When I was a kid, I dreamed about being a detective. There was nothing that I wanted more than to be a real-life Nancy Drew, solving mysteries every which way I turned. Ofcourse, Nancy Drew only had to worry about maintaining her lovely titian hair. Imagine if you had to solve mysteries while dealing with a husband who's being deployed, running a professional organizing business and coping with motherhood...

That's the premise of Sara Rossett's new novel "Staying Home is a Killer." Here's our interview with Ms. Rossett:

1) What was the inspiration for your book?

Since my main character, Ellie, is a military spouse and a new mom I
like to explore themes related to military families and motherhood. In
Staying Home is a Killer Ellie's husband deploys unexpectedly and
Ellie's got to deal with running her business, the daily routine at
home, and caring for their daughter who's going through major separation
anxiety. I also knew I wanted to write about living in a northern
climate in the winter so I layered in details that I remembered from our
time when we lived in Spokane Washington. I'd never lived that far north
before. I'd never owned snow tires or seen snow that didn't melt for
months. The mystery aspect of Staying Home is a Killer was inspired by
one line in a book, but if I say what line and what book, I'll ruin the
last third of the book, so I'll have to keep mum on that! It's killing
me, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. 

> 2) Tell us about the publishing process - how did you get an agent, a
> publisher, etc.?

While I was writing the first book in the series I researched agents and
publishing. I started a list of agents that I wanted to query. After I
finished my draft and revised it (many, many times!) I entered several
writing contests at writer's conferences. I got a lot of great feedback
from published writers at those conferences and I was able to pitch my
idea to agents and editors, but I didn't find an agent at a conference.
I found my agent the old fashioned way, a query letter. When I felt like
my book was ready to send out I began to query a few agents on my list.
I worked my way through the list and had several who were interested in
my book. One agent loved the book as much as I did and she offered to
represent me. After signing a contract with her and making some
revisions, she sent it to publishers. Kensington expressed an interest
and offered a three-book deal. Needless to say, I was ecstatic! 


 3) Are you working on another book right now?

I'm finishing up the third Mom Zone mystery, Getting Away is Dangerous.
Ellie accompanies her husband to a week-long training conference in
Washington D.C. and witnesses a murder in the Metro. 

 

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