Peanut butter fudge. It might not be a very long or healthy life, but it would certainly be a delicious one!

MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?

LR: "Pull back film, heat for three minutes on high, let sit one minute before serving."

MI: What’s your favorite part about being an Inker?

LR: All the wonderful people I've met, both the staff at Midnight Ink and the other authors. They've all been just great!

Death and the Redheaded Woman is available online and in bookstores now!

Writers Write

--by Linda O. Johnston

I’m a writer, and I currently write two mystery series for Midnight Ink, as well as romances.

I’ve loved writing, and I’ve loved dogs, all my life.  Probably neither is surprising to anyone who knows me and/or reads my fiction, particularly my mysteries.  I’ve also written some about my love of writing here on InkSpot.

I have been owned by dogs nearly all the time since I was eight years old.

And my writing?  Well, I started saving ideas for school essays when I was in grade school.  In undergraduate school, my major was journalism with an advertising emphasis.  After I graduated, I worked for a small newspaper, then I joined my father’s advertising and public relations firm, where I wrote ads but had the most fun writing articles for some of the clients’ house organs.

Next I went to law school, where I volunteered for the school’s law review.   I also had a couple of articles published—and most students, if they had any published, were limited to one.

Then I clerked for law firms, finally joining one when I graduated and got my law license.  I became a transactional attorney, which meant I wrote contracts—which I considered to be a form of fiction.

During that time I also started writing actual fiction.  But I never gave up on nonfiction.  That includes now, when I’m a published fiction author and inactive lawyer.

Now—well, it won’t be a surprise to anyone that I blog a lot.  I’m now blogging on the first Monday of each month here, at InkSpot.  I blog each Wednesday at Killer Hobbies and on the 6^th of each month at A Slice of Orange, the blog of the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Plus, I blog on the 18^th of each month at Killer Characters.  Rather, my characters do.  In February, the protagonist of my new Barkery and Biscuits series for Midnight Ink, Carrie Kennersly, introduced herself. I’ll be doing a blog tour when the first Barkery and Biscuits story, BITE THE BISCUIT, is about to be released, in May.

Is that all?  Well, as I’ve mentioned in a prior post here I wrote a few blog posts for a political candidate I like.  I’ve written articles for American Pet Magazine and intend to write more soon.  And I was just recently requested to write some articles about the transformation of some of the residents at the wonderful private animal shelter where I volunteer. 

So… yes, I’m a writer.  I admit it.  I’m proud of it.

And writers write!

Fall 2015 Titles Announced

Coming Soon...

September 8

October 8

November 8

December 8

Q&A with Jess Lourey

This week we sat down with Jess Lourey, the author of one of our longest-running critically-acclaimed series, the Murder-by-Month mysteries. Her latest, February Fever, was released earlier this month!

Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?

Jess Lourey: My first piece of writing to receive wide acclaim was this poem:

Grandpas are full of love, grandpas are full of tickles, but grandpas are especially full of pickles.

I was five. My poetry skills haven’t improved, but I never lost my love for writing. I completed my first novel in 1996 and wrote two more before I landed my first publishing contract in 2004.

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

JL: My mystery writing is tremendously influenced by William Kent Krueger’s and Janet Evanovich’s writing. My magical realism writing is inspired by Isabel Allende’s and Alice Hoffman’s beautiful prose. For my young adult novels, I turn to the books by Cornelia Funke, Suzanne Collins, and Philip Pullman. I *love* books and learned most of what I know about writing them from being a close reader.

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

Jess's kids

JL: A writer. There’s no other choice. Seriously. But I do love teaching, also, particularly if I get to teach about writing.

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

JL: 2014-2015 is my first year as a full-time writer. My plan is to write and sell The Book by July 2015 so I do not need to return to my college teaching job. While I love teaching, turns out I hate grading and office politics.

MI: What is/are your favorite thing/s to do when you’re not writing or working?

Jess and her boyfriend

JL: Travel is a passion of mine, as is talking to people and hearing their stories, starting with the people closest to me: my kids, my boyfriend, my wonderful friends. I used to love to garden, but I’ve been too busy the past two summers to dig my fingers into the soil. Eating good food remains a favorite passion, particularly if someone else cooks it, though I also love to bake.

MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?

JL: Early Stephanie Plum because she showed me that a sleuth could be funny, smart, and real.

MI: Do you have a favorite murder case from a book (either yours or another author’s)?

JL: Is it terrible that I never remember the specifics of the cases, only the characters? A finely-crafted character sticks with me for a long, long time.

MI: What was your inspiration for this series?

JL: The inspiration for the Murder-by-Month Mysteries was sanity. I was living in rural northern Minnesota with poor TV reception, and I needed to occupy my brain. I was reading a lot of great mysteries at the time—books by Kent Krueger, Sue Grafton, Tony Hillermann, and Janet Evanovich—and when I ran out, I decided to try writing one of my own. Man, am I glad I did.

MI: Tell us about Mira James.

JL: Mira James, when I first conceived her, was loosely based on where I was at in my life in 2004. She grew up in a small Minnesota town and moved to Minneapolis, then found herself back in a small town. She has (had?) bad luck with men, an English degree she doesn’t know what to do with, and an outlook on life that it’s better to laugh first, ask questions later. She and I have since found our lives going different directions, but I still love to check in with her.

MI: You are 10 books into a series! How has your writing process/approach to publishing changed since May Day?

JL: I’m a faster writer, and I hope a better writer, with every book. The process is still essentially the same, though. I come up with a one-sentence concept for a book, I do some freewriting (not more than a page—I hate freewriting) to flesh out the concept, and then I write a working outline. After that, it takes me about three months to finish writing a mystery. As far as publishing, I’m lucky that Midnight Ink keeps offering me contracts! I intend to never take that for granted. It wasn’t so long ago that I couldn’t get so much as an agent, let alone a publisher.

MI: How does this book/series compare to your other works?

JL: I’m proud of the Murder-by-Month Mysteries. I think they’re funny and well-paced, and I love the characters who populate them. I write in different genres, though, and so nothing else I write is quite like them. Even when I stay in the crime fiction genre, what I work on is very different from the MbM Mysteries. Here’s a working synopsis of the thriller I’m working on now:

Salem and Izzy must uncover the connection between the Witch Hunt of the 1600s and the modern disappearance of single mothers all over the globe to stop the assassination of Senator Gina Hayes, the first viable female Presidential candidate in the history of the United States.

Juni

MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.

JL: I have a dorky boxer named Juni. She’s sweet and loyal and kind of stinky. My daughter just got a hamster named Frank Ocean, too. I can’t tell you a lot about Frank except that he seems to always have someplace he needs to be, which is impressive when you live in a 2’ x 2’ world.

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

JL: Beer and bread. YUM.

MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?

JL: I come from a family of great cooks (my mom and daughter are the best), and so we try all sorts of different recipes on a regular basis. My current favorite is a shrimp curry soup made with plump shrimp, rich coconut milk, pineapple and hot peppers, and seasoned with fragrant lemongrass and fresh ginger.

 

MI: What’s your favorite part about being an Inker?

JL: I love the camaraderie at conferences. It’s like being invited to the cool kids’ slumber party. But if I had to pick a single thing, my very favorite part about being an Inker is getting to work with Terri Bischoff. She’s the real deal.

Thank you for having me!

Pick up February Fever online and in bookstores now! 

Do Awards Boost Anything Except Egos?

My editor, the fabulous Terri Bischoff here at Midnight Ink, recently published a blog article in which she wondered out loud if winning an award—be it the Agatha, Lefty, or Edgar—meant anything to readers or to the future sales of an author.

It’s a valid question. We all bemoan poorly written manuscripts that manage to become New York Times bestsellers. I’ve yet to see a positive correlation between number of awards won and number of copies sold. So, other than hoping for an ego boost, why even bother?

The answer, for me, became clear last Sunday night when my first book, Murder Strikes a Pose, won the Maxwell Award for Fiction. Most of you have probably never heard of the Maxwell awards. In the mystery world, they are barely a blip on the radar. But in another writing community—people who write about dogs—the Maxwell Awards are important. They are the Academy Awards, if you will, of the dog writing community.

If you’ve read my work, you know that I’m dog crazy, and that a 100-pound German shepherd plays a prominent role in my series. Still, I’m a crime writer and my primary goal is to entertain readers.

But that’s not my only goal. My second goal is to save lives.

This moment might not have been possible
without the kindness of a stranger.

Though I didn’t know it at the time, the idea was planted nine years ago. I was walking my then-six-month-old puppy, when I met a man with a gorgeous, healthy-looking male German shepherd. The man stopped me to share that his dog—I’ll call him Thor—had an autoimmune disease called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), and that without special medication with each meal, Thor would starve to death. He warned me to watch for the symptoms of EPI in Tasha, as the rare genetic disorder occurs most commonly in adolescent German shepherds.

Fast forward a year and a half. Tasha began losing weight. A lot it. Twenty-five pounds in a month, to be exact. The vet theorized cancer and recommended exploratory surgery. I insisted that he test for EPI first. When the results came back positive, my now-former vet made it sound like a doggie death sentence.

I remembered Thor, switched vets, joined an EPI support group, and began the process of successful lifelong management. Simply put, that five-minute conversation with Thor’s owner saved my dog’s life.

The tragedy of EPI isn’t the disease itself. Tasha has been thriving with EPI for over eight years. The tragedy is that so few people, veterinarians included, know about it. Dogs often go months or longer without a proper diagnosis. Many die before anyone figures out what’s wrong with them. Even worse, about twenty percent of animals who arediagnosed with EPI are needlessly euthanized without any attempt at treatment.

Writing has done so many great things for me. It’s connected me with fabulous authors, brought out my creativity, and helped me to make new friends. I hope it also spreads the word about EPI. EPI is not a death sentence.

What does any of this have to do with awards?

Winning the Maxwell Award for Fiction has put my work in the hands of other dog writers. The award is making dog readers pick up the book. I’m pretty sure the award-related exposure even sold a copy or two, though honestly, not enough to get excited about. Still, each new reader helps spread the message. Maybe someday one of them will have an animal that is wasting away for seemingly no reason. Maybe they’ll remember Bella, the dog in my books. Maybe that memory will help save a life.

I’ll admit, it’s a lofty goal for a piece of metal strung on a ribbon. But even if the award does nothing else, it gives me hope. Hopefully it provides someone else hope, too.

Tracy Weber


          

About Tracy:

My writing is an expression of the things I love best: yoga, dogs, and murder mysteries. I'm a certified yoga teacher and the founder of Whole Life Yoga, an award-winning yoga studio in Seattle, WA. I enjoy sharing my passion for yoga and animals in any form possible.  My husband and I live with our challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha and our bonito flake-loving cat Maggie. When I’m not writing, I spend my time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and sipping Blackthorn cider at my favorite local ale house.

For more information, visit me online at http://tracyweberauthor.com/ and http://wholelifeyoga.com/

An Open Letter from Loretta Ross

An open letter to my niece:

Dear Nichole,

Congratulations on the impending birth of your son! I understand you're having trouble deciding what to call the little angel. Tell me, Nicky, have you considered naming him Death?

No, really. Death.

Death as in Death Bogart, the hero of my mystery, Death and the Redheaded Woman.

It would make a lovely baby name!

For one thing, it's versatile. You can say it "Deeth," like Death Bogart. Or, you can do like Dorothy Sayers' classic detective, Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, and "pronounce it to rhyme with breath."

It's short and easy to spell, and yet it's unique. It's unlikely there will be seven Deaths in his kindergarten class. Teachers would remember it. He won't get bullied (who would bully Death?) and you can discourage telemarketers by introducing yourself as "Death's mother" and say things like, "if you're looking for Death, you've come to the right place."

And, since it's only one syllable, it would be easy to shout out the back door at dinnertime. I'm sure the cops would stop showing up too.

Eventually.

Why are you giving me that look?

I sense you're having a craving. Possibly blood.

Possibly mine.

Okay, okay, so it is a bit...exotic. I understand. You want something traditional. One of the classics, perhaps.

Tell me, Nicky, are you familiar with the classic Johnny Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue"...?

Loretta Sue Ross

Loretta Ross shared an open letter to her niece with us in our February publicity newsletter. To sign up, please email publicity (at) midnightinkbooks.com. 

FEBRUARY RELEASES!

By: Maegan Beaumont

Take a look at the fantastic Midnight Ink has to offer this month!

 Death & the Redheaded Woman
By: Loretta Ross 
An Auction Block Mystery #1
“Ross’ thoroughly entertaining debut combines smart details about the auction business with two engaging mysteries and a uniformly appealing cast. Fans of small-town cozies, especially those by Denise Swanson, will love this, as will mystery readers who double as thrift-store aficionados and followers of auction reality shows.”—BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW)

Drawing Conclusions
By: Deirdre Verne 
A Sketch in Crime Mystery #1
"Verne's mystery is a winner, with plenty of twists and turns, an intriguing heroine and an ending that shocks in more ways than one."—KIRKUS REVIEWS

February Fever

By: Jess Lourey 
The Murder-By-Month Mysteries #10

“Lourey skillfully mixes humor and suspense . . . the characters are wonderful and wacky, and the mile-a-minute pace never falters.”

—BOOKLIST (STARRED REVIEW)