Campaigning Can Be Deadly by Charlotte Stuart

Today is Book Snippets Day The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III

Campaigning Can Be Deadly by Charlotte Stuart

Charlotte Stuart is with us today with Campaigning Can Be Deadly. I asked a question, and here is her honest answer:

Why did I choose to write about politics?

I confess…I chose to write about politics in Campaigning Can Be Deadly because I had a target in mind. When you’re writing a mystery, someone is going to die, and I theoretically wanted to knock off a couple of “bad guys.” What you wouldn’t dream of doing in real life, can be satisfying in fiction. Unfortunately, as is so often the case in the real world, good people became the victims. Not everyone gets what they deserve. And not everyone deserves what they get. As the plot developed and became more complex, my original vision of the story also evolved. Victims and survivors were moved around like pieces on a chess board. The only thing that remained constant was knowing the mystery would be solved by the end of the book.

Confession #2: I’m a political junkie. I read the headlines every morning, do a few deep dives on topics I find interesting, and often stew about what’s happening in the world that I think shouldn’t be happening. I try to balance that with feel-good stories, like videos about rescue animals finding homes, but there are some distressing topics that I can’t resist. For example, as someone who lives on the water in the Pacific Northwest, I care about our environment and worry about damage from oil spills and other sources of pollution. When I was brainstorming campaign issues for this mystery, I quickly landed on creating a Congressional race where big oil was supporting one candidate and an anti-oil activist student was trying to sway the election in the opposite direction.

Keep in mind that I write lighthearted mysteries that I want readers to find amusing as well as interesting. Achieving the right balance between serious themes and humor is like jumping from stone to stone when crossing a stream. Picture the stream as the serious storyline and the rocks as touchpoints for laughter. My “touchpoints” are setting and characters. My Discount Detective Agency – Vigilance You Can Afford – immediately alerts readers to the fact that this isn’t your traditional PI story. Still, what always starts as a minor investigation appropriate for a detective agency located in a shopping mall, quickly morphs into something larger, with a smattering of danger and a few laughs along the way. In addition, my characters all have their quirks and flaws, although they are also good people and, hopefully, likeable. And, yes, they are composites of friends, family and colleagues, all of whom have their own human quirks and flaws, with a little creative license thrown in for good measure. I thank them for the inspiration!

Another motivation for writing about politics was to highlight the election process. I believe it’s important for people to be involved in determining their own destinies by voting for people who will fight for the safe and healthy future we all want and deserve. And I admire the committed volunteers who devote themselves to working for causes and people they believe in. That’s what a democracy is all about.

In the final analysis, why write about politics? So I can create a world in which justice triumphs, the bad guys get what they deserve, and readers get a few laughs and closure. Oscar Wilde said “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” If art influences how we see life, then maybe we need to read more upbeat stories with happy endings. It’s worth a try.

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GENRE: Mystery, Female PI

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BLURB:

What begins as a prank ends in murder.

The campaign for the U.S. Congressional seat was referred to in the press as “Mr. Smith goes to Washington versus the carpetbagger.” The popular local candidate gets the majority of endorsements, but his opponent’s wealthy, out-of-state family is willing to do whatever it takes for him to win.

Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency located in a mall, is hired to find out who is stealing the local candidate’s political signs. Two of their investigators, Cameron Chandler and Yuri Webster, not only catch the thieves in the act, they find a body next to a pile of stolen signs, proving that Campaigning Can Be Deadly.

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EXCERPT:

[image error] The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win

without proving that you are unworthy of winning. – Adlai Stevenson

Billed by the press as “the carpetbagger versus Mr. Smith goes to Washington,” the contest between the two opposing candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives demonstrated the power of money in a campaign. With huge resources behind him, the “carpetbagger” became a household name overnight by bombarding the urban Washington State district with ads and flyers attacking his opponent. “Mr. Smith,” on the other hand, already a well-known local politician who had won most of the endorsements, tried to ignore the smear campaign from his opponent by consistently focusing on policy.

As the election drew near and polls suggested the race was too close to call, the candidate who had tried so hard to remain above the fray came out with an ad aimed at discrediting his opponent for moving into the district to run for office. Immediately the press jumped on the change in tactics. They tarred both candidates with the same brush and labeled the race as one of the most negative ever run in the state. It made good headlines.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart has a passion for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. Her first discount detective mystery, Survival Can Be Deadly, was a Foreward INDIES finalist. Why me? Chimeras, Conundrums and Dead Goldfish was a semi-finalist for the Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem contest before it was published. She began her career in academia with a PhD in communications. Then, she and her husband decided to build a commercial boat and go fishing for salmon in Alaska. Currently she is the VP for Puget Sound Sisters in Crime and lives and writes on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. She spends time each day entertained by herons, seals, eagles and other wildlife.

Charlotte Stuart – social media

website: http://www.charlottestuart.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quirkymysteries

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.stuart.mysterywriter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19305587.Charlotte_Stuart

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clzstuart

Campaigning Can Be Deadly -primary online purchase links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/campaigning-can-be-deadly-charlotte-stuart/1136403993

https://www.bookdepository.com/Campaigning-Can-Be-Deadly-Charlotte-Stuart/9781940442327

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781940442327

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51074737-campaigning-can-be-deadly

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