THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
The sub-genre is a humorous cozy mystery. The trope is the stories all take place in the LA garment district. The main characters are professional colleagues and meet every morning for coffee at the same place and time. Garment jargon is in every story.
Did your characters lead you to this genre or was that decided before the story began?
The genre was decided before the story began.
Are you more character or plot-driven?
Having spent a successful career in sales, I am a people person, so I am definitely more character-driven.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind? Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
All of my characters, except for medical and law enforcement, are based on real people I know or knew, so it is easy for me to keep them separated in my mind. So, no, I do not need a story/vision board above my workspace to keep the characters straight.
I know from previous interviews that characters take on a life of their own. Were any of the characters in this series determined to take their own direction instead of where you initially wanted them to go?
Are you kidding? With my cast of annoyingly pushy characters, ALL of them were determined to take their own direction instead of where I initially wanted them to go! LOL.
The cast of continuing characters and I have worked out a compromise: I write the beginning and ending of the story and the characters take the plot from the middle to the end of the story.
BUT…I have the last word. They know that they MUST get to my ending, not one of theirs. Generally, they behave, because if they don’t and I get really upset with what they have done, they know I can write them out of the story…or kill them off.
Nothing as lasting as a relationship based on fear…
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
Yes. Except for the LAPD Captain and the Homicide Detective, all of the male POVs are based on someone I know.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
Yes. Except for the Assistant LA County Coroner, the lead homicide detective, and two of the murder suspects, all of the female POVs are based on someone I know.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
Yes. There is a scene where the protagonist attempts to burglarize the warehouse of her number one suspect looking for evidence that he committed the crime.
I have no experience in breaking into a warehouse. I had to do a lot of research to see how to conceal a car, how long it takes to get into a building, and how long a search inside a large building housing race cars and equipment would take.
The protagonist’s shortness was a challenge. Creating a viable hiding place for her when an employee enters the building was an issue. The biggest challenge was inventing an escape route for her when she was locked inside the building from the outside by the employee.
What is your favorite book in the series?
Historically, I’d say my debut novel, Death by Sample Size. While that book will always have a special place in my heart, Rag Lady is my favorite. Rag Lady is the prequel to the series and introduces the protagonist and several continuing characters.
This book focuses on the event that launched her apparel business career and how that incident changed her life forever.
I know we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
Hands down, Holly Schlivnik is my favorite character because she is based on me. Holly is the me I always wanted to be and more.
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
My favorite series couple is in Death by Jelly Beans, my newest book: Holly Schlivnik and Buddy LaValle. Buddy was first introduced in Rag Lady and reappeared out of the blue in Death by Cutting Table. I decided on their dynamic as the couple readers keep hoping will finally get together because they are two people meant for one another…even if they don’t see it.
How do you get inside these characters’ heads to find their perfect HEA?
Since these two characters are based on real people, it was quite easy to get into their heads and find their perfect HEA as I imagined it to be. Their HEA is still a work in progress that hopefully, will keep readers engaged in the series and keep reading the next book because they are dying to know if these two end up together.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you?
The scene in this book that sticks out the most to me is the reaction of the protagonist and the split-second decision she makes when she witnesses the arrest of the department store swimwear buyer for the murder of the Easter Bunny.
Why?
This scene stands out because the protagonist does not believe the buyer is guilty. Despite their complicated, stormy relationship when the chips are down, the protagonist makes a decisive yet split-second decision to stick her neck out to save the pain-in-the-patootie buyer from a lifetime in prison.
The scene in the series that sticks out the most to me is hands down in Rag Lady when the protagonist gives the eulogy at her beloved grandmother’s funeral.
Why?
The protagonist’s bigger-than-life grandmother rejected the concept of her inevitable death from leukemia. As such, her grandmother never allowed the protagonist to tell her all she meant to her or say goodbye. The eulogy gave the protagonist a path to come to grips with the loss of her grandmother.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
Rag Lady was much harder to write than the other books. This book was personal. It is the fictionalized story of the coming-of-age part of my life. It is easy to write about one’s successes, but a painful challenge to lay bare the missed opportunities, poor decisions, foibles, and failures of one’s life and still tell the tale honestly and right.
Also, all the mysteries follow certain plot points that make assembling the story much simpler than one like Rag Lady where the story meandered over life’s hills and valleys while the protagonist struggled to figure out where she fit in and still had to make sense.
This question is if you write in MULTIPLE POVs not just the hero and heroine - I love the multiple POVs in a book. It’s not just the hero and heroine, but we get inside the heads of multiple characters throughout this series. I feel that it gives the story further depth. Do you think you will write another book or series following this multiple-POV outline?
I write all my stories in the first-person from the protagonist’s POV, so multiple POVs are not part of my writing scheme.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
The seven books in the series took five and a half years to write.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
All of my book titles give the reader a clue of the plot and for the mysteries, how the murder victim is killed. So, all the titles begin with “Death by…” In this instance, Death by Cutting Table gives the reader a hint that the story is about a victim whose corpse is discovered flayed out on a production fabric cutting table.
In coming up with the series title, I wanted to give the reader an idea of what all the stories in the series were about. The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series tells the reader who the continuing protagonist is, a hint as to her profession, and that the series is in the murder mystery genre.
If you met these characters in real life would you get along?
Since I did meet the real people that these characters are based on, the answer is a mixed bag: Some of them-absolutely yes. Some of them would be just colleagues and others close friends. But there are others-definitely NOT. We would buck heads most of the time.
Series question – Did you know in advance that you were going to write this as a series or did one of the characters in book one demand their own story?
I knew in advance that I was going to write this as a series, but the protagonist demanded that every story feature her as the star.
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
Sarah Silverman- Holly Schlivnik;
Katherine Heigel-Queenie;
Melissa McCarthy-Joan;
Elizabeth Banks-Sonia;
Rebel Wilson-Hope;
Kristen Wiig-Sophie;
Anna Kendrick or Juliette Rylance-Harriet Cowan-;
Edgar Ramirez or William Levy-Miguel;
Charlotte Rae- Ms. Markowitz;
Drew Barrymore-Sue Ellen Magee;
Viola Davis-Detective Glory Washington;
Chris Evans or Zac Efron-Buddy
Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect next? Whether a new book and series or a sequel to an existing series?
Book number seven, Death by Dreidel has been submitted to my editor. Fingers crossed it will be published sometime in 2025.
I am working on a series prequel that features the protagonist as a high school newspaper reporter and amateur sleuth. I have the first book plotted out already.
I am collaborating with a sister author on a paranormal murder mystery that features both our casts of main characters.
Can you share a small tease?
Excerpt from Death by Dreidel:
We took our seats and Hope handed us each a cup of steaming-hot coffee. As I took my first sip, the other three Yentas saluted us with their coffee cups after Sonia placed the latest edition of the West Coast Apparel News in the center of the table. The boldface two-line headline above the fold read:
MERMAID DIVES INTO
COMPETITION SWIMWEAR POOL
Joan tipped her head at the newspaper headline and drilled Queenie and me with one of Ms. Binder’s patented razor-sharp zingers. “So, what’s the story, Morning Glories?” Joan tapped her index finger into her cleavage, panned the table, and pointed to each of the other Yentas. “We meet here for coffee every weekday and yet we learned about this little tidbit by reading it in today’s paper. It just slipped your mind or something?”
Queenie held her hand out like a traffic cop at Times Square during rush hour. “Now Joanie, don’t get your panties all twisted into square knots over this. Gary swore us to secrecy until the line was ready for market. We’re officially launching the new division at the upcoming Competitive Swimwear Market in New York the last week in January.”
Gary is Gary Burkett-he is Queenie’s and mine partner and head of design and merchandising for all divisions at Mermaid Swimwear.
Sonia pointed to Hope and piped up. “Hey, don’t feel bad. We both work at Mermaid and were kept in the dark like the rest of the industry.”
Joan’s jaw dropped. “You’re saying you guys had no clue a whole new division was being created right under your noses?”
Hope nodded. “Yep.”
Sonia pointed to the headline. “This is the first time we learned anything about it.”
Joan turned to Queenie and me. “Why all the cloak and dagger hush-hush?”
I turned my fingers like a key locking my lips. “Loose lips sink ships. Gary is super protective of his design department. He is adamant we don’t give the competition any sniff about us entering the market.”
Sonia rattled the newspaper and laughed. “I’d say that ship has sailed.”
Joan pursed her lips. “Mermaid Swimwear is strictly a fashion house. Are you familiar with the world of competition swimwear? From what I gather, it’s a whole different animal.”
I pointed to Queenie. “Us? We don’t know spit about the category.”
Joan’s eyes bugged.
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
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After Mermaid sales exec Holly Schlivnik finds colleague Queenie Levine standing over Oldham’s battered corpse nailed to a fabric cutting table with a pair of cutting shears plunged deep into his chest, the cops soon recover Queenie’s hidden blood-soaked sweater, discover her stormy relationship with the victim, and her public threats to make Butch pay for destroying Mermaid by stealing it blind.
When Queenie is arrested for Butch’s murder, Holly jumps into action to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a slinky, and nothing turns out the way the wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent for revenge.
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