Greetings, Noters!
Goodness, it’s been one long, dreary week. We’ve been besieged by rain in the New York area, making it quite tricky for me to feel inspired by the world around me. I am counting down the days until it begins to warm up, and I can start writing out on the porch once more. I do some of my best writing outside, and I definitely need all the help I can get with this first draft of the final Court of Mystery novel.
Despite all my environmental hang-ups, the book is going reasonably well. I’ve put Jax’s side of the story on hold for the moment and am writing George’s adventure. Originally, I planned to write Jax’s first and then weave George’s after the fact, but I realized I needed a bit more direction from George to help Jax’s plotline make sense. Juggling two different points of view is confusing, and my head feels like it’s spinning most days. But I’m almost at 30,000 words, which means I’m nearly halfway there! It’s a good feeling.
My featured author this week knows a thing or two about reaching those major milestones in a book.
Without further ado…
A Bit About the Author: Lynn spent 35+ years in the nonprofit world and has self-published ten paranormal mystery novels, two short story books, and two nonfiction books, including a book on unconventional marketing tips for self-published authors. Her most recent book No Place Like Home for a Murder is the 6th book in her popular Old Maids of Mercer Island cozy mystery series and shines a light on the plight of the homeless. She teaches writing through Green River College and is about to launch a new newsletter/blog “Let’s Talk About Murder.” Visit her website at www.lynnbohart-author.com to sign up.
Lynn, welcome to Noteworthy! I had the pleasure of getting to meet you through an episode of A Bookish Moment, and I’m so glad I get to introduce my blog readers to you and your work. Tell us, what book made you fall in love with reading?
It was probably Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot.” I was in my early twenties when I read it and loved his use of the five senses; I could almost smell the vampire’s coffin as he described it. When I went on to read “The Shining,” I was in Hawaii with friends staying in a condo. I couldn’t put the book down and secluded myself in the bedroom one sunny afternoon to finish it. I remember getting so scared when the elevator began to move that I ran into the living room to be with my friends.
What an experience! I love a book that can bring out such vivid reactions. How did your love of reading evolve into writing? How did your writing take off?
I had always dabbled in writing. I’d written a couple of short stories but had no real aspirations of publishing anything until I took a ‘ghost story’ writing weekend workshop on the Oregon coast with author Liz Cratty. A group of about 12 of us sat around in an old boathouse overlooking a lake on Friday night while Liz talked about how to write a ghost story. The next day, we were all tasked with writing a short story. Because my background was in the theater, I spent half the day attempting to write a ghost play. When I got stumped, I turned to writing a short story.
That night, we went back to the boathouse and sat around by candlelight reading our stories. The next morning at breakfast, Liz told me my story was good enough to be published. I’m surprised my head fit into the car when I drove home that day thinking, “Well, if I can write a short story good enough to get published, I could probably write a novel.”
At the time, I didn’t consider how ridiculous that sounded. After all, writing a short story is perhaps fifty times easier than a full novel. On the other hand, I immediately began writing “Grave Doubts,” my paranormal murder mystery set in the timber country of central Oregon and haven’t stopped since.
This is one of my favorite “origin stories” that I’ve come across in the author community, and not only because it involves telling ghost stories around candlelight. I think you’ve captured what it means to be a writer. We start off thinking that we’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, only to have the real world kindly (or not so kindly) put us in our place. It’s a wild ride, for sure, and I’m so glad you stuck with it!
You’re celebrating the release of No Place Like Home for a Murder, the sixth book in your Old Maids of Mercer Island series. What themes/lessons can readers look forward to discovering in this latest Old Maids mystery?
After a 35+ year career in the nonprofit field, I decided to frame the murders in some of my books around issues I care about. My first Old Maids of Mercer Island book “Inn Keeping with Murder” deals with human trafficking. I went on to incorporate child abuse, bullying, dog-fighting, and mental health issues in subsequent books. In “No Place Like Home for a Murder,” the sixth book in the Old Maids series, I took on homelessness, which of course feels like the never-ending story. Although I’m retired from my full-time nonprofit career, I still work as a freelance writer and write for nonprofits all over the world. So, I’m well-versed in what people experiencing homelessness deal with and what kinds of services are out there to help them.
I’m also very aware that they are a vulnerable population, and decided to call attention to the depth of the homeless issue by having a number of homeless people disappear off the streets of Seattle in “No Place Like Home for a Murder.” When the woman raising the alarm shows up dead in the kitchen of one of my lead characters and she’s framed for the murder, well, the rest of Old Maids are forced to come to her aide. And because my main characters live on Mercer Island, a wealthy suburb of Seattle, part of what I touched on was their own biases toward the homeless and how by the end of the book their attitudes change.
I love reading books with a purpose, and I’ve grown to really love writing them, too. I think it’s important to use our platform to champion issues we care about, so I think that it’s wonderful how you’ve chosen to highlight social issues in each novel.
Let’s now discuss your characters. What’s one thing you know about your protagonist that your readers don’t?
That’s a great question. I teach writing, and tell students that you don’t have to put everything you know about your characters into the book. It’s okay for you to know things about your protagonist your readers don’t.
Julia Applegate is my klutzy but fearless protagonist. While her favorite books are murder mysteries, which motivates her to initially try to solve the murder in the first book, what hasn’t come out to any extent in the series so far is how much she was involved in solving mysteries when she was a kid. In fact, my next book, is a murder Julia and her brother Ben helped to solve when she was only twelve. So I’m going back in time to tell the story of “The Rise of the Unstoppables: The Case of the Missing Will.” Who knows, this may just be a new series.
How exciting! I think it’s such a treat for readers to see and experience our characters outside the “canon” of our work. What was one of the toughest lessons you learned while writing No Place Like Home for a Murder?
I’m a panster when it comes to writing, meaning I don’t fully outline my books before I begin. This one was difficult partly because of the fact that I framed it using the homeless population. My lead characters are women in their sixties who are smart, sassy, spunky, and funny. For a variety of reasons, I decided NOT to have them go undercover in the homeless camps. While others do, the women spend their time learning what they can by volunteering in a couple of homeless shelters. Unfortunately, I ended up with a lot of characters that had to communicate back and forth, and it was difficult to maintain the tension and not confuse the reader. In the end, I had to do a number of rewrites to accomplish what I wanted by cutting out a couple of characters and moving big chunks of the storyline around. Sometimes being a panster can cost you time, effort, and frustration. But, hey, it’s how I roll.
As they say, there is no one way to write a book; you have to do what works best for you. Cutting characters is hard, especially if you’ve grown attached to them. Beyond your characters and creative inspiration, is there anything you need for a successful day of writing?
Pepsi.
This may cause controversy, but give me Pepsi over Coke any day! Lynn, as we wrap up our time together, what book (other than your own 😊) have you been recommending to people lately? Are there any must-reads you have to share?
My new favorite author is M. W. Craven who writes the Washington Poe British thrillers. I love his characters and the crimes are creative and plotted well. The lead character, Poe, is somewhat of a rebel and does what he has to do to get the job done. And, of course, I like him because his best friend is his dog Edgar. But my favorite character is his sidekick, Tilly Bradshaw. She’s on the spectrum, but Craven has developed a truly charming, engaging, and unique character who serves as the department’s computer whiz and lightens up what are otherwise gruesome crime stories.
This sounds like a great suggestion! I will definitely have to check these out. Lynn, it’s been wonderful learning more about No Place Like Home for a Murder and your writing life. Thank you for sharing your time with me. Noters, you can pick up No Place Like Home for a Murder and the rest of the Old Maids of Mercer Island series at your favorite book retailer!
No Place Like Home for a Murder
Old Maids of Mercer Island Series
By Lynn Bohart
Someone is abducting homeless people off the streets of Seattle. When a woman is found dead in Rudy’s kitchen, Julia Applegate assembles an entire team to go undercover to exonerate her friend. Once again, this whacky—but fearless—group of older women will be joined by their team of helpful ghosts to blaze across the pages in search of a diabolical killer. When said diabolical killer holds a scalpel to Julia’s throat, one has to ask, “Is this the end of the Old Maids?”