| Karen Wilson, a member of Sisters in Crime mystery | | | | Tyler: Karen, I mentioned earlier your interest in horses. |
| writers, is the author of "For Just Claws" and "Coyote | | | | Will you share a little bit about your interest in horses |
| Kill," first and second installments in the Carol Ward | | | | and why you decided that Carol would share your |
| mystery series. Karen uses the experience she gained | | | | interest? |
| showing Quarter Horses in hunt seat and dressage, | | | | Karen: Everyone has heard the old adage about |
| and her journalism background, to create the realistic | | | | writing what you know. Seriously, though, there is |
| world of her mystery novels. She lives in southeastern | | | | something to be said for feeling comfortably |
| Michigan with her husband, two horses and eight cats. | | | | knowledgeable with your subject matter and I do feel |
| Tyler: Welcome, Karen. I'm glad you could join me | | | | comfortable with horses. |
| today. To begin, will you tell us a little bit about your | | | | On a personal level, I wanted to merge two things that |
| heroine, Carol Ward? I understand she is an amateur | | | | I love: horses and mysteries. When I found the Rita |
| sleuth. | | | | Mae Brown "Sneaky Pie" mysteries, I thought what a |
| Karen: She doesn't specifically start out to be an | | | | fun idea, to incorporate the two. It seemed only natural |
| amateur sleuth, but she is a chain-reaction-type of | | | | that my protagonist, Carol, would be an equestrian and |
| person, and things sort of "happen" to her. The manner | | | | that she would share relationships with other horse |
| in which she chooses to react (some might call it | | | | enthusiasts. |
| bumbling) sets other factors in motion. Being an | | | | Tyler: What do you most enjoy about writing mystery |
| abstract thinker, there are times when even she | | | | novels? |
| questions why she did what she did. | | | | Karen: The ability to change things as the story unfolds. |
| Tyler: I understand "Coyote Kill" is Carol's second | | | | I cannot work off of an outline, as I find this restricts |
| mystery. Will you tell us briefly what happened in the | | | | the story's natural movement. I want my characters to |
| previous novel and if readers should read that book | | | | do things I didn't plan. |
| first? | | | | I've been accused of being a control freak, and while I |
| Karen: In the first book in the series, "For Just Claws," | | | | dispute having earned that title, I must admit I do like the |
| Carol's young neighbor, Julie, a college student who | | | | ability to change the lives of my characters, if only on |
| Carol employs to mow her lawn and occasionally care | | | | paper. |
| for her animals, goes missing. | | | | Tyler: What do you find most difficult about writing |
| Though they are part of a series, the Carol Ward | | | | mystery novels? |
| mysteries each stand alone, in that they can be read | | | | Karen: Dealing with the publishing industry! |
| out of sequence or in sequence. Some characters are | | | | Tyler: What would you say has been your biggest |
| in both books; others are in one or the other. | | | | learning curve in dealing with the publishing industry? |
| Tyler: How did Carol get herself caught up in the | | | | Karen: Everything! I knew nothing about publishing |
| mystery of "For Just Claws"? | | | | when I started on "Claws." My sister was a published |
| Karen: In "For Just Claws," Carol, who nearly always is | | | | author, but in non-fiction only, and the way one goes |
| simply trying to do the right thing, volunteers to team up | | | | about publishing non-fiction is entirely different from |
| with her friend Denise, in searching for the missing girl. | | | | fiction. Not only that, but the face of publishing has |
| They saddle up their horses and comb the trails of the | | | | changed so dramatically in the past fifteen years. With |
| nearby equestrian park, where Julie has gone to | | | | the emergence of print on demand and our access to |
| research a college ornithology project. Carol ultimately | | | | technology, publication is within the grasp of just about |
| finds Julie, with a gunshot wound to the back. | | | | anyone. I know I would have had serious reservations |
| Carol's nosier side takes over, however, and she | | | | about writing two mysteries if every draft had to be |
| doesn't leave the investigating to the police. That's | | | | retyped on an old platen and roller typewriter! That is |
| when the trouble really starts! | | | | why I have such a deep respect for the great writers |
| Tyler: And how does Carol get involved in the mystery | | | | of the past like Poe, Hemingway, Faulkner, and all the |
| for "Coyote Kill"? | | | | rest of them. |
| Karen: Carol is the inquisitive sort, which in this case is | | | | But getting back to your question, I had to learn it all. I |
| really just a nice way of saying she's nosy. So, when | | | | had to learn about agents and query letters and |
| three women in the vicinity are murdered, her interest | | | | rejection and forming a tougher exterior. The way the |
| is naturally heightened. Then, when her horse falls into | | | | state of publishing is now, you'd better have a really |
| the shallow grave of the fourth victim, she's not about | | | | deep-seated desire to write, for your own reasons, or |
| to step aside and leave things up to the local Sheriff, | | | | you will be swallowed up by the difficulties. It's hard, |
| with whom she isn't on the best of terms with | | | | time-consuming work for very little return, if all you are |
| anyway. | | | | in it for is the money. Would I rather be watching |
| Tyler: Karen, why did you decide to name the book | | | | television or reading a book, rather than writing? |
| "Coyote Kill"? | | | | Probably about ninety percent of the time, yes, but only |
| Karen: I always use a working title, which is really just a | | | | because it's easier. When I come home after work, it's |
| short identification tag, and in this case, it just stuck. | | | | late, I'm hungry, I've got stalls to clean, animals to feed; |
| Tyler: I understand that after a little investigating, Carol | | | | there are lots of other ways I could spend my time. |
| realizes the killer is watching her. What happens that | | | | But it's like physical exercise-you always feel better |
| makes her come to this realization? | | | | after you do it. It takes discipline. |
| Karen: Mostly it's the two frightening messages written | | | | Tyler: Do you read lots of mysteries yourself, and who |
| on her bathroom mirror and the delivery of a | | | | are your favorite mystery writers? |
| gift-boxed snake. Then Carol gets a real scare when, | | | | Karen: Yes. Susan Albert-Wittig, Nevada Barr, Lillian |
| while holed up with her horse in the deep woods during | | | | Jackson Braun, Rita Mae Brown, Sue Henry, Mary |
| a thunderstorm, she inadvertently spots whom she | | | | Stewart, Dorothy L. Sayers, I could go on... |
| thinks is the killer. | | | | Tyler: What made you first want to be a writer of |
| Tyler: What makes Carol think the murders are linked | | | | mystery novels? |
| to rain? Is it always raining when someone is | | | | Karen: Ten years ago, while reading a very poorly |
| murdered? | | | | written mystery by a very famous mystery writer, I |
| Karen: After the third woman is murdered, the link with | | | | realized that I probably could have come up with a |
| rain is mentioned in the local newspaper. It has the | | | | more engaging plot myself! |
| entire town on edge, of course, every time the | | | | Tyler: What kind of response did you get when you |
| weather report calls for rain. | | | | told people you were going to write a mystery novel? |
| Tyler: Karen, our reviewer at Reader Views remarked | | | | Karen: For the first one, "Claws," they were like, "Yeah, |
| that the novel includes female bonding. Will you tell us | | | | yeah...and the Pope is Baptist." But by the time I started |
| more about this relationship between female | | | | the second one, friends and family were beginning to |
| characters? | | | | take me seriously. (However, not too seriously, as my |
| Karen: The "Lucy and Ethel" relationship between | | | | husband has yet to read "Coyote Kill"!) |
| Carol and Denise, who is Carol's long-time friend, is | | | | I think because I also work full time at a law firm, |
| expanded to a triangle in this case, to include Carol's | | | | manage a small stable, and have serious health issues |
| elderly neighbor, Marge. The ties of friendship go back | | | | to boot, they all thought it wasn't ever really going to |
| a long way between Carol and Denise, and what holds | | | | happen. |
| them together is their mutual love of horses and their | | | | Tyler: Do you have any advice to give to other |
| horse ownership. | | | | would-be authors who are starting to write their first |
| Strong women, all of them, Marge is the glue that | | | | mysteries? |
| keeps the other two from careening out of control, | | | | Karen: You'd better really love the writing for your own |
| since Carol is the "Let's do this..." sort and Denise is | | | | reasons, and not expect that your first book is going to |
| usually agreeable to go along with Carol's sometimes | | | | be a runaway best seller. Of course, there are |
| harebrained ideas. However, Carol and Denise are also | | | | exceptions, but they are very rare. I'm finding that most |
| physically strong. Having been around horses all of their | | | | people's ideas of what an author is like differ |
| lives, they are used to the heavy lifting and physical | | | | dramatically from reality. In reality, the writing of the |
| labor involved with horsekeeping on small acreage | | | | book-the plot, characterization, dialogue-all the things |
| farms. These ladies are not cupcakes, but neither is | | | | that make up the actual book, those are the easy |
| Marge, who, since becoming a widow, has learned to | | | | parts. |
| be self-sufficient also. | | | | The hard part comes when the book is done and now |
| This self-sufficiency on Carol's part is the very point of | | | | it's time to start looking for an agent and/or publisher. |
| contention in Carol's marriage, where Jack, her | | | | So I guess bottom line is, don't expect to be rewarded; |
| husband, feels he isn't needed and, in a sense, wants | | | | don't expect fame and fortune. It's an uphill battle, and |
| to force Carol into becoming needful by choosing to | | | | along the way, like I mentioned earlier, you'd better |
| keep a job that means he is consistently out of town. | | | | grow a thicker hide, because rejection comes at you |
| Rather, this has the opposite effect on Carol, who then | | | | from every angle. |
| surmises, what do I need him for-he's never home | | | | Tyler: Thank you for joining me today, Karen. Before |
| anyway. | | | | we go, will you tell our readers about your website and |
| Tyler: Would you say, as a result, that the novel will | | | | what additional information they can find there about |
| appeal primarily to female readers, or have you found | | | | "Coyote Kill"? |
| male readers as well? | | | | Karen: There is a synopsis on the home page for |
| Karen: If you had asked me this question six months | | | | "Coyote Kill," as well as the first three chapters of the |
| ago, I would have told you that I thought the book | | | | book. Clicking the Reader Views award ribbon links to |
| would appeal more to female readers. But surprisingly, I | | | | the Reader Views review posted at Similarly, the "For |
| am getting feedback from male readers who have | | | | Just Claws" home page also has a link through to |
| not only loved the book, but have even taken the time | | | | sample chapters and |
| to contact me through my website to tell me. This has | | | | There is a page where readers can see photos of my |
| been an unexpected pleasure, and quite frankly, I think | | | | husband and my animals and the book display. An |
| it's wonderful! | | | | events page notes upcoming book events, signings or |
| Tyler: Karen, do you have plans for more Carol Ward | | | | discussion meetings, and a contact link will send an |
| mysteries? Will you give us a preview of what is to | | | | e-mail directly to me. |
| come? | | | | Coming soon, I will have a "Coyote Kill" downloadable |
| Karen: Yes, a third mystery is in the works as we | | | | study guide for book groups. |
| speak. It is going to involve horse racing, and some | | | | Tyler: Thank you, Karen, and good luck with your |
| major upheavals in Carol's life. | | | | future mysteries. |