When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I believe I’ve always been a writer, deep down, but life took me off in a different direction, as life seems to do.
Did you have any influencing writers growing up?
Agatha Christie is my biggest influence. She ignited my love of mysteries after my granny gave me The Clocks for Christmas when I was about eleven. It was a bit over my head (and still not my favorite of Christie’s stories) but I muddled through and that got me hooked on mysteries.
I’m sure a few of her plot devices subconsciously ended up in Deadly Yours. After her it will probably be the Greek classics and Shakespeare because of my high school English Lit teacher. She referred to Shakespeare as “Wild Bill” and after wading through the Scottish play we staged a mock trial of both Lord and Lady MacBeth taking the stand for murder. She made even the Iliad and the Odyssey come alive. However, she lost me when we got to Nathaniel Hawthorne, but that’s a story for another day.
Are any of your characters based on people in real life?
Hmm…most are just from my experiences with certain people and my imagination. But a couple are a compilation of two or three people I knew.
Compilations let you take the best (or worst) bits and create someone completely new.
Where do you draw your book inspirations from?
This one gets tricky. I can get a lightning bolt from anything, anywhere, but ideas mostly come from dreams. I normally get a flash as I’m falling asleep or in those few moments as you wake up. I now stay in bed for a few extra minutes each morning so I don’t miss something good.
Do you have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?
Characters or situations seem to start the process but outlining helps me bring it all into focus.
When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?
No, but that might be a good idea. I’ll have to give it a go.
Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?
I do read to relax and right now, while I’m waiting for the new Louise Penny book, I’m entrenched in the Karen Pirie novels by Val McDermid. I love McDermid’s writing. I now know why they call her the queen of crime.
I’m also a hiker and beach bum who is lucky enough to live on a small island in Puget Sound with a three minute walk to the shore and several miles of trails.
I could add that I’m an Olympic Napper and sometimes the best way I can reset my thoughts is with a long afternoon nap.
Who are your favorite current authors to read?
Like I mentioned above, Scottish writer Val McDermid has me hooked and I can’t resist Louise Penny.
I also enjoy other mystery writers like Valerie J. Brooks, Wendy Kendall, Susie Black, Robert Dugonie, and Mary Tolen. I still read Agatha Christie, Elizabeth George, P.D. James, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Patterson, and Ellis Peters.
You can tell I’m a mystery buff all the way and I have a soft spot for British mysteries in particular.
What are your favorite books by others?
Any Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny
And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie (I believe this book and The ABC Murders are two of her best)
Any Sherlock Holmes Stories
Any Harry Potter Books
The Art of the English Murder, by Lucy Worsley
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
In the Presence of the Enemy, by Elizabeth George
The Murder Room, by P.D. James
Still Life, by Val McDermid
One Corpse Too Many, by Ellis Peters
Death by Sample Size, by Susie Black
These are just in fiction. If you are talking non-fiction, then that’s a whole different long list. But I’ll just give you four:
Page Turner, by Barbara Kyle
Write Away, by Elizabeth George
Forensics to Dummies, by D.P. Lyle, MD
The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?
In stories that draw me in, I always think the setting is a character. The author gives clues to the meaning of place that the reader will take and make their own. I hope I’ve done that in Deadly Yours with my fictitious town of Cove Beach.
Do you write in single or multiple POV?
Multiple POVs because there always seems to be a moment where I feel the reader needs to know what other key characters are thinking and doing. I think it also builds suspense when your main character doesn’t know what other key characters are up to that might put the MC’s life in danger.
What do you find to be your best research tool?
Real books. I know, how old school can you get? But I love nothing more than going to either my own bookshelf or a library shelf and pulling down an old tome that probably no one but me has looked at in years. I flip through the pages and smell that great old paper smell…mmm…nothing like it. If I can find a person with the knowledge I need, then I also love a good interview with a source. Just like writers talking about their stories, experts love to talk about their research.
As for more immediate current information, internet searches get you where you need to go. And I always check historical data with any new advances or evidence with current resources. This proved to be worth the effort in Deadly Yours, because in my final fact check of the true crime, The Ratcliff Highway Murders of 1811, that my killer mimics there was key information about the weapon used I didn’t have in my original research. A BBC documentary gave greater detail that really helped get the facts right.
Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?
I did ponder C.L. Stuart because it sort of gives you the feel of an old fashioned P.I. But in the end I decided to keep it simple with Cyndi L. Stuart.
What genre do you write and why is this your preference?
I’m such a mystery buff that I couldn’t think about writing anything else. However, now that I have my first published book done and dusted, I’m trying my hand at a fantasy thriller.
It wasn’t until I made it through my first manuscript that I realized I love magical folktales, myths, legends, and world building.
Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky trait... what led to you being you?
Okay, this one is hard. I even asked my husband to answer this for me and he was stumped. I guess I could say that every decision, good and bad, brought me to where I am today but that’s probably a cop-out.
So, I’ll say that the best thing I did was drop out of the rat-race in my mid-twenties and go back to college to study Wildlife Management. That led me to working along the north Oregon coast as a rocky intertidal interpreter for several years in a small beach town. What I learned there, teaching and interacting with people while being immersed in an artist community of diverse ideas and thoughts, really put me on a different path that I don’t think would have happened anywhere else.
As for quirks, I’m sure I have plenty. The one that comes to mind right now, is my annoying (according to my husband, but I would call it charming) way of walking around the house spouting dialog out loud to see how it sounds without realizing I’m doing it. He’s constantly asking me either, “Are you talking to me?” for which I answer, “Of course not, why would you think that?” or “You do realize you’re talking to yourself—again?” and my response is, “And what’s your point?”
What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
Don’t believe any negative thing anyone tells you (that includes your middle school English teacher). Only believe in constructive advice and use that advice to your advantage. If you keep writing, learning, and experimenting you will get better. KEEP WRITING!
I would recommend joining a writing organization in your genre. There’s one for everything, romance, mystery, horror, etc., as well as all encompassing writing associations.
One final bit of advice that helped me land my first book contract is to look for an opportunity to get in front of an agent or publisher eye to eye. But only when your manuscript is done, put out to beta readers, edited, and edited again.
There will be conferences through your writing association and other organizations in person and online where agents and publishers are eager to hear your pitch. I think it will give you a leg up in being seen and heard. It’s also great practice in boiling down your work into its most dynamic bits because you will be asked to pitch your story all the time in interviews, casual conversations, etc.
How do you deal and process negative book reviews?
Knock-wood, so far I haven’t gotten a bad review. Whew! But my book has only been out in the world since April 2024.
What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
Forcing myself into a routine and expanding a story that seems finished way before it really is. I get stalled at about 30,000 words and then have to give my plot a serious ponder. I think this stems from my journalism background. It was drummed into me, “Never use ten words when five words will do.”
As for the routine problem, I’m a World-Class Procrastinator.
What do you need in your writer’s space to keep you focused?
A pot of tea and as few distractions as possible. This includes my wonderful, but maddening, husband who just has “one quick thing” to talk about.
What is your naughty indulgence as you are writing?
Ooo, should I have one? Hmm…probably daydreaming about my story. But I think that’s my imagination at work, not naughty. It might be more fun if I told myself it was naughty. I’ll have to try that next time.
If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose? And why?
Just take a look at my list of favorite fiction novelists above and pick one, or pick all of them and make it a party!
As to why, I would just want to listen to them talk amongst themselves about their process, their worries, and their advice for succeeding in this insane industry.
What is your schedule like when you are writing? Do you have a favorite writing snack or drink?
I try very hard to stay put and write full out, no editing, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. every day except Sundays. I love a good lazy Sunday and it lets my brain percolate the different ideas of the week to give me focus for the next.
When I’m in edits or in the final stretch to get to the end of the manuscript, then I work about 6-7 hours a day.
I always have a hot pot of tea by my desk and sip from one of my favorite tea cups I inherited from my grandmothers.
Do you listen to music when you write – what kind of music is your favorite?
No. I wish I could but I can’t concentrate with the extra sounds when I write. Everything becomes noise. But I can go to a public place and write, so go figure. I think the mesh of sounds become background and I’m able to tune it out.
Have pets ever gotten in the way of your writing?
Unfortunately, my old boy passed away before I really got serious about writing this first book. However, I did dog-sit for a friend during my final draft before a big conference where I pitched my story and that was crazy.
Lilo, the prettiest and neediest border collie you’ll ever meet, sat on my feet, pushed on my leg for head rubs and when that all failed (or I should say when I got tired of pats and scratches before she did), she put her head on my thigh and just sat staring at me for what felt like hours.
What is your kryptonite as a writer? What totally puts you off your game?
Self-doubt, plain and simple. I think all writers have it at some point and when mine kicks in it can really mess with my writing.
Have you ever killed off a character that your readers loved?
Not yet, but almost. I would never do it for shock value, only if it truly served a purpose.
A writer I love did that to a character I thought was pivotal in all her stories for bridging two different classes of people and giving the reader a way of seeing the world in a new way. I wasn’t able to read the next few books in the series for several years, I was so heart-broken. I hesitate to do that to my readers.
How do you celebrate after typing THE END?
I pull out this bottle of 12 year old Scotch I keep at the back of the cupboard, pour myself a well deserved tipple, and my husband and I toast to the end of a very long journey. Then I go for a big walk on the beach and do whatever the hell I want for the next week that has nothing to do with writing.
I hope you enjoyed this interview!
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Email: mailto:cyndiswriting@gmail.com
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