 Welcome to Matter of Inquiry! Author Lynn Slaughter is visiting the blog this week with her debut mystery, MISSED CUE. Before we get into the interview questions, Lynn, please tell readers something about yourself.  Author Bio: Lynn Slaughter is addicted to the arts, chocolate, and her husband’s cooking. After a long career as a professional dancer and dance educator, Lynn earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her first mystery for adults, MISSED CUE, recently came out from Melange Books. She is also the author of four award-winning young adult romantic mysteries: DEADLY SETUP, LEISHA’S SONG, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU, AND WHILE I DANCED. Lynn lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she’s at work on her next novel, serves on the board of Louisville Literary Arts, and is an active member and former president of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, the Ohio River Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. Something unusual that isn’t in your regular bio: “My husband and I met in a dance company. Although our dancing days are behind us, we still love working together. We create and perform our own original music (I sing, and he plays the guitar).” Contact Links: https://lynnslaughter.com Twitter: @lslaughter2 INTERVIEW: JLB: Why did you choose writing as a career? Is it your only career, or do you have a “day” job? LS: I’ve always enjoyed writing, but despite being a voracious fiction reader, I honestly didn’t think I possessed the fiction gene! But I loved feature writing, and while I was still dancing, I began moonlighting as a freelancer, mostly writing for regional parenting magazines. When age and injury led to my retirement from dance, I got this idea for a story about an aspiring ballet dancer intent upon unraveling secrets her friends and parents were keeping. In retrospect, I was grieving the loss of dance in my life and writing about a dancer was a way to cope. At any rate, that story turned into my first novel, WHILE I DANCED. Working on it hooked me on writing fiction, and I ended up returning to school to earn my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. I’ve just kept going since then and currently write full-time. JLB: What book/author/or other person has influenced your writing the most? In what way? LS: I’ve always been drawn to young adult literature and been inspired by luminaries in the field such as Judy Blume, Richard Peck, Gayle Forman, Chris Crutcher, Angie Thomas, and others. But I’d have to say that my mentors at Seton Hill, authors Barb Miller, the late Anne Harris, and Lee Tobin McClain were instrumental in helping me develop and grow as a writer. Not only did they offer lots of critical feedback, but they provided me with so much encouragement and support. I am so grateful to all three of them! JLB: What inspired your featured book? LS: Since I had a background in the performing arts, a dear writing friend challenged me to work on a short story for Malice Domestic’s anthology, MURDER MOST THEATRICAL. When the story came out, I didn’t really feel I was done. The confines of short fiction didn’t allow me to fully develop the character of the homicide detective and the challenges of her personal life, so I decided to expand my story into a novel. By the time I finished, even the identity of the killer had changed! JLB: What is the easiest—or the hardest—part of writing for you? Explain. LS: For me, the hardest part of writing is the anxiety I experience when starting a new project—or even starting a new day at my keyboard. Once I get going, I’m usually okay and get immersed in the world of my characters. JLB: What project is next on your list? LS: I’m currently working on another young adult romantic mystery, tentatively called MISSING MOM, which was recently named a Claymore Finalist for unpublished manuscripts. It’s about Noelle, a seventeen-year-old whose mother suddenly disappears. The authorities rule it a probable suicide, but Noelle doesn’t believe her mother would ever have checked out on her and her little sister, so she launches her own investigation. Woven throughout the novel is also the story of a young woman two decades earlier whose escape from an abusive marriage turns out to be connected to the disappearance of Noelle’s mom. I hope to finish the novel by the end of the year (I’m a slow writer!) and will then seek a publishing home for it. JLB: Which of the trivia questions did you select to answer? LS: See below.
JLB: It was a pleasure to have you on the blog, Lynn. Before we finish, let’s take a look at your featured book.  MISSED CUE Genre: mystery Rating: PG-13 When ballerina Lydia Miseau dies onstage in the final dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor is faced with the most complicated case of her career. She strongly suspects that someone murdered the ballerina, and her investigation uncovers several people close to the star who had reasons to kill her. But the autopsy reveals no apparent cause of death. If Lydia Miseau was murdered, who did it, and how? Meantime, there’s Caitlin’s hot mess of a personal life. She has a bad habit of getting involved with married men. She knows it’s wrong, so why does she keep entangling herself in unhealthy relationships? She’s finally decided to go into therapy to find out. Buy links: Amazon Barnes & Noble iBooks Google Play Kobo Smashwords Click on the following link to read an excerpt of MISSED CUE in the Book Spotlight on my Ally Shields blog: |
AuthorJ L Buck writes in the mystery genre, currenty enthralled with Regency-era England. She is multi-published in paranormal 
Check out my profile on AllAuthor (including my Ally Shields fantasy books). Here you can read my books' sample chapters, get updates on my books and latest deals, ask me questions, discuss my books and much more. Follow me on AllAuthor.
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