Randee Green chats with me today. She’s the author of the Carrie Shatner Mystery series and the Zoey Wilde Mystery series. Her passion for reading began in grade school with Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, as well as an MA and an MFA in Creative Writing. When not writing, she’s usually reading, indulging in her passion for Texas country music, traveling, or hanging out with her pets Daisy and Snookums G. Cat.
SS: What did you want to grow up to be as a child? Has that child’s desire appeared in your work?
RG: I was in second grade when I realized that I wanted to be a writer. Every day, my teacher, Mrs. Ziegler would read to us for about half an hour while we calmed down after we came in from recess. As an avid lover of books since before I could read, this was my favorite part of the school day.
I will never forget the day that Mrs. Ziegler began reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was hooked from the first page. Mrs. Ziegler was partway through reading the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods when the rest of the classroom just faded away, leaving me with the book. Just me and Laura. That’s when I sat up a little straighter and thought, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a writer.” It was more than a childish wish. It was a revelation and a declaration. A promise to myself that I spent years striving to fulfil.
I also went through a phase where I wanted to be a professional wrestler. I knew I wasn’t athletic enough for a wrestling career, but I never quite got over the desire. It was that desire that led me to write a novel starring a professional wrestler.
SS: What literary pilgrimages have you made?
RG: Back in summer of 2010, right after I graduated from college with my undergraduate degree, my parents and I went on a two-week road trip of the Midwest. While on the trip, we visited almost all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites. The first one we visited was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. Charles Ingalls’ fiddle is on display in the museum, and I was so overwhelmed that I started crying when I saw it. Since then, I have visited all of the Little House sites and would love to go again. It was an amazing experience getting to see all of the places that were in the books, and it was basically a religious pilgrimage for me.
SS: Do you have a day job? If so, is it a distraction, or does it add another element to your writing?
RG: I am an account manager at a wholesale flooring store. Most days I enjoy it. What’s important is that the job pays the bills. I also get to hear some wild stories from some of the contractors and customers. Occasionally, the stories wind up in one of my books.
SS: What are you working on at the moment?
RG: I am working on Killer Kayfabe. It is the second novel in the Zoey Wilde Mystery series. In this novel, Zoey’s coworker at her brother’s tattoo shop is murdered. CJ Neidigh went to school with Zoey and Zack, and they were the closest thing that the introverted teenager had to friends. It is not long after CJ returns to town—and mere hours after some of their former classmates learn that he’s back—that he is murdered. Zoey knows not to get involved in another police investigation, but she is compelled to find her friend’s killer.
SS: Which non-literary piece of culture could you not imagine your life without?
RG: Professional wrestling. I have watched wrestling since I was a little kid. Even when I’m not enjoying the storylines or actively paying attention to what’s going on, I still watch. It is the soundtrack of my life. I may have read a lot of books on writing and hold two Masters degrees in Creative Writing, but I always say that nearly everything I know about writing, I’ve learned from watching wrestling.
Pro wrestling was one of the few sports/live events that was able to keep performing during the Covid-19 lockdown. It was different watching the wrestlers perform in empty arenas. But being able to watch it saved me from catching cabin fever during the weeks I was stuck working from home. The rest of the world might have shutdown, but at least I had my pro wrestling.
SS: What is your writing Kryptonite? What’s most likely to stop the flow of your words?
RG: My dog, Daisy, is guilty of distracting me. But her interruptions I do not mind. What drives me crazy is my narcolepsy. I can be writing away and suddenly fall asleep with no warning. It’s hard to write (or plot or research or anything else) when I can’t stay awake.
SS: Do you ever incorporate something that happened to you in real life into your novels?
RG: Yes, I have incorporated some real-life stories into my novels. In the Zoey Wilde Mystery series, I am able to incorporate some of my pro wrestling stories—especially some of the people and instances I witnessed at live events. As I write Killer Kayfabe, I am also able to use some stories/events from when I was in high school. I made Zoey the same age as myself and she grew up in the same area of Pennsylvania, so she would have experienced many of the same things that I did.
SS: How do you feel when you’ve finished writing a novel? Are there any particular characters that you have found it hard to let go of?
RG: It was difficult to wrap up the Carrie Shatner Mystery series. I created Carrie’s character back when I was a senior in high school. She’s been with me for fifteen or sixteen years. Technically, she is still with me since the fourth and final Carrie Shatner novel has not yet been published. But the Criminal Justice is finished aside from a final edit or two. It was hard to let Carrie go—almost like losing a best friend—but it was also exciting to move on to Zoey Wilde.
SS: Who is the protagonist in your most recent work? Describe him/her in ten words or less.
RG: Zoey Wilde is a professional wrestler turned amateur sleuth.
SS: Can you share with us a bit about the moment when the idea for your novel first popped into your head? Did the idea come to you all at once, or did different pieces of the story come to you over time?
RG: I always wanted to write a book about pro wrestling. For years, I played around with ideas. For a while, I seemed to have settled on writing a young adult/coming of age novel. But after plenty of research and some plotting, it just wasn’t working for me. Once I decided to turn Zoey into an amateur sleuth and put her in a cozy mystery setting, everything came together. Once I knew what kind of story I was going to write, the plot easily unfolded. I also came up with ideas for future novels in the series.
SS: How did you make the decision regarding point(s) of view?
RG: I wrote the Carrie Shatner Mystery series in first person. It felt natural telling Carrie’s story in her voice. I also felt that the only way to really show her character and the challenges she faces with her criminally-inclined family would be to tell the story from her point of view.
I started out writing Wrestling with Death in the first person, but it just wasn’t working. Describing a wrestling match from Zoey’s perspective was more difficult than I originally thought. In first person, I could only write about what she experienced or saw. I decided to try writing the first wrestling scene in third person, and it was much easier to write (and read). Once I switched over to writing in third person, Zoey’s story came together.
SS: Do you know the ending to your story when you put pen to paper? If so, have you ever changed the ending after you started to write?
RG: I usually start out with my ending in mind. I like knowing the destination before I begin my trip. Knowing the killer’s identity allows me to insert clues and red herrings as I go. When I wrote the first Carrie Shatner Mystery novel, Criminal Misdeeds, I kept changing my mind on the killer’s identity. Therefore, I kept having to go back and change things. After that, I decided I would know the killer’s identity and motive from the beginning. That being said, the killer in Criminal History changed as I was writing the big reveal. I had come up with the idea for the third Carrie Shatner Mystery, Criminal Justice, years ago. For all that time, I had one specific person in mind as the killer. When I got to the scene where Carrie confronts the killer, the story took over and suddenly someone else became the killer. It was a surprise to me, and I hope the readers are equally surprised.
SS: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
RG: When I was in grad school for creative writing, the mentors kept telling us to “just write the damn thing.” It has been my motto ever since. It’s not a fancy or life-altering quote, but it does get straight to the point. If you don’t write it, it’s never going to get written.
SS: Let’s face it, making things up is a strange occupation for a grown-up. But if we accept that statement as true, then writing crime novels must be stranger still. After all, as a crime writer, you spend a lot of your time trying to work out how one person might kill another and get away with it. Do friends and family do tend to look at you in a different way once they’ve read one of your books?
RG: I have always been one of those people who makes weird comments—so I get a lot of strange looks when I made a comment about how a certain item would make an interesting murder weapon or that a large crate would make a great impromptu casket. I also watch an unhealthy number of documentaries about serial killers and murder investigations. My family and close friends usually aren’t too disturbed since they know I’m a writer, but other people have nervously asked me if I’m a serial killer or a psychopath. So far no one (that I know of) has thought differently of me after reading one of my novels.
SS: Do you prefer tidy endings, or can you leave a few loose ends?
RG: It depends on the novel. If it is a stand-alone novel or the final novel in a series, then I want a tidy ending. If the novel is part of the series, then I don’t mind if there are loose endings or cliffhangers as long as they set up the next novel in the series. Personally, I have loose ends and cliffhangers at the end of each Carrie Shatner Mystery, and I plan to do the same in the Zoey Wilde Mystery series.
LIGHTNING ROUND:
SS: Favorite thing about your genre? The possibilities are endless when it comes to murder weapons and motives.
SS: Another genre that you would love to write: At some point, I want to get into writing historical novels. I have some ideas for novels that would be set in the late 1880’s and early 1900’s, but I just haven’t had the time to do the necessary research. Someday, once I’ve wrapped up the Carrie Shatner Mystery series, I should have more time to focus on researching and writing historical novels.
SS: When writing, are you a night owl or morning person? I used to write late into the night, but having to be at work by eight a.m. and needing a full night’s worth of sleep has turned me into a “write whenever I get the chance during the day” kind of person.
SS: Pantser or Plotter? I am a little of both. I will thoroughly plot out my novels scene by scene before I begin writing, but I don’t always stick to what I’ve outlined. Just because something seemed like a good idea during the outlining process doesn’t mean that it will continue to be a good idea as the novel takes shape.
SS: Your favorite guilty pleasure: Pro wrestling. I love hot, sweaty men in speedos, haha.
SS: Number one book boyfriend or girlfriend is: I have a huge crush on Ramses Emerson from the Amelia Peabody Series.
SS: Your favorite villain or serial killer is: Ursula from The Little Mermaid, and Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park.
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Book One of Zoey Wilde wresting series, Wrestling with Death, is available through Amazon.
The Carrie Shatner mystery series, Criminal Misdeeds (#1), Criminal Chokehold (#2), and Criminal History (#3) are also available through Amazon.
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An excerpt from Wresting with Death:
“None of us are going to be able to sit in the front row during the match.” Vivian yanked her feather boa from her neck. “If Devon comes anywhere near me, I’ll strangle him.”
“Your boa probably won’t be enough to get the job done,” Zack said. He tugged on Vivian’s boa and accidently pulled out a couple feathers.
“Then I’ll stab him in the eye with this!” Vivian held up the knitting needle that she was still clutching in her arthritic hand.
“Put the knitting needle down, Nana,” Zoey said.
“Hitting Devon over the head with this baby…” Zack said as he reached into the trash can full of weapons and pulled out a sledgehammer. It was the same sledgehammer that had been in the back of Zoey’s car. “This would get the job done in one or two blows.”
“Zack…” Zoey said, terrified of the evil gleam in her twin brother’s eyes. She also didn’t like the way he was running his fingers up and down the sledgehammer’s long handle.
“What? I can fantasize, can’t I?” Zack asked, giving Zoey a sheepish look. “I won’t lie to you. I want to kill Devon just as badly now as I did back then.”
“So do I,” Justin said.
“As my daddy used to say…I would take him out behind the woodshed,” Vivian said.
“Stop it! All of you, just stop it!” Zoey slid off the edge of the ring. “Devon is not worth going to jail for. All of you need to control yourselves tonight. Because that’s all this is. It’s tonight. Tomorrow, we will figure out how to…I don’t know…get Devon out of my life again. But, for tonight, no one is going to beat Devon with a chair, bash his head in with a sledgehammer, strangle him with a boa, or stab him in the eye with a knitting needle. Nor are we going to feed him through a woodchipper.”
“Who said anything about putting Devon in a woodchipper?” Justin asked.
“I think that’s what Zoey wants to do to him.” Vivian cackled. “And I approve. As long as he’s alive when we do it.”
“But we are not going to do it,” Zoey said. She covered her nana’s mouth before Vivian had a chance to tell them about some true crime show she’d watched where a killer disposed of a body by pulverizing it in a woodchipper. Zoey held out her hand with the pinky extended. “I’m going to need all of you to promise me right now that you won’t do anything to Devon tonight. We are not sinking to his level.”
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You can follow Randee on social media here:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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