A Conversation with Mystery Author Liana Brooks

We are delighted to welcome author Liana Brooks to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of The Book Mistress, which is coordinating her current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find her schedule here.

Liana's first mystery in a new series is The Day Before (Harper Voyager Impulse; April 2015 mass market paperback and ebook formats) and we had the chance to talk more about it with her.

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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about The Day Before.

Photo provided courtesy of
Liana Brooks

Liana Brooks: The Day Before is the first of the Time and Shadows Mystery series (previously Jane Doe series) and as the older name suggests the main character is Junior Agent Samantha Rose. She's actually based on one of my very best friends in the world who was — at one point in our lives — going to be an FBI agent. Health and various other life things got in the way of my friend's plans, and CBI Agent Sam Rose suffered some similar setbacks.

Sam took nearly a year off of work to take care of her pill addict father and when she goes back to the bureau they give her a trash assignment. Her boss is a lazy bigot, her co-worker has serious problems, and she's really fighting to find her sea-legs as it were.

OMN: How do you expect the characters to develop over the course of the series?

LB: I prefer to let the characters build a team. The series centers on Sam so she'll always be there. There are three books under contract, Convergence Point is due out November 24th, and for these books at least Sam will always be there with a rotating cast of helpers. In The Day Before Detective Altin and his wife Lacey sort of take Sam in. Altin is her mentor, he assists her as much as he can, and Lacey is there for moral support. The Day Before also has Miss Azalea who is this sassy old lady whom I love, but who doesn't appear in Convergence Point because Sam moves away from Alabama where The Day Before takes place.

Having a rotating cast around a few central characters helps give each book a unique flavour and it means readers can jump in at any time and not feel too out of depth. This isn't Game of Thrones where you have to remember something an obscure character said in chapter four of book two in order to understand the plot twist in book seven.

OMN: Into which genre would you place this book?

LB: The Day Before is a sci-fi thriller, there was no way to escape the sci-fi label since I used cloning techniques as part of the core plot. Not that I'd want to. Sci-fi is my home, it's far and away my favorite genre, and I think most SF fans can enjoy what I write. It isn't aliens and ray guns, but it is authentic, well-researched science fiction.

My other books are sci-fi romance, which is a fun little niche genre that's been quietly growing in the back alleys of spaceports everywhere. I'm always puzzled when people want to strip romance out of science fiction. Falling in love — erotic or platonic — is human nature. We form bonds. We come to depend and rely on people we are with. For me love in some form or another is the natural evolution of meeting someone.

OMN: Are there any advantages or disadvantages to categorizing it as such?

LB: I'm not sure if there is a disadvantage to labelling a book, but there are some advantages. The Day Before could have been marketed as a police procedural or straight thriller if I'd stripped out some genetics and quantum physics talk, but I didn't. And what I wrote doesn't fit next to a book about lawyers or regular police officers. The sci-fi label is a nice warning for readers that this book has some science slang in it.

OMN: How would you tweet a summary of The Day Before?

LB: "When a madman invents a time machine a rookie cop must solve her own murder."

That was the twitter pitch I used for all the #PitMad #AdPit parties on Twitter. It's semi-inaccurate because Sam isn't a cop (she's a bureau agent) and the inventor isn't insane, but that's the basic storyline. As a pitch, it worked. I got about 30% of my full requests from using that pitch line at Twitter pitch parties.

SPOILER! — They don't catch her killer in The Day Before. That probably won't be solved until Book 3.

OMN: How much of your own experience have you included in the book?

LB: This is kind of a funny question because I'm not sure if any of me made it into the book. The Day Before is in no way my first novel. It's not my first published work. So I burned through my self-insertion writing phase long before I was published. The Heroes and Villains series (starting with Even Villains Fall In Love) is where more of me seeps into the pages. The Time and Shadow series is very different.

I wrote it with my best friend in mind, so there's a lot of her in there. Maybe some of us in there I guess? I do own a giant mastiff, and I do love to cook, but that's about all I have in common with Sam.

OMN: Where do you most often find yourself writing?

LB: I'm going to tell you about my writing space because I have about a dozen articles on my writing process on my blog. Check the "On Writing" label if you want writing help …

… my current writing space is a tiny study overlooking a western view of pine trees in Alaska. I have an IKEA desk with a shelf and I found I can't live without it. My writing reference books are all lined up, and then I have a baskets with pens and sticky notes. My desk drawer has my writing calendar (I get a sticker for every 1000 words) and the world's most eclectic collection of book swag. I have postcards and letters from other authors and bookmarks from everywhere. I love it!

And I have a locking study door which is key to being a successful writer when you are a parent. It's really hard to write an emotional death scene with a toddler sucking a pickle sitting beside you and asking you why you're crying.

On my walls I have a doodle from the talented Debbie Ridpath Ohi who sketched one of my quotes. I have a word painting a friend made me that reads "Find Joy In The Moment". And I have multi-colored sticky notes on the back of the sauna door with the outline for a new series I'm starting.

Oh! I should mention, this room wasn't advertised when we rented the house sight-unseen last December. We moved in in January and found out there was this tiny study with a large closet and a sauna that no one has used in a decade. So I have a sauna next to my study, and it is stuffed with boxes of sewing supplies because I'm too chicken to turn it on and see if it works!

OMN: How do you go about researching the plot points of your stories?

LB: Ohmigosh! I have a funny story about this! So, back in 2009 or so when I started writing The Day Before I had this great idea about a time travelling killer. The first draft is nothing like the final manuscript (they never are) but about halfway through I remember tweeting. "I need to write about a time machine. This means … I need to invent a time machine."

There was no way around this. It wasn't a magic system I could ad-lib, it was science! Just for my own sanity I needed to understand the math and physics behind time. So I wound up sort of teaching myself quantum physics. I'm not anywhere on the level of an actual physicist, but I found every peer-reviewed article about time, the nature of time, time travel, the possibilities of parallel universes … anything I thought was semi-relevant, and I started reading. If I didn't understand something I'd go to the paper's reference section and read the cited works. I probably learned more trying to invent this time machine than I did in three years of college physics classes.

And it's relevant for all of six lines of the books and most readers will never care.

But if you do I have references! Come talk to me. I can hold a semi-intelligent discussion about quantum physics.

OMN: How true are you to the settings of your books?

LB: If I name a town specifically it means I have researched it fully. I will have the street names right, I will have the town history correct inasmuch as it fits the universe, I will do my best to make the geography correct. If the place doesn't have a specific name then the place is usual an amalgam of multiple locations.

In The Day Before the town Sam works for is actually based of a town in Texas near where my grandparents live. I love the whole town square surrounded by antique shops and cafes, but I was living in Alabama at the time and really wanted a character who could enjoy the humour of a northerner adrift in a sea of cotton with me.

There are several little towns in Alabama and Georgia that look like where Sam works, but the one near a dam and two hours from Birmingham isn't one of them. I fudged that part.

For contrast Convergence Point takes place in a town north of where I went to college and that is very detailed. I lived there for over four years, I'm familiar with all the fun little details, and I tried to sneak as many as I could into the book. Hopefully the locals will forgive me.

OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, to research the setting for a story, where would it be?

LB: Glasgow!

Convergence Point is with my editor, I haven't started Book 3 of the series because I'm still in the plotting stage, so I've gone and started working on a brand urban fantasy series. Right now it's called The Lady of the Lake and it is the hunt for the second King Arthur in modern day Glasgow.

And now I can't even remember why I picked Glasgow, except they have some beautiful architecture and a necropolis. I couldn't resist releasing a dragon there if only in fiction.

I will be eagerly awaiting a free plane ticket and hotel stay from anyone who wants to see Glasgow well-detailed in the book. I'll need a drinking buddy to test the beers for me though. Any volunteers?

OMN: What are some of your outside interests?

LB: Does Mommying count as a hobby?

My schedule doesn't currently allow for anything like downtime. I have four children who are all involved in sports and school. I've been on some very tight deadlines with writing. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I sat down and went, "Oh, I should take up a new hobby, I've been so bored lately!"

When things are a little less crazy and I'm not commuting three hours a day I do enjoy cooking, sewing, reading, SCUBA diving, and sleeping. I love sleep. But cooking is the only thing I really do regularly out of those because there is no way to sleep when a three-year-old is hungry.

OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author? And what might you say to aspiring writers?

LB: Best Advice: Keep writing and let your rough drafts be rough.

Harshest Criticism: Professionally? I had several agents reject my stories for being unmarketable and one editor who rejected a romance novella because, "Married couples aren't romantic." That one really burned because I am happily married and I'd hate to think I had to give up on romance and flirting just because I am married. That's a terrible way to view life. Viva la romance!

Reviews can also get harsh but you can't please everyone and if a reader hated my book there's nothing I can do for them. I'm not the author they need to read and I hope they find an author they love.

What Can We Learn? You do you. There is no way to please everyone. There is no way to write the perfect book that unites the world in peace and love. Trust me, people have tried, it did not end well. Be grateful you aren't being burned at the stake and let people hate your work. The people who don't like what you write aren't the ones you're writing for.

My Advice: Collect royalties, not rejections.

In everything you do, delete the negative where you can. If I get a rejection I read it, see if I can get any advice from it, and then hit the delete button. I will never show up at a writing conference with three suitcases of rejections letters. I do keep all my cashed royalties checks though. Even the little ones, because you need to collect the victories. Enjoy the happy moments. Focus on the great things that happen to you even if they are small. You will be a better person and a better writer for finding the joy in the moment.

OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a mystery author and thus I am also …".

LB: … a killer.

When people ask me what I do all day I say, "I plot murder." And I do. For pay.

It's great! I've gotten away with hundreds of murders. I have a book of poisons sitting next to my cookbooks. An antique copy of Winnie-the-Pooh is shelved next to two books on the psychology of serial killers.

I can walk into any room and find a weapon. It's a beautiful thing.

OMN: What prompted you to use a pen name? Have you found there to be any advantages or disadvantages to using it?

LB: When I sent out my first short story I was planning on returning to college for my masters degree the following year. I knew writing for a peer-reviewed journal was a possibility and I didn't want my scientific work to be judged by my science-fiction work. Things didn't turn out as planned and I haven't gone back for grad school, but having a pen name has allowed me to put a nice buffer between my family and my work. The only real disadvantage is that no one knows who I am.

For the longest time I didn't tell family or friends that I was a writer. Some of them still don't know, or they don't believe me. I guess I need to brag more?

OMN: What The Day Before your working title as you wrote the book?

LB: More fun stories! The very first title was Mirror in the Grave and the story didn't have any sci-fi elements. It was almost a ghost story, but I couldn't make the plot work. So I set it aside for about two years and revived the idea under the title Jane Doe. I started querying under Jane Doe and about half way through I wrote a new query and the last sentence ended with The Day Before.

It just worked. So I changed the title, queried with The Day Before, and almost deleted my agent's offer of representation because I didn't recognize the title when she emailed me back to schedule the phone call.

In my mind the books will always be: Jane Doe, Jane's Shadow, and Chasing Jane.

On the shelf they are: The Day Before, Convergence Point, and ???? — we're working on the title for Book 3.

OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?

LB: I love any feedback! I love hearing that someone else read my book. It's such a thrill to know someone else knows my characters and loves them. It's great. And I really love all feedback equally. The only emails or reviews that make my eye twitch are the ones where it becomes apparent the reader didn't read the book. Or, if they did read, they didn't read it closely because they missed significant and repeated details. Like the character's name. Or the era of the book. Or the fact that the book didn't have mermaids. Little things like that happen to authors and you just have to smile and nod.

Disclaimer: I don't read most my reviews and I don't think any of them have been that off-base in recent years. There was one very mis-filed review on one of my very first short stories, but the reviewer caught it before I did.

OMN: If The Day After were to be adapted for television or film, how much interaction would you want to have with the process?

LB: This is such a hard question to consider. No author wants to see their book butchered, but most of us aren't screenwriters. If any of my books were ever optioned I would want some input and veto rights. At least the right to read over the screenplay and say, "Oh, no, that's too out of character and it is going to ruin a future book in the series. We can't do that."

OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching?

LB: Not films, per se, but I do enjoy watching crime shows on TV … well, Netflix. Leverage, Burn Notice, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries — I love the shows with clever criminals and usually I admit I'm rooting for the bad guys. Or at least rooting for the protagonist who is probably going to break the law a few times to get their objective. I enjoy explosions and witty one-liners.

OMN: When selecting a book to read for pleasure, what do you look for?

LB: I want a gripping opening page. Throw me into the action and don't stop to answer questions.

I want a strong Voice from the main character. I should be able to pick their quote out of a line up. It's hard writing but it is the best reading!

I want teamwork … a found family, or a group of friends, I love the interplay of relationships. I like seeing people interact with other people. A story about a person alone bores me unless it is truly amazing writing.

I want to laugh. I don't read to get the tears out or fuel my anger, I get can get that from the daily news, I want to read a book and find a moment of hope.

I want an optimistic ending. It doesn't need to be Happily Ever After, not yet, but I want to close the book believing that tomorrow will be a better day.

OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.

LB: Top 5 Reactions When My Grandma Reads My Books (please read with a heavy Czech accent):

• "It's awfully small for a book."
• "Don't you think they should have more sex?"
• "Why is there no leopard print? Everyone loves leopard print."
• "That is not how you kill a man with a knife! Have I taught you nothing?"
• "Not bad. Send me another one."

I'm still not sure why MeeMaw hasn't run the world, but I know there is not enough liquor in the US of A to get that woman to open up and give me the details of her life story. She still won't talk about the bullet in her shoulder.

OMN: What's next for you?

LB: Convergence Point is my next big release. I was hoping to have the cover to share you but it's still not done. I'm sorry! I've had fans asking for it and all I've seen is a very rough mock up. There will be a blog tour, some live chats, I've been invited to do a podcast in November so it'll be fun. Busy. Crazy. But fun.

And then the big challenge will be surviving my first full Alaska winter. We moved here in January and I think we missed the worst of it last year. Everyone said they had a very mild winter. This year promises to be much harsher. I'm going to put on my parka, pull on my big girl snow pants, and try to catch a good photo of the northern lights. They're out right now while I'm typing this and they are too faint to photograph this close to the city lights. I'm going to need to head out into the wild to get my photograph.

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Liana Brooks once read the book Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and noted that both their biographies invited readers to send money (or banana daiquiris). That seems to have worked well for them. Liana prefers strawberry daiquiris (virgin!) and will never say no to large amounts of cash in unmarked bills. Her books are sweet and humorous with just enough edge to keep you reading past your bedtime. Liana was born in San Diego after bouncing around the country she’s settled (temporarily) in the great wilderness of Alaska.

For more information about the author, please visit her website at LianaBrooks.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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The Day Before by Liana Brooks

A Time & Shadows Mystery

Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse

A body is found in the Alabama wilderness. The question is: Is it a human corpse … or is it just a piece of discarded property?

Agent Samantha Rose has been exiled to a backwater assignment for the Commonwealth Bureau of Investigation, a death knell for her career. But then Sam catches a break — a murder — that could give her the boost she needs to get her life back on track. There's a snag, though: the body is a clone, and technically that means it's not a homicide. And yet, something about the body raises questions, not only for her, but for coroner Linsey Mackenzie.

The more they dig, the more they realize nothing about this case is what it seems … and for Sam, nothing about Mac is what it seems, either.

This case might be the way out for her, but that way could be in a bodybag.

— The Day Before by Liana Brooks