Murder and Mourning Mixed With Humor: My Interview With Lynn Slaughter

This is a copy of a guest blog post I did with Lynn Slaughter. Click here to see the original post on her website.

---

My Interview With Lynn Slaughter

Few things can match the excitement of the publication of an author’s first novel, and it was wonderful to interview Julie Eble as she celebrates her debut amateur sleuth mystery, memorably titled DAD DIDN’T PREP ME FOR MURDER. I was especially interested in what Julie had to say about her background as a playwright and how it informed her novel writing.

Q: First off, congratulations on the release of your debut cozy mystery, DAD DIDN’T PREP ME FOR MURDER. Can you share with our readers a bit about the novel and what inspired it?

Thanks so much, Lynn. Of course, every mystery has a puzzle and I like mine with splashes of humor throughout. A young woman, Emma Jaeger, is framed for the murder of her ex-husband’s wealthy fiancée. She and her roommate, Stevie Rivers, Private Investigator, must prove her innocence before the killer strikes again.

Within the basic puzzle are contrasts. Emma, still mourning her father’s death, is open, trusting, and a devoted Catholic. Stevie, a firm atheist, is cynical and oddly elusive about her past. But both are hard-working, middle-class thrust into a world of fine art, antiques, and equestrian events.

As for inspiration, I was older when my father died, but I still think of him often and wonder what he’d say. While I mourned for him, I’ve known friends who, as a teenager, lost a parent. That pain can take a life to heal.

Q: Do you envision the novel as a stand-alone or the first in a series?

Clearly, Emma and Stevie need a series. Right now, I‘m actively writing book two, the only other horse-related book in the series. I envision four books, but we will see. The characters often have their own ideas.

Q: I know that you are also an accomplished playwright. What led you to decide to pen novels as well?

I began writing as a teen—tragic poems and one very dreadful short story. Several years later, I started my first novel. After reams of paper. I courageously showed my first few chapters to a close friend. She bravely and wisely pointed out what should have been obvious to me. It was a disaster.

I shoved the offending piece in a drawer.

Community theater occupied much of my extra energy in those days. So, I decided a one-act play might be, if nothing else, shorter than my tragically doomed mystery. And when a director started up a playwrighting group, I joined. I learned gobs about motivation, dialogue, action. So helpful and such fun!

Eventually, I returned to the novel to pound the keyboard once again. Yes, Road Runner has foiled Wile E. Coyete fewer times.

But, theater’s drum still beats in my brain. I have pieces I might play with down the road.

Q: What have you found are the similarities and differences in your writing process and approach in creating plays as compared to novels?

What an excellent question!

First, a play has no pages describing the stifling heat in Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, nor the brutal cold in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. The audience sees that in set design, costuming, and dialogue.

Second, a playwright can’t say how a person feels directly. Williams couldn’t write, “Blanche felt abandoned and desperately needed….” He had to show it through either stage directions (Blanche steps closer to Stanley and leans in) or dialogue (“Oh Stanley, how manly!”) or a combination of both. (Blanche touches Stanley’s arm. “So many muscles.”)

And so a playwright is forced to SHOW not to TELL. A great lesson for any writer. It has certainly shaped my pieces.

Q: What is a typical writing day like for you?

No day is typical for me. Some days I write in the morning, sometimes in the evening. On a cruise, I might bypass the scenery and sequester myself in my room for a day or two. Or, I might take a couple pages with me when I’m waiting in a doctor’s office to scribble in a few notes or the next few paragraphs.

I usually compose on my computer. For novels, I’ve switched from Word to Scrivner. It’s very helpful in version control, rearranging chapters, and keeping research handy versus lost somewhere in a cleverly named file that I no longer remember.

Q: Are there particular playwrights and authors who have especially inspired you?

I mention two playwrights above, but I will mention one more. Martin McDonagh. He taught me courage. Don’t think you can’t write something because it’s not practical or too shocking. In one of his plays, he has an oven explode on stage! Can you imagine what the set designer and stage crew said about that?

As for authors… the list is very long. But here are a few:

Louise Penny for pacing.

Rex Stout for snarky character interplay.

Alan Bradley for eloquence that charms without overwhelming.

And, of course, Jane Austen for everything.

Q: There are a variety of paths to publication. What led you to decide to self-publish your debut novel?

I really wanted to just focus on writing, so I thought working with an agent would be for me. But I found the process of query – rejection – query not just daunting but also tedious. Then, one day months after a 10-minute session at a writers’ conference, I received a call from an agent. Oh, Rapturous Joy! In our second call, she told me she was now representing non-fiction, but she still believed in my book. Okay, Subdued Glimmer of Contentment. In our third call, we decided amicably to part ways. “Yikes! Bummer.” Altogether, we’d probably spent a total of 15 minutes on the phone, so not much time lost on either end, but what an emotional seesaw. Still, her parting words were, “I believe in the book.”

And, you know what? I believed in it, too.

So, I ditched other routes for self-publishing and looked for a cover designer. Serendipity struck. My designer also coaches writers on self-publishing and his wife formats the interior. Of course for a fee, but in my mind, it was well worth it.

Q: What’s next for you writing-wise?

I’m working on an historical mystery set in 1988 on a break-bulk cargo ship. My protagonist is an early female graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy. The book is loads of fun and since my husband is a retired Mate and Captain, research is a family affair. He’s filled my bulletin board with diagrams of decks and instrument panels, etc.

And I’m hip deep in Book Two of the Jaeger and Rivers Series. They won’t rest easy sitting in my brain.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add, or that you wish I’d asked but I didn’t?

Just a big thank you for this guest opportunity!

BIO:

Julie Eble is an author and award-winning playwright and entrepreneur. As an amateur birder, she often travels with her husband seeking out new species for their life list. She is member of Sisters in Crime, an avid reader, and huge fan of Philadelphia sports teams.

Her debut amateur sleuth mystery, “Dad Didn’t Prep Me for Murder,” published on 15 April 2025. You can find Julie on her website www.julieeble.com

BUY/CONTACT LINKS:

Amazon paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CNMKH6

Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BYXKT3

Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555676283747

Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/julie_e_eble/

---

Thank you for reading my interview with Lynn Slaughter. Check out her blog to read more of her interviews with other authors.