Author Q&A

I just love it when I get to quiz an author.  I am always interested in how a story, or series, starts and becomes a book.  This is the first time I was able to get in at the beginning.  Mitzi Kelly is the author of Classic Revenge.  I recently wrote a review on her first book, check it out here.  It is a cozy mystery and the start of a series.  This is also the first time I was able to read the first in a series, before another book was published!  So exciting.  Without further ado...

1. Since you mix characteristics from people you know, has anyone claimed to be one of your characters?

            Yes, and it’s so much fun!  I love it when someone relates to the characters and mentions they have done or said something similar.  Quite a few of the people I know will look at me suspiciously and ask “Did you create Edna (or one of the other characters) after me?”  What is so thrilling is when someone sees themselves in all three of the characters!

2. Why did you choose senior citizens to be your sleuths? (I love the name of the series Silver Sleuths)

            I felt that older women would bring so much fun into the amateur sleuth genre.  They have so much life experience that can be drawn from and their attitudes and the action can be flexible and unpredictable.  Older women can get away with anything! 

3. Being a mystery writer, do you find yourself daydreaming of ways to kill your characters?

            Sounds like a horrible way to pass the time, doesn’t it?  But, yes, there are times when I let my mind drift and play the ‘what if’ game with different murder scenarios.  What is fascinating is that almost every murder you can think of can be woven into a Silver Sleuths plot.  Given the right place and the right time, these three women can stick their noses into a sudden crime of passion murder or into a premeditated, evil murder.

4. I love the character of Millie. How much time, before writing, do you spend developing your characters?

            Actually, I don’t spend a lot of time before I start writing in the development of the characters.  I write down some basic characteristics such as appearance, age, and history as a guide, but it’s during the storytelling that my characters really become real.  They tell me what they want to do and say!

5. How long did it take to write "Classic Revenge"? After writing it, how long did it take to find a publisher?

            It took approximately nine months to write Classic Revenge but I wasn’t able to work on it exclusively.  I had a full time job and I’ve always helped my husband in his business.  Once it was completed I submitted it to Avalon Books.  They responded in a few months and then that process took about a year before it was officially released.   

6. I understand book 2 is coming out. What is the title? Can you give us a small blurb on the plot?

            Deadly Policy will be released in April, 2012.  In this book, Millie’s daughter, Michelle, is under suspicion for releasing private information to a car theft ring which leads to murder.  It becomes obvious that this is an inside job and as office manager for the insurance company that seems targeted in the car thefts, Michelle seems the likely culprit.  When the ladies begin to investigate, however, they never dream that the real perpetrators are so evil and dangerous.  Their crime-solving ability is severely tested but they plug right along in an effort to help Michelle, and to prove to the official investigators that their knack for solving crimes isn’t just a fluke!

     

7. When you are not writing, how do you spend your time?

            My husband and I recently built a new home and I spend a lot of time on ‘projects’ around the house and yard.  I also enjoy weekly lunch dates with my girlfriends and playing with our five dogs while trying to convince them they are not four-legged humans.

I can't wait for book 2, those silver sleuths are a hoot.   Now, this was the 2nd Q&A with an author, that I have been a part of.   What sort of questions do YOU think would be fun to ask an author?

-Caren