Talking About Jacqueline Sewald’s New Book , The Truth Sleuth, The Next in Her Five Star/Gale Romantic Mystery Series

Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at the university level as well as high school English. She also worked as an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Eleven of her books of fiction have been published. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications.

Tell us about the genre of your work.

 I write mainly in mystery and romance genres. These are the types of novels I most enjoy reading myself. I wanted to write novels that readers would find entertaining and yet be quality fiction.

What are some of your books, stories that have been published?

Almost one hundred of my short stories have been published in a variety of publications and anthologies. I mostly write mystery, romance, science fiction, horror and fantasy. I like to experiment with fiction. I also write for teens and children, in both books and short stories. One of my favorite children’s books is A DEVIL IN THE PINES put out by Afton Publishing. My favorite teen novel is STACY’S SONG recently published in both trade paperback and e-book platforms by L&L Dreamspell.

Would you tell us about your books?

I will talk a little bit about my Five Star/Gale romantic mystery series. It began with THE INFERNO COLLECTION, a mystery set at a university. The novel has elements of the paranormal as well as that of a thriller. It is fast-paced and exciting. The main character, Kim Reynolds, reluctant psychic and academic librarian, is asked by a friend to find out if there is a mysterious book collection hidden away in the library. When Kim’s friend is murdered, Kim becomes a sleuth.

In the second mystery novel in the series, THE DROWNING POOL, Kim works again with her love interest Mike Gardner, a police detective, to solve several murders in her apartment complex.

The third novel in this series entitled THE TRUTH SLEUTH, published this spring 2011. Kim not only finds several murder victims but must also look for a new job. Her personal life is also complicated by two very different men as she solves the murders.

Each novel in this series develops Kim as a person and her life continues to change much as that of a real person.

Amazon, B&N online, Borders and many other sites carry these novels. They are all available in hardcover. THE INFERNO COLLECTION is available in large print as well. By the time this interview is published, THE INFERNO COLLECTION and THE DROWNING POOL should be available in e-book editions as well. You will also find the novels in libraries throughout the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Worldwide Mystery is planning to bring out a paperback version of THE DROWNING POOL. This will actually be a new version of the novel.

How do you come up with the names of places and characters in your books?

For the mystery series, setting was easy. I fictionalized the real N.J. Township I lived in for forty years of my life. Therefore, there is a lot of reality in the novels. Names are much harder. I visualize my characters and try to give them names I deem appropriate.

How did you develop the character of your protagonist in this book?

 I am definitely not psychic, and I do not have dark family secrets like Kim. However, I have worked with some trying people under difficult circumstances as Kim does. I wanted my main character to be a woman of strong moral courage who stands up for what is right, no matter how difficult. It is important that the main character is someone the reader cares about and can identify with.

What about an antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy” or a recurring nemesis of any kind?

In THE INFERNO COLLECTION, the villain, “bad guy” or killer is part of the system that controls university life. In THE TRUTH SLEUTH, Kim takes on another establishment, namely secondary school education and how it is run in a particular school. Again, the “bad guy” is part of that establishment.

What is your favorite thing about your book?

That is a hard question to answer. THE TRUTH SLEUTH is fast-paced with a lot of unique, interesting characters. It is realistic, sometimes dramatic, sometimes humorous, sometimes romantic, but always a mystery novel first and foremost.

How is writing in the genre you write, different than other genre?  

When you write mystery fiction, you have to respect the conventions of the genre. There are murders, there are clues, there are suspects and there is a resolution or denouement in which the murderer is uncovered or discovered.

Why and when did you begin writing?

I began writing as a small child. I always seemed to be making up stories. When I was able, I started writing them down. My mother bought me my first typewriter when I was eleven and taught me how to touch type.

What is your writing schedule?

I don’t sleep as much as I’d like. I start writing early in the morning when it is quiet, usually around five or six a.m. then work through until about 11 am. Then I go about all of the other things that living requires. I usually return to writing for a while each day after dinner.

What projects are you working on now, or plan for the future?  

My next novel for Five Star/Gale is a romantic mystery/espionage thriller entitled DEATH LEGACY. It is very different from my Kim Reynolds mysteries. It will be released in March 2012.  A children’s short story will be published in the LA TIMES KIDS READING ROOM sometime during the summer. One of my sci-fi short stories is also set for summer release as well as several nonfiction articles for magazines.

What kind of advice or tips do you have for someone who wants to write and get published?

The only way to be a writer is to write consistently. Set aside a time each day when you can write, even if it is just a short time. As to getting work published, you must be persistent. Also, pay attention to what editors have to say. If they offer constructive criticism, be willing to rewrite. Our words are not set in stone tablets.

Are there any other comments, advice or tips that you would give to beginning writers?

We can all be writers. There is something unique in every individual. So take the time to find it and express yourself.

What do you do when you are not writing?

I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I also like to paint landscapes and love many types of music. 

 

What “Made It” moments have you experienced in life?

There have been a great many. Every work that is accepted and published is meaningful for me. They are all special, rewarding experiences.

Check out her books that are listed on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Jacqueline-Seewald/e/B001JP0XOS/ref=sr_tc_img_2?qid=1303565128&sr=1-2-ent

and at Barnes & Noble at:  http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=jacqueline+seewald&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=jacqueline+seewald&flag=False&pos=-1&box=jacqueline+seewald&r=1&box=jacqueline%20seewald&pos=-1&ugrp=2

Comments Welcome.

Exploring Robbie Cutler's Diplomatic Mysteries with William S. Shepard

I think the readers will enjoy this visit with William Shepherd as much as I have.  Thank you for the conversation.

I was a career diplomat in the American Foreign Service, and served at our Embassies in Singapore, Saigon, Budapest and Athens, retiring as Consul General in Bordeaux. “Write about what you know,” is the usual advice given writers, and for me, that was the Embassy world. During one of my five Washington tours, I found myself staying late one late evening, as Duty Officer for the Secretary of State. I perused the files and diplomatic cables, and then realized what a variety of information from all sources a diplomat has access to. That is when the idea came to my – when I retired, I would write mystery stories set in American Embassies overseas.

It is a new genre, and to my knowledge I am the only writer writing what I call “diplomatic mysteries.” It now have a series of four, and my protagonist, Robbie Cutler, is a thirty something career diplomat. He serves where I have served, and where necessary, I have gone back overseas for research purposes.

The first novel, “Vintage Murder,” is set in Bordeaux. The bad guys are the Basque ETA terrorist group, who attempt to raise money by terrorism the great vineyards of the region. 

 Just released in Ebook format at Amazon.com.

ASIN: B004X7F00Q  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X7F00Q

In “Murder On The Danube,” Robbie has been reassigned to the American Embassy in Budapest. Someone is killing prominent visiting Americans, in order to keep his secret, that he was a traitor to the Hungarian Freedom Fighter cause during the Hungarian Revolution.

In “Murder in Dordogne,” Robbie and his bride Sylvie, whom he met in the first book and proposed to in the second, are on their honeymoon in this scenic and rustic area of France. An old murder intrudes on their honeymoon, and then, Sylvie solves a separate murder plot that threatens her husband.

In the most recent novel, “The Saladin Affair,” Robbie is Special Assistant to the new Secretary of State. They visit six European capitals on Air Force Two, and Robbie must fend off an Al Qaeda assassination plot, and solve the murder of the American Ambassador in Dublin.

Robbie is intelligent and knowledgeable, but he is not a people person. His sister, and then his wife Sylvie, often have a better feeling for people and their motives than he does. Readers like them both, but many prefer Uncle Seth, Robbie’s great uncle, a nationally prominent man, once Time Magazine’s Man Of The Year, who has access to Washington intelligence circles.

Where did the names come from? “Robbie” is a family name, and Cutler was my mother in law’s maiden name. I had an Uncle Seth, whom I just remember, and Seth is my middle name. Bad guys? They are all sorts, but not one dimensional. The ETA gunman in the first novel was motivated by a police killing of a member of his family. Perhaps my favorite bad guy is a former French Collaborator, who has now served his time. Robbie’s task in “murder In Dordogne” is to mine this source’s memory for information that will be crucial to solving a present murder.

As I said, this is an original mystery genre. As the President of the American Foreign Service put it in a cover blurb for “The Saladin Affair,” “London has Sherlock Holmes and San Francisco has Sam Spade, and now Washington has its first diplomatic sleuth, Robbie Cutler. Learn about embassy life from the inside, as you enjoy Bill Shepard’s  latest diplomatic mystery.”

Here are the links to these four books:

http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Murder-Robbie-Diplomatic-Mystery/dp/059522413X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=
UTF8&qid=1300889863&sr=1-6


http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Danube-Robbie-Diplomatic-Mystery/dp/0595207405/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=boo
ks&qid=1300889947&sr=1-1

_
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Dordogne-Robbie-Diplomatic-Mystery/dp/059535081X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s
=books&qid=1300890010&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Saladin-Affair-Robbie-Diplomatic-Mystery/dp/1440187525/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=
UTF8&qid=1300889768&sr=1-3

When I am not writing I am often lecturing. My series on Maryland In The Civil War was well received at Chesapeake College and Washington College, and I have now issued these essays as an eBook. For those with a short attention span, or a tight timetable, my Coffee Break Mysteries, also an eBook, gives twenty short mysteries, each followed by its solution. Betcha can’t just stop at one!

Here are the links to these two ebooks:

Coffee Break Mysteries - http://amzn.com/B004EKF6M

Maryland In The Civil War -  http://amzn.com/B004PYDHWA

Learn more about William S. Shepard on his website at: www.diplomaticmysteries.com