Interview with Charlotte Stuart, CAMPAIGNING CAN BE DEADLY

Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series

Campaigning Can Be Deadly is the 2^nd mystery in the Discount Detective series. It features single mom, Cameron Chandler, who takes a job at Penny-wise Investigations when her PhD doesn’t open any other employment doors. Penny-wise is located in a shopping mall and specializes in Vigilance You Can Afford. When a Congressional candidate’s campaign signs keep disappearing, he hires Penny-wise to catch the culprits. Cameron and her colleague, Yuri, not only catch the thieves in the act, they discover a body next to a pile of stolen signs. They soon find themselves in the midst of a conflict between big oil interests and anti-big oil activists as they try to uncover the secrets behind the deadly campaign.

Are you currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you have manuscripts that you will self-publish? Are you doing both?

I have a contract with a small, woman and veteran owned publishing group for the Discount Detective mysteries. Their motto: Small Press. Big Books. And as long as they want to continue publishing my series, I will be pleased to have them do so. I’m also under contract to another small publisher for two books I’m hoping become series. However, I do have a couple of manuscripts that I may consider self-publishing. They don’t fit a particular genre or sub-genre and therefore may not be something a traditional publisher will want to take a chance on. A few years ago I self-published a book on interviews and interviewing – Disastrous Interviews: The Comic, Tragic and Just Plain Ugly - to use in my consulting business, so I’m familiar with the process.

 

If you used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?

For the first book in the Discount Detective series, I was given several cover choices, and I instantly liked one of them. The second time around, a single cover was suggested, and I thought it was perfect, so I didn’t ask for other options. With my other publisher, they ask for ideas about possible covers and we go back and forth until we’re in agreement. So far I’ve been very pleased with all four book covers. And no changes have been made to any of my titles!

What is your writing process? Do you listen to music or do you like silence?

Since I share an office, the word “silence” is a bit hard to define. Keyboards clack, papers rustle, drinks are slurped – you get the idea. But none of that bothers me. I can’t, however, ignore music. If there’s music playing, I listen to it. So background “noise” of that sort is not something I can tolerate while writing.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?

My muse encourages me to begin with a flexible outline, one that like a stream can change course unexpectedly. The outline keeps me from getting so far afield that I can’t bring plotlines together without starting over. I do, however, allow myself to listen to the characters and revise the outline when feedback or facts suggest a new direction.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

Yes, I encourage people to support their local bookshops through listing on IndieBound. You can also find my books on Barnes and Noble, Rakuten Kobo and Third Place Books. My website contains links to each of these and more: www.charlottestuart.com

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?

YES. And YES again. Since I have two new books out, I’m currently spending a disproportionate amount of time on marketing. I want to reach out to new readers, but it’s both complicated and costly to promote a book with so much competition out there. Once I am able to get back to a more reasonable routine, I’m going to try to spend no more than an hour or two a day on marketing. That includes social media outreach. Many successful authors suggest that you should divide your time 50-50 between marketing and writing. If I had to do that, I’m not sure I would continue writing.

 

Besides writing, do you have any other passions?

I admit to having more mini-passions than full-sized passions outside of writing. I love to swim and kayak, walk in the woods, read, go wild blackberry picking, watch movies--. What I don’t have and envy other people for having, is an all-consuming passion for a particular artistic outlet or athletic activity. Then again, maybe one passion is enough for me.

 

Some fun facts about you, which do you prefer – dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?

Dogs or cats?

Until I started writing mysteries, I had allergies instead of pets. Now I have virtual pets, and they are truly fine. The don’t drool on my carpets or scratch my furniture. I don’t have to clean up after them. They cost very little to maintain. And they are grateful to me for their very existence. Perfect partnerships.

 

Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee or tea?

How about a chocolate vanilla swirl dish of ice cream? Served with a very smooth, dark roast coffee in a bright colored mug. Tomorrow I’d like several pieces of white chocolate served with a British blend tea. Chocolate…vanilla…coffee…tea: there’s a time and a place for all.

 

Talk or Text?

During the day I usually text instead of talk. Very focused, specific messages. Nothing too time-consuming. Unless I’m waiting in the ferry line (I live on an island). Then I enjoy a relaxed, meandering chat.

Day or Night

It never occurred to me to prefer one over the other. They are simply different. I love being outdoors when the sun is shining or even when the sky is overcast. But I also love to curl up under a reading lamp in an otherwise dark room to read. And watching while the sun sets and the sky changes from day to night is also a very special moment. I assume seeing the sun rise is also special, but I seldom witness that.

What’s next for you?

I want to continue writing while staying healthy during the pandemic and then write some more. I’ve started three different series and hope to add more books to each. Each setting is a different world to play in, and I enjoy them all. Hope readers will too.

 

 

BLURB:

 

What begins as a prank ends in murder.

 

The campaign for the U.S. Congressional seat was referred to in the press as “Mr. Smith goes to Washington versus the carpetbagger.” The popular local candidate gets the majority of endorsements, but his opponent’s wealthy, out-of-state family is willing to do whatever it takes for him to win.

 

Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency located in a mall, is hired to find out who is stealing the local candidate’s political signs. Two of their investigators, Cameron Chandler and Yuri Webster, not only catch the thieves in the act, they find a body next to a pile of stolen signs, proving that Campaigning Can Be Deadly.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Campaigning-Deadly-Discount-Detective-Mystery/dp/194044232X

 

https://www.bookdepository.com/Campaigning-Can-Be-Deadly-Charlotte-Stuart/9781940442327

 

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781940442327

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51074737-campaigning-can-be-deadly

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/campaigning-can-be-deadly-charlotte-stuart/1136403993

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart has a passion for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. Her first discount detective mystery, Survival Can Be Deadly, was a Foreward INDIES finalist. Why me? Chimeras, Conundrums and Dead Goldfish was a semi-finalist for the Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem contest before it was published. 

 

She began her career in academia with a PhD in communications. Then, she and her husband decided to build a commercial boat and go fishing for salmon in Alaska. Currently she is the VP for Puget Sound Sisters in Crime and lives and writes on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. She spends time each day entertained by herons, seals, eagles and other wildlife.

 

website: http://www.charlottestuart.com

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quirkymysteries

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.stuart.mysterywriter

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19305587.Charlotte_Stuart

 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/clzstuart

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway