Author’s Choice with Terri Maue

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 trained to be a professional pastry chef.

Truth or Lie? I once belonged to a coven.

Truth or Lie? I have a first-degree black belt in TaeKwon Do.

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 it seems that often after I leave a writing session, I get a great useful idea, so I scribble that down onto a small piece of paper on my desk. If I don’t use it right away, the scraps proliferate until I can’t stand the mess. Then I type them into my outline.

2.          Plotter, pantser, or plantser (that chaotic middle ground)? Chaotic middle ground. I have to know at the beginning, who did it, how, to whom and why. But in Knife Edge, the first Zee & Rico mystery, I actually changed the killer after I reached the penultimate chapter. In Book Two: Dark Mirror, I completed the whole book and then went back and wrote an entirely new first chapter.

3.          Editing as you go, or vomit draft first and fix it later? Some editing as I go, but mostly I just get the thing out onto paper/screen. I believe you can’t revise what you don’t have.

4.          Character names: meticulously researched, stolen from real life, or whatever sounds right? Whatever sounds right. I get a certain zing in my body when I hit upon the right name for a character.

5.          Writer's block: push through, step away, or "it's not real"? Step away. When I can’t figure out what comes next, or when writing begins to feel like slogging through mud, I take a break. I do something completely unrelated to the work, like laundry or dishes. I can’t tell you how many times, as I am thus engaged, a solution or an idea presents itself. Of course, the most effective thing to do is to take a shower! I can almost guarantee that a solution will arise when I’m drenched and can’t reach for paper and pen. But I enjoy this dance between my subconscious and conscious self; it’s one of the most fun parts of writing.

6.          Social media for authors: necessary evil, genuine fun, or absolutely not? It started as a necessary evil for me, but I have since learned to enjoy posting reels and photos. I love having a website, but I’m not as good as I should be about keeping it up to date.

7.          Happy ending, bittersweet, or gut-punch finale? I’d like to provide a gut-punch finale, but with the caveat that I want to play fair with the reader. That means I have provided all the clues a reader needs in order to solve the mystery, but I have obfuscated them to a sufficient degree that the reader either doesn’t figure it out or figures it out very close to the ultimate big reveal. In either case, I want the reader to be satisfied. If the reader is surprised, so much the better.

8.          Book launch day: celebrate big, feel quiet relief, or hide under the covers? The first time I had a piece of my writing published (in a magazine), I wanted to hide. I felt extremely exposed and vulnerable. It’s my blood on the page. However, now I celebrate! All my life I’ve wanted to write mystery novels. I did not accomplish this until I retired. (I had to support habits I acquired in childhood, like eating and having a roof over my head.) It’s great to achieve a lifelong dream, and I happily celebrate it.

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 want to think that Zee would thank me for giving her such an interesting career, such a wonderful, intuitive, spiritually attuned best friend, and such a smokin’ hot lover. And maybe she would thank me for plopping everyone down in such a unique place (the city of Valerian, named, not for the sleep-inducing herb but after a bloodthirsty Roman emperor).

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

A. I hope readers will close Dark Mirror feeling happy that they’ve been well entertained and also sad that the adventure has come to an end, because they want to spend more time with these interesting, complex characters in their unique city.

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

A. Why do I write traditional murder mysteries? I have always been curious why people do what they do. A murder is a crucible for exploring this question. The best murder mysteries are, in my opinion, deep investigations into the human psyche of the characters. A traditional murder mystery focuses on the puzzle, but the solution is not superficial. Killing is a dramatic act, and unless the killer is a psychopath—a trope which I avoid—it must be driven by a powerful, often multi-layered force. 

The Big Reveal

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

The lie is that I am a professional pastry chef.

I do hold a first-degree black belt in TaeKwon Do. My husband and I started taking classes to support our teenage son, who was a nerdy kid just entering a rather tough high school. I never expected to like martial arts, but it fed a part of me that apparently had been starving for attention!

I also was a member of a coven for about three years, during what I call my feminist awakening phase of life. How liberating it was to break free of all the male portrayals of the Divine! I was so indoctrinated in them that when I first began to explore the Goddess, I asked God to forgive me for using a female representation.

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

Book Blurb for Dark Mirror

Zee Morani's gut tells her it's murder when her new friend dies, but since Zee's still recovering from a recent battle with a deranged killer, the last thing she wants is to get involved in another homicide.

She's relieved when the police arrest a stalker who confesses to the accidental death, until she gets a text implying a connection to Believers Anonymous, a group waging war against the crippling effects of religious indoctrination.

Zee's not a cop, not even a PI. She's a columnist whose forte is challenging bureaucratic hypocrisy. Violence isn't usually part of her job, but exposing truth is in her blood. As she burrows into BA's tangled nest of relationships, she uncovers a growing list of suspects and motives. When new evidence confirms murder, she vows to make sure the police have the real culprit.

Zee's intuitive friend Fontina supports Zee's investigation, while Rico, a veteran crime reporter with whom Zee has rekindled an uncertain romance, wants to protect her, especially when a threat ratchets the danger. As the truth becomes clear, Zee races to act-because she's the only one who knows and time is running out.

[Amazon]       [Barnes & Noble]       [Bookshop.org (Indy Bookstores)]

Want to know more?

For more information about Terri Maue https://www.terrimaue.com