Denise Swanson Interview and Giveaway

I'm thrilled to have had a chance to interview Denise Swanson, author of the Scumble River Mysteries series and the Devereaux's Dime Store Mysteries series. And we have a Giveaway! Denise is kindly offering 1 signed copy of the winner's choice of one of her great titles! All you have to do is leave a comment (and email contact info please)! The drawing will be held Thursday, Aug 15.Enjoy the interview and good luck!


Denise Swanson Interview

 

 

 

LKBR:    Who or what inspired you to be a writer?

 

DS:  I actually can't remember a time when I didn't want to write. I was an only child growing up in the country, so I spent almost all my time reading and living in my imagination, which then became stories that I shared with my cousins. It was sort of a natural progression to writing those stories down.

 

 

 

 

LKBR:  How do you come up with your witty titles?

 

DS:  My editor came up with the very first title, Murder of a Small-Town Honey. I was calling the book the Catfish Days Murder, which was definitely not as catchy. After I realized what she was looking for, the titles came fairly naturally. There were a few books I had a hard time coming up with titles and a few books that the titles came to me before the plots. My new book, Murder of a Stacked Librarian was one of those.

 

 

 

 

LKBR:  Why did you decide to give each chapter a name? (cool idea by the way)

 

DS:  I'm not sure why I decided to use chapter titles. I think for the first book (Death Of A Small-Town Honey) , the songs I used just popped into my head as I was writing the chapters.

 

 

Denise with husband David

 

LKBR:  Where do you get the ideas for your characters? Are any of them based on people you know?

 

DS:  Most of my characters are inspired by real life people, but generally there is more than one person that inspires each character.

 

 

 

LKBR:  Of all the books you've written, which is your favorite?

 

DS:  My favorite is always the one that I'm currently writing.

 

 

 

 



LKBR:  Do you ever experience writers block? If so, how do you work through it?

 

DS:  Not exactly writers block, but more like a stumbling block. I'll get to a part in the book that stops me cold, and until I figure out where I took a wrong turn, it's very hard to move ahead in the story. Most often, I'll brainstorm with either my husband or BFF until something clicks. Sometimes, I think about the problem just before I go to sleep and dream the answer.





Devereaux's Dime Store

 

 

LKBR:  What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you as an author?

 

DS:  It's hard to pick just one as I seem to be a weird magnet, but I guess it was a signing at a Borders Express in a mall fairly early in my career. I was sitting near the front door behind a table stacked with my books and a middle aged guy kept walking round and round me. Finally, I asked him if he enjoyed mysteries. He said, "Oh. No. I don't read." Before I could stop myself, I said, "Then what are you doing in a book store?" He shrugged and said, "My wife told me to meet her here. She says it's the only place I don't get into trouble."

 



 

LKBR:  Please tell us about any upcoming projects.

 

DS:  I just finished writing the seventeenth Scumble River book, and I'm taking a couple of months to work on a romance called Can't Buy Me Love.

 

Scumble River

 

LKBR:  Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

DS:  Murder of a Stacked Librarian comes out Sept. 3

 

 



What to know more about Denise and her great books? Check out these links!

www.DeniseSwanson.com

www.facebook.com/#!/DeniseSwansonAuthor

 

 

A big thank you to Denise for a wonderful interview! And don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win your choice of one of Denise's titles!