The mother of a tattoo artist and a former rock star, Sheila
Lowe lives in Ventura with Lexie the Very Bad Cat, where she writes the
award-winning Forensic Handwriting mystery series. Like her fictional character
Claudia Rose, Sheila is a real-life forensic handwriting expert who testifies
in court cases. Despite sharing living space with a cat—a Very Bad one at
that—Sheila’s books are decidedly non-cozy.
Find out more abut her latest thriller WRITTEN OFF on Amazon!
Connect with the author on the web:
Interview:
Tell us
about your book! What is it about and what inspired you to write it?
Written
Off is the
story of a female serial killer in prison in Maine and the murdered professor
who was writing a book about her. While on assignment to find the manuscript in
the professor’s two-hundred-year-old mansion, forensic handwriting expert
Claudia Rose uncovers explosive research about a group of troubled university
students dubbed “Maynard’s Maniacs.” The professor’s personal wealth and
academic success made her the target of jealousy at the small private
university where she taught. The University expects to benefit from her will,
but when a surprise visitor arrives brandishing a new will, all bets are off.
After discussing the new will with the local police chief, Claudia rushes back
to the isolated mansion where she’s staying, hoping to avoid an impending
storm. She ends up trapped in a blizzard. With a killer.
As for what inspired me to write it, I always start with a
title and build a story around it. In this case, the title changed halfway
through, when I realized that the original title, Unholy Writ, was not going to
work after all. I’ve wanted to use Unholy Writ for a long time, but it will
have to wait for another story. Honestly, I don’t remember what got me started
on the story of Roxanne Becker, a convicted serial killer, but around the time
I changed the title, I realized that the theme of the book was what can happen
to children who get cheated out of the good start in life they deserve.
Tell us
about your publishing process. What was it like? Did you go indie or the
traditional way?
I’ve gone every which way. For seven years, I tried to get my first
mystery, Poison Pen, published by a
major publishing house, finally giving up and making a deal with a small press,
Capital Crime, in 2007. What a thrill it was when Publisher’s Weekly gave the book a starred review and it was immediately
picked up, along with the next three in the series, by an editor at Penguin’s
Obsidian. While I was writing book 4, that wonderful editor left the company
and was replaced by another, who declined to renew my contract. My then-agent
told me that other publishers would not want to pick up a series in the middle.
Long story short, I decided to self-publish a standalone where my series
characters played a smaller role. Eventually, I got my rights back from Penguin
and switched all my titles over to Suspense, another smaller press (they
publish Suspense Magazine).
Although I am grateful for having had the big house experience, with
Penguin, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. They would send an email with the
book cover graphic and a boilerplate note: “here’s your new cover, we hope you
love it as much as we do.” And if I didn’t love it—oh well, “it’s too late to
make changes.” I like working with a smaller press because I have input into my
covers and titles; I get the final say in the text, and I get paid far better. With
a big publishing house, you’ll get 8-10% of the cover price if the book is a
mass market paperback, which means about .65-.80 cents a book. With a smaller
house, you might get better than 50%. Certainly, you have more room to
negotiate.
How did
you choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you
started writing the story, or did it come later?
Oops, I answered that above.
Tell us
about the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book
cover would be like?
My publisher is ultimately responsible for the cover, but as
I mentioned earlier, with a smaller house I get input into the design. Since
it’s my story, I know the elements that are best brought out. In the case of Written Off, I thought that since a
creepy old hut in the snowy woods figures into the prologue, a picture of a
creepy old hut would offer the kind of atmosphere I wanted. So I googled some
photos and sent them to my publisher to see what she thought. The first design
they sent looked too Christmassy to me with the red text against the snowy
white and green trees. I want my books to look like the psychological suspense
stories they are, not cozies. So the cover designer darkened the edges and, voila! Suspense!
Who is
your cover designer and how did you find him/her?
Shannon Raab, my publisher, is a terrific graphic designer. The
covers Penguin did for the first editions of my book were great covers, but
they made my books look cozy, which they are not. When I got my rights back
from Penguin and Shannon redid the covers, they finally had the look I
wanted—psychological suspense.
How was
your experience working with the designer?
Shannon is great. We have an excellent working relationship.
She listens to me, I listen to her, and somehow it comes out right.
What
has been the readers’ response to your cover?
I posted the cover on my social media and got an
overwhelming positive response. Of course, everyone had their own comment on
how to tweak it, but once I told them “this is it,” they loved it.
What
tips would you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?
Look at covers you like and see who is credited with the
design, it should be noted in the front cover. When I did my standalone I found
an extremely reasonable designer named Lynn Stanzione. Ask around, too, on the
various lists you of which you are a member. People love to share good names.
Anything
else you’d like to say about your book?
Aside from “please give the book a try,” just
keep reading. Teach your kids to love books, too. And when you write a review, please
don’t reveal important plot points. Or if you must, include spoiler alerts. Be
honest, and remember there’s a real human being behind the book, so be kind,
too.
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