Interview with debut mystery novelist Kathryn Rogers

Today's special guest is novelist Kathryn Rogers. She's chatting with me about her debut paranormal mystery, Memphis Hoodoo Murders.

Bio:

Kathryn Rogers is a Memphis native with an affinity for local BBQ and blues rock-n-roll. As a licensed therapist, she holds her Master’s in Counseling and Psychology, and as a licensed educator, she holds her Bachelor’s in Education. Her experience providing counseling services to the community prepared her to expound upon the psychological issues her characters wrestle with in her stories. She currently lives in Jackson, Mississippi with her husband, playful preschooler, and rambunctious Labrador Retrievers. Her debut novel Memphis Hoodoo Murders was published in August 2015 by Sartoris Literary Group.

Welcome, Kathryn. Please tell us about your debut release.

           

Memphis Hoodoo Murders is like an Alfred Hitchcock story – Memphis style.

Synopsis:

Addie Jackson has witnessed people trying to kill her family her entire life, and now her grandparents’ attackers are hunting her. The Memphis police are never able to catch these crooks since the cops have been bewitched to stay away. Her grandparents, Pop and Grandma, habitually lie to Addie, but she is attentive enough to overhear the secrets they keep from her. In her predictive dreams, Addie regularly sees future events, which disturb her, but to her dismay, she has never been able to stop them from coming true. She often dreams of a dark character, who she is later shocked to discover is the Man, a devil from hoodoo legend. 

Addie is disturbed to discover she is being stalked by a witch doctor named Hoodoo Helen. To make matters worse, the more secrets Addie uncovers, the more danger she finds. Addie presses Grandma for answers about the power behind the ring and pocket watch she often toys with, but Grandma remains tight-lipped. Knowing their deaths are imminent, Grandma makes a deal with the hoodoo devil to take care of Addie, and Addie is later horrified to discover that her beloved family has been murdered. John, a family friend, steps in to help Addie, and she soon realizes he knows more about her family’s tainted past than she ever has. Addie begins receiving cryptic letters from her deceased grandmother, which reveal a shocking family history revolving around slavery, time travel, and magic. 

If Addie can survive jail, her cousin’s abduction, threats from a menacing gang, corrupt law enforcement, and hoodooed attacks, maybe she can finally dream of a future where she will be safe and free. 

What inspired you to write this book?

The idea for Memphis Hoodoo Murders hit me like a lightning bolt at 5AM in the summer of 2008. I was in a fishing boat with my husband on the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Brandon, Mississippi; he’s the fisherman – not me, so I always have a book or two with me since I like to read while the boat rocks. It’s a running joke that when we go fishing, I doze in the boat until at least 8AM since I am certainly not the morning person in our relationship. However, this day was different, because I sat straight up in the boat and announced to him that I was going to write a book. He raised an eyebrow and said, “That’s great. You should do that sometime,” as he tried to figure out why his wife was alert at this ungodly hour. However, he didn’t understand that I intended to start immediately. I grabbed a flashlight, a legal pad, and a pen and began writing in the dark, because the story was calling to me, and it was too loud to ignore. I had always wanted to write a book, but I had not received an idea I felt was worth reading until then. This was seven years ago, and I have been writing about that story and those characters ever since.

Excerpt from Memphis Hoodoo Murders:

If I told you that people had been trying to kill my family and me my entire life, you would probably just think I was being paranoid, but it's not paranoia if it's real. 

Sometimes healthy people run for exercise, and oftentimes energetic individuals run for fun. In my neck of the woods, you run just to stay alive. Today I only hoped that the gang members didn't murder me so I could make it home in one piece. My legs were pumping so hard I thought they might fall off.

 Grandma and Pop would tell you I'm petite and pretty when really I'm short and perfectly ordinary. I don't look anything like them except that we are all small in stature, though I'm so little I look like a shrimp by comparison. I have straight, brown hair with no bangs, smooth skin, and sharp, green eyes. I've never dressed fancy as I've never had much to begin with. Besides, in my neck of the woods, when you get something shiny, folks try to take it or talk about you for having it, so the more you blend in, the better off you're bound to be.

“Hey, short stuff! You with the ponytail! I told you to get over here!”

It was my favorite neighborhood thug heckling me.

Just don't trip. Whatever you do, don't trip, Addie.

The limb from the fallen tree did not hear my inner monologue, because my foot caught on the log and slung me onto the sidewalk.

“I told you there was no point in running from us," he said coldly. "We always get what we want.”

I winced in pain and grabbed my right knee, which was running red. I felt like a bleeding fish in the middle of a shark tank.

Show no fear. Don't cry.

I forced myself to stand and face my antagonists. Their clothes and tattoos were clearly reflective of the Memphis gang, the Skullbangerz—not that I would be privy to any admission from them about this.

“Ouch! Looks like you got a boo-boo," said a slim, jumpy guy, eyeing me from the stems up. "Want me to kiss on you to make it all better?”

 “No, thanks—you're really not my type,” I said, thankful I had enough spirit to sound snarky.

“Oohh, she's a feisty one. I like that in a lady,” he toyed dangerously with me.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I have another story I’m working on right now, but it's top secret at the moment.

Fair enough!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, and my childhood dream was to write books. However, I later went into education and counseling, because I wanted to help people, so I now have a career as a therapist and a passion for writing. I enjoy the creative outlet which writing affords me, and it gives me a natural high I don't get anywhere else. 

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I provide counseling services full-time and write in the evening and on the weekends whenever I have a spare moment. My work day consists of helping people get back on the paths they were meant to be on, encouraging folks when they are downtrodden, and providing supportive therapy to clients of all ages. My experience as a therapist has played a pivotal role in developing my ability to put myself in other people’s shoes. This is particularly beneficial in writing as it helps tremendously in understanding why people would respond in a particular way, what they might be feeling, what motivates them, what their flaws and strengths are, etc.

I’m a Memphis, Tennessee native currently living in the Jackson, Mississippi area with my husband, preschooler, and two dogs. I love to drink coffee, listen to music, go to the movies, spend time reading, and enjoying family and friends.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I will write wherever I am if an idea hits me. If I’m in the grocery story, I scribble what the characters are saying down on the back of my shopping list. If I’m in traffic, I will pull over and write on the back of my fast food receipt. If I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, I type it into the notepad on my smart phone. I tell my husband, “Hold on a minute” a lot whenever something hits me that I want to write down before I lose it. I can always edit it later, but I can’t edit what I don’t write down.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Growing up, I kept my nose in a book a lot. I wanted to create mysteries like the Nancy Drew stories I loved so much. I am excited that I am finally getting to do just that. My Mom used to joke that she needed to get me a sign advertising that I could dish out advice for 5 cents like Lucy on Peanuts since I was always trying to help somebody. I suppose it’s no surprise that I am now a counselor and a writer.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

It seems that most of the time I talk to readers about my writing, they tell me how they have always wanted to be a writer but aren’t sure how to pull it off, and they want advice about how to make it. I always tell them that the writers who become authors are the ones who didn’t quit. It took me seven years and three re-write’s with countless edits before Memphis Hoodoo Murders was ever under contract for publication. I could have given up countless times, but the story haunted me and wouldn’t leave me alone.

Stories of writers like J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer who were Mom’s like myself and who made it in the writing world gave me hope when I felt like giving up. So, if you want to get published, don’t give up. And if you feel discouraged, read about people we would never have heard of if they had accepted defeat. All of this helped me keep going when it would have been much easier to quit.

I love connecting with readers on social media. I am quite active on both Twitter and Facebook and am very responsive to messages with both sites. As soon as I have other novel news I can make public, I promise to share it with everyone. I plan to keep writing for a long time.  

Links:

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million

Thanks for being here today, Kathryn!

Interview with cozy author Liz Stauffer

Today's guest is cozy mystery author Liz Stauffer. She's touring and talking about her new novel Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club.

Blurb: Things are not always what they seem in Liz Stauffer’s fast paced book of murder, mystery, and intrigue. When the "breakfast club" ladies of idyllic Mount Penn see bruises on Clare Ballard's pretty face, they suspect her hot-headed husband of abusing her, but the truth is much more complicated. When violence disrupts this Appalachian village's lazy routine, the ladies, led by the irascible Lillie Mae Harris, jump feet first into danger as bodies appear, neighbors disappear, and Clare is arrested for murder. Follow Lillie Mae and the other "breakfast club" ladies, who, armed with casseroles and pastries, help the police uncover the deep secrets this town hides beneath its perfect facade.

Bio:

After some thirty years writing everything from political encyclopedias to software manuals, Liz Stauffer retired from corporate life to write fiction, travel, and play on the beach. Since that time, she has traveled extensively throughout the United States and the world. Liz lives in Hollywood, Florida, with her two dogs where she owns and manages a vacation rental business.

Welcome, Liz. Please tell us about your current release.

Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club is an American village mystery, with a younger, feistier, Miss Marple-like protagonist, named Lillie Mae Harris as the leader of the club. In some ways I’ve mimicked a traditional British village mystery, but have given it an American flare. The Thursday morning breakfast club, a group of village ladies, has been meeting in Mount Penn, my fictional mountain village on the eastern slope of the Appalachians, in rural Maryland, for many years. News of neighbors and local events, and gossip have been the main topics of discussion at the weekly gatherings. But when murder comes to the village, and one of their own is arrested for the crime, they ban together, despite differences and misgivings, to make things right again. Thursday Morning is a story about friendship, community, and love, written in a traditional who-done-it style.

What inspired you to write this book?

It was actually my sister-in-law who inadvertently gave me the idea for Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club. She has belonged to a ladies breakfast group that has been meeting, incidentally, on Thursday mornings, for many years. I attend these gatherings, on occasion, when I am staying in the area. While my Thursday morning breakfast club is not the same as my sister-in-laws Thursday morning breakfast group, the idea came from this weekly meeting.

I love close knit communities, and I believe we’re moving away from them in our very busy modern lives. Relationships in cyberspace have replaced relationships down the street. I’m guilty of my own complaint. I, too, love having friends all over the world, and Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter

Excerpt:

“Clare’s dead!”

When she spoke the words, her voice was so low it was barely above a whisper. The sturdy woman with short, curly red hair dropped the handset back into its cradle and began to pace, the phone still ringing on the other end of the line.

Lillie Mae Harris stopped at the front window, taking no notice of the white buds that were just opening on the two Bradford pear trees in her front yard, or the spring flowers peeping through the freshly hoed soil in the close- by flower bed. Her thoughts were of Clare.

She had the best view in Mount Penn from this window. On a winter’s morning she could see for some thirty miles out over the valley with the big blue sky as the backdrop. The night view was even more amazing, offering a shower of dancing lights in the distance competing only with the brightest stars.

It was now early spring and the vista had already begun to shrink even though the trees were just beginning to bud. Once the trees were filled out with big green leaves the view would pull in even more until fall when the colors exploded and the view once again took one’s breath away. But today the scenery did nothing to still Lillie Mae’s pounding heart or quell her shaking hands. She couldn’t stop worrying about Clare. Rushing back to the phone, she scooped it up, and punched in a familiar number.

“Hello.” Alice Portman answered in her sweet Southern drawl, after just one ring. Her Jack Russell terrier, Alfred, barked in the background.

“Clare’s not answering her phone this morning,” Lillie Mae said. “I’m so worried about her, Alice. I’m not sure what to do.”

“Settle down, Lillie Mae,” Alice said, shushing Alfred. “Why are you more concerned today?”

“You were at the water meeting last night,” Lillie Mae said. “You saw how Roger was acting. Yelling and screaming like an idiot. When he’s gotten that riled up in the past, Clare’s been his punching bag.”

“Well, yes,” Alice agreed, deliberately slowing the pace of the conversation. “But, Roger was just being Roger last night, dear. Just showing off. I didn’t see anything unusual in his behavior. Certainly nothing to make you so worried this morning.”

“He was acting worse than usual,” Lillie Mae insisted, still pacing the living room floor. “And I’m sure he drank himself crazy when the meeting was finally over. That’s the real reason I’m worried, Alice. You know how he is when he drinks. What he does to Clare.”

“Roger playacts, you know, when it suits him, Lillie Mae,” Alice said, her voice still soft and cool. “He knows he’s going to make a lot of money hooking people up to the public water in a few short months, but he wants to come across as the good guy to his neighbors, not the money grubbing fool that he is. He’ll use every wile that he has to seduce the community. If the project fails, which it won’t this time, he looks like he’s the man who stopped it. If it passes, he wins big time.”

“You’re probably right, Alice,” Lillie Mae said, calming a bit. “I know Roger is shrewd. If he wasn’t always out there trying to make a deal, he wouldn’t be Roger, I guess.”

“So, stop overreacting, Lillie Mae. What’s brought all this on anyway?”  

 “I’ve been calling Clare’s house all morning and nobody answers the phone,” Lillie Mae said. “It’s stupid, I know, but I picture Clare lying on her kitchen floor, needing my help. Dead, even.”

A sigh escaped Alice’s lips. “You’re way over dramatizing this morning, Lillie Mae,” she said. “Roger’s not even home. He drove by me in that stupid yellow Hummer of his while Alfred and I were out on our early morning walk.”

“That’s good to hear,” Lillie Mae said. “Stop imagining the worst, Lillie Mae. Clare’s probably out, too. It’s such a warm spring day. Doesn’t she usually go grocery shopping on Wednesday mornings?”

“Maybe,” Lillie Mae conceded. “Or she could be in her garden, I guess.”

“She’ll call you back when she gets to it,” Alice said, a hint of impatience in her voice.

“I doubt if she does.” Lillie Mae’s voice broke. “She rarely calls me anymore. We’ve been such good friends for so many years and I miss her, Alice. I wish I knew what I did wrong.”

“Clare’s changing, Lillie Mae. She’s getting stronger. Give the girl some space.”

“I’ve noticed a change, too,” Lillie Mae said, “since Billy went off to university. She does have more confidence, I’ll give you that.”

“Have you written your article on the water meeting for the Antioch Gazette, yet?” Alice asked. “I thought it was due today.”

“Not yet,” Lillie Mae confessed. “I’ve been too worried about Clare.”

“Maybe being busy will take your mind off things that are not really any of your business,” Alice said.

“I guess you’re right,” Lillie Mae said. “Clare’s a big girl and can take care of herself.”

 “I know that well,” Lillie Mae said, then suddenly turned serious again when her thoughts returned to Clare. “I’m walking down to Clare’s to check things out before I start on the article. I need to make certain she’s all right, or I won’t be able to concentrate on my work. Do you want to come along?”

“No, you go on, if it’ll make you feel better,” Alice said. “You can fill me in on the details at dinner this evening.”

* * *

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m currently writing my third Thursday Morning Breakfast Club mystery. My second one is in the done pile, and hopefully, will be released in or before early 2014. I also have another mystery series that I’d like to publish, but I’m not going to tease you with what it’s about.

My grand epic, not even nicknamed yet, set in 1920s Pen Mar against the advent of the mass produced automobile and the demise of the railroads, is under construction. Henry Ford is a central character. This book, based on a lost history, is going to be so much fun to research and write, and, I hope, equally fun to read.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’ve always been a writer. My first job out of graduate school, where I did lots of writing, was writing political encyclopedias. Then I moved to the world of high tech where I wrote marketing literature, before moving into the world of technical documentation and content management. All of these different types of writing, plus learning the importance of the deadlines, have contributed to my mystery writing in one way or another.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I retired from the corporate world to write books and travel, so I have the luxury of writing at leisure when I’m not traveling the world. Since publishing Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club, my debut novel, I spend half of my day on marketing tasks. The other half I spend working on my next book.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I talk to my characters, and strangely enough, they talk back to me. It’s often my characters who create the story. I can’t tell you how much fun that is.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I grew up at a time when women were either teachers or nurses. Since my dad was a teacher, that’s what I assumed I would be. I actually only taught school one year. By the time I was out of graduate school, there were so much more opportunities available to women. That said, I loved my year of teaching and would love to try my hand at it again sometime.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Besides writing and traveling I love being outdoors. I bike, swim, walk, play with my two dogs Mattie and Jakey, and spend time with friends. I also own a vacation rental business in Hollywood Florida which keeps me busy.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

Thanks for stopping by, Liz!