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| GP Gardner |
Murder at the Arts & Crafts Festival, A Cleo Mack Mystery, is my third mystery published by Kensington/ Lyrical Underground.
For a review of Murder at the Arts and Crafts Festival, click here.
What was the most recent book you read?
Reading: The Operators (by Michael Hastings), the story of America’s war in Afghanistan.
Re-reading: Gaudy Night (by Dorothy L. Sayers).
Just finished: Filthy Rich (by James Patterson, the thriller writer) – about Jeffrey Epstein.
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
I live in Fairhope, often described as an ordinary little California coastal community that happens to be located in Alabama. Influenced by single-tax Utopians who moved here from Iowa in the 1890s, Fairhope is home to an eclectic population, the main industry is retirees, and the town is quaint…in other words, the perfect setting for a cozy mystery. I wanted my main character to be a competent, mature woman, and it seemed natural to have Cleo Mack leave academics and fall into a job at a community for active retirees.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I’ll tell you about the research for my new series, in which Miss Bizzy Street leaves her first-grade teaching job and becomes a sleuth. I spent about three months on research, studying a map of Birmingham, slicing it to insert the fictional Mountain View community. I went to a real estate website, printed out photos of a condo in a Birmingham high-rise, and made it Bizzy’s home. Researched lethal doses of prescription drugs, symptoms of overdose, time lines. Researched botanical gardens and drew a map of the fictional Jensen gardens, where Miss Bizzy volunteers. I’m still reading about tiny dog breeds and fainting goats, as I’m nearing the mid-point of Miss Bizzy Turns to Crime.
What books did you read as a child?
I was a regular visitor to libraries at school and in town, but when I was about eight my parents splurged on a set of World Book Encyclopedias, and I was in heaven. I read on all topics, memorized the dog breeds, bird species, history, the body transparencies, maps, and loved the “Look-It-Up” twins. That became my motto.
What drew you to writing?
Love of the written word, creativity, independence.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
It’s hopeless—no one can tell that naïve girl anything.
Who is your favorite author?
That’s difficult. Margaret Millar (wife of Ross Macdonald) perhaps. I liked her mysteries and loved her memoir The Birds and the Beasts Were There. I was inspired by her life as a writer.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
Oh, what a fun question! It kept me awake last night but here’s the list I came up with:
Michelle Obama – former First Lady, attorney.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – British royal, the “other woman,” animal rescue patron, adopts dogs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson – astrophysicist and science educator.
Rev. Dr. Paul Smith – clergy, civil rights activist.
Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters) – Egyptologist, mystery novelist.
Doesn’t that sound like a great party? Imagine the conversations!
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
Forensic accountant.
Reading: The Operators (by Michael Hastings), the story of America’s war in Afghanistan.
Re-reading: Gaudy Night (by Dorothy L. Sayers).
Just finished: Filthy Rich (by James Patterson, the thriller writer) – about Jeffrey Epstein.
How did you develop your character and choose your location?
I live in Fairhope, often described as an ordinary little California coastal community that happens to be located in Alabama. Influenced by single-tax Utopians who moved here from Iowa in the 1890s, Fairhope is home to an eclectic population, the main industry is retirees, and the town is quaint…in other words, the perfect setting for a cozy mystery. I wanted my main character to be a competent, mature woman, and it seemed natural to have Cleo Mack leave academics and fall into a job at a community for active retirees.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I’ll tell you about the research for my new series, in which Miss Bizzy Street leaves her first-grade teaching job and becomes a sleuth. I spent about three months on research, studying a map of Birmingham, slicing it to insert the fictional Mountain View community. I went to a real estate website, printed out photos of a condo in a Birmingham high-rise, and made it Bizzy’s home. Researched lethal doses of prescription drugs, symptoms of overdose, time lines. Researched botanical gardens and drew a map of the fictional Jensen gardens, where Miss Bizzy volunteers. I’m still reading about tiny dog breeds and fainting goats, as I’m nearing the mid-point of Miss Bizzy Turns to Crime.
What books did you read as a child?
I was a regular visitor to libraries at school and in town, but when I was about eight my parents splurged on a set of World Book Encyclopedias, and I was in heaven. I read on all topics, memorized the dog breeds, bird species, history, the body transparencies, maps, and loved the “Look-It-Up” twins. That became my motto.
What drew you to writing?
Love of the written word, creativity, independence.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
It’s hopeless—no one can tell that naïve girl anything.
Who is your favorite author?
That’s difficult. Margaret Millar (wife of Ross Macdonald) perhaps. I liked her mysteries and loved her memoir The Birds and the Beasts Were There. I was inspired by her life as a writer.
If you could invite five people – living or dead – to a dinner party, who would they be?
Oh, what a fun question! It kept me awake last night but here’s the list I came up with:
Michelle Obama – former First Lady, attorney.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall – British royal, the “other woman,” animal rescue patron, adopts dogs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson – astrophysicist and science educator.
Rev. Dr. Paul Smith – clergy, civil rights activist.
Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters) – Egyptologist, mystery novelist.
Doesn’t that sound like a great party? Imagine the conversations!
If you could not be an author, what would like to do as a career?
Forensic accountant.
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