Laura Childs is a 25 year ad veteran, Clio Award-winning creative director, and former CEO of Mission Critical Marketing. She sold her business to author the Scrapbooking Mysteries, Tea Shop Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Halfway between a thriller and a cozy (thrillzy--a term she coined!) her mysteries have been named to the USA Today and New York Times Bestseller Lists.
Laura's Tragic Magic is the 7th installment in the bestselling Scrapbooking Mystery series featuring scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand. Asked to convert an old mansion into Medusa Manor, a new haunted house attraction in New Orleans, Carmela and her best friend Ava are amped and ready to create spooky set decorations. But their first evening on the job yields a flaming body hurled from the third-floor tower! As they reluctantly continue the project, Carmela is drawn into a hunt for the killer and finds herself in a haunted asylum, investigating cremation jewelry, and taking part in a séance.
I decided to have a cozy Q&A session with Laura and I learned that she is every bit the feel-the-vibes and go-with-the-flow creative force I anticipated.
Your bio is impressive! Was there anything in particular about your work as CEO/Creative Director for your own marketing firm that influenced your storytelling?
We were constantly scrambling to find a hook or product differential to pitch to consumers. So that sort of frantic mindset helped enormously. Plus, I was used to juggling twenty clients at the same time and creating uniquely different campaigns for each of them, so I was able to bring that discipline to my writing.
When did you start creating characters for fiction? What prompted you to write your first novel?
Because I had lots of experience writing and producing TV spots, I started writing screenplays. I had an absolute ball writing The Cheddar Cat, The Last Bomber, and Temporary Insanity, but a couple of Hollywood production companies read them and yawned. Big ego blow. Rushing back to the drawing board - in my case computer - I switched to novel writing. My first novel, Old Masters, a thriller about geriatric Nazis and stolen World War II artwork was passed over, but then the heavens smiled down and my Tea Shop Mysteries hit.
In writing your novels, how are your characters created? Is there a method to your madness?
People always ask if I do index cards or plan intricate bios. I can't imagine doing anything that studied. To me writing is about intuition and gut instinct - you've got to sit back and let the characters speak to you. My characters always seem to buzz around inside my head like people in a crowded elevator. My job is to pry open those doors and let them elbow their way out.
What elements do you feel make the best cozy mysteries and when did you first realize your novels were thrillzies?
I think a good cozy should have the same elements as a thriller. Jack-rabbit open, twists and turns, a protagonist you root for, and a nail-biting ending. I started adding these to my cozies early on and deliberately set out to make them slightly genre-bending, coining the term thrillzy along the way!
Was there any single writer who inspired you?
James A. Michener. When he put out his Writer's Handbook, I couldn't believe anyone could be so open about sharing scribbled first drafts, editor's comments, and continuity mistakes. He really gave me the courage to plunge ahead.
What's coming next for Laura Childs?
More Scrapbook Mysteries, Tea Shop Mysteries, Cackleberry Club Mysteries, plus a new thriller series. Oh, and a vacation. I really need one!
Debra Webb wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn't until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain and within the confining political Walls of Berlin, Germany, that she realized her true calling. A five-year stint with NASA on the Space Shuttle Program reinforced her love of the endless possibilities within her grasp as a storyteller. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Debra has been writing romantic suspense and action packed romantic thrillers since.
