Guest Post by Paty Jager: How I Plot A Murder

I bet that title (How I Plot A Murder) got your attention. It's my pleasure to bring you Paty Jager, who will also be on my blog in April during Cozy Mystery Week.  

Welcome, Paty.

Hi, L.A., thanks for having me here. There are lots of people who sit around and contemplate murder. Some because they actually want to do away with someone, and others, like me, because we want to write an entertaining twist of events that keeps the reader guessing until the end when the real murderer is revealed.

The first mystery I wrote came about from years of reading mysteries by Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, Tony Hillerman, Dorothy Gillman, Sue Grafton, and many other mystery authors.  The second catalyst to my writing that first mystery was wishing someone, who had wronged my family, dead.

 

I murdered that person in a book- twice. It was a wonderful feeling to have her strangled by her own, long hair. Then I ventured away from mystery, knowing I didn’t know enough about the genre to write a story that took the reader on the type of journey I enjoyed as a reader.

Years later, I decided I was now ready to write a mystery and had learned the necessary skills needed to do so. I came up with a character who not only kept me true to my branding of Cowboys and Indians, she had a unique occupation for an amateur sleuth. Shandra Higheagle is a potter. She digs clay on the mountain where she lives, purifies the clay, and uses it in her original art pieces. She lives in a small tourist community which gives her close friends and brings in unknown people for victims to my murdering thoughts. ;)

When I start plotting out a mystery, I come up with the person I want murdered, the reason why, and why my amateur sleuth would get involved in finding the real killer. Once I’ve established these three things, I make a chart with suspects. On this chart, I give the suspect a name, what they do, and how they are connected to the murdered person. Then I make up a motive and red herrings that I can use to draw the attention of the readers and the characters away from the real killer.

I would have to say, this process in writing a book is my favorite. I love coming up with the ‘what if’s’ and ‘maybe this person did it because.’ The only problem is, while at this stage, I circle one of the suspects as the one who murdered the victim. In most cases, as the story progresses, the killer ends up being someone else.

The coolest part about writing a mystery book is when I write a scene and add something in that seems out of place after I finish the scene, then several chapters later, that little clue my mind slipped into the story is the piece that connects who the killer really is.

My Shandra Higheagle mysteries have a bit of paranormal in them. In the first book, the reader discovers Shandra is returning from her Nez Perce grandmother’s funeral and seven drums ceremony. Then as she and her friend are thought to be suspects in an art gallery owner’s murder, her grandmother comes to her in dreams, giving her clues that she must decipher to realize who the murderer could be.

This twist not only gives a bit of paranormal/spirituality to the books, but it gives me another way to have readers guessing about the real murderer. There are the concrete clues that Shandra and Detective Ryan Greer dig up, and then there are the cryptic dreams Shandra has that also point to the real killer.

There are currently seven books in the series. Each one shows a progression of the relationship between the main characters. With some silly relief from Shandra’s pony-sized, timid dog, Sheba. 

You can download the first book, Double Duplicity as an ebook for free at all ebook

vendors, or you can purchase it as a print or audio book.

Book one of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Dreams…Visions…Murder

On the eve of the biggest art event at Huckleberry Mountain Resort, potter Shandra Higheagle finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. She’s ruled out as a suspect, but now it’s up to her to prove the friend she witnessed fleeing the scene was just as innocent. With help from her recently deceased Nez Perce grandmother, Shandra becomes more confused than ever but just as determined to discover the truth. While Shandra is hesitant to trust her dreams, Detective Ryan Greer believes in them and believes in her.

Can the pair uncover enough clues for Ryan to make an arrest before one of them becomes the next victim?
 

Buy:
Amazon | Apple  | Website

If you sign up for my mystery newsletter you can also get book two, Tarnished Remains, for free and learn how to join my review team. Click here to join Paty’s Posse!

Book two of the Shandra Higheagle Native American Mystery Series

Murder… Deceit… Greed…

Shandra Higheagle is digging up clay for her renowned pottery when she scoops up a boot attached to a skeleton. She calls in Weippe County detective Ryan Greer.  The body is decades old and discovered to be Shandra’s employee’s old flame.

Ryan immediately pegs Shandra’s employee for the murderer, but Shandra knows in her heart that the woman everyone calls Crazy Lil couldn’t have killed anyone, let alone a man she loved.

Digging up the woman’s past takes them down a road of greed, miscommunication, and deceit.  Will they be able to prove Crazy Lil innocent before the true murderer strikes again?

Bio:

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 30+ novels, novellas, and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action-adventure. She has garnered a RomCon Reader’s Choice Award, the EPPIE Award, the Lorie, and the RONE Mystery Award. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. This is what Mysteries Etc says about her Shandra Higheagle mystery series: “Mystery, romance, small town, and Native American heritage combine to make a compelling read.”

Find Paty:
Blog | Website | Facebook | Paty's Posse | Goodreads |Twitter | Pinterest

Five Secrets from Kathleen Kaska and Her Novel ~ Murder At The Galvez

First we get to meet Kathleen, and then read her secrets. They're very interesting :)

Bio:  Kathleen Kaska writes the award-winning Sydney Lockhart mysteries set in the 1950s. Her first two books Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queens Book Group, the largest book group in the country. The third book in the series, Murder at the Galvez, has just been released and number four will be out soon. Kaska also writes the Classic Triviography Mystery Series, which includes The Agatha Christie Triviography and Quiz Book, The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book, and The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book. The Alfred Hitchcock and the Sherlock Holmes trivia books were finalists for the 2013 EPIC award in nonfiction. Her nonfiction book, The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story (University Press of Florida) was published in 2012.

When she is not writing, Kathleen, a native Texan, spends much of her time traveling the backroads and byways with her husband, looking for new venues for her mysteries and bird watching along the Texas coast and beyond. It was her passion for birds that led to the publication The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane.

Hi Kathleen, please tell us Five Secrets we may not know about you, but will after today!

1)  I had not planned on writing the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series. At the time Sydney appeared in my life, I was working on another series. Then one afternoon while staying at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Sydney walked into my life and demanded I tell her story. The crazy girl wouldn’t shut up until I wrote the first scene. Her story was so entertaining, I put the first series on the backburner and began writing Murder at the Arlington. I’m working on book number five right now. The first series is still unpublished.

2) Since I’ve been writing my Sydney Lockhart series, I’ve had this weird reoccurring dream. Let me back up. Like I mentioned in my bio, the series is set in 1950s and Sydney is a twenty-nine-year old female Philip Marlowe. One of my readers described Sydney as a cross between Jessica Rabbit and Lauren Bacall. Anyway, since I began writing about her wild exploits, I’ve often dreamed of running down the street wearing a pair of red stilettos. I do own a pair of red stilettos, but when I run, it’s in a pair of New Balance sneakers.

3)  When I was a teenagers in the 1960s, I watched a lot of TV. My favorite TV personality was Morticia Adams from The Adams Family series. I wanted to look just like her, act just like her, and be blessed with her femme fatale charm. A few years ago, I wrote a short story about a high school girl obsessed with Morticia. The title is Role Model and by the time this blog posts, the story should be up on Amazon as an e-book. 

4)  I want to be an Egyptologist. Yes, I know at my age that will probably not happen. I didn’t discover my passion for ancient Egypt during my trip to that wonderful country in 1992. Since then, I’ve read everything about Egypt I can get my hands on, nonfiction and fiction. And that includes Elizabeth Peters’ entire Amelia Peabody series. I’m fascinated with King Tut’s story and am intrigued over the mystery surrounding the demise of his sister/wife Ankhesenamun. 

5)  Okay, I saved the most shocking secret for last. Don’t hate me, but I don’t like Oreo cookies. A real chocolate cookie is not pitch black and a real cream center is not stark white. I ate them when I was a kid because every kid ate them. Now that I’m an adult, and not so susceptible to peer pressure, I eat whatever cookie I want.

Blurb :

Eighteen years after discovering the murdered body of her grandfather in the foyer of the historic Galvez Hotel, Sydney Lockhart reluctantly returns to Galveston, Texas to cover the controversial Pelican Island Development Project conference. Soon after her arrival, the conference is cancelled; the keynote speaker is missing. When his body turns up in the trunk of Sydney’s car, she’s hauled down to the police station for questioning. The good news is Sydney has an alibi this time; the bad news is she finds another body—her father’s new friend—he’s floating facedown in a fish tank with a bullet in his head. Her father’s odd behavior and the threatening notes delivered to her hotel room, leads Sydney to suspect that her grandfather’s unsolved murder and the present murders are connected. As if this wasn’t bad enough, just a few blocks from the hotel at her parents’ home people are gathering, sparks are flying, another controversial event is in the planning, one that just might rival the Great Storm of 1900. 

Buy Links:

Amazon

LL Publications

Social Media Links:

http://www.kathleenkaska.com

http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska

http://www.kathleenkaskawrites.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/KKaskaAuthor

http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Kaska/e/B001K88UMQ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1402244054&sr=1-2-ent

Meet W.S Gager ~ From Newspaper Reporter to Mystery Writer

I'm pleased to bring you W.S Gager, former reporter, now mystery writer.
Please welcome Wendy and don't forget her excerpt from A Case of Volatile Deeds on Saturday

Thanks LA, it's a pleasure to be here with your readers today.

LA: Tell us about your current series.

WSG: My current series is the Mitch Malone Mysteries which is about an old-school reporter in a modern newspaper who doesn’t adapt to change. In the latest, A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS, Mitch stands up his date to cover an explosion only to discover the only victim is his love interest who has many secrets. As he works to get his date’s killer and earn a Pulitzer Prize, bodies keep showing up just like the puppy that appears on his door and has a knack for sniffing them out. His journey takes him out of the comfort of the police beat to the politics of city hall.

 

LA: Having achieved your goal to be a published author, what is the most rewarding thing?

WSG: It always amazes and delights me when people send me an email or post on Facebook that they loved a book I’ve written. My favorite comment was a reader who said they had figured it out and were wrong, but the ending made perfect sense in hindsight. Then I’ve done my job!

   

LA: Which aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?

WGS:  My favorite part of writing is the first draft. When I have an inkling of where the story is going and details nailed for about twenty pages. As I start to put that down, the characters begin to talk to me and take the story in totally different directions than I planned but they are great. When these creative ideas flow is when I’m the most geeked about the writing and don’t want to quit. (When laundry piles up, meals go unmade and my cleanliness is nonexistent.)
 

LA: What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

WSG:  My first book in the Mitch Malone Mysteries called A CASE OF INFATUATION. I’ve improved my writing with each book but there is a special and magical moment when you first book winds down to the finish line and you type: “The End!” You realize after several stops and starts that you have actually finished your first book. You are an author. That is magic.

   

LA: Describe for us, if you will, your writing style, as in plotter vs. seat of the pants, and do you put more time into developing characters or plot or are they equal?

WSG:  As I mentioned above my favorite part of the writing is going off in odd directions. I am very much a seat of the pants writer. So much so that the villain I start off with in the beginning is usually killed about halfway through the book. I need to come up with an even more dastardly murderer. For me the characters are the key to the mystery. If you don’t have a good motivating factor for both the sleuth and the villain, the mystery falls flat. The characters could have a huge gun battle but it wouldn’t add anything to the book if the killer enjoyed killing with a knife. It just doesn’t fit and the readers figure that out.

 

LA: Key advice for other writers?

WSG: Just write! This advice seems so simple but in actually is very complicated. You need to keep putting words on the paper even on days you don’t feel like writing. You must keep trying. As a very dear friend says, “Keep on keeping on.”  Keep writing. You may never use what you struggle to put down at first but that will lead to some really great writing. You need to wade through a lot of flood waters until you get to a good piece of land.

 

LA: Do you have a day job, too?

WSG:  I do and I must admit it has been kicking my butt and creativity for the last couple of months. I coordinate an Early College program that allows high school juniors and seniors to become half time college students and delay their graduation by a year. After that fifth year of high school, they graduate with not only a high school diploma but also an associate’s degree. The best part is students don’t have to pay for it but their school district does. This is a new program and has had tons of work to get it up and started before school started. I love empowering motivated students to get ahead on their education. I just need to bottle their energy so I can write in the evenings.

  

LA, That sounds like an awesome program to be involved in. Do you have a view in your writing space? 

WSG: I do and it is of the third green and fourth tee of a golf course. I like playing golf but what I like even more is that the view is so green and natural and filled with wildlife including birds, foxes, deer and bunnies. There is always something interesting to see that inspires me to keep writing. The bad part is my son took my writing chair with him to college and I need to replace it.

LA: That's not so bad, a new chair is always good!

 

BIO:

W.S. Gager has lived in Michigan for most of her life except when she was interviewing race car drivers or professional woman's golfers. She enjoyed the fast-paced life of a newspaper reporter until deciding to settle down and realized babies didn't adapt well to running down story details on deadline. Since then she honed her skills on other forms of writing before deciding to do what she always wanted and write mystery novels. Her main character is Mitch Malone who is an edgy crime-beat reporter single-mindedly hunting for a Pulitzer Prize. A Case of Infatuation, the first in the Mitch Malone Mysteries, won the Dark Oak Contest in 2008 and nominated as a Michigan Notable Book.  A Case of Accidental Intersection took first place in the 2010 Public Safety Writers Contest in the unpublished category before its release. Her third book, A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES, was a finalist in the 2012 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. She loves to hear from readers at wsgager@yahoo.com or on her blog at http://wsgager.blogspot.com.

 

 

BLURB:

 

Mitch Malone finally scores a weekend dinner with a cute receptionist, but true to his
reporter instincts, an explosion in a high rise office building makes him stand up his date as he runs for an exclusive. Mitch learns that much of what he knows about his date and her work aren’t what they seem. His world continues to twist when the police captain asks for his help and a city hall informant is found floating in the river. Mitch must keep his head down or a cute dog with a knack for finding dead bodies will be sniffing out his corpse.

 

 

LINKS:
Website:  http://wsgager.com

Blog: http://wsgager.blogspot.com

Buy links:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

Social links:

Facebook.com/wsgager

Twitter: @wsgager

 

Don't forget the excerpt from A Case of Volatile Deeds on Saturday!  See you back here.

 

F.M. Meredith's Excerpt from Dangerous Impulses

BLURB:

An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

EXCERPT:

Officer Gordon Butler couldn’t believe his good luck. First, because he’d been assigned the new hire, even though he knew everyone else on the Rocky Bluff P.D. thought Chief McKenzie had lost his mind for making such a decision. Second, Officer Lizette Gibbs was gorgeous. Though still suffering from a broken heart, Gordon thought his chances for healing had finally improved. He stole a side glance at her. Shiny black, chin-length hair framed her golden-skinned profile. High cheekbones and full lips glowed with natural color. Her name gave no clue to her ethnic background, but she was some kind of mix. Gordon couldn’t tell how much might be Hispanic, Native American, Far-Eastern or Anglo. Whatever, she was flat-out gorgeous.

She must’ve felt his scrutiny because she glanced over from her place in the shot-gun seat. “Is it always this quiet during the day shift?”

“To be perfectly honest, ninety-percent of the time, yes.” 

“How do you keep from getting bored?” 

“I hand out lots of traffic tickets.” Gordon laughed. “Once in a while something more interesting happens.”         

“I wanted to work in a bigger city.” Lizette peered out the window at the rows of orange trees. “I applied to about twenty places, but when I got called for the interview here I thought being between two fairly large cities like Ventura and Santa Barbara, there could be the possibility for some action. Finding out Rocky Bluff is a beach town influenced me too. I love the ocean.”          

While Gordon drove, he pointed out all the various neighborhoods. The mostly dilapidated rentals on the beachfront, the downtown area that ended on the north side at the undeveloped area by the creek near the bluff. They traveled to the south side with the upscale seafood restaurant at the far end. He showed her the older neighborhoods that climbed the hillsides, and the orange groves and ranches on the eastside of the101 that nearly covered the foothills.

He’d turned toward the more populated sections. “I’ll show you the ritziest part of town next, up on the bluff. He passed the freeway exit and entrance. “I manage to catch quite a few speeders here.”  
        
“I hope to do more than hand out speeding tickets.”  Lizette sounded disappointed.

“I think Stacey Wil . . . I mean Milligan, has her eye on you.” Gordon still forgot to call Stacey by her married name, as did many of her other co-workers. 

“Why? I couldn’t quite figure out what her job is. Sometimes she wears a uniform and sometimes she doesn’t.”

“She covers all the vice crimes. Being the only female officer we’ve had for a while, she’s kept pretty busy.”

“That would be okay. I wouldn’t mind helping her out. Do you think I ought to talk to her?”

Before he could answer, the dispatcher’s voice came over the radio, “See the man concerning a missing teen.”
 

BIO:

F.M. is also known as Marilyn Meredith, the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who are deputies. She’s also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.

 

 

Find Marilyn at: http://fictionforyou.com/
 
Facebook under my name, Marilyn Meredith

Buy links to your book: http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk