by Lorie Ham

Today at the Café we have mystery author Luisa Buehler whose latest book, The Lighthouse Keeper: A Beckoning Death, was released by Echelon Press LLC in September of 2007 and is a 2008 Lovey Award winner. So grab a cup of black coffee in her honor, and enjoy the interview. Afterward we can all run over to Joyful's Café, her favorite coffee shop in Lisle, Illinois.

Café:
Tell us a little about your book.

Luisa:
Grace Marsden accepts an invitation to spend time on Christian Island in off season to relax and organize her life. She's suffered too much tragedy in the past year and her ten year marriage seems uncertain at best. Grace and nine other people become trapped on the island after a freak snowstorm. The locals suspect them when an Elder is murdered. Lost treasure, ancient tragedy, modern deception and the island tale of the ghostly lighthouse keeper confuse her until she doesn't know who she can trust.

Café:
How long have you been writing?

Luisa:
Bits and pieces since college in the seventies.

Café:
When did your first novel come out? What was it called? Please tell us little about it?

Luisa:
The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death came out in 2003. During a library renovation at Grace's alma mater the skeleton of a female dressed in a tattered gown is discovered behind a wall. Grace is present when the discovery is made and can't shake the feeling that the lost soul is somehow reaching out to her for justice. Grace believes she may know the identity of 'The Rosary Bride' and seeks the help of one of the nuns at the all women's college. Grace rattles the chains of a decades old crime and gets a response and result she never anticipated.

Café:
Have you always written mysteries? If not, what else have you written?

Luisa:
I was influenced by Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie. In junior high I'd collect all bits of items that I'd find on the ground, i.e. laundry tickets, broken pens, broken keychains, envelopes. I'd write a short story (5 paragraphs tops) about the items — almost always a mystery. I did try to write a gothic romance but was told it would never pass for romance since I'd killed too many people.

Café:
Lol — sounds like what I'd do to a romance. What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book? Tell us a little about the setting and main character.

Luisa:
Grace Marsden is a thirty-something amateur sleuth who is obsessive compulsive (think Monk in a skirt). She becomes embroiled in 'cold case' mysteries when the old bones seem to reach out to her for advocacy. In the latest book, Grace has had enough of murder and mayhem and is seeking two weeks of solitude away from her family, husband and home. This book introduces entirely new characters and settings in the hope of avoiding the 'Cabot Cove Syndrome' of a local body every two hundred feet. It was refreshing to work with new characters and although Grace doesn't avoid a cold case she does have a new cast with which to work.

Café:
What is the main reason that you write?

Luisa:
I've always been a 'what if' person, a bit of a dreamer. I love telling the stories that fill my head.

Café:
Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to take away from your work?

Luisa:
Grace Marsden Mysteries are entertainment. I do follow my own rules of morality and friendship and honor but the books aren't written to impart anything beyond an enjoyable few hours.

Café:
Do you have a schedule for your writing or just write whenever you can?

Luisa:
Since I have a full time job, I write in the mornings from about 5 until 7 AM. until I have to get ready for work. I write 7 days a week but on the weekends I sleep in until 6 AM.

Café:
Now you are a real morning person — I can't even think that early let alone write. Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what's going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

Luisa:
I have a loose outline, mainly big points of where I want the story to go. As I write sometimes it goes there and sometimes I find new paths that my characters like better. I have points I need to reach. I always know who the bad guy is and usually how it ends. It's the journey that changes. In most cases, I do go back and re-weave some plot points and add dialog to better accommodate where I've ended.

Café:
If you had your ideal, what time of day would you prefer to write?

Luisa:
I'd still prefer morning only I'd write for a longer period of time.

Café:
Day job?

Luisa:
I own an employment agency, The Hire Solution, which specializes in office support personnel.

Café:
I bet that gives you plenty of ideas for stories. Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Luisa:
It took 5 years to find my publisher. I have 106 rejections letters (which isn't that bad).

Café:
Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you'd like to share?

Luisa:
A New York agent sent me a handwritten note to the effect that "The world does not need another thirty something amateur sleuth from the Midwest. Stop sending this out." I was thrilled since she must have read some of it to know that much about it. My husband thought I was nuts to be excited about such an acerbic rejection.

Café:
I guess she was wrong. What kind of promotion do you find most affective?

Luisa:
Any event, library talk, book club, women's club speaker, bookstore signing, where I can meet readers and put my book in their hands.

Café:
Most interesting book signing story — in a bookstore or other venue?

Luisa:
One of the most productive signings took place at the 19th Century Club in Oak Park, Illinois. I was the guest speaker at this women's club. I was early and ended up talking to the only man in the place who was in the office working on computer. We struck up a conversation and realized we were both involved in Boy Scouts. I asked him his most interesting story and what he told me turned into the premise for my fourth book, The Scout Master: A Prepared Death.

Café:
Future writing goals?

Luisa:
I'm working on a children's picture book and I have an idea for a second series set at a temp agency.

Café:
Aha, I knew there were story ideas in your job. Heroes?

Luisa:
Everyday people who step up and do extraordinary things.

Café:
Person you would most like to meet dead or alive?

Luisa:
My paternal grandfather Luigi Scala. I was named after him but he died before I was born.

Café:
What do you read?

Luisa:
Mysteries, writing manuals and non-fiction history.

Café:
What are your hobbies?

Luisa:
I enjoy the two 'Gs' of the outdoors — gardening and golfing. I do neither one well as my weeds and triple digit score will confirm.

Café:
At least they get you outside into some fresh air after all that time at one desk or another. Favorite TV or movies?

Luisa:
WTTW public television replays of Mystery and Doctor Who. I don't see many movies; most recently, I went to the 12:01 showing of Harry Potter.

Café:
I love Doctor Who. Any pets?

Luisa:
Our orange short hair Martin Marmalade.

Café:
Family?

Luisa:
Patient husband Gerry and impatient teenager, Christopher 'Kit,' who is off to college this year.

Café:
What part of the country/world do you live in?

Luisa:
I live in Lisle, Illnois, a town of about twenty thousand approximately 25 miles west of Chicago.

Café:
Any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

Luisa:
As simplistic as it sounds my advice is to not give up. Whether you are attempting your first paragraphs or your fortieth query letter, the only way to make it is to keep going. Attend as many conferences as you can afford (money and time), find a writers' group to join, connect via blogs or lists to other writers and keep your spirit and focus in high gear. Write something everyday, be it two sentences or two pages, to keep your story in your mind percolating as you go through your day. With my three manuscripts, which never sold, I would take one day off work and write for ten hours. After two or three weeks I'd take another vacation day and spend almost two hours re-reading and re establishing my story in my head. I write everyday now even if it's only a few paragraphs. I find it much easier to tackle the daunting project of a 300-page book a few pages at a time. If I sat down to write a 300-page book I'd freeze up and lose focus. If I sit down to write a few paragraphs about Grace and Harry and their adventures, I have a 300-page book in about 6 months.

Café:
Good advice. Anything you would like to add?

Luisa:
I'll answer any questions at if they reference this interview.

Café:
Website?

Luisa:
www.luisabuehler.com

Café:
Where can people purchase your books?

Luisa:
Most bookstores carry my series or they can order them. Amazon has them as well.

Café:
Thanks so much for joining us here at the Café today. Happy reading and good coffee. For more mystery and coffee connections visit my Coffee and Books blog at http://hamcoffeebooks.blogspot.com.

©2008 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.