Island Confidential: 2015 at 04:01AM

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Author Interview: Sybil Johnson, Paint the Town Dead

The Ocean Painting Society invites you to join the painting wave…

It’s June in the quiet Los Angeles County city of Vista Beach, the place computer programmer and tole-painting enthusiast Aurora (Rory) Anderson calls home. Decorative painters are flocking to the newly built Akaw hotel to attend the Ocean Painting Society’s inaugural convention.

During the week-long event, Rory plans on shopping the trade show floor, working in her mother’s booth, taking classes and connecting with other decorative painting fans. She doesn’t expect to witness her childhood friend collapse in class and die. When the police find no evidence of foul play, Rory embarks on her own investigation. Can she brush aside the lies to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice?

Q: Can you tell us what the book is about?

I’d love to! In PAINT THE TOWN DEAD, computer programmer and tole painting enthusiast Rory Anderson attends a painting convention at a newly built hotel in downtown Vista Beach, the California beach city where she lives. The hotel is embroiled in controversy. Protesters picket outside the main entrance and generally make life miserable for its owners and guests. Rory herself is targeted because she wrote software for the hotel. Even with all that’s going on in the city, she’s looking forward to shopping the trade show floor, taking classes, working at her mother’s booth and connecting with other decorative painting fans. She’s not expecting to witness a childhood friend collapse in class and die. When the police find no evidence of foul play, Rory launches her own investigation into her friend’s death.

Q: What is tole painting?

The term tole painting is traditionally applied to the art of painting on tin but, when I started taking classes in the 90s, it was used in a broader sense to mean the decoration of objects using various painting strokes and techniques. These days the term decorative painting is more commonly used, though I tend to use the two terms interchangeably. Folk art such as Norwegian Rosemaling, German Bauernmalerei and Russian Zhostovo fall under this umbrella. Today there’s a broad range of pattern books and packets available for the painter to choose from or you can come up with your own designs. Don’t tell my husband, but I’ve got a whole closet full of wood and other surfaces to paint. So many projects, so little time!

Q: How does your own painting experience inform your writing?

From all of the painting projects I’ve done over the years, I’ve learned a lot that I apply to my writing.
• Be patient with yourself, you can only paint/write based on your ability at the time. With regular practice comes improvement.
• Don’t constantly compare yourself to others, thinking everyone writes or paints better. Just do the best you can.
• You won’t know what a project will look like until it’s finished. The intermediate stages often seem ugly both in painting and writing. Don’t fret over it. Don’t give up. A painting project looks better after it’s varnished. A writing project looks better after it’s polished.
• Nothing is written in stone. You can always start over. Wood can be sanded. Paint can be removed from most surfaces. Characters can be changed, plots restructured, sentences reworded. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, just because you’ve written something down, it can’t be modified.
• You don’t have to do everything the way the instructions say. Paint colors can be changed. Parts of a design can be omitted. Writing rules can be broken as long as you understand what those rules are and why you’re ignoring them.

Q: Your covers are so cute, who designed them? Who came up with the idea?

They are great, aren’t they? I really love them! Both of them were designed by the same artist, the talented Stephanie Chontos, in collaboration with my publisher, Henery Press.

Q: Being a writer seems like a big shift from working in computer science. How did you make the decision to leave tech?

I moved from the software development world into writing mysteries because I was looking for a new challenge. At that time, I was working freelance and my contract had ended. One morning I woke up with this vision of a young woman finding the body of her painting teacher in her garden so I decided to try writing. From that germ of an idea my first book, FATAL BRUSHSTROKE, was born and published many years later. I was lucky enough to be able to quit my day job and devote myself full-time to writing.

There are more similarities between programming and writing mysteries than you might think. The approach to writing a mystery and writing a program is fairly similar. In both, you start with an idea and a set of requirements. For a mystery it’s what a reader expects to see in the story; in programming it’s a list of features. They also both involve a period of design. At least that’s true for me since I’m an outliner not a pantser. In writing, I’m plotting the storyline and “designing” characters; in programming, I’m designing algorithms and deciding how to structure the code. There are also artistic aspects to writing code. An elegant piece of code can take my breath away just like a well-written/well-plotted book.

Q: Writing can be very solitary. How do you balance the need for solitude with the need to get out and be with people?

Even though I do enjoy being around people, I’m pretty content with staying at home for long periods of time so I try to schedule regular outings. I study Ancient Egyptian and Coptic with a group I’ve been a member of since the 90s, so that gets me out of the house on a regular basis. And I plan lunches with friends and attend Sisters in Crime/LA’s monthly meetings.

Q: Give your fellow writers one great tip–productivity, craft, marketing, anything!

Take time to celebrate your accomplishments. This is something I know I don’t do enough. With all the deadlines and writing one book while finishing up another, I think writers sometimes forget to take time to acknowledge what we’ve accomplished. Taking a germ of an idea and fashioning it into a finished novel is a huge achievement.

Q: What’s next for Aurora?

A heat wave, a little romance, a trompe l’oeil painting class and, of course, a murder to solve.

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others.

She’s the author of the Aurora Anderson Mystery series, set in the world of decorative painting. The first in the series, Fatal Brushstroke, will be released by Henery Press November 18, 2014.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Visit Sybil at http://bit.ly/1Oay8Fc

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Guest Post: Marty Wingate, author of Empty Nest

If you love Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, or Jenn McKinlay, don’t miss Marty Wingate’s charming Birds of a Feather series! InEmpty Nest, Julia Lanchester’s life is interrupted by a murder most foul—and a killer who’s watching her like a hawk.

Manager of a tourist center in a quaint British village, Julia Lanchester finds herself with more ideas than time. Her boss is the Earl Fotheringill himself, but apart from him, she doesn’t mix well with the aristocracy. Unfortunately, toxic mold forces her from her cottage and into one of the earl’s countless spare rooms at the Hall. She tries to get a handle on her overload of work, while she finds herself arguing with dinner guests, chaffing at the sudden interest the earl’s son has in running the estate, and missing her new beau, Michael Sedgwick.

Her life goes from bad to sinister when Julia discovers poisoned sparrowhawks on the expansive estate grounds. And soon after, she finds one of the Hall’s visitors murdered—felled by the same poison. While simultaneously both spooked and angry, she still can’t keep herself from snooping, and dragging Michael along into her investigation. But will she find the culprit before her own wings are clipped?

Marty Wingate is the author of two previous Potting Shed mysteries, The Garden Plot and The Red Book of Primrose House. Her new Birds of a Feather Mystery series debuted with The Rhyme of the Magpie. Wingate is a regular contributor to Country Gardens and other magazines. She also leads gardening tours throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and North America. More Potting Shed and Birds of a Feather mysteries are planned.

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Preorder now for 99 cents: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct

A forbidden kiss. A death in plain sight. And the faculty meeting’s just begun.

Forced to attend the Student Retention Office’s summer retreat, Professor Molly Barda brings her game of buzzword bingo to fend off boredom. But when the lecherous Kent Lovely, Mahina State’s one-man hostile work environment, collapses face-first into his haupia cheesecake, the afternoon goes from dull to disastrous. Now Molly has to fight to keep an innocent out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

The Case of the Defunct Adjunct is the spoiler-free prequel to the Molly Barda mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in remote Mahina, Hawaii. If you like Dorothy Parker, Sarah Caudwell, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy this tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics. Preorder it now, and start reading on December 1.

To celebrate, I’m giving away signed copies of The Musubi Murder and The Case of the Defunct Adjunct, along with a USA-made Bayside brand Mahina State University t-shirt in M, L, or XL. Enter today!

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In memory of Joyce Levene: Author interview and giveaway, A Dickens of a Murder

Christmas at Canterville!

Lisa Wellman and Simon Canterville are surprised to find a dead man on their roof in the midst of rushing to open the Canterville Book Shop in time for the holidays. And not just any dead man – Ebenezer Hart – the man who opposed the book shop opening in Olde Town, Portsmouth, Virginia.
What might be more surprising is when Daniel Fairhaven – Lisa’s ex – turns up at the door of the three-story Victorian house to head the police investigation. She hasn’t seen him in years but the sparks start to fly as soon as they are in the same room together.

Simon and Lisa are obviously the best suspects for the murder. Each of them had something to gain by Hart’s death. Then an attempt on Simon’s life throws that theory into a tailspin.
But the biggest surprise yet comes when the ghost of Charles Dickens turns up to help Lisa with the murder investigation – and writing the mystery novel she has been working on for years.
Without a doubt, Daniel and Dickens in Lisa’s life means trouble. And there’s still the matter of trying to get the book shop open with a killer on their heels.

Joyce and Jim stopped by to chat about their first Canterville Book Shop mystery, A Dickens of a Murder.

Q: Can you tell us what the book is about? How did you come up with the idea?

A: A librarian/mystery writer moves into a haunted house to become a partner in a book shop.
That was our original idea. But filled in a little more it reads like this:

I’m not sure how we came up with the idea. We were in Olde Town doing some research and looking at the old houses there and we thought, wouldn’t that house make a great book shop? And what if it was haunted? And what if the owner’s name was Simon Canterville, like in the Canterville Ghost (one of our favorite stories) and the woman who was helping him was also an ex-librarian (because she’d know so much about books) and a mystery writer? I guess that was it.

Q: Tell us about Charles Dickens; why did he pick Portsmouth, VA, to manifest himself, and what does he think of it?

A: We think he chose Portsmouth because he’s from Portsmouth, England. But it could be the affinity the house has with books, which we will be exploring in the future when other writers pay a call on Simon and Lisa. We think he likes it, from what he can see from the house anyway. It reminds him of a place he might have lived in.

Q: How does your collaboration work? Does one person outline and the other fill in? Do you take turns writing chapters? Each person has one hand on the keyboard? How do you do this?

A: We have our computers networked together – which means we can see each other’s screens as we write. Jim used to work as a network admin at Bank of America. After we have our synopsis sorted out so we both know what each of us has in mind, we sit down to write, telling each other the story across the desk as we type it in until we have a rough draft.

For instance – I might say, “She goes outside and the car is there.” And Jim says, “The car can’t be there because he took it last night, remember.” And I say, “Really? I don’t remember that. Are you sure?” And he says, “It doesn’t matter. There’s a bus.” And so on.

Q: What kind of research did you do? Did it involve food at all?

A: Absolutely no food was involved in the researching of this book. It isn’t a culinary mystery. There is tea and coffee and a few daily meals but nothing foodie. We researched Charles Dickens, Portsmouth, VA, ghosts, starting a bookstore, and French dueling pistols.

Q: Are there characters with whom you particularly identify?

A: Joyce: I like Lisa. She lost her mother earlier in the year and is facing her first Christmas without her. She’s propelled herself into this new venture and quit her job as a librarian as a direct result of her mother’s death. It seems like something I might have done.
Jim: I like Simon Canterville. He’s very eclectic and knows what he wants. Also he’s kind of rich. I like that in a man.

Q: You’ve published over seventy novels and hundreds of articles. What is your secret to being so productive? Can you give us one or two tips?

A: Definitely one of our secrets is having two people. The only thing we do together is actually writing the book. We split up for promo, web work, formatting, everything else. That is a huge labor saver. Jim is in charge of mailing off the books and stuff that I give away in contests. You get the idea. Imagine if someone could always be there to do half of your work. You’d get more done too.

Q: What’s next?

A: Glad you asked. Our favorite question! In December the first book in our Christmas Tree Valley Mysteries, Murder Fir Christmas, will be out. It is set in the world of our Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mysteries (writing as J.J. Cook) and our protagonist is a wildlife officer.

Also in December is the third book in our Biscuit Bowl mysteries, Fat Tuesday Fricassee.
In January is the fourth book in our Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade mysteries, Sweet Pepper Hero.
Thanks for having us here!

ENTER TO WIN!

Joyce Lavene passed away Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at her home. She was 61. Joyce and Jim were married 44 years, and since 1999 they’ve written award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. Their collaboration resulted in more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. Jim and the rest of the family appreciate your prayers and positive thoughts.

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Spotlight: Guaranteed to Bleed (The Country Club Murders Book 2)

With his dying breath, Bobby Lowell begs Ellison Russell, “Tell her I love her.”

Unable to refuse, Ellison struggles to find the girl the murdered boy loved. Too bad an epically bad blind date, a vindictive graffiti artist, and multiple trips to the emergency room keep getting in the way.

Worse, a killer has Ellison in his sights, her newly-rebellious daughter is missing, and there’s yet another body in her hostas. Mother won’t be pleased.

Now Ellison must track down not one but two runaway teenagers, keep her promise to Bobby and elude the killer—all before her next charity gala committee meeting.

Guaranteed to Bleed is the second book in the Country Club Murders series.

About The Author

Julie Mulhern is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She ~~spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean~~ is an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog, and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.

Her first romance, A Haunting Desire, was a finalist in the 2014 Golden Heart® contest.

The Deep End is her first mystery and winner of The Sheila Award.

Links

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Spotlight and excerpt: Death on the Prairie by Kathleen Ernst

Chloe Ellefson and her sister, Kari, have long dreamed of visiting each historic site dedicated to Laura Ingalls Wilder. When Chloe takes custody of a quilt once owned by the beloved author, the sisters set out on the trip of a lifetime, hoping to prove that Wilder stitched it herself.

But death strikes as the journey begins, and trouble stalks their fellow travelers. Among the “Little House” devotees are academic critics, greedy collectors, and obsessive fans. Kari is distracted by family problems, and unexpected news from Chloe’s boyfriend jeopardizes her own future. As the sisters travel deeper into Wilder territory, Chloe races to discover the truth about a precious artifact—and her own heart—before a killer can strike again.

About The Author

Kathleen Ernst is a former museum curator who remains passionate about history! In addition to the Chloe Ellefson Historic Sites series, she has written many books for American Girl, including nine about the historical character she created, Caroline Abbott. Over 1.5 million copies of Kathleen’s 33 titles have been sold. The Chloe series has earned a LOVEY Award for Best Traditional Mystery, and several of her mysteries for young readers have been finalists for Edgar or Agatha awards.

Chapter 1
“This quilt belonged to who?” Chloe Ellefson’s voice squeaked on the last word. “Did you say…Laura Ingalls Wilder?”

“Whom, dear,” Miss Lila said. “Yes. This quilt belonged to Laura Ingalls Wilder.”

Chloe reached toward the folded quilt that had been deposited with far too little ceremony on her desk. Her fingers stopped short. Instead she grabbed a ballpoint pen lying a foot away, terrified that ink might inexplicably geyser forth, and tossed it onto the floor.

Miss Lila’s forehead wrinkled. “Are you alright, dear?”

“I need gloves. And acid-free tissue. And…” Chloe sank back in her chair and regarded her guest. “What…how…are you sure? Laura?”

“Gracious, Chloe.” Miss Lila’s voice held the faint rebuke that can only come from long years of acquaintance.

Which was to be expected, Chloe thought. Miss Lila Gillespie had lived next to her parents’ house in Stoughton, Wisconsin, forever. She always wore dresses, and heavy stockings that bunched around her ankles. She’d carried the same black pocketbook for as long as Chloe could remember. She was quite thin, with the posture of a broomstick. But a plump and generous heart beat beneath the starched shell. Miss Lila was the go-to grandma for every child on the block.

“Sorry,” Chloe managed. “It’s just that…well, lots of people contact me about donating heirlooms, but no one’s offered an artifact that belonged to Laura.”

Miss Lila smiled. “I remember reading Little House in the Big Woods to you and your sister. I don’t know who enjoyed it more, you or Kari.”

“Me,” Chloe assured her, although Kari had loved it too. Seeing Miss Lila evoked memories of chocolate cookies and delicate china, gleaming old furniture scented with Lemon Pledge, stories read aloud as snow drifted past windows framed with long lace curtains.

“And now your mother tells me that you’ve been invited to give a speech about that book…? What an honor.”
“Well, it’s not that big a deal,” Chloe said. “In grad school I wrote a paper arguing that although Little House in the Big Woods is a novel, the historical processes Laura described—churning butter, butchering, maple sugaring—were authentic, and acceptable as partial documentation for historic sites’ programming. Somebody mentioned it to somebody else, and I got invited to talk at a gathering of Little House fans in a couple of weeks. The symposium will be in De Smet, South Dakota, where several of the later books are set.”
“You must be excited!”

“Actually, I haven’t had a lot of time to think about it.” Like, None. Chloe planned to blow the dust from her original paper and pretty much wing it from there. “Anyway, how come you never told me about this quilt?”

“I inherited it from a cousin several years ago. I showed it to Kari, but you were living out of the country at the time.”

Chloe regarded the quilt. She’d worked in the historic sites biz for over a decade, and had served as collections curator at the huge outdoor ethnic museum called Old World Wisconsin for almost a year. She’d held hundreds of treasures in her gloved hands—some fragile as cobwebs, some folk art treasures worth thousands of dollars, some the only surviving scrap left to honor an unknown woman’s life. But still, nothing like this.

Based on the fabrics, Chloe guestimated that the quilt had been made during the period covered in the Little House books. Maybe 1883, she thought. Exactly one hundred years ago. Maybe Laura had wrapped herself in this very quilt during one of the prairie blizzards she’d described so vividly. The notion brought a lump to Chloe’s throat, and she felt ridiculously emotional.

Geez, get a grip, she told herself. She imagined getting all dewy-eyed at the next Collections Committee meeting, while her boss looked on with contempt. That was a scene to be avoided.

At least no one else is here to see me reduced to a stuttering fan-girl, Chloe thought. Miss Lila had presented herself without warning at Education House—the small home that the state purchased when almost six hundred acres within a state forest had been set aside to establish the sprawling historic site. It was after five, and the curators of research and interpretation had gone home.

Chloe tried to transform back into the oh-so-professional curator she generally aspired to be. “Tell me everything you know about this quilt.” She retrieved her pen and grabbed a notebook.

Miss Lila folded her hands. “My cousin Inez gave me a few heirlooms, including Laura’s quilt, before she passed away. Like me, Inez had no children. I’ve enjoyed having the quilt, but I’m eighty-eight. This quilt deserves a permanent home.”

“How did your cousin come to have it? Is there any documentation specific to Laura?”
Miss Lila waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing in writing, but it’s come down in family lore. Inez’s husband was descended from one of Caroline Quiner’s sisters.”

Chloe nodded. Caroline Quiner was Laura’s mother, AKA Ma.

“Caroline was born near Milwaukee, but Laura was born in Pepin, Wisconsin.”

Everyone knew that. Chloe’s mind danced ahead to a question she hardly dared articulate. “Did Laura…actually…make the quilt?”

“Inez used the word ‘own.’”
“Oh.” Bummer.

“Laura visited Pepin after she and Almanzo Wilder married,” Miss Lila added, “and gave the quilt to a relative.”

“Really? I would have figured she had her hands full out in South Dakota after she got married.”
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t visit her old home at some point.”

“No,” Chloe allowed, but strands of caution were weaving through her excitement. This quilt might, or might not, have belonged to the famous author. Research might, or might not, answer that question. But she couldn’t present the proposed donation to her colleagues as a sure-thing Laura artifact without more to go on.

“Laura and Almanzo didn’t stay in South Dakota,” Miss Lila said. “They settled in Missouri.”
“They did?” Chloe blinked. “I did not know that.”

Then, with a further sinking heart, she thought of something else. “Have you considered offering the quilt to one of the Laura sites and museums?”

“I have. Last year I wrote to someone at each historic site that preserves one of Laura’s homes. The trouble is, they’re all interested.”

“Ah.” No surprise there. Even without verifying that Laura had owned the quilt, just knowing that it might have been owned by her, and had passed down through a branch of the family, would have tickled any Lauraphile’s fancy.

“I didn’t know which site should receive the quilt, so I just put the problem out of my mind,” Miss Lila confessed. “Then your mother stopped by this morning to ask if I needed any daylilies, and she mentioned your invitation to speak. And I thought—well, there is the answer! Laura was born in Wisconsin, and I knew you’d take good care of the quilt, so I concluded that it should come here instead.”

Chloe nibbled her lower lip. A curator’s personal artifact lust was not acceptable rationale for accepting a donation. Besides, all of Old World’s restored homes and farmsteads were furnished to reflect the actual family which had once lived there. Interpreters in period clothing used those specific stories to helped visitors gain insight into the larger experience of the Yankees and Europeans who had flooded the state in the eighteen hundreds. If Old World Wisconsin did acquire Miss Lila’s quilt, it might be displayed during some special event, but it could not be exhibited and interpreted as Laura’s on a daily basis.

The trouble was, Chloe really wanted her site to acquire the quilt. She wanted to be able to look at it whenever she wished. Maybe even touch it with a non-gloved finger from time to time. If she was having a bad day.

Then a mental image of herself creeping into storage—like an art thief who hung Rembrandts and van Goghs on the walls of an armored room hidden behind bookshelves—popped into mind. And so begins a descent to the curatorial dark side, she thought.

Reluctantly, she faced facts. “As the owner, you can the offer the quilt to any historic site or museum you choose. But I think it might be wise to reconsider donating it to one of the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites.”
“Well, I did have one other idea,” Miss Lila said. “Maybe each Laura Ingalls Wilder site deserves something. I could cut the quilt into pieces, and – ”

“No!” Chloe’s toes curled in horror. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, but I strongly advise against that. Wherever the quilt ends up, it should stay intact.”

Miss Lila’s gaze held a hint of shrewd amusement. “Then please, dear. Which site should get the quilt? I trust your professional opinion.”

I think I just got played, Chloe thought. But how could she care, when a quilt that might have once graced Laura’s bed was involved? “Do you have contact information for the historic sites? The names of people who responded to your original inquiries?”

“Of course.” Miss Lila pulled paper from her pocketbook. “Here you are.”

Chloe accepted the pages. “Even if your final choice is to offer it to Old World Wisconsin, I don’t have the authority to accept it myself. All potential donations are discussed at curatorial meetings, and the next one won’t take place for over a month. But that buys us some time.”

“Time for what, dear?”

“With your permission, I’ll contact each site and discuss your proposed donation. I can get a sense of their storage facilities, whether the quilt would be put on display…that sort of thing.”

“Lovely.” Miss Lila beamed. “I will leave the quilt in your capable hands.”

Oh-boy-oh-boy-oh-boy! Chloe thought with giddy glee, before summoning her grownup voice. “Since the quilt is not yet officially a proposed donation to Old World, I’m not sure that I should – ”

“I’m sure,” Miss Lila said firmly. “What was that you were saying about acid-free tissue…?”

Played again, Chloe thought, but she didn’t care about that either. Technically she could not provide expensive curatorial supplies to stabilize an artifact that had not been legally transferred to Old World Wisconsin, but she still didn’t care. “I’ll package the quilt properly,” she promised. “And I’ll let you know what I discover after talking with people at the sites.”

Miss Lila looked thoughtful. “Each site will send a representative to the symposium, don’t you think? Take the quilt to South Dakota so they can see it for themselves.”

Chloe leaned back in her chair, picturing herself creeping along dirt roads all the way to De Smet, desperate to avoid fiery collision. And what if she encountered a trunk-piercing hailstorm? Or a tornado? “I don’t think I should travel with the quilt, Miss Lila. That would make me very nervous.”

“Nonsense.”

“But – ”

“Chloe.” Miss Lila leaned forward. “I want you to learn what you can about this quilt, and choose its permanent home.”

Who could say no? “All right,” Chloe conceded. “But before you go, I need you to sign a loan form.” She knew she’d have a nervous breakdown if anything happened to the quilt, but at least she could avoid a lawsuit against her employer by dotting and crossing the legal i’s and t’s. She fetched the necessary form, filled out the basics, and handed it over.

“If it makes you feel better.” Miss Lila signed with a flourish that suggested schooling in the Palmer Method of handwriting. “There you are.”

Chloe walked her to the door. Before leaving, Miss Lila paused and put one hand to Chloe’s cheek. “Thank you, my dear. This is important, and I trust you.”

Follow Kathleen:

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Filed under: Author Interviews, Buy, Fun, Giveaways, Writing Tagged: Mystery, Susan Russo Anderson, The Brooklyn Drop, Writing
from Spotlight and excerpt: Death on the Prairie by Kathleen Ernst

Author Interview and giveaway: Ellen Byron, Plantation Shudders

Check in for some Southern hospitality in Plantation Shudders, the Cajun Country series debut from Ellen Byron, and enter to win a print copy!

It’s the end of the summer and Prodigal Daughter Maggie Crozat has returned home to her family’s plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana. The Crozats have an inn full of guests for the local food festival–elderly honeymooners, the Cajun Cuties, a mysterious stranger from Texas, a couple of hipster lovebirds, and a trio of Georgia frat boys. But when the elderly couple keels over dead within minutes of each other–one from very unnatural causes– Maggie and the others suddenly become suspects in a murder.

With the help of Bo Durant, the town’s handsome new detective, Maggie must investigate to clear her name while holding the family business together at the same time. And the deeper she digs, the more she wonders: are all of the guests really there for a vacation or do they have ulterior motives? Decades-old secrets and stunning revelations abound in Ellen Byron’s charming cozy debut.

Q: Your first novel, Plantation Shudders, has earned rave reviews and was Library Journal’s debut of the month! Can you tell us what the book is about?

A: Sure! Maggie Crozat, a feisty artist in her early thirties, has left New York and moved back to her hometown, eccentric Pelican, Louisiana – town motto, “Yes, We Peli-CAN!” She takes a job as a tour guide at Doucet Plantation, which belonged to her mother’s ancestors and was donated to the state. Maggie also works at Crozat Plantation, her father’s ancestral home, which the family now operates as a B&B. But the business is in peril after an obnoxious eightysomething couple staying there on their honeymoon – yes, their honeymoon – mysteriously drops dead within minutes of each other. The Pelican Chief of Police carries a longstanding grudge against the Crozats, and Maggie can’t trust the sexy new detective in town because he happens to be the Chief’s cousin. So Maggie is forced to become an amateur sleuth, aided by her accordion-playing best friend Gaynell, her cross-dressing pal JJ, and her cocktail-loving Grandmere. Oh, and she’s still trying to get her art career going. She’s a busy gal!

Q: You’ve written for hit TV shows like Wings and Just Shoot Me. Are there any lessons or techniques that translate from screen to page? What are the big differences?

A: TV is a business and as a writer, you are part of that business. Your job is to please the show runner, the studio, the network, and eventually the audience. You have to produce on tight deadlines and be prepared for your script to be totally rewritten – for better and sometimes for worse – by a roomful of writers. My books are mine – until the publisher weighs in, of course. But my novel writing benefits from my TV experience, because thanks to TV (and also my playwriting background), I know how to meet a deadline, structure a story, and write dialogue.

Q: You spent your college years at New Orleans’ Tulane University, but now you live in L.A. Did you travel back to Louisiana to refresh your memory?

A: I used to travel there every couple of years, but then I had my daughter, so that changed everything. I haven’t been back since Katrina, but I’ve planned a trip this year over the Christmas holiday. I want to experience the levee bonfires, a Christmas Eve tradition; legend has it that the bonfires light the way up the Mississippi River for Papa Noel. We’ll visit New Orleans (and take our daughter, now 15, on a tour of Tulane!), then spend a few days with my friend Gaynell Bourgeois Moore, who inspired so much in Plantation Shudders (you can read about her in the “Lagniappe” chapter of the book, or in recent blogs on my website, ellenbyron.com). Then it’s off to St. Martinville, a favorite Cajun town of mine, and we end our trip with a night in Lafayette, the capital of Cajun Country. I. Can’t. WAIT!! And I’ll share my adventures through my blog and newsletter.

Q: You’re already working on your second book in the series. Will Maggie and Bo change throughout? Where will you allow your characters to evolve, and what will you keep constant?

A: As a mystery series fan myself, if I find an author I like, I read all of their books and become totally invested in the growth of the characters and their relationships. I want to keep my characters true to themselves, but I want their relationships and circumstances to evolve. I’m keeping this vague because I don’t want to give anything away.

Q: Do you have a favorite Cajun recipe that you fix at home?

A: The great irony of my series is that I don’t consider myself a cook. But Ninette Doucet Crozat, Maggie’s mother, is. And how can I write about Louisiana without including some examples of the state’s incredible cuisine? My favorite dish is jambalaya, and to be honest, I make it the easiest way possible. I buy a good jambalaya rice mix (I’ll either grab a Zatarain’s at the grocery store or order specialty mixes from cajungrocer.com) and throw in a cup or two of chicken and/or shrimp. Easy peasy! BTW, I created a tongue-in-cheek brochure titled “The Laissez Girl’s Guide to Easy Cajun Entertaining.” It was inspired by the fact that even though I’m not the Cajun cooking pro that people assume I am, I know how to make myself look like an expert, wink, wink. And hey, how about this? I’ll send a copy of the brochure to the first five people who comment on this blog, along with a bookmark and recipe postcard.

Q: Writing can be very solitary. How do you balance the need for solitude with the need to get out and be with people?

A: With a day job! I currently have a full-time gig on an animated series. But prior to this position, I wasn’t on staff for a few years. I have a writing partner for TV, so we wrote cable and network pilots together during this period. But when we weren’t working on a project and I was writing books on my own, I broke up the solitude with volunteer work at my daughter’s school and evening walks with neighborhood friends. I’m an extravert, not an introvert, so I need social contact.

You can keep up with Ellen at her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter; enter to win a copy of Plantation Shudders HERE.

About The Author

Byron is a native New Yorker who loves the rain, lives in bone-dry Los Angeles, and spends lots of time writing about Louisiana. She attributes this obsession to her college years at New Orleans’ Tulane University. Her debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery, launches on August 11^th. Her TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and many network pilots. She’s written over 200 magazine articles, and her published plays include the award-winning, Graceland. She is also the recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant. She’s the proud mom of a fifteen year-old daughter and two very spoiled rescue dogs.

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Cover Reveal: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct

A forbidden kiss. A death in plain sight. And the faculty meeting’s just begun. When the lecherous Kent Lovely, Mahina State University’s one-man hostile work environment, collapses into the haupia cheesecake, the Student Retention Office’s summer retreat goes from dull to disastrous. Now Professor Molly Barda has to fight to keep an innocent out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

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We wanted a set of covers that were strongly branded, so that the reader could see right away that they were part of a series. At the same time, we wanted each cover to showcase a unique element of the story, and to stand on its own.

Detail: Haupia sweet potato pie

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PrEORDER SPECIAL: THE CASE OF THE DEFUNCT ADJUNCT, the spoiler-free prequel to The Musubi Murder!

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