Golf? Or Not?

HANK:  Little known fact? Years ago, YEARS, before I knew anything about any of you, I tried to write a mystery—which I titled Greenskeeper. It was about—golf.  The setting was a golf course, and the main character Jane MacAnnally (!) was the first female golf pro in Boston.

What a great idea, right? Wrong. It was hideous, mainly because I had no idea about golf. (Or, as I see now about point of view.) But that’s another story. 

The first time Judy Penz Sheluk joined us was August 2016, when we celebrated the release of SKELETONS IN THE ATTIC, the first book in her Marketville Mystery Series.  Today, Judy (in the white visor) shows she’s nailed the golf world. Her new HOLE IN ONE, the second book in her Glass Dolphin Mystery series, is about to hit the shelves.

Yay, Judy! Tell us a bit about A HOLE IN ONE and the inspiration behind it.

JPS: The title is a play on words. Arabella Carpenter and Emily Garland, the co-owners of the Glass Dolphin antiques shop, decide to sponsor a hole in one contest at a local charity golf tournament. Unfortunately, the positive press they hoped to gain quickly goes south when Arabella’s errant tee shot lands in the woods – next to a corpse with a gunshot wound in his chest.

JRW: Ha. A hole in one. (Ouch.) So do you actually play golf?

JPS: I’ve been golfing for the better part of fifteen years, might even be twenty by now. While I’ve never had a hole in one (hope springs eternal), I’m always dreaming up new plotlines…even when I’m golfing. One day my ball landed in the woods, and while I was rooting around for it with my putter (fearing poison ivy), I thought, “What if there was a dead body in here?” What can I say? My husband tells me he’s taken to sleeping with his eyes open!

JRW: So--who do you play with?

JPS: I belong to two ladies golf leagues, one of which is called the Lady Duffers, an apt description, I assure you. The thing is, the Duffers put their names in a random draw, so each week you play with different people. One week, I’m playing with three ladies I’ve never met before, and there are homes all around the perimeter of the golf course, and the roofs are being re-done. There’s this pop-pop-pop of a pneumatic nailer and I turn to these ladies and say, ‘You know, you could shoot someone and everyone would just think it was the roofers nailing.” Let’s just say they wondered about me…

JEW: Seems like there’s a theme here. How did you end up writing two different mystery series? This and the Marketville mysteries?

JPS:  Ha! Here’s the truth: I was shopping around for a publisher for THE HANGED MAN’S NOOSE, the first book in my Glass Dolphin Mystery series, and facing the usual rejection. Everyone told me I should write book 2 in the series, but I couldn’t bring myself to write the second book in a series no one seemed to want. Writing SKELETONS IN THE ATTIC was such a different experience from writing NOOSE. It was told in first person, vs. alternating third person, and it’s more of a slow burn suspense than a traditional amateur sleuth mystery. Happily, I sold the Glass Dolphin series too, and NOOSE was released in July 2015.

JRW: The really scary thing about a new book—you have to ask your fellow authors for blurbs.  It’s incredibly nerve-twisting. You send a request, and then..you wait. It’s such a big dealt to ask-it takes a chunk of time to read a book. And it’s their name on the cover!

JPS: Yes, I’m still pinching myself.

I first met Ellen Byron at Bouchercon Raleigh when we were both debut authors, and of course, I’m a huge fan of her award-winning Cajun County Mystery series. I met Jane K. Cleland at Malice Domestic in 2016. During the banquet, I sat at her table, and she won the Agatha for Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot. It was such an honor to be there while she celebrated with her husband, and of course, I’ve been reading her Josie Prescott series forever. So imagine my surprise when she turned to me and said, “Send me your book when it’s ready. If I like it, I’ll blurb it.” Talk about a generosity of spirit.

 I’ve loved Lea Wait forever, too, but I’ve never met her. I decided to take a flyer and emailed her, asking if she’d read my book. Honestly, I didn’t expect a yes, but nothing ventured and all of that. To my surprise, she replied within hours with a “love to.” It seems she reads New England Antiques Journal (I’ve been the Senior Editor for NEAJ since 2007). The mystery community is so wonderfully inclusive.

JRW: Oh, so true. If you had one piece of advice for aspiring authors, what would it be?

JPS: I love this quote from the legendary Arnold Palmer: “The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.”

JRW:  So we know about Lucy/Roberta, who wrote about golf out of love and passion. And who actually played! Then, as you know there’s gold-baffled me. Then—Judy! Another aficionado.

How about you, Reds and readers?  Tell us what you think about golf—and Judy’s here to answer your questions about the mysteries of slices and hooks. And mystery!

Find Judy on her website/blog at http://www.judypenzsheluk.com, where she interviews and showcases the works of other authors and blogs about the writing life.

An Amazon International Bestselling Author, Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, the first in the Glass Dolphin Mystery series, was published in July 2015. The sequel, A Hole In One, is scheduled for Spring 2018.

Skeletons in the Attic, Judy’s second novel, and the first in her Marketville Mystery series, was first published in August 2016 and re-released in December 2017. Past & Present, the sequel, is scheduled for early 2019.

Judy’s short crime and literary fiction appears in several collections.

In her less mysterious pursuits, Judy works as a freelance writer and editor; her articles have appeared regularly in dozens of U.S. and Canadian consumer and trade publications.

A HOLE IN ONE is available for pre-order at all the usual suspects, including the publisher, https://barkingrainpress.org/a-hole-in-one/ - 1473022241950-de2dbbf6-9e98, and will be released on March 6^th in trade paperback and all eBook formats.