Photograph by Paris Bretherick
Today, the lovely Randee Green is joining me for an author interview. Her passion for reading began in grade school with Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Randee has a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s in English Literature 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 favorite feline friend, Mr. Snookums G. Cat.
SS: Have you always been driven to write? Or did you begin writing in response to a particular stimulus?
RG: I first realized that I wanted to be a writer when I was in second grade. 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.
SS: Writing is undoubtedly a lonely occupation. John Green (The Fault in Our Stars) says writing is a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it. P. D. James (Cover Her Face) says it’s essential for writers to enjoy their own company. Do you see yourself along those lines? Are you a natural loner?
RG: I am definitely a loner, but I think a lot of that has to do with being an only child. I was by myself a lot as a child, and I had to keep myself entertained. Two of the ways that I kept myself entertained was by reading and making up my own stories. It might have been a lonely childhood at times, but I think being an only child played a part in me becoming a writer. Writing is a lonely profession since the majority of it takes place in my head. So yes, being a natural loner definitely helps.
I am also an introvert. I am almost always uncomfortable in group settings, and being in large crowds gives me anxiety. In some ways, I have come out of my shell in the past few years. Working as a scare actor at a haunted attraction has helped. But I will always prefer the introverted activities of reading and writing over anything that involves being extroverted.
SS: Do you have a day job? If so, is it a distraction, or does it add another element to your writing?
RG: I work at a home improvement company. I run the office, do all of the kitchen and other remodel designs, and help the customers. I don’t think it really distracts me from writing, but it does take me away from writing since I have to spend the majority of my waking hours at work. One of the ways my current job has helped my writing was through the discovery of a 3D drawing tool that I use at work to create visuals for my writing world. To design the additions and bathroom remodels, I use a program called SketchUp. I now use the free online version of SketchUp to design my main characters’ houses and other locations that my characters frequent throughout the novels. I can’t visit the actual locations that I’ve created, but I can look at the 3D renderings I’ve created on the computer.
SS: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
RG: I have included stories and inside jokes throughout the Carrie Shatner Mysteries that only certain people will understand. Only a couple people will truly appreciate why I have Whitney Vance throwing a packet of ham lunchmeat at Carrie Shatner during an argument in Criminal Misdeeds. For everyone else, it’s just a random thing to have someone throw at someone else. For the people who know the story behind it, it’s a much funnier scene. I have also named some of my minor characters after friends, and they’ll recognize their names.
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: What are you working on at the moment?
RG: I have recently started working on the fourth Carrie Shatner Mystery. I’m also working on a new mystery series idea starring a spunky, strong, amateur female sleuth. I also have an idea for a historical novel that I’ve been slowly doing some research on.
SS: Where is your book set? How did you decide on the setting? When is it set?
RG: The Carrie Shatner Mystery series is set in East Texas, and, if anyone were to check, the calendar dates would match up to 2019. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, but Texas has been my spiritual home ever since I first heard Pat Green’s music. So, because of my love for Pat Green, the Carrie Shatner Mystery series is set in Texas and I chose the last name of Green for my pen name. Plus, when Carrie Shatner popped into my head, she insisted that she was a Texan.
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 start out with my ending in mind, but, more than once, my killer has changed. I came 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 is now the killer. It was a surprise to me, and I hope the readers will be equally surprised.
SS: Is there a phrase or quote about writing you particularly like or that inspires you?
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 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: The mystery genre is now no longer limited to the traditional detective story but embraces the police procedural, the hard-boiled novel, the tale of psychological suspense, the crime novel, and the thriller. With such enormous overlapping of these sub-genres, did you find it difficult to categorize your book?
RG: I did have a hard time categorizing the Carrie Shatner Mysteries. They are somewhat cozy, but not quite since Carrie is a detective and works for the local police department. They’re not quite traditional detective either, nor at they completely police procedural. The Carrie Shatner Mysteries are a mash-up of all three. It makes my novels harder to categorize, but I think it makes them more interesting since they draw from various sub-genres.
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.
SS: Why do you think crime fiction has moved from whodunnit to whytheydunnit?
RG:I think crime fiction has gone from whodunnit to whytheydunnit because most readers aren’t happy with just knowing the WHO. Yes, finding out the identity of the killer is crucial – obviously there wouldn’t be a satisfactory conclusion to the novel if the killer’s identity wasn’t revealed. But most readers also want to know the WHY. Why was the killer compelled to kill the victim(s)? I know, personally, I always want to know the why whenever I hear about a real life murder case.
LIGHTNING ROUND:
SS: Another genre you would love to write:
RG: 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: Pantser or Plotter?
RG: 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.
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Criminal Misdeeds is available here:
Criminal Chokehold is also available for preorder at:
You can follow Randee here on social media:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads
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An excerpt from Crinimal Chokehold due out September 10, 2019:
“All right, Naomi, what is so important that you needed me to come over here? Don’t you know I have things to do tonight? Places I should already be at? People who are … Hold on, why are you wearing lingerie?” I asked my younger cousin as it finally hit me that she’d answered the door wearing a set of lacy black and pink lingerie. And, if the lingerie wasn’t off-putting enough, the two-handed death-grip that she had on a hot pink handgun was downright alarming. “What is going on? What’s the gun for? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Carrie,” Naomi said as she retreated backwards into her foyer and urgently gestured for me to follow. “But this scumbag I shot isn’t. I really need your help.”
“Please tell me you’re joking,” I said as I took a step backwards and almost fell off Naomi’s front porch. “Is he dead?”
A couple minutes earlier, when Naomi called and sweet-talked me into coming over to her house, she hadn’t mentioned that she’d shot anyone and needed my help in disposing of a body. All she’d told me was that she needed a little help with something around her house. Ever since Naomi moved into the house across the street from me about two years ago, she’d developed the bad habit of calling me every time she needed help with something—from hanging a picture on the wall to fixing the hot water heater. Even though I had been in the middle of getting ready to head out for the night, I jogged across the street to her house to see if there was anything I could do to help with her latest problem.
“He’s not dead yet,” Naomi said
“Well, that’s a plus.” Crap! Crap! Crap! I stepped into Naomi’s foyer and kicked the front door shut behind me. “Where is this shot-up scumbag?”
