Author’s Choice with Tracey S. Phillips

Please welcome Tracey 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 a debutant with purple hair.

Truth or Lie? I’ve been playing the piano since I was 3 years old.

Truth or Lie? I was a concert pianist.

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? Keyboard. But… I keep a handwritten journal for each book with notes and ideas. By the time I’m done writing the book, I will have filled that journal.

2.      Plotter, pantser, or plantser (that chaotic middle ground)? Plantser!

3.   Editing as you go, or vomit draft first and fix it later?  A little of both. I call it a spiraling method where I go back to the beginning several times, and then build on the story again and again, spiraling out to the final scene.

4.    Character names: meticulously researched, stolen from real life, or whatever sounds right? I use a website called Fantasy Name Generator. It provides real names for people from all over the world. Love it!

5.     Writing space: coffee shop chaos, library quiet, or home sweet home? Home, usually. I just created a dedicated office space in an extra room in the house. I painted it Caribbean Blue and Blood Orange. The colors inspire me!

6.   Writer's block: push through, step away, or "it's not real"? I don’t believe in Writer’s Block. If I’m stuck, I’ll write out solutions to the problem in a journal. That way I usually solve the problem.

7.    Reading your own work aloud: love it, tolerate it, or would rather eat glass? Last year I made my own audiobook. I kens the software, I knew recording. (I majored in Music Production and engineering at Berklee College of Music.) I recorded myself, edited and added front and back matter to my own book. It was extremely painstaking, and took SO much longer than I anticipated.

    However, I caught many typos and rewrote sections, I even deleted a chapter in the process. It showed me the value of reading the work aloud and now I’m planning to read my next book, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Because of the work involved I won’t make my own audiobook again. At least not this year.

8.   Book launch day: celebrate big, feel quiet relief, or hide under the covers? It depends. I’ve hidden from book launches when I wrote under the pen name Karissa Knight. And I tried to celebrate big when I released my second book under Tracey S. Phillips last year. Because of many things, I wasn’t able to ‘celebrate’ as planned. I have two books launching this year, Deepest Secrets, Book Two in the Secrets Series, and Safe Keeping, a standalone. I’ll probably hide under the covers.

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. Detective Morgan Jewell would probably take me in for questioning. She’s sure I’m a suspect.

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

A. We all have a dark side. We’re all living psychological trauma, mild or major. Be kind to others. You never know what secrets they’re hiding, or what kind of trauma they’ve been through.

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

A. Will you write another book starring Morgan Jewell? Yes! I’m almost ready to send it to the formatters. Book two in the Detective Morgan Jewell Trilogy is called, Deepest Secrets.

The Big Reveal

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

The lie is that I was a concert pianist. My Grandmother taught many people advanced piano pedagogy. A handful of her students went on to be concert performers. Not her granddaughter. Though it’s true, I did start lessons with her at age 3. Music is my second language. I use music theory, arranging and my knowledge of voicing when I’m writing my novels. 

I went to a private prep school for high school, and we were required to wear uniforms. As soon as I graduated, I dove wholeheartedly into my punk rock phase. I dyed my hair purple—which was a very big deal in 1982. My parents didn’t tell me about the Debutant ball. But boy were they surprised when I came home from college with purple hair!

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

Book Blurb

Secrets weigh on you, no matter if you are a psychopathic killer or a seasoned homicide detective with trauma in your past. This debut novel by Tracey S. Phillips deserves high praise for its ability to show how we all share the same complicated needs and emotions, whether we end up committing murders or solving them. -Annie Feldman, verified reviewer.

Morgan Jewell requests access to a crime outside her jurisdiction. The similarities to what happened in her past are too similar to ignore. Though her partner Donnie James knows this is part of that old obsession, he agrees to tag along.

Morgan is haunted by her best friend's murder. The event—just before they moved into college dorms together—changed Morgan’s life. Fay Ramsey held a secret in her final days, but Morgan, now a homicide detective, has failed to connect the dots. Nothing makes sense. All leads have run dry.

As Morgan’s fractured memories return, she knows she’s on the trail of Fay’s murderer. A man—whose past is as scattered as Morgan’s memory—appears to be connected to a series of murders. He must be the missing link.

Caryn Klein wants nothing to do with her estranged brother. But when she sees his face in one of her account profiles, she can’t stay away. It’s been too long. And with that detective asking questions about their past, Caryn must contact him. Even though she knows what he’s capable of.

This is the case Morgan has been waiting for. And the closer she gets to the killer, the more memories of her best friend return. What was Fay’s secret? What got her killed? Maybe Morgan didn't know her at all.

[Blackbird Writers Bookstore]       [Bookshop.org]       [Amazon]

Want to know more?

For more information about Tracey S. Phillips https://www.traceysphillips.com