Kat Henry Doran/Veronica Lynch: Framed for Murder by Marla A. White

Wild Women Authors features author Marla A. White and her latest release for the Wild Rose Press, Framed for Murder, a cozy mystery set in the mountains of Southern California. With author White is cop turned hospitality specialist, Mel O’Rourke, who will go first.

Thanks for taking time away from The Brook to speak with us. Let’s begin with you telling us a bit about “Framed for Murder”. It is the story of how I got pulled into a murder investigation to save my old nemesis from being convicted one of the few crimes she didn't commit.

What made you choose running a B& B for a career? I didn’t initially. I was a cop for almost ten years, happily patrolling my beat in L.A., until a chase across rooftops ended in me crushing my ankle. Career over, I kicked around feeling pretty sorry for myself when I sort of accidentally ended up in Pine Cove. It’s a tiny mountain resort my parents used to take us to as kids over the summer. So many happy memories were tied up there, so when I saw the old inn, we sometimes stayed at was for sale, it seemed like kismet.

Knowing what you know now, if you had it to do over again, would you stick with being a inn keeper or do something different? I’m not sure I’ve been doing it long enough to regret it. Yet. But so far, I found a dead body in my lobby and a cat burglar in my kitchen so a career change might be just around the corner.

What is your biggest fear? Ever since that rooftop thing, I’ve been terrified of heights. Which is kind of inconvenient, considering I used to climb mountains with my brother, Liam. But that’s a phobia really, and I’m working on it. Deep down, I’m terrified I’ll let my family down and they’ll lose the money they invested in The Babbling Brook Bed-and-Breakfast.

Who is your favorite fictional character and why? Jean-Guy Beauvoir from Louise Penny’s Three Pines books. First, duh, he’s a great detective, but also because he seriously fu…er, I mean flawed that he makes me look normal.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? “Take Fountain.” It’s an old bit from Bette Davis but she was right. If you know L.A. traffic at all, you’ll get it.

Thanks for spending time with us, Mel. Now we’d like to speak with Marla.

Which writer or character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had a major impact on your writing? The one movie that I always come back to is “Buckaroo Banzai”. It’s so strange, which normally I don’t love, but so many great scenes and lines. Who doesn’t love, “No matter where you go, there you are” as the best piece of advice ever? It’s part of why I went into the entertainment business. But as far as impact on my writing, I’d have to say Robert Parker’s Spenser series was the most influential. Dick Francis might be the first mystery writer I followed, but Spenser, with his snarky, witty dialogue, blew my mind.

With regard to research, where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths, thereby changing the original concept? I’d already written “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder” the novella that started the series, so by the time I started writing this I already knew the town and the characters. The biggest influence was as I started writing this, a person who shall remain nameless came in and blew up a deal I had for a TV series in real life. Bingo. A murder victim cried out to be killed in a horrible way.

Tell us a bit about your publisher. How did you hear about them; what influenced you to submit to them; how is the submission process; what is the turn-around time from date of query to date of release? An author friend who was published by The Wild Rose Press couldn’t stop saying enough nice things about the process. When they put out a call for their “cookie books,” she encouraged me to submit. I did and, despite me making every rookie mistake in the book including getting the deadline wrong, in no time they got back to me that they loved the book. This is my fourth book with them so, obviously, I couldn’t be happier. The turn-around time has varied, but I’ve heard of authors at the big publishing houses hanging out for years waiting for a release date so I’m pretty happy when it happens more or less within a calendar year.

What are you reading right now? This is where I know I should say some NYT best-seller or Oprah Book Club entry, but the truth is I’m reading a Piper Rayne hockey romance, “The Trouble with Number Nine”.

What's next for you? In addition to the next in the Pine Cove Mystery series, which is out to beta readers, I’m co-authoring a hockey romance with CJ Bahr. Hence the reading of one. I’d only recently been turned on to romance books. And hockey too, for that matter. #GKG I also have the third in my “Keeper Chronicles” contemporary fantasy series coming out this fall.

To learn more about Marla A. White and the stories she creates go to: www.marlaawhite.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScriptFixer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlawriteswords/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarlaAWhiteAuthor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marlaw825

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21467766.Marla_A_White

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marla-a-white

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MHIzkB

To purchase Framed for Murder, go to:

Amazon - https://bit.ly/43Uwj96

Barnes and Noble – https://bit.ly/3TKdPDu

Apple Books - https://books.apple.com/us/book/framed-for-murder/id6483932566