Mystery, LGBTQ
Date Published: August 3, 2021
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Emory Rome is back in A Light to Kill By, the third book in the Mourning Dove Mysteries series – a follow-up to the international bestsellers Murder on the Lake of Fire and Death Opens a Window.
Moments after construction tycoon Blair Geister’s death, a mysterious wandering light kills someone else on her Southern estate. Is the avenging spirit of the millionairess on a killing spree, or are other forces threatening those in her inner circle? As the will is read, suspicion and jealousy arise, and fingers point to the heirs of her fortune. Private investigator Emory Rome and his Mourning Dove partners accept an invitation to stay at Geisterhaus and unravel its secrets before more lives are lost.
As he struggles with the consequences of his last case, Emory must unravel the inexplicable death of a federal employee in a Knoxville high-rise. But while the reticent investigator is mired in a deep pool of suspects – from an old mountain witch to the powerful Tennessee Valley Authority – he misses a greater danger creeping from the shadows. The man in the ski mask returns to reveal himself, and the shocking crime of someone close is unearthed.
1.
Favorite childhood memory involving books? I remember my mom and I sharing new
books, particularly mysteries. She would read a few chapters and then give the
book to me so I could catch up. We would always try to be the first to identify
the killer and see whose theory proved correct in the end.
2.
Did you want to be an author when you grew up? I’ve always wanted to be a writer,
but I started out writing screenplays. After writing one about Sedona, I
decided I wanted to try turning it into a novel so I could further explore the
characters and the story. Ten years ago, it became my first published novel, Sedona:
The Lost Vortex, which we’re celebrating with a special 10th
anniversary edition later this year.
3.
If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? Intelligent, passionate and funny.
4.
What is your most unusual writing quirk? When I’m going for a particular mood
in a scene, I find a song that puts me in that state of mind and play it
repeatedly until I finish writing the scene. For example, when I was writing
the club scene for Murder on the Lake of Fire, I listened to “Feel
Alive” by the Benassi Bros and Naan because it conveyed the ethereal exuberance
I wanted for that moment in the book.
5.
What’s one movie you like recommending to others? Living Out Loud, starring
Holly Hunter, Queen Latifah and Danny DeVito. The internal and spoken dialogue
of Holly Hunter’s character is spectacular, and Queen Latifah is amazing as the
chanteuse who befriends her.
6.
How long, on average, does
it take you to write a book? I usually write my mystery
novels in six months. My first published book was a contemporary science
fiction novel that took me five years to write.
7.
How do you select the names
of your characters? Naming characters is challenging for me. I like
to make sure the names are unique enough so the reader can easily remember who
the character is if they haven’t appeared in the past few chapters. I’ll
sometimes develop character names from anagrams or other word games. For my
protagonist, Emory Rome, I went with a palindrome.
8.
What creature do you
consider your "spirit animal" to be? I’d have to say a mourning dove is my spirit animal and not just because I
named my mystery series after that particular bird. I kept seeing a mourning
dove during a crucial point in my life, which inspired me to write one into Sedona:
The Lost Vortex to watch over the protagonist during a crucial point in his
life.
9.
What are your top 5 favorite
movies? Naming my top 5 movies is difficult because I
probably have at least 30 or 40 I would consider favorites. Five movies I enjoy
immensely and have seen repeatedly are, in no particular order, Living Out
Loud, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Thelma & Louise,
Unbreakable and (I know this is cheating, but…) really anything MCU.
10.What fictional character would you want to be friends with in real life? Phineas from John Knowles’ A Separate Peace is the type of guy I
would’ve been infatuated with when I was in school. Now that I’m older, I could
totally be friends with Robert Langdon from Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons
because I’m a huge puzzle freak, too.
11.Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Be passionate about the story you want to write. When you’re starting out,
no one is pushing you to finish writing that first book, so you have to be
self-motivated to see it through. If you’re not truly excited about the story,
you’ll be less likely to carve out the necessary time from all the people and
activities vying for your attention.
12.What is your favorite genre to read? I read books in several genres, but my go-tos are mysteries and science
fiction.
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