411 on Books, Authors & Publishing

Author Interview with Lauren Carr/The Nutcracker Conspiracy

1. What was the highlight of writing The Nutcracker Conspiracy?

How the mystery unfolded. It’s difficult to explain without giving away any spoilers. When working on a plotline, I always start out with the mystery. We have the crime and the mystery that needs to be solved.

During my writing process, I work the case in my mind. I solve the mystery myself. Of course, it is fictional, so I can change the facts because they aren’t really facts. During this process of The Nutcracker Conspiracy, I was surprised and delighted to have the mystery go in a completely different direction than my mysteries usually go.

2. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I believe writers are born writers. They may not be penning novels or selling books on Amazon, but they’re writers. You can tell a writer by asking them how their day was. A normal person will say, “Fine.”

A writer will set the scene with the weather. “It was a dark and stormy night, …” Do character development. Establish the conflict and build to a climax. Ten minutes later, you’ll forget what your question was. But that will be okay because you enjoyed an entertaining story.

3. You started out your writing career writing a humor column for a local newspaper. What inspired you to start writing mystery novels?

I loved murder mysteries. In the back of my mind, I wanted to writer murder mysteries, but I never dared. I thought murder mystery writers had to be wickedly clever and I didn’t think I was clever enough to do it.

Maybe it’s because I was such a murder mystery fan and read so many, but I went through a spell where I would solve the mystery by page forty. I knew all of the formulas in writing mysteries because I had read them all.

Or, I disliked the long stream of protagonists. It seemed like most were so damaged and broken. That’s because the writers wanted to make their protagonists vulnerable, thus more relatable to the readers. But there’s a difference between vulnerable and broken. I had no respect for the detectives. Your readers have to respect and like the protagonist.

One day, I tossed a book across the room and said, “I could write a better mystery than this.”

And so I did.

4. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?

Write what you love. Think about what you want to tell your readers and write it. Forget about what’s selling. That’s other people’s writing. If you write what you love and love what you write, then it will come across between the lines and your readers will come.

5. What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good murder mystery writing?

Keeping your focus on the mystery. Many writers in the name of realism or character development or whatever, stray away from the murder mystery and take the reader down the path of drama. Sometimes it’s a love interest or a comical side plot.

While readers may enjoy the characters and grow to like or even love them, a mystery writer must not forget that the prime objective of a murder mystery is the mystery.

Not too long ago, I was watching the latest episode of a murder mystery series. The series was on its fifth season. I used a timer and discovered that out of forty minutes only twelve minutes was focused on the murder mystery. The rest of the episode, close to three-fourths, was devoted to the protagonist’s love life and a comical side plot between the other series characters.

The mystery wasn’t even that challenging. The show’s writers had shifted the focus of the murder mystery show from mystery to romantic drama. Not surprisingly, the viewing audience had dropped, and the show was cancelled.

Could it be because the original viewing audience was mystery fans who stopped watching because the mystery was reduced to a subplot?

My books are character driven. I do include witty bantering between the characters and even insert a quick love scene, but always, with every scene, I strive to move the mystery forward.

6. What’s next for Lauren Carr? What are you working on now?

The fourteenth Mac Faraday Mystery! I’d started writing Came Upon a Midnight Murder in September, but then Murphy of the Thorny Rose Mysteries started talking to me and I had to set Mac aside to write The Nutcracker Conspiracy. That’s the problem with imaginary friends. Sometimes they get jealous of each other.

Anyway, I am back to writing Came Upon a Midnight Murder. Deep Creek Lake rocks with scandal when, during a Christmas party attended by most of Spencer’s rich and powerful, the host is murdered.

This year, we’re going to celebrate Christmas in June!

Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?

Book Description:Beware: Perfection has a dark side!

Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica Faraday expected for her date night was to take a couple’s gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned
by Chef Natalie Stepford―the model of perfection in looks, home, and business.

When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford’s life to discover that the pursuit of perfection can be deadly.