The International Guy of Mystery interviewed Lesley Diehl while lying on a psychologist's couch behind a haystack in a cattle field near a gator-infested swamp in Florida. Diehl is a former professor of psychology and was able to quickly diagnose the Guy with various psychological disorders as she answered his questions.
Diehl is also a prolific writer and has published numerous short stories as well as two cozy mystery novel series, always with a strong dose of humor, and always featuring sassy country gals.
IGM: If you
had to give a quick, one-sentence description of your novel (or series) to a
Hollywood mogul, what would you say?
LD: I never say anything in
one sentence. I am a former academic and therefore very long winded. This
is the story of a Connecticut fashionista who moves to rural Florida to set up
a high end consignment shop with her best friend. She is a sassy,
in-your-face kind of gal and she's snoopy with few social graces. That
means she's always getting into trouble. She seems to have a knack for
stumbling onto dead bodies. In some cases, she’s implicated in the
murder. In others, she gets involved in solving the crime because that's
just what she does. She is aided in her amateur sleuthing by her
business partner and best friend as well as a cadre of friends including a mob
boss, a hunky private eye, her ex-husband, a Miccosukee Indian and his
grandfather and, sometimes her good friend, a detective with the local
police.
A high end consignment shop in the swamps of
Florida, you say? Sure, women everywhere like to dress well even when
they're wrestling an alligator or herding cattle.
Yep, it would be a comedy.
I know I'm not playing fair so here's one
sentence: Connecticut fashionista comes to rural Florida to open a consignment
shop, but finds more than second hand merchandise when she finds a body on her
dressing room floor. Since this is a series, she stumbles onto bodies
everywhere, on an airboat, in the swamp, in a mud bog, and on and on.
IGM: Whew! Remind me not to ask you for a long answer! OK: What
inspired you to write this series (personal experience, books you love, real
people and events, etc.)?
LD: This isn't the first series
I've written, but it is the one closest to my heart. My paternal grandmother
was the queen of recycling. She never bought new and she passed this
proclivity for bargains onto me. Or maybe it's just genetic. I've
furnished my cottage in upstate New York with finds from garage sales, auctions
and consignment shops. I only buy new if it's on sale. I am both
environmentally responsible with my recycling, repurposing, and reusing, and I
am cheap. So, of course, my protagonist, Eve must own a consignment shop.
IGM: What
gives you the most joy as a writer?
LD: I write humorous mysteries for the most part and my joy is in being able
to entertain myself as I write and hope that others will get a good laugh out
of reading what my strange brain creates. If I don't laugh at what I'm
writing, then it doesn't belong on the page.
IGM: What is
the hardest thing about writing?
LD: I hate doing the rewrites.
IGM: How did
you come up with the titles?
LD: My titles for the Eve Appel mystery series are very straight forward,
i.e., A Secondhand Murder, Dead in the Water, A Sporting Murder, pretty revealing of what's
inside the book, but I love to think up crazy titles such as in my Big Lake
Murder mystery series, Dumpster Dying, Grilled,
Chilled, and Killed. I
love those!
IGM: Tell a
little about your process. Do you know how your novels should end before you
start?
LD: I used to write by the seat of my pants and never really knew what might
happen. Now I write to my publisher's schedule and to meet it, I
must outline. Usually I deviate wildly from the outline, but it's there
to give me psychological comfort.
IGM: Pretend
you are fielding a baseball team with your favorite writers. List them by
position.
LD: I have to tell you that I do really hate baseball (I do not know
what is wrong with me), but it's a fact that I have never sat through an entire
game. But then I dislike most organized sports, so I don't engage in them
and I don't watch them (except for golf which I sometimes play very badly and I
do watch it on TV, so there!). The only sport I'm mildly interested in is
quidditch (from Harry Potter-I like the idea of flying around on brooms), but I
know little about it. When I looked it up on the internet, I found it was
very complicated, so I tossed out my original idea that I would field quidditch
players. I am forced, because of my dislike of team sports, to ignore
your question. As you can see, I not only dislike team play, but I am not
a team player. I don't follow the rules, although I did color inside the
lines when a kid.
IGM: Physician, heal thyself! How could you not like baseball? OK, last question: Pretend your book is
being made into a movie. What actors would play the lead characters? (Note: if
your book is being optioned for a movie, you may wish to send several thousand
dollars to the International Guy of Mystery Foundation as a tax write-off).
LD: My protagonist, Eve
Appel is tall, thin and blonde. I think Angelina Jolie with a wig would
be perfect. Madeleine, her business partner and friend could only be
played by that tiny, blonde gal who does Bernadette in The Big Bang
Theory. Eve's grandmother is a round, white-haired woman fashioned after
the look of Paula Dean. Do you think she might leave the kitchen to play
Grandy, Eve's Grandmother? As for the men in the book, I'm not good with
thinking of male actors, so I think we should audition some unknowns. I
sometimes think when I'm walking down the street or in a restaurant that there
are people with the right look. Who knows? They might have
talent. Besides it would be fun to audition handsome, exciting and smart
men, well, with the exception of Eve's ex-husband who is good looking, but not
so smart.
Please visit Lesley's website and order her books by following the link below:
Preorder link:
Hey, John, thanks so much for interviewing me. My bill for services rendered is in the mail or you could just bribe one of your hollywood contacts to take on my book as a movie. I might also consider a TV series. In case your fans are interested, you seems like a pretty normal guy to me. Too bad!
ReplyDeleteOh, Lesley, your interview entertained me almost as much as your books. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration because your books are soooo much more fun. Eh. Maybe... Anyway, thank you for brightening my day, both with your post and with your books.
ReplyDeleteMarja McGraw
Fun interview! Love that grandmother.
ReplyDeleteI liked your comment on the male actors. Every so often, I see a man or woman waiting for a plane, in a restaurant, or on the street and think: wow (s)he would be a perfect character in my novels. At one PSWA meeting, I met two cab drivers, who I can't wait to find a part for in a novel.
ReplyDeleteLesley, I'm still checking to see if my insurance covers your psychotherapy. Like I told you when you asked if I needed to have my head examined, I don't think you'll find anything in there.
ReplyDeleteYou are so wrong, John. There is so much on your head and I'm dying to see what comes out next in your writing. Anytime I can entertain, I love it. If I were younger, I might consider going on stage as a stand up comediene. But I guess I'll just keep on writing to give myself some chuckles and hope I provide them for others.
ReplyDelete