English Doctor, Novelist, Medical Journalist and Nonfiction Writer

Keith Souter is a part time doctor, medical journalist, non-fiction writer and novelist. He's the current vice President of Western Fictioneers and is a member of Western Writers of America as well as  several other writers’ organizations. He also writes in four genres – westerns as Clay More, crime as Keith Moray and historicals and YA as Keith Souter. He's won prizes for his short stories, including a Fish Award in 2006 for his short historical fiction. He lives with his wife in England, "within arrow-shot of the ruins of a medieval castle."

When did you decide to write Westerns, Keith?

A few years ago I received an invitation to join a fledgling organisation called Western Fictioneers. This was based in the USA and included many prominent authors in the Western genre. The membership requirement was to have been paid for writing Western fiction, but not merely be self-published. By that time I  had published five Western novels with Robert Hale, a London based publisher of Westerns, so I joined. I must confess that I did so with some trepidation, as I was unsure whether I could actually cut it as a Western writer in the USA.

Almost immediately I heard that the Western Fictioneers were putting together an anthology of short stories by its members and everyone was invited to submit  a tale. So I threw caution to the wind and wrote a story, entitled Boot Hill Neighbors, which appeared in the anthology The Traditional West. That gave me a buzz to have a story in there with so many prize-winning authors in the genre.

Is the western written from England any different from those written in the USA? That is a difficult one to answer. When you watch a movie and you hear an actor trying to do an American accent, it may jar. But does the same thing happen with a writing style? Again, I am not sure that it does.

Of course, people may spot an inaccuracy about horses, gun lore, ranching practices and feel that it spoils the book. Yet those errors can occur just as easily in homegrown books. It all comes down to research, in my opinion. If the research is done adequately, then those jarring moments should not occur.

My own approach when writing a Western is to steep myself in research into all aspects of a locality. I study the flora, the fauna, the geography, geology and the history of the area. Then I set it against the history of the time and then I begin to build my story. And nowadays with the Internet you can research anywhere anytime. You can find newspapers of the epoch you are writing about and you can get instant pictures of the terrain. I have to say that I love this aspect of my work as a writer. I write medical and all manner of non-fiction books and I am a medical journalist, so I have a good nose for research. In medicine you have to get things right and I try to do that with everything that I write about.

I use the old writing adage – write about what you know. I think it is a piece of advice that is often misunderstood. It doesn’t just mean that you should only write about the places you are familiar with, or about the background that you come from. What it means to me, is use the things you know about and let that give your writing authenticity. I am a doctor and I use my expertise in medicine and in surgery to good effect in my stories. Virtually all of my novels have a doctor in the story somewhere and I can make things seem real. I can make wounds and operations seem plausible.

I think that I have always had a love of the old west. I was brought up with all the old Western TV shows.  You may have guessed that my choice of pen-name is a homage to Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger. I loved those shows, along with Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, the Virginian and The High Chaparral. My father was a western aficionado and we had loads of books by Zane Grey, Max Brand, Louis L’Amour. I read voraciously, so they were all a great influence on me. Yet  I would have to single out the works of Elmore Leonard. Goodness, what a superb writer he was.

I have a couple of on-going writing projects at the moment. Firstly, I write the character of Doctor Logan Munro in the Wolf Creek series of novels for Western Fictioneers Library. These are collaborative novels featuring five or six authors at a time. Each author writes one or two chapters from the viewpoint of his or her character. Logan Munro is a Scottish doctor, as am I, so I can get authenticity in my stories from both the medical viewpoint and with my voice as a Scotsman. We have published ten of these so far, with the eleventh due out next month.

Adventures from the case book of Dr. Marcus Quigley

The other project is a series of short stories about Doctor Marcus Quigley, a qualified dentist, gambler and bounty hunter, who is on a long-time quest to find the man who murdered a friend some years ago. Here I use my knowledge of dental history, my knowledge of dice and gambling and I structure it as I do a crime novel. In fact, all of my Westerns are really mysteries. There is no ‘shoot ‘em up’ allowed in my tales. The protagonists have to solve the mystery and extricate themselves from danger using their brains rather than their brawn or their speed with a gun. And there is usually some love-interest along the way.

My latest book is due out in mid-April from high Noon Press. It is the collection of my short stories, Adventures from the Case Book of Doctor Marcus Quigley. Each story is self-contained, but linked into a greater quest.

You can learn more about Keith Souter at his website: http://www.keithsouter.co.uk 

 as well as at his Western blog – More on the Range: http://moreontherange.blogspot.co.uk

and Western Fictioneers://westernfictioneers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-doctors-bag.html

A Scottish Author Discusses Crime and Mystery Fiction

by Bill Kirton

I’m a fan of both crime fiction and mystery novels and I know that they’re the same thing. It just depends which side of the Atlantic you live. It was only when my first book was published in the USA, in 2007, that I started to wonder whether the different labels signified a difference in readers too. I still don’t know, but it’s made me think about the genre there and here. And guess what? I’ve come to no conclusions.

It all started with an American, Edgar Allan Poe, in 1841. Then a Scotsman gave it a boost with his Sherlock Holmes later in the century. Between the wars, the UK started its Golden Age, typified by cosy tales, with amateurs making the police look silly and clever old ladies riding on bikes past thatched cottages stuffed with eviscerated corpses. In the USA, Hammett, Spillane and Chandler created their private eye archetypes and started crafting the gritty, hard-boiled version. For the Brits, it was a game, a puzzle; for the Americans, it was serious.

I’m generalising, but from the start there seemed to be a contrast: on the one hand reflective, genteel stories in a rural setting; on the other violent, fast-moving accounts in the mean streets of cities. Restraint versus mayhem.

Nowadays, it’s not that simple. Leaving aside the TV series such as CSI, the preference in the States still seems to be for Private Eyes – male and female (although Ed McBain and others focus on team efforts). And the British produce police procedurals.

BUT …

Statistics seem to suggest that there’s a strong cult appreciation of the hard-boiled genre in Europe while readers in the USA gobble up cosies and Golden Age-style mysteries. Maybe staid Brits with their alleged sang-froid and taciturnity long for the brash, up-front individuality of the American Way. Maybe helter-skelter Americans, surrounded by technological expertise and the responsibilities of being the sole remaining superpower dream of sipping Earl Grey on the village green.

Or perhaps it’s the exoticism of the differences between us. The mysterious implications of the distinctions between felonies and misdemeanors (or, as we’d call them, misdemeanours), the quaint notion that an Attorney General actually has to solicit votes. Or, over here, the arcane role of the Procurator Fiscal in the Scottish system or the plusses and minuses attaching to Scotland’s ‘Not proven’ verdict, and the striking differences between police procedures north and south of the border.

If only it were that easy. No, in the end, there’s no future in trying to second guess readers. Wherever they are, you either entertain or you bore them. In a recent email, an English reader wasn’t impressed with me because, as he wrote, ‘your story disturbed me, and do readers really want to be disturbed?’ Well, I’m not sure, but do they really expect laughs in a story which exploits the fear of being buried alive? I guess I’d better work out how to turn it into an Edgar Allan Feelgood tale.

How to Become a Successful TV Journalist

by Hank Phillipi Ryan, bestselling novelist and award-winning journalist 

Here's what you need to produce a successful television story. Develop memorable characters. Build suspense. Show conflict. Tell a compelling story. Find justice. Change lives.

Here's what you need to become a successful television journalist. Never miss your deadline. Be fair. Get people to tell you things they wouldn't tell anyone else. Understand how the world works.Work with an editor. Create a brilliant and flawless product every time. Be completely devoted to your job.

As I began to write my first novel, I realized the number of parallels between writing for television and writing a mystery novel. Your primary focus is telling a great story, right? With compelling characters. And centering around an important problem. You dig for leads, track down documents, conduct intensive research, and see where the clues take you. You want the good guys to win, and bad guys to get what's coming to them. You want a satisfying and fair ending, and you want some justice. And if you're lucky, you get to change the world. 

Here's a new way of looking at your work as a journalist. And it doesn't matter if you've never written a news story in your life. 
You won't use every news story every day. Some you won't realize you need, until you do. On those days, there are journalism-based questions you can ask yourself to prod your brain into story telling--kind of a who-what-when-where-why and why-not that just might get you out of that pre-deadline panic.

Why do I Care?

If you're in a scene that seems to be flabby, or boring, or simply not compelling, there may be there's no reason to write it. Se your intention before you write the scene. What's the point of these next 200 words? Why do we care about these next 200 words? Why do we care about what's going to happen next? Figure that out. It may be that you're writing a scene that you don't need. You may be writing a scene that needs to move faster, or go a different direction, or wind up in a different place. 

Am I in the Right Place?

Not only the right place geographically, but the right place in time or space. If you've got two guys sitting around talking, or someone looking up a name on a computer, or talking on the phone, or if it's the fourth scene in a row that's taking place in an office--hmmm. Television is all about good video. Can you place your characters somewhere more cinematic? What would happen to your characters when you do?

Who said that?

Maybe you've got the wrong person talking, or using the wrong point of view. Placing the same scene in the point of view of a different person changes the perspective and as a result, shows you motivation in a different way. What's at stake in your scene? Who has the most to lose? Sometimes even thinking about a scene through a different character's eyes can open your own to different ideas.

What's the goal?

Are you at the beginning of the book where you need a big compelling hook? In the middle of the book where you need to twist and turn and keep the readers turning the pages? Or near the end, when you need to ratchet up the suspense and come up with the big finish or happy ever-after ending? Make sure you're clear on your goal. Think about what you should write to accomplish that.

(You can read more of Hank Phillipi Ryan's article as well as her  interview in The Mystery Writers.)

You can also learn more at her website: http://www.hankphillipiryan.com

Writing About Women Amateur Sleuths

Writing about two 60-year old women amateur sleuths has been fun, but I always attempt to involve them in social issues. Dana Logan, a mystery novel buff, and Sarah Cafferty, a private investigator’s widow,  inhabited my brain for a couple of years before they were given birth on my computer. Living in my home state of California at the time, I placed them in the San Joaquin Valley in the central area of the state, where dense Tule fog, agricultural sprays and bay area pollution have become health hazards. It’s also a place where a serial killer can hide and kill at his leisure.

I lived in the valley for more than a dozen years and envisioned a killer disappearing into the fog after taking someone’s life. In fact, it actually happened half a mile from where I lived in a rural area, when a young woman was strangled in her ranch house. It could have been me.

In A Village Shattered, the first book in the series, I placed my aging sleuths in a retirement village  where their Sew and So club members are mysteriously dropping dead alphabetically. When Dana and Sarah realize what is happening, they suspect that their own names are on the killer’s list. The newly-elected sheriff—whose only previous experience was training police dogs—is bungling the case, so Logan & Cafferty decide to put their crime solving knowledge to work in order to not only save their remaining friends’ lives, but their own. Meanwhile, Dana’s journalist daughter shows up on her doorstep, complicating matters.

I placed the widows in a motorhome in Diary of Murder, second book in the 
series, after they sold their homes in the retirement village. While vacationing 
in Colorado, they encounter a Rocky Mountain blizzard after learning that 
Dana’s sister, a mystery writer, has died. Her husband claims it was suicide 
but Dana knows better. When they arrive in Wyoming, they go through the 
sister’s possessions and find her diary, which details her husband’s infidelities 
as well as her unhappiness at having married him. Dana then learns that her 
former brother-in-law is involved in a vicious drug gang, and she and Sarah 
are nearly killed themselves when they investigate.

The murdered sister willed her mansion to Dana and the two women take up residence in Wyoming. During a picture-taking trip to Gray Wolf Mountain, their Escalade is shot at, resulting in a rollover. An old man comes to their rescue in his decrepit pickup truck and they learn that he travels the mountain to find wounded wolves to nurse back to health. Someone has been deliberately shooting them and has recently begun shooting people. Logan & Cafferty decide to help the old man, once again placing their own lives in danger.

In Murder on the Interstate, the two women are traveling in northern Arizona, where they discover the body of a young woman in her Mercedes convertible. Her killer shoots out their motorhome tires and a trucker who calls herself “Big Ruby” McCurdy comes to their rescue. The three women follow the killer during torrential rain in Ruby’s 18-wheeler, and discover that the killer is involved in a homegrown terrorist group who plan to overthrow the government. While attempting to discover how the murder victim is connected to the group leads them into a flash flood and capture by the group.

In the fifth novel, Murder in RV Paradise, Dana and Sarah decide to vacation in an exclusive resort in northern Texas, where they find the body of a beautiful woman who has entraps wealthy men to blackmail them. There are more than a thousand residents of the resort so anyone could have killed her. Interviewing the right ones seems an insurmountable task and the amateur sleuths became suspects, themselves, in the murder. Sarah finds love with a retired rancher and Dana’s quest to maintain her friendship status with long-time pursuer, Sheriff Walter Campbell, is in serious jeopardy. When the sheriff is seriously wounded, Dana rushes to his side and is persuaded to marry him. But will she?

A Conversation with British Novelist Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards is a Liverpool attorney (soliticitor) who writes English crime novels. He's a member of the Murder Squad and is chairman of the nominations sub-committee for the most prestigious crime novel award, the CWA Diamond Dagger. He's also the archivist for the Crime Writers Association.

Martin will be featured in the forthcoming book, The Mystery Writers, along with Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block and many others.

Martin, what does membership in the Murder Squad entail?

It’s a group of six Northern crime writers, set up by Margaret Murphy. Members include Ann Cleeves and Cath Staincliffe, who have both had their books televised in recent years. We do events either jointly, in duos, or singly, all around the UK. We’ve produced an anthology, ingeniously entitled Murder Squad, and a CD sampler of our work. We have a website, www.murdersquad.co.uk I’m proud to be part of such a super gang.

How do crime novels in the UK differ from those written in the US?

Difficult to generalise, I think. We have plenty in common,, and I am certainly delighted with feedback on my books from the US. Americans like Deborah Crombie write very good crime novels set in the UK. Lee Child is a Brit who sets his bestsellers in the States. I suppose that there are fewer good private eye novels in the UK, and perhaps not quite as many serial killers – though we are catching up!

What was it like growing up in Knutsford, Cheshire, England, and did you write as a child?

I was born in Knutsford, famous as Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford (a Victorian era novelist and short story writer], though in fact I grew up a few miles away in Northwich. I still live close by. It’s a terrifically attractive market town, packed with history and there’s plenty of culture too. I’ve featured the town briefly in one novel, and more extensively in a short story featuring Mrs. Gaskell. I did write as a child. I think my first detective story was written when I was about 10, heavily influenced by the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films.

Are you still practicing law in Liverpool and how has your legal background influenced your novels?

Yep, I still have the day job. My first series, featuring Harry Devlin, also a lawyer, was set in Liverpool, a truly unique and fascinating city which everyone should visit! The most recent book, Waterloo Sunset, is a personal favourite. My legal background also influenced a stand alone novel of psychological suspense, Take My Breath Away, but it is less relevant to the Lake District Mysteries, although sad to say, a lawyer does meet a very unpleasant fate in The Serpent Pool.

You’re involved in a number of crime writer organizations. Tell us about them.

I was elected to the Detection Club a couple of years ago, which was gratifying, because of its fantastic history and the fact that almost all the members except me are superstars of the genre.

I’ve been a member of the Crime Writers’ Association for over twenty years, and I edit their annual anthology. I’m also chair of the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger nominations committee. It was via the Northern Chapter of the CWA that the members of Murder Squad first met. It’s a very good social organisation.

You have an interesting, informative blog site titled, “Do You Write Under Your Own Name?” How did the name come about and has blogging helped sales of your books?

Glad you like the blog! When people – such as clients – meet me and learn that I write books, they often ask if I write under my own name. A polite way of saying they have never heard of my novels! I’m sure blogging has been good for my profile. Since it started I have won a Dagger and been elected to the Detection Club, but I’m not sure it’s cause and effect...

Tell us about your series and your latest novel?
My main current series is the Lake District Mysteries. The first book in the series, The Coffin Trail, was shortlisted for the Theakston’s prize for best crime novel of 2006. The series features cold case cop DCI Hannah Scarlett and the historian Daniel Kind. The developing relationship between them is a key element in the series, and so are the landscape, history and literature of the Lakes. The fourth and latest book in the series is The Serpent Pool, which draws on Thomas De Quincey’s years in the Lakes and above all on his fascination with murder as a fine art, has received terrific reviews since publication earlier this year.

What’s the most important ingredient in a crime novel?

Tricky question, but I’m tempted to say the key ingredient is making the reader want to keep turning the pages.

What’s your writing schedule like?

Overloaded! Because I work full time, I tend to write whenever I can snatch a few minutes in the evening and at weekends.

Advice to fledgling crime writers?

Keep at it, and don’t be disheartened too much by rejection.

Thanks, Martin. You can visit Martin Edwards at his website:
http://www.martinedwardsbooks.com/ and his blog blogsite: www.doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com/

Dog enthusiast, Sue Owens Wright has dedicated her writing career to canines. Her hundreds of articles about dogs have won some awards and she's written three mystery novels featuring a basset hound sleuth and his writer owner.

Sue, as a fellow dog lover, I like your book titles: Howling Bloody Murder, Sirius About Murder, and Embarking on Murder. When and why did you decide to write about dogs?

I’ve had dogs my entire life and had the aptitude and desire to write from a very young age, but I didn’t start writing about dogs until my first basset hound, Butterscotch, died in 1987. Writing about her helped me to heal from her loss. Poems and stories poured out of me, and some were published in pet magazines. From then on I figured I’d do best to write about what I loved most in the world, my dogs.

Tell us about your writing background?

I majored in English in college and took some creative writing courses, but I didn’t write seriously for publication until many years later. In 1986, I attended my first writer’s conference, a weeklong summer camp in the mountains for aspiring writers. That lit a fire in me. I knew for the first time in my life what I really wanted to do with the rest of it. For the next few years, I wrote tirelessly, submitted my work to publishers, and collected a fat folder of rejection slips, just like every beginning writer does. I had some successes, too, which kept me going.

Then I decided to enter a “Murder You Write” contest in Family Circle magazine. As a child I’d once tried to write a mystery similar to the Judy Bolton mysteries I loved reading, so I gave mystery writing another shot. I didn’t win the contest, but I went on to complete my first mystery novel, Howling Bloody Murder, which eventually sold to a publisher. That was the happiest day of my life. When I found out I’d sold my first book, I was howling for joy, along with my two basset hounds, Bubba Gump and Daisy.

That first book sale happened not long after I attended a writing course abroad in 1998. It was a summer study program through Florida International University with acclaimed novelist John Dufresne at Trinity College and University Galway in Ireland and University College London in England. Besides being the best vacation of my life in lively, literary Dublin, I learned the finer points of fiction writing from a master of the craft. I’ve attended other writer’s conferences, but none can compare to that one.

I've read your first book, Howling Bloody Murder, and like your protagonist, Beanie, and her dog, Cruiser. How did you come up with those characters and to what extent are they autobiographical?

Thank you. A lot of people seem to like my characters, especially the hound dog. They came about through that “Murder You Write” contest I mentioned. In a way, I did win the contest because it gave me Beanie and Cruiser, the characters in my dog lover’s mystery series. Some people assume both are dogs, but Elsie MacBean or “Beanie” is the human sleuth, and Cruiser is her canine crime-busting sidekick. I think there’s probably a lot of me to be found in Beanie. I have drawn from my own life experiences for her character, especially where dogs are concerned. We definitely share that passion. She’s a writer, too, although she’s Native American (Washoe tribe) and a vegetarian and has a grown daughter, Nona.

I created Cruiser before I adopted my male basset, Bubba Gump, but he has since inspired much of Cruiser’s character in my books. What happens to Cruiser in the second book was mined from an experience with one of my other bassets, Dolly. Through Cruiser I was able to rewrite a happier ending to a sad chapter in my own life. That’s pretty powerful stuff and part of what keeps me writing.

You've earned special recognition from the Humane Society for your articles about animal welfare. What are the main problems concerning animals today?

The current economy is causing people to surrender their pets in record numbers at already overcrowded shelters, either because they can’t afford to pay for their animal’s care or have to leave their homes to live in apartments that don’t accept pets. I can’t think of anything worse than losing your home unless it’s having to lose your best friend, too. Unfortunately, some owners don’t even bother trying to place their pets in another home. They simply discard them like old furniture and sometimes leave them behind to starve. Budget cuts are causing shelters to have to cut back on their services, and many are filled to capacity. There are fewer adopters and donations to help support shelters and rescue organizations, and we know what that means for homeless animals.

There are so many other reasons why pets end up at shelters. Littering is one big reason. People fail to spay or neuter their dogs and cats before they can reproduce and by so doing increase the unwanted pet population. Buying dogs from backyard breeders or pet shops fuels the cruel puppy mill industry and ultimately creates more homeless pets. The problem is that people don’t bother to research what breed of dog is best for their personality and lifestyle and too often succumb to Fido fads. Can you guess which kind of dog is currently most common in shelters, besides pit bulls? Beverly Hills Chihuahuas. Owners are dumping them in droves, either because they grew tired of their novelty purse puppies or simply didn’t understand the characteristics of the breed. Next will come all the Marleys, I suppose.
Bottom line, pet problems are always people problems.

You've also written hundreds of articles for a number of dog magazines. What's your main focus?

I’ve written everything from breed profiles for Dog Fancy to the plight of stray dogs in Greece to how to host a Basset Hound Picnic, which I used to do years ago in my neighborhood. I write an award-winning monthly newspaper column called "Pets & Their People", which provides me a forum for writing about important issues pertaining to companion animals. I also contribute to the "Healthy Pet" column for the AKC Gazette. The article I most enjoyed writing was “Waddling in Dwight,” the one I wrote about attending the Illinois Basset Waddle. It is posted on my Web site.

Tell us about the Illinois Basset Waddle.

In 2002, I was invited to be a guest speaker at one of the largest canine events in the country, which is held in the little town of Dwight, Illinois, about an hour away from Chicago. The Basset Waddle is an annual event hosted by Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, which has rescued and re-homed thousands of abandoned and abused basset hounds. There were over 1,000 basset hounds and their adoring humans in attendance, and I was staying at the nearby Days Inn Hotel, which kindly housed the hounds during the event. I knew I was in for a wacky weekend when I heard bassets howling down the hallways and even rode in the elevator with a basset pack.

Saturday was the Basset Bash, a fun day of food, raffles, silent auctions, and various basset contests: longest ears, lowest ground clearance, best treat catch, etc. On Sunday was the Waddle through the town, and it’s a sight you really have to see to appreciate. Leading the parade of costumed hounds was a float bearing the Waddle King and Queen, the most deserving rescue dogs that were crowned the night before. The Waddle King that year was Sonny, whose former owner wired his mouth shut with barbed wire to keep him from howling. The scars left on Sonny’s muzzle from that horrendous abuse looked like tears. It’s enough to make you cry.

Your nonfiction books include What’s Your Dog’s IQ?, 150 Activities for Bored Dogs, and People’s Guide to Pets. How can you determine your dog's IQ?

Besides doing the fun tests with your own dog in What’s Your Dog’s IQ?, a dog’s intelligence is the best determined by its breed. For instance, the Border collie is generally considered to be the most intelligent breed. Basset hounds rank nearly at the bottom of the scale. Because of their notorious stubborn streak, which I prefer to think of as tenacity and unflappable focus (not bad traits for writers, either), bassets are not as trainable as terriers or poodles, which also rank high in intelligence. To be fair, though, a dog’s IQ should be rated according to what he was bred to do. Some dogs are not as easily trained as others, but that doesn’t mean they are dumb. You can’t expect a scent hound to do what a collie was bred to do. Bassets don’t herd sheep, but they are doggone good at tracking rabbits (and treats), and in Cruiser’s case, criminals.

You've won some awards for your canine writings. Which one is your favorite and why?

My favorite award has to be the first Maxwell I ever won in 2003 for the article published in Mystery Scene magazine about the Illinois Basset Waddle. To date, that is still my most unforgettable experience on the book promotion trail. I was so thrilled to be awarded the beautiful Maxwell medallion from among so many exceptional entrants in the writing competition. It’s the first award I ever won, and I won it for something I love doing; therefore, it’s very special to me.

What's your favorite way of promoting your books?

Any time I have the opportunity to talk with fellow dog lovers and especially basset fanciers is my favorite way to promote my books. That has included book signings at other doggy events besides the Waddle, such as Dogtoberfests, our local SPCA Doggy Dash and at pet stores. The best part is being around all the dogs. I’ve judged canine costume contests and also judged contests at the Waddle. Another way I like to promote my books is through donations of autographed copies to various fundraisers. Even if I can’t attend every Waddle, Droolapalooza and Slobberfest, donations of my books and also the pastel artwork I enjoy painting of dogs, help raise money for homeless pets. If donating my books and art to these and other welfare organizations helps improve the life of any animal, then I have succeeded far beyond my wildest dreams.

Sue's web and blog sites:
www.sueowenswright.com
http://dogearedbooks.blogspot.com/

A Conversation with Carolyn Hart

A bestselling author with more than three million books sold, Carolyn Hart is best known for her Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (Henrie O) series. Her new mystery/thriller, Dead by Midnight, features recurring characters in the Death on Demand series, Annie and Max Darling. And her latest series featrues a red-haired ghost who returns to earth to help solve mysteries.

Carolyn, when did your Death on Demand mystery series originate?

In 1985, I attended a meeting of the southwest chapter of MWA in Houston and visited Murder by the Book. I had never been to a mystery bookstore and I was enchanted. I had just started a new mystery set in a bookstore. I immediately decided to have a mystery bookstore named Death on Demand.

How much of your series is autobiographical?

Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, a retired newspaper reporter, is the protagonist of the Henrie O series. Henrie O is taller, thinner, smarter, and braver than I but she reflects the author’s attitudes.

I’m intrigued with your impetuous red-haired ghost Bailey Ruth Raeburn of Adelaide, Oklahoma. How did the series come about?

I loved the Topper books and films when I was growing up. I see ghosts as reflections of the person who lived. I always wanted to write about a fun-loving, energetic, impetuous ghost returning to earth to help someone in trouble and Bailey Ruth answered the call.

You’ve received an amazing number of awards including the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award. Has the recognition resulted in increased book sales and reader awareness of your work?

I hope that the awards, which I very much appreciate, help to attract readers. It’s hard to know whether such awards increase sales but any mention of a book or books is helpful to an author.

What's your writing schedule like and do you aim for a certain amount of words each day, no matter how long it takes?

I try to write five pages a day (approx. 1,500 words) when working on a book. Some days I meet that goal. Some days I don’t. When I am stuck, I take a long walk and usually something will occur to me.

Tell us about your writing background.

I worked on school newspapers and majored in journalism at the University of Oklahoma. When we started a family, I didn’t return to reporting but decided to try fiction. I wrote juvenile fiction, then YA, and in the 1970s began writing adult suspense and mystery.

How much research do you conduct before you begin a novel and do you always visit the locale?

The novel dictates the amount of research. I wrote several early novels, preceding the Death on Demand books, which had World War II backgrounds and required extensive research. I’ve visited the locales of all the books written since Death on Demand. Once I set a book partly in the Philippines which I have never visited and a woman who grew up there asked me how many years I’d spent in the islands and I knew my library research had been successful.

What lies ahead for your well-known character Henrie O? How did her character come about?

My original ambition was to be a foreign correspondent. Henrie O enjoyed the career I didn’t have. One of the joys of writing fiction is living out lives that appeal to you. I am currently committed to write one Death on Demand and one ghost book each year so Henrie O is currently "resting," as they say in Hollywood.

Advice for novice writers?

Care passionately about what you write. If you care, somewhere an editor will care.

Thank you, Carolyn.

Carolyn's website: www.CarolynHart.com