Mystee's interview questions were more fun than a blog
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be an architect. When all the other little girls were drawing clothing for their paper dolls, I was drawing house plans.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Boredom. Well there was a bit more to it than that. Like my real estate agent protagonist Regan McHenry, I own a small real estate company with my husband. As the real estate market started to collapse in 2007, we decided to experiment with being semi-retired or at least taking a time out to avoid what I knew would be a vicious and painful place to work. That left me with too much time on my hands. I started writing as a game, to see if I could devise a plausible mystery---like playing Sudoku, only more challenging.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I’m a method writer. Before I start an outline I make up the characters’ life stories so I can understand how they think and understand their motivation. I read the outline I’ve created for a chapter and then, in my mind I become my characters. I either act out or mentally observe what they do and say and the way they do and say their lines. I write down what I’ve seen and heard.
Even with the prep I do, sometimes the characters tell me things about themselves that I didn’t know. Let me give you an example from Buying Murder. As I was typing some dialogue between Dave, a recurring character, and Regan, Dave told her he spoke a little German and said to Regan he bet she didn’t know that about him. Well neither did I. I stopped typing and said out loud, “Dave, I had no idea you spoke German.”
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
I’m probably writing mysteries because my grandmother let me read her favorite mysteries and true crime books when I told her I was disappointed with Nancy Drew, my age-appropriate books.
How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
Most of the time I have my title and book cover in mind before I start writing, often even before I start an outline or make up the characters’ life stories.
How much of your work is realistic?
The murders are made up. The real estate is mostly not, although the disclaimer says it’s all fiction. I find it highly entertaining when I get a comment from a reader that they don’t believe some of the real estate parts of the books because nothing like that would really happen. Invariably those are parts that are completely true.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Because I get so involved in watching what happens in my books, writing about finding bodies generally unnerves me. In The Death Contingency the morning I wrote about Regan finding her first body, my husband found me curled into a ball crying when he came into my office.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
That’s too hard a question to answer so I’ll make it my favorite mystery author, if I may. Agatha Christie is my hands-down favorite. I love the period settings and characters having tea. I especially like it that she’s honest: all the clues to solve the mystery are there if the reader pays attention. Also, you can reread her books as many times as you want without ever finding fault with her logic or conclusions. Like a band that has practiced until they get all the members playing together just right, her mysteries are tight. That’s the goal I have for my mysteries, too.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No I wouldn’t. When I began writing Buying Murder, I had a couple of endings in mind. As I got closer to the point where I needed to make a decision about the last chapters of the book, it became apparent the ending I used was the right one – the only right one.
Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
I’ve had a number of jobs/careers in my life: working in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury/News, working in a library, being the business manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and finally a twenty plus year career as a Realtor. I’ve enjoyed all my jobs, but I’ve never had more fun than I am now writing and publicizing books. I intend to continue until I can’t think logically or until it stops being fun, whichever comes first.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
I’d give them the same advice a writer once gave me: edit, edit, edit. I’m a terrible editor and can’t edit my own writing (if you find errors in this interview please know I have read it; I just don’t see my mistakes) so I get capable help with that part of the process.
Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
It’s never happened. I consider myself a storyteller, not a writer. I just tell my story; since I know it, I am always able to write it.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
I need to have my own space and to be left alone. If I’m interrupted while writing, I have to leave the world where my characters live and I lose them for a time.
How long does it take you to write a book?
I tend to write at about the same pace as the book. I was eager to start Buying Murder in July, but the book takes place late in the year. Try as I might, I couldn’t write about a stormy December night when it was ninety degrees outside and we had smoke in our house from a wild land fire. I did manage to incorporate the smoke into the beginning of the book, though.
Editing probably takes as long or longer than writing.
What is your work schedule like when writing?
I usually get up early in the morning and write until I finish what I want to accomplish for the day.
What are your current projects?
I’m working on the fourth book which will be called Widow's Walk League. (In case you didn’t realize it, all the books, The Death Contingency, Backyard Bones, and Buying Murder, have something to do with real estate or houses in their title.) The title also has a strong relationship to what happens in the book.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Widows’ Walk begins on Halloween night in downtown Santa Cruz; Santa Cruz County is the setting for all the books. A figure of death walks up to random revelers and hands them a note with a future date on it. Death hands a note to a man who is very upset to read it and discover his note has, not only the day’s date on it, but a time, about an hour in the future, printed on it.
What is the last book you read?
American Lion by Jon Meacham.
If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?
I’d like to be Miss Marple. She seems to get involved in all sorts of fascinating things and she knows everyone.
If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?
Sea animal: a killer whale. Land animal: an elephant. Animal that can fly: a bat. Do you see a theme here? I want to have friends and family around and, as much as possible, I don’t want to be prey.
What is your favorite color? Red
What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
You’d find lots of fresh veggies, a variety of hot sauces, chicken in some form, and a bit of leftover wine. I’d hope that you’d find cake, but I probably ate it all.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
Queen Elizabeth I. She had such a difficult life but survived so well that I find her fascinating. I’d pick a week in her life when she could have met Mary Queen of Scots and I’d see that she did it.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I’d like to be invisible. Flying would be a nice bonus.
I wanted to be an architect. When all the other little girls were drawing clothing for their paper dolls, I was drawing house plans.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Boredom. Well there was a bit more to it than that. Like my real estate agent protagonist Regan McHenry, I own a small real estate company with my husband. As the real estate market started to collapse in 2007, we decided to experiment with being semi-retired or at least taking a time out to avoid what I knew would be a vicious and painful place to work. That left me with too much time on my hands. I started writing as a game, to see if I could devise a plausible mystery---like playing Sudoku, only more challenging.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I’m a method writer. Before I start an outline I make up the characters’ life stories so I can understand how they think and understand their motivation. I read the outline I’ve created for a chapter and then, in my mind I become my characters. I either act out or mentally observe what they do and say and the way they do and say their lines. I write down what I’ve seen and heard.
Even with the prep I do, sometimes the characters tell me things about themselves that I didn’t know. Let me give you an example from Buying Murder. As I was typing some dialogue between Dave, a recurring character, and Regan, Dave told her he spoke a little German and said to Regan he bet she didn’t know that about him. Well neither did I. I stopped typing and said out loud, “Dave, I had no idea you spoke German.”
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
I’m probably writing mysteries because my grandmother let me read her favorite mysteries and true crime books when I told her I was disappointed with Nancy Drew, my age-appropriate books.
How did you come up with the title for your book(s)?
Most of the time I have my title and book cover in mind before I start writing, often even before I start an outline or make up the characters’ life stories.
How much of your work is realistic?
The murders are made up. The real estate is mostly not, although the disclaimer says it’s all fiction. I find it highly entertaining when I get a comment from a reader that they don’t believe some of the real estate parts of the books because nothing like that would really happen. Invariably those are parts that are completely true.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Because I get so involved in watching what happens in my books, writing about finding bodies generally unnerves me. In The Death Contingency the morning I wrote about Regan finding her first body, my husband found me curled into a ball crying when he came into my office.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
That’s too hard a question to answer so I’ll make it my favorite mystery author, if I may. Agatha Christie is my hands-down favorite. I love the period settings and characters having tea. I especially like it that she’s honest: all the clues to solve the mystery are there if the reader pays attention. Also, you can reread her books as many times as you want without ever finding fault with her logic or conclusions. Like a band that has practiced until they get all the members playing together just right, her mysteries are tight. That’s the goal I have for my mysteries, too.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No I wouldn’t. When I began writing Buying Murder, I had a couple of endings in mind. As I got closer to the point where I needed to make a decision about the last chapters of the book, it became apparent the ending I used was the right one – the only right one.
Where do you hope to take your writing in the future?
I’ve had a number of jobs/careers in my life: working in the advertising department of the San Jose Mercury/News, working in a library, being the business manager of Shakespeare/Santa Cruz, and finally a twenty plus year career as a Realtor. I’ve enjoyed all my jobs, but I’ve never had more fun than I am now writing and publicizing books. I intend to continue until I can’t think logically or until it stops being fun, whichever comes first.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
I’d give them the same advice a writer once gave me: edit, edit, edit. I’m a terrible editor and can’t edit my own writing (if you find errors in this interview please know I have read it; I just don’t see my mistakes) so I get capable help with that part of the process.
Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?
It’s never happened. I consider myself a storyteller, not a writer. I just tell my story; since I know it, I am always able to write it.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
I need to have my own space and to be left alone. If I’m interrupted while writing, I have to leave the world where my characters live and I lose them for a time.
How long does it take you to write a book?
I tend to write at about the same pace as the book. I was eager to start Buying Murder in July, but the book takes place late in the year. Try as I might, I couldn’t write about a stormy December night when it was ninety degrees outside and we had smoke in our house from a wild land fire. I did manage to incorporate the smoke into the beginning of the book, though.
Editing probably takes as long or longer than writing.
What is your work schedule like when writing?
I usually get up early in the morning and write until I finish what I want to accomplish for the day.
What are your current projects?
I’m working on the fourth book which will be called Widow's Walk League. (In case you didn’t realize it, all the books, The Death Contingency, Backyard Bones, and Buying Murder, have something to do with real estate or houses in their title.) The title also has a strong relationship to what happens in the book.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Widows’ Walk begins on Halloween night in downtown Santa Cruz; Santa Cruz County is the setting for all the books. A figure of death walks up to random revelers and hands them a note with a future date on it. Death hands a note to a man who is very upset to read it and discover his note has, not only the day’s date on it, but a time, about an hour in the future, printed on it.
What is the last book you read?
American Lion by Jon Meacham.
If you could be any character in fiction, whom would you be?
I’d like to be Miss Marple. She seems to get involved in all sorts of fascinating things and she knows everyone.
If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?
Sea animal: a killer whale. Land animal: an elephant. Animal that can fly: a bat. Do you see a theme here? I want to have friends and family around and, as much as possible, I don’t want to be prey.
What is your favorite color? Red
What would I find in your refrigerator right now?
You’d find lots of fresh veggies, a variety of hot sauces, chicken in some form, and a bit of leftover wine. I’d hope that you’d find cake, but I probably ate it all.
If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
Queen Elizabeth I. She had such a difficult life but survived so well that I find her fascinating. I’d pick a week in her life when she could have met Mary Queen of Scots and I’d see that she did it.
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
I’d like to be invisible. Flying would be a nice bonus.
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