We are delighted to welcome author Carole Fowkes to Omnimystery News.
Carole published the first in a new series of "A Terrified Detective" mysteries earlier this year — Plateful of Murder (January 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and followed in quick succession by Killer Cannoli and Bake Me a Murder — and we asked her to tell us a little more about how she came up with the concept for the series. She titles her guest post for us today, apppropriately, "How'd You Come Up With That?"
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Photo provided courtesy of
Carole Fowkes
When I first began writing, I composed short stories. Not just any stories, but bizarre, twisted pieces in which ordinary objects or situations could become frightening and sometimes deadly.
Now, of course, my passion is writing cozy mysteries, in which the timid private investigator, Claire DeNardo, gets involved in scary and often life-threatening situations. Do you see a similarity between my past and present stories?
Beside both having the main character's hair stand on end, these two genres are similar for me in the way I decide on the story's concept. I've often been asked how I came up with the idea. My answer is simple. I ask myself, What if? Not only do I do that with the topic of the project, but with everything that happens in the story. In fact, I came up with "A Terrified Detective" mysteries by asking myself, What if the only job I could find was that of a private investigator? My response? I'd be terrified. This answer turned into my latest series, A Terrified Detective.
Then, as I'd done in previous works, I went deeper into the story. Other characters evolved as a result of situations in which Claire found herself. In turn, each new character demanded that I ask, What if? The process continued. For example, I asked myself, "What if Claire's client is killed?" That led to a police detective's appearance in my book. For him, my first What if was what if he was attracted to Claire? And so the story goes.
It's a great way for me to move the plot along. I'm what is known as a "pantser," meaning I write by the seat of my pants, doing very little plotting before placing my fingers on the keyboard. So filling my days asking myself what if this or that happened to the character serves me well. Sometimes, though, I realize I didn't really answer the What if as that character would have. Then it's back to looking at the situation from that particular character's point of view.
You may wonder how I can tell what that character's feeling is. What I've discovered in all my books, no matter how strange the main characters are, each one is a part of me. Sometimes that's a frightening thought.
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Carole Fowkes is a pixie-like woman who's always smiling. Understand, though, behind that smile, lurks a mind busy twisting the expected into the unexpected. In her world, anyone could be guilty. Since it might be frightening to talk about her suspicions, she expresses them in her writing. So if you ever see her smiling, she's plotting another crime and deciding who did it. But if you ask her what she's thinking about, she'll tell you, "Chocolate cherry brownies". In time, she may be more forthcoming.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at CaroleFowkes.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Plateful of Murder by Carole Fowkes
A Terrified Detective Mystery
Publisher: Carole Fowkes
Claire DeNardo is scared of a lot of things. Ordinary objects like roller coasters and men's hairpieces make her knees knock loud enough to be a band's rhythm section. Unfortunately, the only job Claire can find is working for her Uncle Gino in his seedy detective agency. Until now, her cases have all be middle-aged men with trophy wives who needed watching.
But when Gino retires and leaves her in charge, Claire gets swept up in a murder case despite her fears. Both the client who hired her and the handsome police detective want her off the case. When the wrong person is charged, it's up to the terrified detective to summon all the courage she can to find the true killer.
— Plateful of Murder by Carole Fowkes. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.
