An Interview with the 2018 Agatha Nominees for Best First Novel by Paula Gail Benson

Malice Domestic’s 2018 Agatha Nominations for Best First Novel:
Adrift: A Mer Cavallo Mystery by Micki Browning (Alibi-Random House)
The Plot is Murder: Mystery Bookshop by V.M. Burns (Kensington)
Hollywood Homicide: A Detective by Day Mystery by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
Daughters of Bad Men by Laura Oles (Red Adept Publishing)
Protocol: A Maggie O’Malley Mystery by Kathleen Valenti (Henery Press)

Micki Browning, V.M. Burns (Valerie), Kellye Garrett, Laura Oles, and Kathleen Valenti are enjoying having their debut novels celebrated this year at Malice Domestic. We are so pleased to welcome them to WRITERS WHO KILL to answer a few questions about their work. Thanks so much to Micki, Valerie, Kellye, Laura, and Kathleen, and best wishes!—Paula Gail Benson

For many debut novelists, their first published novel may not be the first one they have written. What was your path to your debut published novel?

MICKI: Like many writers I wrote a couple of practice novels. I learned structure by constructing a story that didn’t hold together. I joined Sisters In Crime and took classes through their Guppy chapter. My second novel was better, but still not quite there, and I returned to the classroom. Dialogue classes taught me how to flesh out characters. During a plotting course, I had a structural epiphany that I used while I wrote Adrift. The effort paid off. Adrift garnered both Daphne du Maurier and Royal Palm Literary Awards. I met my agent through the Daphne contest and signed with her shortly after winning.

 

VALERIE: I had two ideas for mystery series when I started my MFA at Seton Hill University. I chose the other idea for my thesis, but finished early and started writing the second one. After graduation, I queried my thesis project and then completed THE PLOT IS MURDER. 

KELLYE: Hollywood Homicide is actually the first novel I wrote. Before you hate me forever, I’ve been a professional writer for over 15 years and have a ton of screenplays in a drawer somewhere. I swear! I got the idea for the book around 2011 when I drove past a Los Angeles Police Department billboard offering a $15,000 for information on a murder. I was dead broke at the time so my first thought was, “I should solve that!” Not the smartest idea—at least in real life. It did turn out to be a pretty cool idea for a book though. I wrote it on and off for a few years before finally finishing a decent draft in 2014. That same year I was lucky enough to be selected for an amazing contest called Pitch Wars, where I found my agent Michelle Richter of Fuse Literary. We sold the book to Midnight Ink in early 2016.

LAURA: I was fortunate in that my day job involved writing for digital photography magazines and publications, so the writing practice and working with editors had been part of my regular routine.  That said, for me, learning to write fiction was very different.  Fiction proved to be a vast universe, so full of options and opportunities.

DAUGHTERS OF BAD MEN is my debut novel but it is my fourth book. I wrote the first three novels as practice, working on character development and structure, plotting and pacing, practicing to become a stronger storyteller. My earlier attempts were done mostly for my own enjoyment, to better understand how a mystery novel works and how I should approach my own vision of it.

KATHLEEN: My path to publication for Protocol started at mile marker forty-something: a mini-midlife crisis in which I woke up one morning and decided that I’d put off my dreams of writing a novel long enough. Armed with books on craft and informed by writing seminars, I dove right in, expecting a smooth journey from concept to manuscript to publication. How hard could it be? I reasoned. I wrote for a living and was an avid reader and former English major. I had this whole novel-writing/book-publishing thing down, right?

Umm…not so much.

Although I had a clear idea of the story I wanted to tell, it took me nearly four years to tell it. After a host of revisions and murdering enough of my darlings to be classified as a linguistic serial killer, I finally had a book I loved and began to shop it around to agents. That’s where the real education began. I had oodles of requests to read, but they all ended in close-but-not-there responses. So I narrowed the gap to “there” and edited again (and again). Finally, success. Jordan at Literary Counsel loved the book as much as I did, took me on as a client and put Protocol out on submission. I got bites right away and said yes to Henery Press, a publisher I not only admired and respected, but that had a team that I knew would be the perfect fit.

Two years—and two-and-a-half books—later and I feel like I’ve arrived at my dream destination. It’s been an amazing journey and I’m so fortunate to have made some great friends along the way, including my fellow nominees for the Agatha Best First. I can’t wait to see where the road leads next.

Do you consider your writing plot-driven, character-driven, neither, or a combination?

MICKI: My writing breakthrough occurred when I learned to plot from the point of view of the antagonist, but write from the perspective of my sleuth. I realize this sounds like I’m a plot-driven writer, the truth is that I find it impossible to suss out the story until I know who my characters are and what motivates them. I’m really a combination writer, because plot springs from the characters and characters drive the plot.

VALERIE: My writing is definitely character-driven. I spend a great deal of time working out my character’s personalities, faults, likes and dislikes and the story and plot flows from that.

KELLYE: Probably a combo. I come from a TV writing background so I live and die by the plot twist. At the same time, the story is driven by the personality of my main character Dayna and her unwavering desire to do anything to save her family’s house from foreclosure. As an amateur detective, she doesn’t make the same investigative decisions that a Kinsey Millhone or Elvis Cole would make—and that was one of my favorite things about writing it. Book Riot featured Hollywood Homicide in their Read or Dead podcast earlier this month and one of the things they said was that if you or I was trying to solve a crime, we’d be bumbling through it like Dayna—which was my goal.

LAURA: I would say it’s a combination, but I lean heavily towards character-driven mysteries. I’m attracted to dialogue and setting, and creating the world where my characters reside has been one of the most enjoyable parts of writing this book.  I’m particularly interested in exploring the dynamics between two characters and how they respond when one is under pressure.  How does that impact their relationship, their ability to work together?  The plot is also incredibly important.  I just believe that understanding the characters well helps me explore the storyline more deeply and make the stakes more personal. Jamie Rush and Cookie Hinojosa lived in my head for a long time before I understood which case they would choose--and why.

KATHLEEN: I’d consider Protocol a plot-driven, character-motivated story. Outside influences start a cascade of events for my protagonist, Maggie O’Malley, but it’s her responses and inner motivators that keep the action—and the energy—going. It’s a system of action and reaction in which the story’s events and Maggie’s responses propel the story (and hopefully the reader) forward. Ultimately, however, it’s Maggie’s story. If the crises had happened to anyone else, Protocol would be a very different book.

What would your protag’s Olympic sport be?

MICKI: Scuba diving isn’t yet an Olympic sport, so that’s out, plus it’s winter. I’m going to guess freestyle skiing. Mer’s never skied before, so anything before she crashed would definitely be freestyle!

VALERIE: If Samantha Washington was in the Olympics, she’d strap her grandmother, Nana Jo to her back and compete in the biathlon. That way Sam could do the cross country skiing and Nana Jo could shoot.

KELLYE: When chasing a suspect, Dayna says, “I always said I could run in four-inch heels. It was good to know I was right on that front.” So her Olympic sport would be the 100 meter dash…in stilettos. She’d get gold for sure.

LAURA: If Texas hold ‘em were an Olympic sport, Jamie Rush might medal.  She’d have a shot at the gold simply for her ability to bluff.

KATHLEEN: Maggie’s Olympic sport would be freestyle skiing. She’s athletic, all about doing her own thing, and ready to leap into action when the occasion calls for it.

Thanks to you all for joining us at WRITERS WHO KILL. Here’s some additional information about these talented writers:

Micki Browning

A retired police captain, Micki Browning writes the Mer Cavallo Mystery series set in the Florida Keys. In addition to the Agatha nomination for Best First Novel, Adrift, has won both the Daphne du Maurier and the Royal Palm Literary Awards. Beached, her second novel, launched January 2018. Micki’s work has appeared in dive magazines, anthologies, mystery magazines, and textbooks. She lives in South Florida with her partner in crime and a vast array of scuba equipment she uses for "research." Learn more about Micki at MickiBrowning.com

Summary of Adrift

Marine biologist-turned-divemaster Meredith Cavallo thought adjusting to a laid-back life in the Florida Keys would be a breeze. But when the host of a ghost-hunting documentary crew hires her as a safety diver and then vanishes during the midnight dive, Mer’s caught in a storm of supernatural intrigue.

Determined to find a rational explanation, Mer approaches the man’s disappearance as any scientist would—by asking questions, gathering data, and deducing the truth. But the victim’s life is as shrouded in mystery as his disappearance. Still, something happened under the water and before long, she’s in over her head. When someone tries to kill her, she knows the truth is about to surface. Maybe dead men do tell tales.

V.M. (Valerie) Burns

V.M. (Valerie) Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her poodles. Receiving the Agatha nomination for Best First Novel has been a dream come true. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com.

Summary of The Plot is Murder

Samantha Washington has dreamed of owning a mystery bookstore for as long as she can remember. And as she prepares for the store’s grand opening, she’s also realizing another dream—penning a cozy mystery set in England between the wars. While Samantha hires employees and fills the shelves with the latest mysteries, quick-witted Lady Penelope Marsh, long-overshadowed by her beautiful sister Daphne, refuses to lose the besotted Victor Carlston to her sibling's charms. When one of Daphne's suitors is murdered in a maze, Penelope steps in to solve the labyrinthine puzzle and win Victor. But as Samantha indulges her imagination, the unimaginable happens in real life. A shady realtor turns up dead in her backyard, and the police suspect her—after all, the owner of a mystery bookstore might know a thing or two about murder. Aided by her feisty grandmother and an enthusiastic ensemble of colorful retirees, Samantha is determined to close the case before she opens her store. But will she live to conclude her own story when the killer has a revised ending in mind for her?

Kellye Garrett

Kellye Garrett writes the Detective by Day mysteries about a semi-famous, mega-broke black actress who takes on the deadliest role of her life: Homicide Detective. The first, Hollywood Homicide, was recently nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Barry awards. The second, Hollywood Ending, will be released on August 8, 2018 from Midnight Ink. Prior to writing novels, Kellye spent eight years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for the TV drama Cold Case. The New Jersey native now works for a leading media company in New York City and serves on the national Board of Directors for Sisters in Crime. You can learn more about her at KellyeGarrett.com and ChicksontheCase.com.

Summary of Hollywood Homicide

Actress Dayna Anderson’s Deadly New Role: Homicide Detective

Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semifamous, mega-broke actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. So after witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she pursues the fifteen grand reward. But Dayna soon finds herself doing a full-on investigation, wanting more than just money—she wants justice for the victim. She chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes, and movie premieres, loving every second of it—until someone tries to kill her. And there are no second takes in real life.

Laura Oles

Laura Oles is a photo industry journalist who spent twenty years covering tech and trends before turning to crime fiction. She served as a columnist for numerous photography magazines and publications. Laura’s short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including MURDER ON WHEELS, which won the Silver Falchion Award in 2016. Her debut mystery, DAUGHTERS OF BAD MEN, is a Claymore Award Finalist and an Agatha nominee for Best First Novel. She is also a Writers’ League of Texas Award Finalist. Laura is a member of Austin Mystery Writers, Sisters in Crime and Writers’ League of Texas. Laura lives on the edge of the Texas Hill Country with her husband, daughter, and twin sons. Visit her online at lauraoles.com.

Summary of Daughters of Bad Men

Jamie Rush understands what it takes to disappear because her parents taught her that long ago. Leveraging her knowledge of why and how people run from their own lives, Jamie has built a business based on bringing those in hiding back to answer for their actions. She takes pride in using her skills to work both inside and outside the law.

When her estranged brother, Brian, calls and says his daughter is missing, Jamie initially turns down the case. Kristen has always been a bit wild, frequently dropping off the grid then showing up a few days later. But Brian swears this time is different, and even though Jamie vowed years ago to keep her conniving sibling at arm’s length, she can’t walk away if Kristen could be in real trouble.

As Jamie begins digging into Kristen’s life, she uncovers her niece’s most guarded secrets. Uncovering the truth will put a target on Jamie’s back and endanger the lives of those she loves.

Kathy Valenti

Kathleen Valenti is the author of the Maggie O’Malley mystery series. The series’ first book, Agatha- and Lefty-nominated Protocol, introduces us to Maggie, a pharmaceutical researcher with a new job, a used phone and a deadly problem. The series’ second book, 39 Winks, releases May 22. When Kathleen isn’t writing page-turning mysteries that combine humor and suspense, she works as a nationally award-winning advertising copywriter. She lives in Oregon with her family where she pretends to enjoy running. Learn more at www.kathleenvalenti.com.

Summary of Protocol

Freshly minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley embarks on a career fueled by professional ambition and a desire to escape the past. As a pharmaceutical researcher, she’s determined to save lives from the shelter of her lab. But on her very first day she’s pulled into a world of uncertainty. Reminders appear on her phone for meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never met. People who end up dead.

With help from her best friend, Maggie discovers the victims on her phone are connected to each other and her new employer. She soon unearths a treacherous plot that threatens her mission—and her life. Maggie must unlock deadly secrets to stop horrific abuses of power before death comes calling for her.

Author Kathleen Valenti Interview by E. B. Davis

Henery Press released Protocol by Kathleen Valenti yesterday. Kathy’s main character, smart, plucky Magnolia “Maggie” O’Malley is a winner. But she gets herself into a whole lot of trouble just trying to do a good job as a pharmaceutical researcher, her first after finishing her education. She dreams of finding drugs that will cure mankind’s ills. Landing a big time job allows her to help her father’s ailing business, but not if she gets fired—or worse.

I may be a sucker for a good story, but I don’t consider it a good story if the author takes liberties with the truth. So after I finished reading Protocol, I did a bit of digging related to controversies Kathleen highlighted in her book. Everything added up—she’d done her homework—and I so hoped she was wrong because it reminded me of how naïve I am and how the almighty buck rules.

Kathleen Valenti’s writing makes for great fiction—unfortunately only some of what Kathleen wrote was fiction. You’ll get lost in her book, but when you finish, you’ll be horrified by the reality.

Please welcome Kathleen Valenti to WWK.                                                                                 E. B. Davis

You were a copywriter. What propelled you to write mystery fiction?

If I’m honest? A midlife(ish) crisis.

I’d been writing ad copy (which some may consider fiction 😉) for nearly 20 years. I woke up one morning and thought, “I wonder if I can write anything other than a TV spot or a print ad?”

As an avid reader and former English major, I knew I wanted to write a book instead of, say, a screenplay or television pilot. I also knew I’d write in my favorite genre.

Of course, the copywriter with a manuscript in her desk drawer—especially an unfinished one—is an oft-derided cliché. So I kept my novel-writing a secret from all but my family and closest friends until after the book was complete, I’d landed an agent and was close to doing the same with a publisher.

I think the biggest thrill was not only proving to myself that I could write a book, but that I was writing something for me rather than a client, in my own voice rather than a brand’s. That felt pretty amazing. 

Your main character is a pharmaceutical researcher. Did you have a connection to that industry? How did you choose her profession and why?

I decided to write about the pharmaceutical industry because I knew I wanted to have a thriller-esque mystery with big stakes. Medicine is also something that touches nearly everyone’s life (nearly three-quarters of Americans are on at least one prescription drug), which gives it incredible power. This combination of omnipresence and power creates some interesting possibilities for a mystery.

I don’t have a personal connection to this industry, but I have a friend who works for a big pharmaceutical. This friend has become an indispensible resource, for which I am forever grateful. As for Maggie’s profession, her role as a researcher not only reflects her personal history and professional desire to better the world, but also sets her up to save lives outside the lab.

Where was the setting of your story and why did you choose that location?

I chose to create a fictional Midwestern city in which to set Protocol. I love reading books with real-life locales but wanted complete control over my virtual surroundings. Inventing a city to go with everything else that I had invented allowed me to do just that.   

How did a young Maggie deal with her mother’s death?

Maggie is a master of sublimation. She channeled the pain of losing her mother to cancer into a mission to help others avoid the same fate. By losing herself first in school then in work, she lost the ability to effectively deal with negative emotions. Unfortunately, life begins doling out circumstances that inspire those emotions, forcing Maggie to face the possibility that she can’t control everything—including how she feels.

Maggie’s problems start with a used cell phone her best friend Gus gives her. Meeting reminders show up on her phone that she didn’t make. He thinks the company that sold him the used phone didn’t wipe the previous owner’s data completely. Why is this a problem?

A previously owned phone that doesn’t have all of its data wiped means that whoever has that phone can access the previous owner’s data: photos, phone numbers, emails and texts. It also means that it can continue to connect to other devices, like computers and tablets, leaving a door through which bad things—and people—can enter.

Maggie drives a 1962 Studebaker. Did someone in your family have one? 

Yes! We have a 1962 Studebaker Lark. My dad has owned a slew of them over the years and gave us one in great need of repair to restore. I have many memories of tooling down the highway in the Studebaker, getting thumbs-ups (and strange looks) from other drivers.

Incidentally, in the final version of the book, I changed Maggie’s Stude to a 1960, which was the year her car’s paint and upholstery combination was available. Sure, I could have changed the car’s color scheme, but it matched one of my dad’s old cars, so it stayed for sentimental reasons.

Maggie beat out 140 applicants to land the job at Rxcellance. What happened to Maggie in the first few weeks of the job that lauded her as a new employee star?

Maggie is hardworking, innovative and creative. In her early weeks on the job, she made a breakthrough on an acne drug she was developing and received an industry award from her work as a grad student. Not too shabby for a newbie!

Does it really cost pharmaceutical companies about $800 million to bring a new drug onto the market?

There’s been a LOT of conversation about the million (or near-billion) dollar pill.

That 800 million dollar price tag was made famous by a 2001 Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, which estimated the cost of developing new drugs at $802 million. In 2014, they said that cost had risen to nearly $2.6 billion. These numbers are controversial—and varied, depending on who’s disseminating the information— because R&D costs are not usually made public, some feel the study contained assumptions that favored the pharmaceutical industry, and because drug companies can use these numbers to justify the prices of their drugs.

(EpiPen price hike, anyone?)

The truth is, it really depends on the drug that’s under development. Expenses can include things like capital costs, but they can also include marketing. In fact, according to health research firm GlobalData, nine out of ten big pharmaceuticals spend more on marketing than research. (And PS, the average drug markup is 2,800%.)

It’s a complicated picture, but one thing’s for sure: it’s big business with big profit margins.

What are test protocols and is the FDA involved?

In a nutshell, a clinical trial protocol for pharmaceuticals is designed to keep participants safe and to answer specific questions about a given drug under development. The protocol describes the who/what/where/when of the study, such as who can participate, the schedule of medications, dosages and procedures, the length of the study, etc. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has oversight in clinical investigations to protect the rights, welfare and safety of subjects.

What is a “pump and dump IPO scheme?”

It’s when a company or group of investors promotes (pumps up) a stock then sells (or dumps) it after it’s ridden the crest of interest to high value. It’s all about shifting supply and demand, and is usually generated through hot tips on the next big thing—which, as it turns out, isn’t big at all. It’s illegal, but unfortunately not all that unusual, especially on small stocks. File this one under If It Sounds Too Good to Be True.

You present a counterpoint POV in Charlene. Did you want her voice heard?

In the early drafts of Protocol, Charlene was the first voice the reader heard. Although she appears on fewer than a dozen pages, she’s absolutely pivotal to not only the plot, but to the book’s central theme about the illness of poverty. Her plight is emblematic of a larger problem that’s in plain sight yet often hidden from our consciousness.

Is this a standalone or the beginning of a series?

This book was originally written as a standalone. My publisher liked the characters so much they wanted to make it a series. Because I was in love with the people I created, I was absolutely delighted to do so. Protocol is book number one.

What are you currently writing?

I’ve just begun the third book in the Maggie O’Malley series. I love that I’ve become such good friends with my characters. I can’t wait to see where they lead me next!

Are you a beach or a mountain person, Kathleen?

I live in what could be considered a ski town, less than an hour from not just one mountain but a whole range. I’m a mountain girl all the way!

                                                

Protocol Jacket Copy

Freshly minted college graduate Maggie O’Malley embarks on a career fueled by professional ambition and a desire to escape the past. As a pharmaceutical researcher, she’s determined to save lives from the shelter of her lab. But on her very first day she’s pulled into a world of uncertainty. Reminders appear on her phone for meetings she’s never scheduled with people she’s never met. People who end up dead.

With help from her best friend, Maggie discovers the victims on her phone are connected to each other and her new employer. She soon unearths a treacherous plot that threatens her mission—and her life. Maggie must unlock deadly secrets to stop horrific abuses of power before death comes calling for her.