Campaigning Can Be Deadly by Charlotte Stuart

Please welcome Charlotte Stuart author of Campaigning Can Be Deadly

Charlotte Stuart will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Campaigning Can Be Deadly

by Charlotte Stuart

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GENRE: Mystery, Female PI

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INTERVIEW

1. What expertise did you bring to your writing?

I’ve enjoyed writing a variety of different things over the years – my PhD dissertation, academic articles, speeches for candidates running for office, humorous articles on boating and salmon fishing, a monthly column for a regional journal, and presentations I delivered as a consultant on various topics related to leadership and cultural change. Given that I’d been writing so much for so long, I imagined writing mysteries to be much easier than it is. There are so many pitfalls and tricks of the trade to learn. I’m constantly having aha moments when something finally registers. For example, finding that balance between showing and telling when introducing a character is incredibly challenging. Knowing how to scatter red herrings without being obvious. Or giving the reader sufficient information to make a guess at who did it without revealing too much in advance. The bottom line is that expertise isn’t static, you have to keep updating and learning.

2. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

My future plans are simple: keep writing mysteries. And become better at marketing my books.

3. If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why?

I’m short and have always wanted to be tall. So, my protagonists are all tall, but only one is really athletic – Lew Lewis from Bogged Down(A Vashon Island Mystery). Although her interpersonal skills aren’t the greatest, and her love live is dismal, I would love to be her for one woods parkour session. The purpose of parkour is to get from one place to another in a complex environment in the fastest and most efficient way possible. To practice parkour in an outdoor environment amidst trees, deadfall and streams seems both thrilling and idyllic to me. To experience the adrenaline rush of jumping, leaping and vaulting over obstacles in the forest, finding new pathways around, over and under, all of your senses at play—sigh. As good as it sounds, I’m afraid I will have to continue living this joyful exercise in my imagination.

4.  If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles?

For Cameron I’m leaning toward Amy Adams or Emily Blunt, attractive but can look average. Cameron isn’t a stand-out, but she’s nice-looking. Yuri would be hard for me to cast because he’s so “real” in my head. Maybe Paul Rudd with darkened hair and clunky glasses. A young Jeff Goldblum would be better.

5. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

Worst advice: Write for yourself. Don’t worry about getting published. I love the writing process. Entering a make-believe world of your own creation and working with characters who feel more like friends and acquaintances than fictional entities is very satisfying. And I can have any pets I want without having to take care of them. But if I can’t share these worlds with others, it’s like talking to yourself. Best advice: Marketing is a necessary part of writing. I’m not saying I like this advice, but that I accept it. I just wish I enjoyed the marketing as much as the writing. I think some writers do. They enjoy networking, writing blogs and building email lists. I’m less outgoing and have to take it one tiny step at a time.

6. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

As a former speech writer and presentations coach, I’m a big fan of outlining…with caveats. I find it helpful to have some idea of the direction I want to go in, although I never seem to end up in the exact place I intended. As you get into your story, new ideas pop up, complications arise that you hadn’t considered, and sometimes you get feedback that moves you along an entirely different path. (My husband and I talk about writing on our walks and he often suggests new perspectives or points out flaws in my storyline.) That said, I know of a number of very successful writers who just begin writing and see where it takes them.

7. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

One experience that has had considerable impact on my writing is the time I spent commercial salmon fishing in Alaska. Boating, the outdoors, independent people, different cultures – all pop up in my writing in some form. In general, living on the water, on boats and on land, is something I’ve done and can’t resist writing about. For example, I have a protagonist who lives on a boat and another who lives in a walk-in cabin on Vashon. My fantasy hobbies also appear in my books. My favorite, that I’ve already mentioned, is woods parkour. If only I was athletic enough!

8. Do you have an all time favorite book?

It would be easier to list my top ten. But most recently, and like millions of other readers, I was thoroughly engaged from start to finish with Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow. The book has it all – a compelling story, excellent writing, interesting historical context, and an incredibly sympathetic main character, Count Alexander Rostov.

If I was creating a list of mystery favorites, Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Timewould be at or near the top for its clever and unusual plot.

9. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

I have a draft completed for Who Me? Fog Bows, Fraud and Aphrodite(A Macavity and Me Mystery). The protagonist, Bryn Baczek, lives on her sailboat at an urban marina. One night she hears two people arguing on a nearby boat. When the fight escalates, she decides to swim over to investigate. There’s a loud splash, then silence. Afterwards, Bryn feels compelled to defend her obnoxious liveaboard boat neighbor against murder charges, launches a search for a missing woman, and finds herself in possession of what might be a murder weapon. And that’s just the beginning–.

10. What is your favorite reality show?

The Repair Shop is my comfort food of TV. I enjoy seeing what people bring in for repairs and restoration. It says so much about tangible things people cherish. I’m also fascinated by the what people in the shop are able to accomplish. And, I love seeing people’s faces when they get their prized possessions back after they’ve been restored. Truly a feel-good moment. We need more of them these days.

11. Anything else you might want to add?
    I want to thank readers for giving my books a chance. Your support is very much appreciated. And, on behalf of all beginning authors, please take the time to write a brief review. They’re a writers best friend.

BLURB:

What begins as a prank ends in murder.

The campaign for the U.S. Congressional seat was referred to in the press as “Mr. Smith goes to Washington versus the carpetbagger.” The popular local candidate gets the majority of endorsements, but his opponent’s wealthy, out-of-state family is willing to do whatever it takes for him to win.

Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency located in a mall, is hired to find out who is stealing the local candidate’s political signs. Two of their investigators, Cameron Chandler and Yuri Webster, not only catch the thieves in the act, they find a body next to a pile of stolen signs, proving that Campaigning Can Be Deadly.

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EXCERPT:

The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win

without proving that you are unworthy of winning.– Adlai Stevenson

Billed by the press as “the carpetbagger versus Mr. Smith goes to Washington,” the contest between the two opposing candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives demonstrated the power of money in a campaign. With huge resources behind him, the “carpetbagger” became a household name overnight by bombarding the urban Washington State district with ads and flyers attacking his opponent. “Mr. Smith,” on the other hand, already a well-known local politician who had won most of the endorsements, tried to ignore the smear campaign from his opponent by consistently focusing on policy.

As the election drew near and polls suggested the race was too close to call, the candidate who had tried so hard to remain above the fray came out with an ad aimed at discrediting his opponent for moving into the district to run for office. Immediately the press jumped on the change in tactics. They tarred both candidates with the same brush and labeled the race as one of the most negative ever run in the state. It made good headlines.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

In a world filled with uncertainty and too little chocolate, Charlotte Stuart has a passion for writing lighthearted mysteries with a pinch of adventure and a dollop of humor. Her first discount detective mystery, Survival Can Be Deadly, was a Foreward INDIES finalist. Why me? Chimeras, Conundrums and Dead Goldfish was a semi-finalist for the Chanticleer Murder and Mayhem contest before it was published. She began her career in academia with a PhD in communications. Then, she and her husband decided to build a commercial boat and go fishing for salmon in Alaska. Currently she is the VP for Puget Sound Sisters in Crime and lives and writes on Vashon Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. She spends time each day entertained by herons, seals, eagles and other wildlife.

Charlotte Stuart – social media

website: http://www.charlottestuart.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/quirkymysteries

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.stuart.mysterywriter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19305587.Charlotte_Stuart

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/clzstuart

Campaigning Can Be Deadly -primary online purchase links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/campaigning-can-be-deadly-charlotte-stuart/1136403993

https://www.bookdepository.com/Campaigning-Can-Be-Deadly-Charlotte-Stuart/9781940442327

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781940442327

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51074737-campaigning-can-be-deadly

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Charlotte Stuart will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

RAFFLECOPTER:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3497