The Forecast is ... Murder!
Get a behind-the-scenes all-access pass to Susie Black's The Forecast is ... Murder!
***Synopsis***
The books in the series are related by locale, continuing cast, and the evolving story of Sunny Knight's adventures and misadventures. Sunny is a former award-winning investigative TV reporter who was demoted to a weather reporter at KCTS in the middle of nowhere.
What is the sub-genre and trope?
The sub-genre is a humorous cozy mystery. The trope is that all the stories take place in the fictional desert town of Cactus City, California.
Did your characters lead you to this genre or was that decided before the story began?
No, the characters did not lead me to this genre. It was decided before the story began.
Are you more character- or plot-driven?
As a career ladies’ apparel sales exec, I am by nature a people person, so I am naturally more character than plot-driven.
With many main and secondary characters, how do you keep them separated in your mind?
I have a character chart that I keep in the story outline folder on my computer.
Do you have a story/vision board above your workspace?
No, I do not.
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 go their own way instead of where I initially wanted them to go! LOL.
The continuing characters and I have worked out a compromise: I write the beginning and end of the story, and the characters take the plot from the middle to the end. BUT…I have the last word.
They know they MUST get to my ending, not one of theirs. Generally, they behave because if they don’t and I get really upset, they know I can write them out of the story…or kill them off. Nothing is as lasting as a relationship based on fear…
Are any of the male POVs based on anyone you know?
No. They are all a creation of my imagination.
Are any of the female POVs based on anyone you know?
No. While the protagonist shares some of my personality traits and, like me, is a Jersey girl, the POV is a creation of my imagination based on an amalgamation of the personalities of several real-life female TV investigative reporters I admire.
Was there any one character/scene that was harder to write about than the other?
Yes. I created a major character that was neither human nor an animal. Since the series premise is that the severe desert weather is the determining factor in how so many lives turn out, I wrote the weather as though it were a character. I gave it an unpredictable, moody personality with a bad temper and no compassion, which turned it into a parable of humanity off the rails.
What is your favorite book in the series?
The Forecast is…Murder! is the debut title, so right now that’s my favorite. But book two in the series is slated for release in October of this year, so my favorite book might change.
I know that we aren’t supposed to have “favorites” as far as our children, but seriously, who’s your favorite character and why?
Sunny Knight is my favorite character because she is intelligent, determined, and doesn’t let anyone push her around. She is irreverent and sarcastic. She rolls with the punches, plays the cards she is dealt, and is the quintessential poster child for the expression “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Series question - Who is your favorite couple and why did you decide on their dynamics?
Ambrose McClintock, the third and Gina Pizzoli are my favorite couple. I chose their dynamics because, as an unlikely pair, they embody the expression that “every pot has a cover.”
How do you get inside these characters’ heads to find their perfect HEA?
These two characters met during a crisis, so I got into their heads to find their perfect HEA by making their initial response to one another the red-hot, electrifying one with the strength to endure during the most challenging time.
What scene in this book/series sticks out the most for you? Why?
Hands down, the scene where Sunny Knight meets the KCTS station manager and the affiliate owner for the first time and is horrified when told that since nothing ever happens in the middle of nowhere to investigate, they don’t need an investigative reporter and that she is the weather girl.
Series - Were any of the books harder to write than others?
So far, there are two books in the series. The debut title, The Forecast is…Murder! was much harder to write because I’d never created a disgraced protagonist. This was a study of how a crippling career setback impacts every aspect of a person’s life and how they handle it. Would she fold or fight for herself? Would she be meek or mouthy? Shy or sarcastic? Building this complicated main character was a challenge and made writing this book harder than others.
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 challenged myself to push my writing skills to a higher level than ever before by writing in MULTIPLE POVs. It was at times terrifyingly trying, and other times gloriously rewarding. It gave readers even more reason to keep turning the pages. So, yes, I will definitely write more books in this series that way.
How long did it take you to write this book/series?
It took me three months to write each of the two books so far in the series, so a total of six months of writing time.
How did you come up with the title for your book and series?
My goal was to give readers an idea of what all the stories in the series were about. The Sunny Knight Mystery Series tells readers who the continuing protagonist is and that the series is in the murder mystery genre. By having every book title begin with The Forecast is…, readers learn that weather plays a significant role in each plot.
If you met these characters in real life, would you get along?
Some of them, absolutely yes-we’d get along famously. 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 definitely knew in advance that I was going to write this as a series. I believe that by writing stories as part of a series, it allows readers to become invested in characters so they want to read the next book to find out what is happening to a cast they care about.
If your book/series were made into a movie, which actors do you see as playing your characters?
Sunny Knight: Christina Applegate
Ambrose McClintock, the third: Stephen Tobolowsky or David Paymer
Jock: Tom Hiddleston
Mrs. McClintock: Tracee Ellis Ross
Gina Pizzoli: Vanessa Hudgens
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? Can you share a small tease?
Yes. I am working on several new projects. Here are two that will be released soon:
The second book in the Sunny Knight Mystery Series is The Forecast is…Monsoon! This book is slated for release in October 2026
BLURB: Weather reporter Sunny Knight eats brunch at Aunt Fanny’s Pantry every day before going to the TV station, and has become close to the owners and their celebrity chef son, Brandon. Daniel Booker and Randy Sinclair go on a fishing trip to the lower Colorado River. While they are gone, a tropical storm becomes a monsoon, and Daniel’s wife Fanny reports that the two men did not return home on time. While doing a remote report on the storm, Sunny discovers Randy’s empty boat broken in half, and Randy’s battered corpse lodged between an oak and an elm trunk. Randy’s broken neck has hand marks on it that suggest strangulation. Daniel is found alive, wandering the desert, and claims not to know what happened to Randy. When Daniel is arrested for Randy’s murder, Brandon asks Sunny to investigate and prove his dad’s innocence.
The first draft of the second book in the Hannah White Mystery Series is about one-third of the way written. Fingers crossed, The Case of the Dead Drug Dealer will be released in 2027.
BLURB: Terry Newman’s dad, a Chemistry teacher at affluent Encino High School, enlists Terry’s friend, Encino High School Newspaper Investigative reporter Hannah White’s help to promote an anti-drugs campaign by way of an exposé in the school paper on drug use at the school when Mr. Newman’s son gets hooked on drugs and goes into rehab, but goes right back to taking drugs when he is released. Hannah agrees to do a series on drugs at the high school, and her investigation leads the intrepid journalist into the dark world of drugs and danger.
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 and ardent sailor. 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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