Welcome to the Coffee Chat!
With our world still in a turmoil, there are other universes open to us every time we pick up a new novel. Settle in for book talk with this week’s guest author, Laura Gail Black, and for a look at her featured cozy mystery, For Whom the Book Tolls (An Antique Bookshop Mystery).
Good morning, Laura. What may I get you to drink?.
LB: I drink tea, not coffee. No cream, no sugar, just the wonderful flavors of a wide variety of hot teas. I begin my mornings with a pot of oolong, English breakfast, Earl Grey, Ceylon, jasmine green tea, or any number of other caffeinated teas. Through the day, I often make at least one more pot of herbal tea, if not two or three more.
Ally: My magic pot is almost as used to fixing tea as coffee. While I get those drinks ready, please tell readers something of your background.
With our world still in a turmoil, there are other universes open to us every time we pick up a new novel. Settle in for book talk with this week’s guest author, Laura Gail Black, and for a look at her featured cozy mystery, For Whom the Book Tolls (An Antique Bookshop Mystery).
Good morning, Laura. What may I get you to drink?.
LB: I drink tea, not coffee. No cream, no sugar, just the wonderful flavors of a wide variety of hot teas. I begin my mornings with a pot of oolong, English breakfast, Earl Grey, Ceylon, jasmine green tea, or any number of other caffeinated teas. Through the day, I often make at least one more pot of herbal tea, if not two or three more.
Ally: My magic pot is almost as used to fixing tea as coffee. While I get those drinks ready, please tell readers something of your background.
Bio:
Laura Gail Black writes cozy mysteries on the beautiful shores of Lake Marion in South Carolina, where she lives with her husband and four rescue dogs. She began collecting antique books when she worked in a used and antique bookstore in college. Today, Laura’s bookshelves contain many antique books, some of which are close to two hundred years old. When not writing or playing with her dogs, Laura creates her own jewelry, crochets, cross-stitches, spends time on the water with her husband, and enjoys all things tea.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “For a time, I was the managing editor for our local newspaper, The Manning Times, and I won several awards from the South Carolina Press Association.”
Author Contact Links:
www.lauragailblack.com
laura@lauragailblack.com
https://www.facebook.com/lauragailblack
https://twitter.com/lauragailblack
Laura Gail Black writes cozy mysteries on the beautiful shores of Lake Marion in South Carolina, where she lives with her husband and four rescue dogs. She began collecting antique books when she worked in a used and antique bookstore in college. Today, Laura’s bookshelves contain many antique books, some of which are close to two hundred years old. When not writing or playing with her dogs, Laura creates her own jewelry, crochets, cross-stitches, spends time on the water with her husband, and enjoys all things tea.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “For a time, I was the managing editor for our local newspaper, The Manning Times, and I won several awards from the South Carolina Press Association.”
Author Contact Links:
www.lauragailblack.com
laura@lauragailblack.com
https://www.facebook.com/lauragailblack
https://twitter.com/lauragailblack
INTERVIEW:
Ally:. When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? What influenced that decision?
LB: I was very young, maybe five or six. As soon as I understood what a story was, I began making up my own. Granted, these were incredibly simple stories and plays. But I loved it. In third grade, we had to write a short story using our spelling word list. I won the class contest for best story. I began my first novel in high school, a teen-angst-filled science fiction, although I never completed it. I’ve always loved creating new worlds, new people, new places, and new events in my head. Always the daydreamer, I learned how to put those imaginings on paper.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
LB: No, not really. I’ve had friends ask if they can be a character in one of my books. However, I’m always a bit reluctant to do so. When you’re writing a character based on a real person, you must keep that character close to reality, creating situations to fit the character. If you have that character do or say anything that the real person would never do, they can often become offended or hurt. I prefer the freedom to create a character from scratch, designed to fit the situations in my stories.
Ally: Do you know the book’s ending before you start writing? Does it ever change?
LB: Always. I’m a staunch outliner. When writing mystery, an author has to know whodunnit, what their motivations are, who else could have done it and why, and exactly where to place all clues so the sleuth can figure it all out. The outline for this book was nine pages long. That said, no outline is set in stone. I can, and often do, deviate to add something in, take something out, or rearrange passages. But with an outline, I always know where I’m going in the end.
Ally: Do you write on a desktop, laptop or on paper?
LB: I always write my first draft on a computer. At this time, that’s a laptop. Once the first draft is completed, I print the entire manuscript and read it, making notes with a purple pen. Yes, always purple. Then I take the marked-up manuscript and rework the computer version.
Ally: What are you working on now?
LB: I’m already under contract for the second Antique Bookshop Mystery. My publisher, Crooked Lane Books, is aiming for a September 2021 release for the second book in this series.
Ally: Which of the quick answer questions did you choose?
LB:
Ally:. When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? What influenced that decision?
LB: I was very young, maybe five or six. As soon as I understood what a story was, I began making up my own. Granted, these were incredibly simple stories and plays. But I loved it. In third grade, we had to write a short story using our spelling word list. I won the class contest for best story. I began my first novel in high school, a teen-angst-filled science fiction, although I never completed it. I’ve always loved creating new worlds, new people, new places, and new events in my head. Always the daydreamer, I learned how to put those imaginings on paper.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing?
LB: No, not really. I’ve had friends ask if they can be a character in one of my books. However, I’m always a bit reluctant to do so. When you’re writing a character based on a real person, you must keep that character close to reality, creating situations to fit the character. If you have that character do or say anything that the real person would never do, they can often become offended or hurt. I prefer the freedom to create a character from scratch, designed to fit the situations in my stories.
Ally: Do you know the book’s ending before you start writing? Does it ever change?
LB: Always. I’m a staunch outliner. When writing mystery, an author has to know whodunnit, what their motivations are, who else could have done it and why, and exactly where to place all clues so the sleuth can figure it all out. The outline for this book was nine pages long. That said, no outline is set in stone. I can, and often do, deviate to add something in, take something out, or rearrange passages. But with an outline, I always know where I’m going in the end.
Ally: Do you write on a desktop, laptop or on paper?
LB: I always write my first draft on a computer. At this time, that’s a laptop. Once the first draft is completed, I print the entire manuscript and read it, making notes with a purple pen. Yes, always purple. Then I take the marked-up manuscript and rework the computer version.
Ally: What are you working on now?
LB: I’m already under contract for the second Antique Bookshop Mystery. My publisher, Crooked Lane Books, is aiming for a September 2021 release for the second book in this series.
Ally: Which of the quick answer questions did you choose?
LB:
- An item on your bucket list: I’d love to go on a cruise, preferably through the Caribbean.
- Favorite comfort food: Macaroni and cheese.
- Favorite quote: I have two, both from odd sources, but both touched me deeply. The first is: “Seize the moment. Live now. Make now the most precious time. Now will never come again.” – Captain Jean Luc Picard, Star Trek Next Generation. The second is: “Find out what moves you to passion and do it. Not because it’ll make you famous, not because of the money, but because you can’t not do it. Just strive to be the best at what you do, and the rest will follow. Follow your own bliss. The rest is just smoke and mirrors.” – Jessica Fletcher, Murder She Wrote.
- Something unique in your handbag: A spare dog leash, in case I find a stray dog (not uncommon where we live) and need to take the dog to the local no-kill shelter.
- Your pets: We have four rescue dogs. Remy is a ten-year-old mix of Labrador Retriever, English Setter, and Bluetick Coonhound. Cadie (sounds like Katie) is an eight-year old black Labrador Retriever. Ellie Mae is a four-year-old Beagle. Jethro is a three-year-old mix of Black and Tan Coonhound and Treeing Walker Coonhound.
For Whom the Book Tolls (An Antique BookShop Mystery)
Genre: cozy mystery
Trouble follows Jenna Quinn wherever she goes. Fleeing some unsavory doings in her hometown of Charlotte, Jenna accepts her uncle's gracious invitation to stay with him in small-town Hokes Folly, NC. In exchange, she'll help him out in his antiquarian bookstore. But soon after she arrives, Jenna finds her uncle's body crumpled at the base of the staircase between his apartment and the bookstore.
Before the tragedy even sinks in, Jenna learns that she's inherited almost everything her uncle owned: the store and apartment, as well as his not-so-meager savings and the payout from a life insurance policy...which adds up to more than a million dollars. This is all news to Jenna--bad news, once the police get wind of her windfall. An ill wind, indeed, as a second murder cements Jenna's status as the prime suspect in both deaths.
Jenna can hit the road again, taking her chances that she can elude trouble along the way. Or she can stick it out in Hokes Folly, take over the bookstore, and try to sleuth out her uncle's killer. On the one hand, she's made some wonderful new friends, and she feels she can thrive in the genial small-town environment. On the other hand, trouble knows her address--and so does the killer, who is determined to write the final page of Jenna's story.
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Whom-Book-Tolls-Antique-Bookshop-ebook/dp/B082H2QC9N/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=for+whom+the+book+tolls&qid=1599610422&sr=8-3
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-whom-the-book-tolls-laura-gail-black/1135444555?ean=9781643854519
Genre: cozy mystery
Trouble follows Jenna Quinn wherever she goes. Fleeing some unsavory doings in her hometown of Charlotte, Jenna accepts her uncle's gracious invitation to stay with him in small-town Hokes Folly, NC. In exchange, she'll help him out in his antiquarian bookstore. But soon after she arrives, Jenna finds her uncle's body crumpled at the base of the staircase between his apartment and the bookstore.
Before the tragedy even sinks in, Jenna learns that she's inherited almost everything her uncle owned: the store and apartment, as well as his not-so-meager savings and the payout from a life insurance policy...which adds up to more than a million dollars. This is all news to Jenna--bad news, once the police get wind of her windfall. An ill wind, indeed, as a second murder cements Jenna's status as the prime suspect in both deaths.
Jenna can hit the road again, taking her chances that she can elude trouble along the way. Or she can stick it out in Hokes Folly, take over the bookstore, and try to sleuth out her uncle's killer. On the one hand, she's made some wonderful new friends, and she feels she can thrive in the genial small-town environment. On the other hand, trouble knows her address--and so does the killer, who is determined to write the final page of Jenna's story.
Buy Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Whom-Book-Tolls-Antique-Bookshop-ebook/dp/B082H2QC9N/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=for+whom+the+book+tolls&qid=1599610422&sr=8-3
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/for-whom-the-book-tolls-laura-gail-black/1135444555?ean=9781643854519
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