1–What is the title of your latest release?
My next release will be on April 26th, A MARGIN FOR MURDER book eight in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series.
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Bookshop owner Addie Greyborne must put the brakes on a killer after a death occurs behind the wheel of a bookmobile . . .
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Before I wrote my first cozy book, I conducted extensive research into the history of various locations that would work well with what I had in mind writing and found Massachusetts to be perfect. It’s an area steeped in history that goes back well before the 1600s and is easily accessible to hundreds of other cultural and historical sites. It made the perfect setting for a cozy murder mystery series.
4–Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life?
Most definitely! To me, when developing a character, it’s about keeping an element of reality in a fictional world. My development of Addie Greyborne is no exception. I write her to have good days and bad. She can be serious, and then silly—some say she acts no better than a teenager at times—but she’s always written as a very real woman with emotions that can fluctuate. She’s really no different in that respect to you or me and has very human flaws. Addie is someone who in spite of the emotionally devastating set-backs she encountered when she lost everyone she loved under tragic circumstance has retained the ability to forge onward and through time acquires an increasing amount of resiliency, and resourcefulness when she’s faced with a new challenge. Addie is also loyal friend to those she cares about and I like and respect all those qualities in a person.
5–What are three words that describe your sleuth?
I would say Addie shows considerable perseverance, resiliency and resourcefulness.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I can’t tell you specifically what I learned when writing A Margin for Murder without giving any spoilers, but I can say that I love to conduct research. Perhaps it’s a hold-over from my training as a journalist, but I can spend hours and hours researching for every book and love every minute of it because of what I learn. In addition since all my books feature a different classic novel, I also learn something new about the author’s background. For example, were you aware that when Arthur Conan Doyle was twenty-seven-years-old, he had a faltering medical practice, and used his free time to write his first detective story. It took him only three weeks to write and was published under the title A Study in Scarlet, the book that introduced the world to Sherlock Holmes, one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time. Then of course there is researching methods of murder, such as, can a flare gun actually kill a person, and if so, from what distance. What poisons are the deadliest and fastest acting? There’s a lot to learn when writing cozies, although they are fiction, as the author, you can’t stretch the facts beyond belief so thorough research is a must.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I do a little of both. The first half of the book I generally start off editing each chapter after it’s written. However, when I get to what I call the messy middle, where the scenes been set, the murder has occurred, and I’ve woven in, hopefully, enough back story so that new readers can follow. It’s then time to transition to a fast-paced satisfying conclusion. That’s the point I switch to a free-flow writing method just to get it on paper, and then I’ll go back and pretty it up after. It’s a method that works for me and keeps me on track with my tight deadlines.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
That’s an easy one for me, chocolate-chip cookies, and my preference being the ones that are crispy on the outside but soft and gooey in the middle. Yummy, yummy!
9–Describe your writing space/office!
When I write, I enjoy the comfort of my home office. It can become cluttered at times, but it’s always a cozy space and has a door that I can close and retreat behind. Inside, I’m surrounded by whiteboards, stacks of books, photos and memorabilia of my travels.
10–Who is an author you admire?
There are a great many authors I admire. Like most young girls, I grew up reading the Nancy Drew series, and then graduated to the books in my mother’s library and began devouring everything she had by, Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and Barbara Erskine, to name a few. I’d have to say that I admire each one of them, and they had a huge influence on me as an aspiring author.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
I’d have to say no, there wasn’t one book, in particular, that changed my life. All books can be a life-changing experience in the moment.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
Now that was an exciting day to say the least. I had only recently signed with my literary agent, Sandy Harding of Spencerhill Associates, when she pitched Murder by the Book, the first in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series to a number of publishers. Within eight days, she received a call from more than one who was interested in picking up the book. That’s when the fun and the stress of negotiations really kicked in. Then three weeks later I‘d signed a three book deal with Kensington Publishing, and here we are now with a ten book contract in that series and three more to come in a brand-new series. I must say I couldn’t be happier working with them. It was the best decision I could have ever made and a real turning point in my career and life.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
I enjoy a number of genres, but my favorites would be, cozy mysteries of course, along with historical and gothic thrillers
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Hum, that’s a tough one as there are so many great movies. However, I guess if I had to pick one as being my all-time favorite, I would have to say Gone with the Wind, no doubt about it.
15–What is your favorite season?
Spring has always been my favorite season. To me, it represents the renewal of life, hope for the coming year, and it’s my birthday season, what more can I say?
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With family, and it usually includes a dinner, and an evening get-together.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Recently, I’ve been watching British murder mysteries, and I would have to say the one that stands out as a favorite right now is Whitstable Pearl, which is based on the book series by Julie Wassmer. I can’t wait for the new season to start later this year.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I love food that’s no secret. However, if I had to pick a favorite cuisine, I’d have to go with Chinese.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
With back-to-back deadlines, I don’t tend to have much down time, but when I do, I love reading, watching British murder mysteries, playing with our eleven-month-old puppy, little Addie, who is the cutest little, high-energy bundle of Whoodle you’d ever meet (Wheaten Terrier, Poodle cross) and are often referred to as the teddy bear dog, which she certainly is. I also enjoy camping (weather permitting as I’ve really become a fair-weather camper as I get older), and I love puttering in my flower garden. Oh, and baking chocolate-chip cookies!
20–What can readers expect from you next?
I’m thrilled to announce that on November 29th, 2022; STEEPED IN SECRETS, the first book in my brand-new Crystals and CuriosiTEAS Mystery series will debut, and it’s available now for pre-order.
A MARGIN FOR MURDER by Lauren Elliott
A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #8
Addie leaves her Greyborne Harbor bookstore, Beyond the Page Books and Curios, in the capable hands of her assistant while she travels to the neighboring town of Pen Hollow to attend a book sale at a library that is closing due to lack of funding. But the real find is a bookmobile bus, which she’s excited to refit as a traveling bookstore to hit all the summer festivals. The bookmobile also holds a surprising treasure: several classic first editions and an early edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses.
But before the bookmobile can be delivered to Addie, a fatal car crash occurs. When an autopsy reveals poison in the victim’s system and the first editions go missing, it’s up to Addie to determine what would drive someone to murder. If she’s not careful, however, she may be the next one to be dead on arrival . . .
Mystery Woman Sleuth | Mystery Book Lover | Mystery Cozy [Kensington, On Sale: April 26, 2022, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496735133 / eISBN: 9781496735171]
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About Lauren Elliott
USA Today Best-Selling author Lauren Elliott grew up devouring the entire Nancy Drew series and then graduated to Victoria Holt, Agatha Christie, Barbara Erskine, Lynn Kurland, and Michael Crichton to name a few of her favorite authors. When it came time for post-secondary education, journalism seemed like the logical choice as she had written for as long as she could remember. Soon after graduation, while working for a small publication, she discovered that reporting wasn’t what fueled her writing passions. As someone with an additionally strong background in professional theatre who had the love of storytelling and captivating and holding an audience, her fiction-writing career began to take center stage.
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