Author’s Choice with Terri Karsten

Please welcome Terri 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 climbed Mount Fuji in the dark.

Truth or Lie? I flew over the Loire River in a hot air balloon.

Truth or Lie? I survived a train wreck in Iowa.

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? My first draft is usually mostly keyboard. If I get stuck, I scribble scene or two in longhand which I usually can read later.

2.      Plotter, pantser, or plantser (that chaotic middle ground)? I'm in that chaotic middle ground. I carefully plan the beginning scene and the ending before I start doing any writing. Then I work with a vague plan, pantsing it until to get from the beginning to that ending.

3.      Character names: meticulously researched, stolen from real life, or whatever sounds right? Character names are very important, so I spend a lot of time making sure that I have the right name for each character. I like names that mean something and fit with the era, the personality, the ethnicity, and the social status of the character.

4.      Writing space: coffee shop chaos, library quiet, or home sweet home? My office is small and messy, full of books, stacks of papers and miscellaneous artifacts, but I know where everything is and it's very comfortable and quiet.

5.      Writer's block: push through, step away, or "it's not real"? Writer's block for me is when I’m stuck because I’m not sure what's happening next.  The most useful way to get past it is going for a long walk where there's no traffic and I don't have to watch for cars or pedestrians or anything. I can just walk without looking at anything and rehearse in my head what might happen.

6.      Reading your own work aloud: love it, tolerate it, or would rather eat glass? I actually enjoy reading my work out loud if it's finished and I’m satisfied with it. Then it’s like reading bedtime stories, which I’ve always loved.

7.      Happy ending, bittersweet, or gut-punch finale? Happy ending for sure. Maybe not everything is perfect, but life is good.

8.      Book launch day: celebrate big, feel quiet relief, or hide under the covers? How about celebrate small because I'm not much of a people person. I’m very introverted, but I do feel a quiet exhilaration when the book comes out, and I like sharing that.

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. Penelope Corbitt would say, “Thank you. Not for the surprises you keep throwing my way. I do not appreciate those, but I'm grateful you've given me the courage to face what needs to be faced and do what needs to be done no matter how difficult. I'd be equally grateful for a little quieter future, but I doubt you'll grant me that.”

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

A. Society is not always right in its expectations, and the law does not always provide justice for everyone. It takes courage to do what is right and follow your own conscience.

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

A. What's next? The answer is there's a sequel to A Necessary Death, due out in the fall. Book two, A Player's Exit , takes place a year later at the same tavern, with the same main characters, Penelope Corbitt and Myles Tucker. Their peaceful life is upended when a troop of travelling players comes to arrives at the Tavern and almost immediately one of the players is found dead in the tavern stable.

    The story plays with the idea of acting and play acting versus truth telling. Miles must also navigate the new tax called the Sugar Act, which threatens colonial rum production and causes real problems for tavern owners.

The Big Reveal

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

The lie is flying over the Loire River in a hot air balloon. It's on my bucket list, but I haven't done it yet.

It's true that I survived a train wreck when my children were just babies. We boarded the California Zephyr in Iowa in the early evening and settled into our sleeper compartment. Somewhere around 3:30 in the morning, when we were all asleep, there was a terrible crash. One of our bags fell on my back, and I struggled to avoid crushing my one-year-old as we tumbled sideways.

I learned there was a flash flood, and the bridge had washed out. The first three cars of the train into the river, and our car, the 4^th in line, hung at a precarious angle, halfway into the water. Flood waters poured into the train car, blocking the exit doors. It took rescuers about three hours to force an upper-level window open. I handed my babies out to rescuers and climbed after them through the window into a small rowboat which took us across the swollen river to a waiting bus, which then took us to a Red Cross rescue station in Omaha where the people were very, very nice. 

The second truth is that I climbed Mount Fuji in the dark. When my son graduated from high school, he and I went to Japan for his graduation present. One of the highlights of the trip was ascending Mt. Fuji. We started at Station 6 in the evening. The idea was to climb at night in order to arrive at the top of the mountain before dawn.

I love hiking, but this was absolutely the hardest hike I have ever done, mostly because I struggled with the altitude. My flashlight burned out, the moon rose and set, leaving me in the dark, and my son went ahead, taking all the GORP with him. It took me just over 8 hours to climb out to the top, but I saw the sun rise over the curve of the earth. And it was worth every minute of the effort. 

Here’s a blurb for and some links where you can find Terri's latest:

Book Blurb

With Penelope Corbitt in the kitchen, the tavern will never be the same.

Penelope Corbitt can turn a lump of meat and a bit of flour into a mouth-watering pie or make a tasty meal of cabbage and vinegar.  But all her skill can’t save her family in the spring of 1763, when she loses everything to pay off her missing husband’s debts.

Penelope sees no choice but to move in with her stingy brother-in-law, who doesn’t want her disrupting his life any more than she wants his reluctant charity. The miserable journey north from Philadelphia is interrupted when the coach crashes in the mud. Penelope and her children are stranded at a run-down tavern. Penelope doesn’t think things can get worse.

Then she finds a dead man.

[Wagonbridge Publishing]       [Amazon]       [Barnes & Noble]

Want to know more?

For more information about Terri Karsten https://terrikarsten.com/