Let’s give a warm welcome to author, Tammy D. Walker. Thank you for joining us today!
What was the inspiration behind your latest release?
During the pandemic, my family and I watched a lot of travel videos. In one video for a luxury cruise line, a ship’s library was featured, and I loved the idea of setting a mystery aboard an elegant ocean liner with a focus on the library. You can’t have a mystery in the library without involving the librarian, so that’s when I started thinking about Amy Morrison.
Writing Venus Rising happened during the pandemic and perhaps because of it. But it was also my escape from the pandemic. I’ve always enjoyed reading books set in intriguing and beautiful places, because it’s an easy way to travel. Researching and mapping the ship in my mind gave me that escape beyond my backyard that I needed during that time. And I hope the novel brings my readers that sense of visiting an elegant location as well.
We also watched a fair number of museum tours online in 2020. Thinking about art, and paintings in specific, sparked the idea of the mystery in Venus Rising.
Why did you decide to write a mystery?
I wanted to write a mystery for a couple reasons: I enjoy reading and watching mysteries, and I needed to teach myself how to plot a story.
Mysteries have always been among my favorites, both in television series–I’m a huge fan of Masterpiece Mystery on PBS as well as other mystery series on the network–and in literature.
I also write science fiction, and I’d received so many rejections that said, basically, beautiful writing, but where’s the plot. So I knew what I needed to do to make my stories more successful.
Mysteries require tight plotting for the story to work as a mystery. There are other elements to them, of course, and I love a good mystery that gives its characters plenty of room to develop. Given the need for story and potential for character development and compelling settings, I thought writing a mystery would be a good way to improve my plotting skills.
After I wrote my first mystery, Venus Rising, I realized how much I loved writing the genre. I still write some science fiction, but I’m dedicated to cozies now too.
What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
I am 100% a plotter. Some of that comes out of my focus on plotting–I need that cause-and-effect in the story and character development that an outline can provide.
Some of that also comes from the fact that I outline just about everything I write. It’s a skill I’ve brought forward with me from academic writing in high school, college, and particularly grad school, so it feels natural for me to take notes and organize anything in writing before I begin my draft.
Maybe it’s surprising, but as a poet, I also outline my poems. They’re not detailed outlines in the same sense as outlines for articles, interview questions I write to ask other authors and artists, or fiction. But the idea is the same: what is the arc of the poem? Where do I want to begin my argument, and where do I want to take my reader? Having this skill helps more with the micro-plotting for chapters and, particularly, for scenes.
That said, I am surprised sometimes by what my characters end up saying or doing. And I have revised outlines before, sometimes significantly. So, I see my outline as a map more than a set destination. I know where I want to be, and if I need to take a slightly different route, I’m equipped to do so.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
This is a hard question because I love different parts of the writing process for different reasons!
Drafting is probably my very favorite, because I enjoy that sense of surprise that comes from finding my way into the story. I make a detailed outline and notes before I begin my draft, but I see those as a map and guidebooks. When I draft, I get to actually go on the journey. And that’s exciting for me.
That said, I do enjoy editing, because I like the challenge of taking the messy rough draft and turning it into the final product that I envisioned.
And another piece of the process that I think doesn’t get enough appreciation is daydreaming. I certainly got frustrated with myself for needing time to just think away from the page for a while. But now, I see this as a vital part of the work of writing. I’ve made so many discoveries and connections while out on a walk, for instance, that have made my writing better. Which makes the experience of the story or poem or novel better for the reader. And that’s my ultimate goal.
What advice would you like to share with aspiring authors?
Read, of course. Read widely–in your genre and outside it–and read like a writer. As much as I love reading for pleasure and reading to escape into an interesting world or idea, I also read as an act of learning more about my craft. What works, what doesn’t. What I enjoy reading and what about the writing makes that enjoyment possible. Read books about craft but don’t get stuck in them. Often, these craft books just show us one author’s opinion. Take what you need from craft books, then spend more time with books in your genre.
I’d also recommend giving yourself space and grace. If you have fifteen minutes to write, claim that as your space. I wrote much of my first poetry collection during my older child’s nap times, a time when I “should” have been doing housework or resting. Now, I wake up at 4:30 to get a start on writing while everyone else in the house is asleep.
And give yourself grace: you’ll need that when projects don’t work as well as planned, of course. But you’ll also need that when you want to explore different directions or take risks in writing. You might fail–I have–but treating yourself kindly and trusting yourself in spite of doubts gives you a better chance at finding where you need to go from that failure. If I hadn’t gently brought myself back to writing after burning out when I was younger, I wouldn’t have the four books I have out today.
Which authors inspire you?
Authors who take chances inspire me! I love Amy Lowell, who wrote in the early 20th century, not only for her poetry but also for her willingness to stand up to the men who told her she was taking the wrong approach to the style at the time.
Louise Penny inspires me because her mysteries bring in elements of cozy novels, such as deep character development and the rural setting with its supportive community, but she clearly says they’re not cozy even though they’re often portrayed as such. I agree with her, though as a cozy reader, I really enjoy her books.
I adore Kate Atkinson’s novels because of the way they transcend genre as well. And she’s something of a role model, as her first book came out when she was in her 40s, as did mine. (My first book was a poetry collection, and a debut poet who is in her 40s I was practically “ancient”!).
If you could have dinner with another mystery author, who would it be?
Back to poetry here: If I could have dinner with another mystery author, it would be Cecil Day-Lewis. Not possible, I know, but I’d like to ask him about balancing writing poetry and mysteries.
Cecil Day-Lewis was the British Poet Laureate from 1968-1972. In the 1930s he started writing mysteries as Nicholas Blake, a pen name under which he published twenty novels.
For me, writing mysteries is a good balance to writing poems, because they each satisfy a different aim in my writing: telling stories versus exploring an open-ended question. That said, I do have to manage my time and energy so that I can do both.
So, I’d be interested in what Day-Lewis would have to say about how the genres feed into each other, work against each other, or benefit each other.
What are your favorite genres to read?
I read widely, though mysteries and poetry are favorites, of course.
My favorite sub-genres in mystery are cozy mysteries, of course, but I also love reading British mysteries, and I’d like to read more mysteries set in Canada.
My poetry is science fiction in context but uses literary techniques. While I enjoy reading most kinds of contemporary poetry, I find speculative poetry most fascinating because of the ways that it can and does question the present through elements that take us out of our present time and place.
Along with those, I enjoy literary fiction, thoughtful science fiction, science writing, and works that blur boundaries between genres.
Do you write in other genres?
I do write in other genres: poetry and science fiction. That said, there’s a common theme in all that I write, regardless of genre.
Writing, for me, is a way of thinking about the world and asking questions. I think this is more obvious in my poems and science fiction, but it’s there in my cozy mysteries as well.
In Venus Rising, there’s the mystery that Amy solves about the painting, but she’s also in a long-term mystery about herself. Back home in her small Texas town, she thought she had what she wanted. But she realized that she didn’t, so her question to answer about herself is what she does want.
My poems and science fiction also have more obvious social justice themes. In Venus Rising, there’s a thread about workers’ rights and labor practices aboard the ship, and I’d like to go into that more deeply in future books. Part of what Amy must figure out is how she can be supportive of her fellow staff members, particularly in housekeeping.
Projects that I’m currently working on now also explore social justice themes. One criticism of cozy mysteries is that the liberal, welcoming small towns that are often featured in these books are unrealistic in their inclusiveness. I’m hopeful that we can see small towns that are inclusive, and one of the themes in the two mysteries I’m working on now is how allies especially can do the hard work of making small towns more welcoming and livable for their diverse community members.
What project are you currently working on?
At the moment, I’m working on a couple projects. One is a follow-up to Venus Rising, in which we see Amy and her friends in the staff on board ship solving the mystery of a poet who may or may not be who he claims to be.
I’m also starting a new series, Butterfield’s Boutique and Computer Repair, featuring cousins returning to their small Texas hometown after their grandmother leaves them her jewelry shop.
In the first book, a novella titled The Wing of a Bee, Leslie and Veronica must solve the mystery of a series of jewelry thefts before they can decide whether to sell Butterfield’s Boutique and leave town or stay and embrace the family ties they’d let go of too long ago.
I also have a short story, “The Gift,” which will be out wide in late October. This story is a cozy mystery featuring poetry, cyber currency, and a classroom full of suspects.
AUTHOR: Tammy D. Walker
TITLE: Venus Rising
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
BLURB:
Almost as soon as recent divorcee Amy Morrison begins her dream job as librarian aboard the world’s most expensive luxury cruise liner, she nearly sinks it. She’s tasked with hosting the debut of a painting celebrated but hidden for nearly sixty years. But the artist claims the painting isn’t hers. And then, the artist goes missing. With the help of a retired academic couple lecturing aboard the ship, a dashing IT manager, and a housekeeping staff with a love of literature, Amy tries to solve the art fraud and kidnapping while rediscovering the adventurous side of herself.
AUTHOR BIO:
Tammy D. Walker writes mysteries, poetry, and science fiction. Her debut cozy mystery, Venus Rising, was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2023. As T.D. Walker, she’s the author of three poetry collections, most recently Doubt & Circuitry (Southern Arizona Press, 2023). When she’s not writing, she’s probably reading, trying to find far-away stations on her shortwave radios, or enjoying tea and scones with her family. Find out more at her website: https://www.tammydwalker.com
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PURCHASE LINK:
Reading Between the Crimes 