by Cindy Sample
We are delighted to welcome novelist Cindy Sample to Omnimystery News.
Cindy is the author of the "Laurel McKay" mysteries — Dying for a Date (L & L Dreamspell, June 2010 trade paperback and ebook formats) and Dying for a Dance (L & L Dreamspell, September 2011 trade paperback and ebook formats), which was a finalist for the 2012 Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery and won the 2011 NCPA Award — honoring the work of Northern California independent publishers and authors — for Best Fiction.
Today Cindy tells us about the art and craft of combining humor and homicide to create a mystery series.
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I discovered Nancy Drew when I was six and by the time I turned eight, I'd read all of her books. Precocious child that I was, I decided to help out that slacker Carolyn Keene by writing the next book in the series. I took my third grade spelling words and turned them into a sixteen-page novella called "Nancy Drew and the Haunted Mansion." If my mother hadn't made me go to bed at 8:30, imagine what I could have accomplished. Maybe an Edgar nomination? Although my teacher made me change the protagonist's name, she gave me an A+ and I was hooked.
Photo provided courtesy of
Cindy Sample
In the next forty years, a marriage, two children, and a corporate career as a traveling CEO intervened so my dream was put on hold. Temporarily. After a divorce, I discovered that the best anti-depressant in the world was to read a great mystery, one that combined not only a puzzle for me to solve, but humor.
When I discovered that I was spending more time plotting murder than plodding through paperwork, it was time to begin my new journey. I knew exactly what kind of books I wanted to write. But it turns out that crafting a well plotted suspenseful mystery that will also keep the reader laughing out loud, is akin to walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. It's a constant juggling act between maintaining suspense and providing giggles.
As a single mom who has tried on-line dating, I had more than enough stories to plot Dying for a Date. While the act of meeting someone new can be terrifying, it can also provide tons of material, much of it hilarious. When your dates keep dropping dead and you become the # 1 suspect, the suspense heats up. And so does the humor since the single soccer mom sleuth has to prove she's innocent. Tangling with a killer is scary. Forgetting it's your turn to be snack mom? Pure terror!
In the sequel, Dying for a Dance, my klutzy heroine, Laurel McKay, trips her instructor and snaps off her shoe heel, discovering how dangerous ballroom dancing can be. When she stumbles on a dead dancer with that same heel stuffed in his mouth, she realizes it can also be deadly. Although the scene where my clumsy sleuth chases the killer across the dance floor amid sequins, flying feathers and falling bodies is hilarious, the suspense definitely heats up when she and the killer tango together.
I always enjoy a good chase scene and combining humor and suspense can again prove a difficult task. In Dying for a Date, I chose to choreograph the world's slowest and most original chase scene. Using a backhoe. Now I'm known for my unusual chase scenes and can't wait to craft a zip-line chase over palm trees and waterfalls for the third book in my series which will move the action from the gold country of northern California to the big island of Hawaii.
I've been diligently working on Dying for a Daiquiri, a book which has required copious amounts of liquid research! Writing this sequel also brought about an interesting "aha" moment. After spending an unsuccessful week trying to knock off my proposed victim, I woke up in the middle of the night with a huge revelation. Although I had envisioned an excellent murder plot, the consequences of killing this particular person meant a far darker mystery than I normally write. And there's no way that Laurel could take all of those optional tourist excursions I had planned on researching and enjoying with my original plot concept. I'm blown away by the fact that this character actually spoke to me. And she's thrilled that I've upgraded her from a dead body to a suspect!
My own thrill is when someone tells me they feel like crap in the morning because they stayed up all night to read my books. Now that's a compliment!
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Cindy is a former corporate CEO who has also served on the boards of the Sacramento Opera and YWCA. She was a past president of the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime and is a member of MWA, RWA and NCPA.
You can learn more about the author and her books at CindySampleBooks.com, or you can contact her directly at cindysample@aol.com. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Dying for a Date
Cindy Sample
A Laurel McKay Mystery (1st in series)
Publisher: L & L Dreamspeall
Not sure if she is looking for Mr. Right, or Mr. Every Other Saturday Night, recently divorced Laurel McKay reluctantly joins "The Love Club", a matchmaking agency advertised as the safe alternative to on-line dating.
After Bachelor One decides he wants her for dessert, Laurel dispatches him with her cell phone. The next day she discovers her drop dead gorgeous date has literally dropped dead. When Bachelor Two disappears during dinner, Laurel’s only alibi is a friendly bottle of Dom Perignon. The investigating detective has to decide if the sassy soccer mom is a killer, or the next target.
Her boss at Hangtown Bank threatens to fire her when he discovers the latest victim was an important client. Fortunately the bank needs her expertise to investigate some questionable mortgage loans. Laurel and her mother, who insists her daughter is innocent because she is too disorganized to plan a murder, set out to save her reputation, her job, and her life.
California’s famed Gold Country shines as Laurel races to find the killer before she becomes the next victim. But how will she find time to play detective when it’s her turn to be snack mom.
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Dying for a Dance
Cindy Sample
A Laurel McKay Mystery (2nd in series)
Publisher: L & L Dreamspell
Lead-footed single mom, Laurel McKay, agrees to learn a foxtrot routine for her best friend’s wedding. After she trips her instructor, crashes into a pair of dancers and breaks the heel of her new shoes, she thinks her evening can’t possibly get any worse.
Then she stumbles over another dancer. A dead one. With her broken shoe heel stuffed in his mouth.
The action moves from the California Gold Country to Lake Tahoe as Laurel searches for the killer amid the sequins and flying feathers of a ballroom competition.
Can she samba her way into the heart of the handsome detective who has once again entered her life? Or will dancing and detecting prove to be a lethal combination?
