Author’s Choice with Grace Topping

Please welcome Grace to Author’s Choice.

Dear readers, here’s where you get to play along. The author will tell us two truths and one lie (ed comment –I randomized the order). At the end of the questions, we’ll reveal what really happened. Remember, we write crime fiction, so lying is in our nature . . .

Two Truths, One Lie

Truth or Lie?: I was seventy-one when my first book was published.

Truth or Lie?: I served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and actually spent a short amount of time in Vietnam.

Truth or Lie?: I have traveled around the world three times.

Eight Quick Questions

Now for some fun insight into today’s author. Here are eight forced choice questions.

1.         First draft: longhand, keyboard, or dictation? When I begin a book, I take a spiral notebook and pen and make notes in longhand—about anything that comes to mind about the plot and characters. I then use this information to create the outline for the manuscript, including the ending. Once I have the outline completed, I then record it using my keyboard. I need this approach to get my ideas flowing.

2.         Plotter, pantser, or plantser (that chaotic middle ground)? I spent a number of years writing pretty boring but structured user manuals for complex computer systems related to bank examinations. As a result, I need to have structure and know where my story is going. So, I am definitely a plotter. I view my outline as a roadmap through my story. Of course, like following a map to go from one place to another, stopping at interesting places, I will add scenes that hadn’t occurred to me when I created my outline.

3.         Editing as you go, or vomit draft first and fix it later? Having spent a number of years as a writer-editor, I always edit as I go. I can’t seem to move ahead until I’ve edited what I wrote the day before.

4.         Character names: meticulously researched, stolen from real life, or whatever sounds right? Names often pop into my head. Other times, I will refer to online lists to get ethnic names or names for a particular age group right. I have been known to take names from book spines, signatures on diplomas, and any papers lying on my desk. I become attached to my characters’ names. I once had to change a character’s name to make it work with a particular ethnic group, and that was hard.  

5.         Writing space: coffee shop chaos, library quiet, or home sweet home? Definitely at home. It’s funny, but all year long I work on my Mac computer. However, when I start work on a manuscript, I use an old laptop so that I can move to different locations in my house. Summers I enjoy working on our screened porch surrounded by nature.

6.         Writer's block: push through, step away, or "it's not real"? Fortunately, since I have an outline for my manuscript and know where I am going, I don’t get writer’s block. At least not so far. Coming up with ideas for a new book—that’s a different story.

7.         Social media for authors: necessary evil, genuine fun, or absolutely not? I had resisted social media for a long time, but just before my first book was published, I finally broke down and became active on Facebook. That connected me with readers in my genre and helped launch my book. It was definitely because of those readers that resulted in Staging is Murder hitting the USA Today best seller list for about a nanosecond. That probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t become active on mystery groups on Facebook.

8.      Reading your own work aloud: love it, tolerate it, or would rather eat glass? Reading my own work aloud is tedious but a necessary evil. However, I do enjoy listening to the audio version of my books.

About the Book

Enough about you, let’s turn to three questions about your book.

Q: If your main character in this novel showed up at your door right now, what would be the first thing they'd say to you (and would it be a complaint)?

A. “I keep telling you I’m not interested in a romantic relationship, but you keep throwing me together with that difficult detective!”

Q: What's one thing you hope readers take away from this book?

A. That Laura Bishop has no desire to be an amateur sleuth, but she gets involved to help the people she cares about. People are important to Laura.

Q: What question did you want me to ask, and what is your answer? 

A. What prompted you to make Laura Bishop a home stager? The main character in a cozy mystery usually has a business or interest that is central to the story. When I decided to write a cozy mystery, I wanted Laura to have a business that I found interesting since I would be spending a lot of time writing about it. I had never seen a cozy that featured a home stager, so I felt safe selecting a business that hadn’t been overdone in series. I had also spent way too many hours watching staging shows on HGTV and had learned a lot about it.

The Big Reveal

Now let’s see how good a sleuth (or guesser) our readers are. Please reveal all.

The lie is I traveled around the world three times. Actually, I have traveled around the world two times, both times by ship. 

After attending Malice Domestic as a fan, I decided that when I retired, I was going to write murder mysteries. The writers at Malice looked like they were having so much fun and I wanted to join them. However, there is a big difference between writing boring computer user manuals and cozy mysteries, so I had a lot to learn and it took me several years before my first in the Laura Bishop mystery series was published—just after my seventy-first birthday.

One of the best decisions of my life was joining the Navy, and I am very proud and thankful for my seven years of service—even if it was during a difficult time in our history. It enabled me to get my college degree, travel the world, and serve in England for four years, where I met my British husband. He calls himself a GI war bride.

Here’s a blurb for and some links where you can find Grace's first in the Laura Bishop series:

Book Blurb

Staging is Murder (First in Series) Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating commission—staging for sale a 19^th-century mansion that hasn’t been updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at Laura’s feet, replacing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties.

[Amazon]       [Barnes & Noble] 

Want to know more?

For more information about Grace Topping connect with her  on Facebook.