Acclaimed author, Lauren Carr, joins us this week with a bit of sage (and humorous!) advice on the writing process. Look for her latest mystery, A Fine Year for Murder, currently 99c for Kindle as of the date of this posting.
Why It Is Not a Good Idea to Commit WUI
Warning: Please disregard any typos, grammatical or punctuation errors, found in this post. Such wrongdoing must be forgiven, dear reader, because the author at the time of the writing was committing WUI (writing while under the influence) of heavy drugs—specifically codeine cough medicine.
This week, I learned a valuable lesson. Just like you should never drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs—never try to write while under the influence of codeine cough medicine. To tell you the truth, I should have known better. I mean, it says right there on the warning label not to operate heavy machinery while taking it. Who would have considered a laptop weighing less than one pound as being “heavy?”
But, I came down with this virus infection at the same time that I was chomping at the bit to get started on Twofer Murder, my next mystery novel, which is scheduled to come out this summer. The whole mystery was plotted out in my mind when Mother Nature struck me down with a severe virus infection—sending me to bed with a box of tissues, bag of cough drops, and a bottle of prescription cough medicine.
Unfortunately, no one had the nerve to take away my laptop.
No virus was going to keep me from starting my next mystery! No, sir! As long as I was conscious and could reach that keyboard, I was going to send my characters off on their next murder mystery. And so I did …
It was a dark and stormy night, when Gnarly, Mac Faraday’s rambunctious German shepherd, was crouched down in a lovely meadow, with his suspect in his sight.
It was Morris the Cat. Yes, that Morris the Cat. The celebrity feline’s manager suspected that his client had been dipping his paws too heavily into the kitty litter.
It didn’t take long for Gnarly to see that the agent had reason to be concerned. After a day of following Morris from one cat house to another, he could see that his target had cornered the market on cat nip or Viagra for Felines.
After four hours of surveillance, Gnarly wondered if he should advise the cat to call a doctor via the medication’s warning label, which read, “Warning: May cause drowsiness.”
…..
“Wait a minute! That’s not right,” I thought when I re-read that. “That doesn’t make sense.” I scratched my head. Then, it hit me. “Where’s my murder victim? I’m writing a murder mystery. I need a murder victim!”
I resumed writing.
It was a dark and stormy night, when Morris leapt up from where he had been lazing in the beautiful meadow after imbibing a full kilo of catnip and struck down the beautiful butterfly.
There! Now I have my victim.
Abruptly, the bottle of cough medicine was thrust in front of my face, coming between me and the laptop. My husband pointed at the label. “According to this warning label, you aren’t supposed to write while taking this medicine. You’re supposed to rest.”
“Show me where it says that.”
My eye sight was so blurry I couldn’t read the tiny little print, so I had to take his word for it. Like a good husband, he took away my keyboard and we called it a night.
What a good man!
Will This Case Spell the End of the Thorny Rose Couple?
After ten months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.
When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting and suppressed the memory.
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?
Praise for Lauren Carr Mysteries!
"Although Carr places all of her books primarily into the mystery
genre, I've become intrigued to see her take off into complex, diverse stories
that "tip over" into multi-genre categories that leaves me wondering
if there is anybody out there producing the wealth of divergent and dissimilar
areas of interests into which Carr is willing to travel...and achieve!" - Reviewer: Glenda Bixler, Book
Reader's Heaven
About the Author
Book reviewers and readers alike rave
about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense,
romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made
appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at
conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the
real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Visit Lauren’s websites and blog at:
