Survival of the Fritters came out in February, 2018. Goodbye Cruller World will be on store shelves August 28, 2018. In addition to those two, I’m working on the third Deputy Donut Mystery. As Janet Bolin, I wrote five books in the Threadville Mystery Series. That makes six books published so far and two more on the way. I have to admit that I still find it all amazing and exciting.
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
I wanted a character with a complex, mostly happy and helpful emotional life who would have access to first responders. Emily co-owns her donut shop, Deputy Donut, with her father-in-law, a retired police chief. Deputy Donut caters to, among others, cops, and is a great place to hear rumors and pick up clues. In addition, Emily is a former 911 officer and has friends who are a police officer, an Emergency Medical Technician, the fire chief, and a detective. Although not quite thirty when the series starts, Emily is a widow, and not ready to date again. There might be a couple of men who would like her to reconsider that. Her late husband was a detective. From all of these people, she knows what to do and what not to do as an amateur sleuth. She doesn’t mean to interfere in investigations, but . . .
When I was writing the proposal for the series, I had been vacationing in northern Wisconsin, a beautiful area with lots of forests and waterfalls, and I wanted Emily to live there, in the cocoon-like security of a town surrounded by wilderness,. That town can, at times, seem slightly less secure. And then there are the forests and waterfalls . . .
What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening?.
I write most days, starting in the morning and working until late afternoon with breaks for lunch, chores, laundry, Free Cell (oops, did I say that???) I quit when it’s time to make dinner or I can’t write another word. I sometimes take several days (or weeks) off to travel, visit family, etc., and then I hope that I can return to the current manuscript with fresh(er) eyes. I often go back to the beginning and revise before I’ve written the entire first draft. I revise and edit a lot as I go along, and do several polishing drafts before I submit the manuscript to my publisher. If I didn’t have deadlines, I might tweak one manuscript forever.
Do you belong to a writers group or are you in touch with other writers? How does that help your writing?
My original Internet critique group included two writers who are now close friends. They were not only good at critiquing, they recommended me to their agent and I ended up being offered my first book contract.
Now I belong to an Internet group of seven published authors who mostly give each other moral support, although we do some critiquing and helping with plot. We’ve been together since 2007.
Because of time spent commuting, I resisted joining an in-person critiquing group. But when the critiquing is combined with lunch, well . . . suffice it to say that although the commute is long, I look forward to our meetings. Plus I take turns driving with another member of the group, and we chatter and laugh all the way there and back.
These groups have been very helpful, with critiquing, publishing advice, and moral support. I’ve learned a lot from them.
For someone, male or female, just starting out writing crime fiction, I highly recommend joining Sisters of Crime and their Guppies chapter. Before I joined, back about 2000, I didn’t know what pieces might be missing in my writing and publishing knowledge. I don’t know if I would be published if I were still trying to figure it out on my own. I met the people in my two Internet groups through the Guppies.
Do you model your character after yourself or any one you know?
No. My characters are their own people. I spend a lot of time thinking about them. Villains, for instance, often write me letters telling me why and how they did it.
Who is your favorite author?
I frequently reread the late Mary Stewart’s suspense books. She was great at all of it—tension, description, pace, plot, and characterization.
How do you keep track of character details from book to book so they are consistent?
I have an ever-growing style sheet that I submit with my manuscript. For the first two Deputy Donut Mysteries, I have had an amazingly thorough copy editor who adds to the style sheet and uses it herself to find and point out discrepancies. Mostly, my characters are so real to me that I remember their character traits. But I might forget their birthdays . . .
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
I don’t have enough skills, so this is a total fantasy: I would sew in the costume department of a large theater company.
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Thank you for hosting me today!
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