Jan 30, 2025 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller |
Lynn is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She is the award-winning author of five young adult romantic mysteries: MISSING MOM, DEADLY SETUP, LEISHA’S SONG, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, and WHILE I DANCED, as well as an adult mystery, MISSED CUE. Lynn lives in Kentucky, where she is working on her next novel.
MISSING MOM: Never mind the circumstantial evidence. Noelle doesn’t
believe her missing mother would ever have committed suicide and undertakes her investigation. Threaded throughout the novel is the story of a young woman nearly twenty years earlier whose escape from an abusive marriage turns out to be related to Noelle’s investigation.
During my dancing days, I choreographed a romantic duet, “Beginnings,” for my husband and me with a Chopin Nocturne as accompaniment. I apologetically told one of my mentors and ballet teachers, “I guess it’s not very original to make a duet with music by Chopin.”
“But Lynn,” she said, “it’s new to you.”
She was right, and her comment made me feel better immediately. Most of my previous choreography was for my students, mostly group pieces and occasional solos. This was the first time I’d tackled a romantic duet. My husband and I were newlyweds, and that dance came from my heart. We went on to perform it for many years.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the joy of trying new things in my writing. There’s something satisfying about pushing myself out of my comfort zone, which can loosely be described as telling a story from a single point of view linearly: “This happened, and then that happened, etc.” Gradually, I tipped my toe into small variations. I began both IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU and DEADLY SETUP with scenes told from the point of view of the murderer in the act of committing the crime before launching into the meat of the novel, the aftermath of the crime as experienced by the protagonist. In LEISHA’S SONG, I began with a scene that came much later in the story and then backtracked to the inciting incident. In MISSED CUE, while most of the novel was told from the point of view of the investigating detective, I also included a handful of scenes told from the point of view of other characters.
However, my latest novel, MISSING MOM, was my most significant departure. I not only told the story of a daughter’s search for her missing mother, but I threaded another story throughout the book of a young woman nearly twenty years earlier who was caught up in an abusive relationship. Her escape from a violent marriage turned out to be related to the daughter’s investigation of her missing mom.
I didn’t even know what this was called until I read an excellent article by Jane McBride in Children’s Book Insider about “time slip novels” and realized that I’d just written one. When I described what I’d done to another writer, she said somewhat dismissively, “Oh yeah, that’s really popular right now.”
I immediately thought about my ballet teacher’s comment all those years ago. Writing a time slip novel may be a popular, often-used approach, but it was new for me! It was exciting to push myself to try something new. It helped me grow as a writer and made my work richer and more layered.
Ultimately, one of the things I love about being a writer is the same thing I love about being a dancer: There are always new ways to grow. And that’s something to savor and celebrate.
Groups I Belong to:
Sisters in Crime, including the Guppies and my Ohio River Valley chapter, Derby Rotten Scoundrels;
Mystery Writers of America;
Romance Writers of America;
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators;
Contemporary Romance Writers.
My website: https://lynnslaughter.com (includes my blog and information about all of my books, as well as buy links for them)
Universal Buy Link for MISSING MOM: https://books2read.com/u/mqOKB9
Mar 6, 2023 | Uncategorized, Young Adult |
MARISA FIFE holds a BS in Pre-Veterinary & Animal Science from the University of Massachusetts and a BSN in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. Her work experiences have led her from monitoring songbirds for biological surveys to rehabilitating wildlife to caring for Oncology patients on bone marrow transplant floors.
Her first fiction short story, The Woman in Brown, was published in 2022.
The Woman in Brown is a historical suspense short story set in America in the 1930s about two damaged people on the run trying to escape the clutches of a cold-blooded killer.
Do you write in more than one genre? I like exploring many genres, my favorites being mystery, suspense, fantasy, romance, and westerns. I also love a good horror-comedy. I also enjoy writing for different audiences, such as adults and children. Everything’s fun to explore, really.
What are you currently working on? A quirky contemporary fantasy/mystery novel and a historical mystery novella. Then revisions, revisions, revisions on my 2022 writing projects.
Who’s your favorite author? Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell series, the first of which is The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I’ve been hooked on this series since I was a teen and can’t recommend it enough.
Do you outline, or are you a pantser? I do a little of both as needed. When I first start writing a story, the planning stage involves a lot of brainstorming and organic free writing. I add in structure with an outline, but I’m not afraid to switch up that outline as needed, depending on how the story is proceeding. This allows me freedom while also keeping my feet on the ground.
What kind of research do you do? If I’m writing about a real-world place, I try to go there and take in how it is and what perceptions I have while I’m in it. Then most of my research moves online. I review newspapers and magazines and try to keep to verified historical sources when seeking facts about a particular time or place. If it’s a story set in contemporary times, I’ll watch news clips from the last few years to see what’s going on in that area or read first-hand accounts from people who live in that location if they are available.
If it’s not a real-world place, I base my fantasy settings on a mashup of actual places in the world or someplace made up that pops into my mind based on my experiences. Movies are also a fun place to find possible fantasy settings, characters, and storylines. Lastly, I read a few current books in whatever genre that I’m writing in to get a feel for what’s trending out there and why it trends.
What is the best book you have ever read? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I think it holds a warning to humankind that is still relevant today in our age of ground-breaking scientific and technological innovation.
Groups I belong to:
Mystery Writers of America
Sisters in Crime
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
How do our readers contact you?
Readers may contact me at www.marisafife.com.
My short story, The Woman in Brown, is available on Amazon as an ebook, audiobook, and paperback here.
Jan 12, 2023 | Mystery, Young Adult |
After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn Slaughter earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She writes coming-of-age romantic mysteries and is the author of the newly released Deadly Setup, a 2022 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards silver medalist. She is also the author of Leisha’s Song, a 2022 Imadjinn Award winner, a Moonbeam bronze medalist, Agatha nominee, and Silver Falchion Award winner; While I Danced, an EPIC finalist; and It Should Have Been You, a Silver Falchion finalist. Her first mystery for adults, Missed Cue, comes out from Melange Books in the summer of 2023. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel. She currently serves as president of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime.
DEADLY SETUP Seventeen-year-old Sam’s life implodes when her heiress mother’s fiancé turns up dead, and Sam is accused of his murder and goes on trial. She fights to prove her innocence with the help of her boyfriend’s father, an ex-homicide cop. Just when things are looking especially bleak, Sam makes a startling discovery.
What brought you to writing? I spent much of my career as a professional modern dancer and dance educator. But I’d always enjoyed nonfiction writing and research. While still dancing, I moonlighted as a freelance magazine journalist specializing in writing about the challenges of adolescence and parenting teens. In all honesty, I didn’t think I had the fiction gene!
However, when age and injury led to my retirement from dance, I got an idea for a story about a young aspiring dancer with lots of family and friendship issues. That became my first young adult novel, WHILE I DANCED. I got hooked on fiction writing and returned to school, earning my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. It was a wonderful program, and I’ve kept writing ever since!
Tell us about your writing process. I tend to get a general idea for the premise of a novel. For example, DEADLY SETUP began as the kernel of an idea: What if a teenager was accused of murdering her mother’s fiancé?
Before trying to develop a plot, I spend a lot of time developing my characters and their backstories. Out of that work, I get a very good idea about my characters’ internal issues and how they will intersect and conflict with one another. It never ceases to amaze me how many plot ideas and complications grow out of starting with character development! I owe this insight to Elizabeth George. I’ve found her books on craft, WRITE AWAY! and MASTERING THE PLOT, to be so helpful.
What are you currently working on? I’m working on three projects which are at different stages of development:
Missed Cue, my first adult mystery, is coming out this summer from Melange Books, so I’m about to receive editorial notes.
I’ve also been working on a middle-grade fantasy about Varney, a kid vampire who hates the taste of blood and is convinced he’s landed in the wrong body. Thanks to a friendly witch, he gets a chance to switch with a human boy who is very unhappy in his life and longs to be a vampire.
Finally, I’m working on a young adult novel about a teen whose mother goes missing. The evidence indicates suicide, but my teenage protagonist doesn’t believe her mother would have killed herself and is determined to find out what really transpired.
How do you come up with character names? I have a book of baby names that gives a bit about where each name came from and what it means. I love going through it and finding names that seem to fit with the personalities and backgrounds of my characters.
Do you have subplots? If so, how do you weave them into the novel’s arc? I do! I find they often emerge organically from the relationships of the major characters. For example, in DEADLY SETUP, the protagonist has a close gay friend who’s involved in a romance with the closeted son of parents who think homosexuality is a sin. When his parents discover his romance, they forbid him to see his boyfriend. He becomes severely depressed, and after his failed suicide attempt, he eventually moves in with more supportive relatives.
This subplot actually reinforces a major theme of the novel, which is that sometimes when your family of origin is unable or unwilling to be unconditionally loving and accepting, it is sometimes necessary to create an intentional family.
Do you have any advice for new writers? Read voraciously and put yourself on a writing schedule that works for you and that you can stick to!
Join writers’ associations, such as Sisters in Crime and its subgroup, the Guppies, and make use of their resources.
Study craft books and analyze your favorite books in your chosen genre to see what makes them work so well.
Find a supportive writing community and a helpful, constructive critique group. If more than one person points to a problem in your manuscript, pay attention!
Above all, persevere!
Groups I belong to:
Mid-South Region of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
Guppies and my local chapter of Sisters in Crime, the Derby Rotten Scoundrels
I love hearing from readers and can be contacted through my website: https://lynnslaughter.com/
Buy links:
IndieBound: IndieBound.org
Amazon: Deadly Setup – Kindle edition by Slaughter, Lynn.
Print book: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Setup-Lynn-Slaughter/dp/B0B5KV5424/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1664994693&sr=1-1
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deadly-setup-lynn-slaughter/1141674720?ean=9798886530087
Books-a-Million: Deadly Setup by Lynn Slaughter (booksamillion.com)
Lynn, good for you, don’t let anyone dismiss your brilliant ideas. I was once in a group meeting and someone made a derisive comment that “people who sell a hundred books a year consider themselves writers”. Well, I had only published one book and felt gobsmacked by this opinion. Then I said, “This is the first book I’ve ever written. Maybe I’m not a best seller, but the book means something to me.” Book 4 coming out soon. We have to turn off the negativity around us. Darlene
You’re so right, Darlene! And you should be so proud of every one of those books!
I so agree with you, Pam! Your comments are always so inciteful!
Love “new to me” endeavors. Thanks for reminding us how important it is to celebrate these!
Thanks, Marie. I love how pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone can be so rewarding!
Wow, George and Lynn… ‘Joy of trying new things.’ Thanks for the lovely re-focus ( ;
It feels like that might be at the core of what makes us alive. Best of luck with MISSING MOM, Lynn!