Katy McDermott

My first book signing event! I was so excited! (Well, to be completely honest, it was a vendor fair at the holiday meeting of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, and I was one of the vendors – but still…) A chance to interact with potential readers one-on-one. An opportunity to sell my book directly, sign copies, and spread the word. I dressed specially for the occasion, had lots of books and business cards ready…

Enter winter.

The combination of a freak (translation: early) snowstorm and an overturned tractor-trailer (which undoubtedly overturned because of said snowstorm) turned a one-hour drive into a three-and-a-half hour drive for me.

I wound up missing two-thirds of the event.

Was I disappointed? Absolutely. Frazzled? Assuredly. Upset? Definitely!

But the hour I was there, answering questions about Meeting Murder, signing a few copies, talking about writing my next one, proved to be everything I’d hoped.

“How long did it take you to write it?” and “When did you find the time, with a full-time job?” Those were the questions I was asked most often during that golden hour (by about 10 people, but still…)

The answers: 1) a long time, and 2) whenever I could.

I’ve thought many times (especially during that epic traffic jam!) of giving up, but the truth is that I like to write. More than that: I need to write. And that’s a good enough reason to carry me through just about anything.

My job may have gotten a whole lot busier lately, but I’m continuing to refine my outline for Book 2 when I can – and I’m looking forward to my next research trip. Well, sort of looking forward to it – I’ll be visiting Cape Cod in the dead of winter.

While there, I hope to speak with numerous hotel employees, a realtor, a teenager, a fisherman, a bakery worker, a fire chief, and other locals. (Can you guess the plot of my next book? Hope not!)

Full disclosure: I have family on Cape Cod – and with any luck, they’ll be able to help me gain introductions to the many people I want to interview. I’ll be staying at a ritzy hotel (in the off-season, thank God, so it’ll be slightly more affordable) – not because I need to bask in luxury, but because my main character will be working at a similar property, and I need to make notes of details that I couldn’t get during a fly-by visit.

Interviewing a realtor shouldn’t be a problem. Same thing with the fire chief, the bakery employee, the teenager (more full disclosure: she’s my niece, and she’s actually in her early twenties), and the locals. I’m pretty talkative with strangers, as anyone who knows me will tell you!

What’s got me worried is the fisherman – if I can even score the interview. I’d like to tour a working fishing boat. Since I practically get seasick looking at pictures of the ocean, that will be a real test of my writerly commitment.

It would be so much more enjoyable to do my research on a beach somewhere, drinking Mai-Tais. Why didn’t I choose to set Book 2 in Tahiti??

Wish I had some. I’ve been dragging my feet on admitting it, but for the next two months (at least), I’m probably not going to have much chance to write. Not to get all “economic woes” on you, but they laid off a bunch of people from my company recently (including my boss), and since the Powers That Be aren’t planning to replace them anytime soon, my workload’s just tripled.

Nights? At the office. Weekends? Working from home – when I’m not attending to the usual chores and errands that every weekend brings. (I think there are a few major holidays coming up too – have to get ready for those…) Vacation? Ha!

Hopefully, things will ease up in January. I’m going to keep writing. It seems I’ll just have to take a small hiatus. If I can (translation: if I have anything to say about the new book, or any news or reviews to report for Meeting Murder), I’ll keep posting every Sunday night.

Otherwise, I won’t take up your time, either. After all, it doesn’t come bottled.

Forget “how is the crime committed?”, “who are the suspects?”, “what are the clues?”, and “which clues are red herrings?” The absolute hardest question for me to answer, when writing a murder mystery, is “why?”

What could possibly drive one person to take the life of another person?

I read a book (a mystery, as it happens) years ago where the amateur sleuth, in conversation with an associate, listed all the various motives for murder quite logically. It was an informative, well thought-out passage – and unfortunately, if offers me no help at all as I’m trying to come up with a satisfying murder motive for my next book.

The other night, I though I’d arrived at a terrific motive. I’d even added in some elements of “means” that I thought were very clever. I tied the motive to my murderer’s past actions and future goals, and I don’t mind admitting that I was pretty chuffed about it.

I ran downstairs from my office, almost breathless from excitement, and told my husband. He thought about it for a good two seconds before informing me (as nicely as possible) that my motive sounded like something out of an old episode of “Columbo.”

He was right. <shakes fist>

So now it’s back to the drawing board. I have another motive – better, I think. Certainly less obvious and more complex. We’ll see where it takes me. I’m probably going to have to write the entire murder scene for myself (it certainly won’t be in the book!) to see if it “listens.”

And this is still the preliminary work. It’s hard out here for a mystery writer…