Interview with mystery author Susan M. Boyer

Author Susan M. Boyer is here today chatting with me about her new Southern mystery, Lowcountry Book Club: A Liz Talbot Mystery #5.

Bio:

Susan M. Boyer is the USA Today-bestselling author of Lowcountry Boil, Lowcountry Bombshell, and Lowcountry Boneyard. She has received various awards for her series, including the Agatha Award for Best First Novel; the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense; and SIBA Alliance Okra Picks for Spring 2015 and Summer 2016. Lowcountry Boneyard is a Finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mainstream Mystery/Suspense. Susan loves beaches, Southern food, and small towns. She lives in Greenville, SC with her husband and an inordinate number of houseplants.

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

Who would have pushed Shelby Poinsett out of her second-story library window if it wasn't her husband? Private investigator Liz Talbot and her husband Nate Andrews are hired by a prestigious Charleston law firm to prove the innocence of Shelby's husband. There’s a lot of suspects, including the members of a 100-year-old, invite-only book club whose members are a tight-knit community of Charleston's genteel ladies. Liz is convinced that one of these women knows what happened to Shelby that night.

What inspired you to write this book?

Shortly after the release of Lowcountry Boneyard, I was invited to visit a book club quite unlike any I’d ever been to before. Some aspects of the book club I use in Lowcountry Book Club were inspired by this very unique organization. Other aspects are complete figments of my imagination, of course.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m in the planning and outlining stages for the next Liz Talbot mystery, which will release next year.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In my mind there was a distinction between being a writer and being an author. I considered myself a writer when I started writing with the goal of publication. I considered myself an author when I held a copy of my first novel in my hands.

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?

Yes, but it depends on whether I’m writing or launching a book. On a writing day, I take my second cup of coffee with me to the computer. I check email and respond to any Facebook or Twitter messages. Then I try to avoid all distractions and write until lunchtime. During lunch, I’m still partially in my alternate reality, thinking about the story. Then it’s back to work until my stomach starts growling for dinner. In the evening I check in with social media again and try to relax. I usually read in the evening. I try to work in exercise when I can. Lately I’ve been trying to go in the mornings before I start work. It’s hard, because I have no self-discipline whatsoever.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m not sure this qualifies as a quirk. There may be a diagnosis code for it. But, under deadline pressure, I write best in a Hampton Inn (no other hotel will work) with absolutely no view of anything remotely interesting and a desk facing a neutral toned wall. I get up in the morning, go down for breakfast (and ask that they make up the room during that time) then go to work. I take a break periodically and pace the hall of whatever floor I’m on to get my steps in and work out plot problems. Sometimes I talk to myself during these strolls. Housekeeping staff, if they’re around, give me concerned looks. For lunch I eat something odd from the hotel shop. I snack on Lindor truffles and nuts. Dinner is whatever someone will deliver, often some variety of Asian food or Pizza. I basically isolate myself in my alternate reality until I’ve birthed a book.

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

I wanted to be Nancy Drew. Or an actress. Or Miss America. For a while I wanted to be a lawyer. But I always wrote. It was just something I did.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Y’all please come over to my website (http://www.susanmboyerbooks.com) and sign up for my newsletter. (Home page, scroll down to bottom right. Be sure to respond to the verification email.)

I only send them when a new book is coming out (or if some wildly improbable, wonderful thing happened) so I won’t be cluttering up your inbox, and I never share email addresses. Occasionally, I have giveaways just for newsletter subscribers.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Thanks for being here today, Susan! Happy writing.

Special excerpt from the Southern historical novel, Sunset at Rosalie by Ann L. McLaughlin

Starting off the week with a special excerpt from the Southern historical novel, Sunset at Rosalie by Ann L. McLaughlin.

During her virtual book tour, Ann will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

A little bit about the author:

Ann L. McLaughlin is the author of eight highly acclaimed novels including Lightning in July and Amy and George. She teaches at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland and lives in Chevy Chase.

A little bit about the book:

Sunset at Rosalie tells the story of a young girl, Carlin McNair, and her family on a failing cotton plantation in Mississippi during the early 1900s. The coming of the boll weevil and the sharp decline of cotton prices cause drastic changes in the life of the plantation and in the lives of the family members. Carlin adores her Uncle Will. But like the plantation, Will is doomed and his story is an important part of Carlin’s growing up. McLaughlin describes this part of Southern culture in vivid detail, which brings Carlin’s young life close and makes that almost extinct plantation life come alive once again.

Excerpt from Sunset at Rosalie:

When Carlin opened her eyes, the early morning light was slanting through the blind at her window and someone was talking on the front gallery down below. Carlin started to swing her legs over the edge of her bed, but stopped and sat counting as the grandfather clock downstairs struck five, which meant it was really six.

She pushed back the mosquito netting that hung over her canopied bed and ran to the window. The voices were low. She heard a man’s cough and then a familiar voice.

“I’m sorry to disturb you so early, Belle, but I had to talk. I mean we’ve always been friends, you and I, and . . .”

It was Uncle Will, Carlin realized. He was the only man beside Papa who called Mama Belle. He had come at last. “Uncle Will,” she started to shout.

“You mustn’t act too quickly,” Mama was saying. “This could be a terrible thing to do.”

Carlin pulled the blind up quietly and leaned across the window sill. “I know that, Belle. I know the pain and humiliation I’ll cause.” Carlin leaned out further. What were they talking about? What pain?

Links:

Author website | Publisher website | Goodreads | Amazon author page | Facebook publisher | Twitter

Buy links:

Amazonpaperback | Amazon e-book | Barnes and Noble paperback

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