Ask the Author: J.R. Lindermuth
Answered Questions (11)
J.R. Lindermuth
Hi Dena. Thank you. I announced it in the Good Reads Authors/Readers group. The Case of the Beguiled Courier is in the April issue of Mystery Magazine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C12D3KDD?...
J.R. Lindermuth
The only way to learn to write is to write.
You don't learn to drive by reading a manual. You learn to drive by doing it. It's the same with writing.
There's a marvelous piece of advice from Stephen King: "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."
Robert Louis Stevenson, another writer I admire, suggested "When you read a book or passage that pleases you, sit down at once and try to ape that quality which most pleases you."
No, that doesn't mean you should write like the writers you admire. I can write a pastiche of Hemingway. But I'm not Hemingway. You pick up bits and pieces of technique from other writers, then you make them yours.
Practice. Lots of practice. That's how you learn to write.
It's not easy, but it is worth the work.
You don't learn to drive by reading a manual. You learn to drive by doing it. It's the same with writing.
There's a marvelous piece of advice from Stephen King: "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."
Robert Louis Stevenson, another writer I admire, suggested "When you read a book or passage that pleases you, sit down at once and try to ape that quality which most pleases you."
No, that doesn't mean you should write like the writers you admire. I can write a pastiche of Hemingway. But I'm not Hemingway. You pick up bits and pieces of technique from other writers, then you make them yours.
Practice. Lots of practice. That's how you learn to write.
It's not easy, but it is worth the work.
J.R. Lindermuth
I wouldn't mind tagging along with Robert Olen Butler's war correspondent in The Hot Country, a novel set in old Mexico.
J.R. Lindermuth
My TBR list is toppling. I hope to read more of the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. Haven't even started her Shetland series yet. I also want to read the third of Anne Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels. I'm currently reading Andrew Hughes' The Coroner's Daughter. Then there are so many books by friends, including some who haven't the recognition they deserve.
J.R. Lindermuth
As a former police reporter and as a genealogist I've encountered many mysteries which could provide the plot for a book. One from genealogy that has haunted me for a long time is the disappearance of a cousin of my maternal grandfather.
Mary (Mame) Sears Reader left Sunbury PA in 1882 to join her husband Joseph Reader, who had assumed a new job in another area of the state. Friends saw her off at the station and another testified later he'd spoken to her on the train. Yet she failed to arrive at her destination.
There was no information that she intended to leave her husband, and almost all the Sears family think she was foully dealt with during her trip. But then comes the question of motive, and the mysterious disappearance. If she had been murdered where was the body? The husband later filed for divorce and remarried. The mystery remains unsolved.
Mary (Mame) Sears Reader left Sunbury PA in 1882 to join her husband Joseph Reader, who had assumed a new job in another area of the state. Friends saw her off at the station and another testified later he'd spoken to her on the train. Yet she failed to arrive at her destination.
There was no information that she intended to leave her husband, and almost all the Sears family think she was foully dealt with during her trip. But then comes the question of motive, and the mysterious disappearance. If she had been murdered where was the body? The husband later filed for divorce and remarried. The mystery remains unsolved.
J.R. Lindermuth
I could tout another writer's creation, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tout my own characters, Officer Flora Vastine and Corporal Harry Minnich. They've had some rough patches since Flora was introduced as a minor character in Something In Common. For sometime Flora thought Harry would never even notice her as a person. Now, in Shares The Darkness, seventh in the Sticks Hetrick series, they're engaged and looking to a future together. Their romance adds another element to what might otherwise be just another mystery series. There's more to life (and fiction) than just murder.
J.R. Lindermuth
Hi Eric. My books are available from the publisher and at https://www.amazon.com/J.R.-Lindermut...
http://www.simonandschuster.com/searc...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/linde...
and most other major booksellers.
http://www.simonandschuster.com/searc...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/linde...
and most other major booksellers.
J.R. Lindermuth
It was in the east. In the west it more related to location. For instance, a milk cow might be more scarce in some areas, demanding a higher price. for beef cattle, the market price fluctuated constantly.
J.R. Lindermuth
Austin, I hope you will take a chance of this book. It has ingredients you like and, I assure you, the dog is not a victim. This is one of those novels in which the gestation period was longer than the actual writing. Once I started writing, it went fast and smooth. I'm recuperating from surgery at my son's home, so I don't have my work books here and can't say exactly how long the actual writing took.
J.R. Lindermuth
Working on the eighth and ninth in the Sticks Hetrick crime series. Shares The Darkness, seventh in the series, will be released on Sept. 13, 2016.
J.R. Lindermuth
It's been said many times by many others and it still rings true--read and write until your imagination overflows.
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