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Alison: I have always read historical fiction - Everything is Illuminated, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The Invisible Bridge and others - and I think what I loved most was that I could learn about the world and be enthralled in the story of it all at the same time. I majored in History in college because I had professors that lectured as if history were a page-turning novel. When I graduated college, I wanted to try combining the flare of those Berkeley history classes with the literature I loved --and started to turn my senior thesis into a novel. That is how Radio Underground started. It was based off these letters I found written by Hungarian teenagers during the Cold War to a rock 'n' roll DJ in Munich. At the time, rock music was banned on the state radio, so people would listen to it in secret and write these music requests and letters to the DJ that ran the station in Germany.

Alison: It's definitely a hard thing to do. Often when I wanted to describe a scene in detail, I'd have to stop, take to the internet or order a book on a specific topic in order to finish the scene. For example, I had to do a lot of research about how radio broadcasts were transmitted in the '50s and '60s, and the devices and methods used to jam radio waves. It was really technical and most of that information didn't get into the book, but I needed to know it in order to be confident in describing the characters interacting with those things.

Alison: If I am feeling like I'm in the right mood, it is. Writing can help me work through and understand myself and the world. 

Alison: It's challenging to get started in fiction because it requires a lot of networking to find the right agents, publishers, editors, etc. However, once that foundation is formed, there is quite a bit of momentum that can carry you through the publishing process and onto your next book.

Alison: Eszter Turján is an underground journalist in Budapest during the Cold War who is so determined to take down the Soviet regime, she manipulates news broadcasts on Radio Free Europe, commits a murder and ultimately puts her family in grave danger. She is the type of person that can convince herself anything is just or right if it's for a cause she believes in. She will take huge risks to accomplish her goals, no matter how unrealistic they are, and this leads to some very serious recklessness.

Alison: Eszter is tasked with taking the leader of the Hungarian revolution to a meeting point where Americans are waiting to hand over arms to help bolster the fight against the Soviets. Violence is raging outside and they have to sneak across the city to a rickety house in the hills. They enter the house and something doesn't seem quite right...

Alison: There will most certainly be another book in the future. I'm already working on it--a novel that takes place in modern-day San Francisco. While it's not historical, it is speculative...so I'll be imagining certain elements of the world.

T.C. Wescott was born in Missouri but has lived in Oklahoma most of his life. Like pretty much every author who has ever breathed, he is an avid reader. His favorites are classic mysteries from the Golden Age, as well as just before or just after that period (which is widely considered the period between the two World Wars). His first mystery novel, Running from Scissors, was published in July 2018 and will be the first of at least three books in the Running Store Mystery series.

The Christmas Village Mystery series launched in November of the same year with the debut title Slay Bells. The formula for his books is simple – mixing the classic, traditional detective fiction standards with all the trappings of the modern cozy mystery.

Wescott is also (under another name) the author of two award-winning non-fiction books as well as many essays and articles.

His latest book is the cozy mystery, Slay Bells (A Christmas Village Mystery).


‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the village, the night settled in over swirling-smoke chimneys; the air was alive with pine and holly, with sugar and cinnamon and cider, by golly!

Along snowy lanes and through shadows it crept, past windows behind which each villager slept, where sleeping dogs lie and cats rest a’purring-

Tonight, in Christmas Village, a killer is stirring.

Welcome to Christmas Village, a magical hamlet where even in December the roses hold their luster and bees buzz among the bluebells. Nestled betwixt an opulent garden with meandering footpaths and an ancient grove of plum trees, Rose Willoughby’s boarding house is plum-full with lodgers. There are no vacancies, but just wait. Soon there will be one…and another…and another.

When the Inn’s guests begin dying in inexplicable ways, some villagers believe a beast from old village lore is the culprit. The sheriff knows better, but he’s just as helpless to catch the invisible killer as are the town folk with their eyes to the sky in search of a flying creature. But our mysterious murderer hasn’t counted on yet another lodger coming to the cottage: Maribel Claus.

Short as a stump, round as a wheel, sweet as a candy cane, and a sharp as a whip, Maribel loves a good puzzle. But can she unmask the phantom killer in time and save Christmas?

Interview:

Welcome, T.C.!  Your new Christmas Village Mystery series sounds thrilling! Can you tell us how you came up with the idea?

T.C.: Years ago I conceived of a mystery happening in the actual Santa village at the North Pole. Only Santa would be the victim! What appealed to me about the idea was the cozy village full of cottages and quirky businesses. Time marched on and I increasingly became attracted to the idea of writing a cozy mystery series. The two ideas melded together and I came up with Christmas Village Mysteries. It was the coziest possible world I could imagine. There are SO many cozy series out there now that I figured if I was going to ask readers to spend their time and money on me then the least I could do was attempt to write the coziest, most mysterious cozy mysteries I could. Slay Bells is my first stab (pardon the pun) at that. With more to come!

Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your latest book, Slay Bells?

T.C.: The primary character is Maribel Claus who is very active about the business of the village. And some might say she’s active about the business of the villagers! She’s helping out an injured friend, Rose Willoughby, who runs a bed and breakfast called Plum Cottage. It’s the week of the grand Christmas Festival and the Inn is full with a troupe of traveling performers. When one by one they begin to die in the most mysterious fashion imaginable, the village is split between thinking a mythological creature of village lore or a flesh-and-blood human is behind it. Maribel knows an old-fashioned murder when she sees one. But to discover who committed the murders she must first figure out how they were committed. A Howdunit!

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

T.C.: I hope the first page. But failing that I would say by the end of chapter 3. That’s when you have an idea of what kind of book you’re in for and you will want to stay until the end to discover how such an impossible murder could be committed.

Do you proofread and edit your work on your own or pay someone to do it for you?

T.C.: Every author NEEDS a professional proofreader/copy editor. I don’t care who you are. Stephen King has one. My process is this: I’ll write several chapters and then when the mood hits me, I’ll read back through them, making corrections and changes. I continue this until the book is fully written. Then I do another read-through, catch more things. Then I put my book into an online system called AutoCrit which undoubtedly improves each manuscript it touches. After I’ve ran it through the AutoCrit gauntlet, I send the manuscript to my editor. When she is done, I enter in her corrections and do a final read-through. In spite of all this, the odd error will survive. But just because an author is publishing independently it’s not an excuse to be sloppy. If you want to compete with the big houses, you have to do what you can to bring your product up to their level, which is what the reader expects and deserves.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

T.C.: Think of how many bad books you’ve read that had a great cover. You probably can’t count that high. Now, think of how many great books you’ve purchased that had a terrible cover. Having trouble thinking of one? That’s because you don’t look at books with terrible covers. Invest in a competent cover artist.

What did you want to become when you were a kid?

T.C.: An author, a rock star, an actor, an author. In that order.

Do your novels carry a message?

T.C.: I suppose little messages slip through, but cozy mysteries are escapism, and they’re about the puzzle. Or they should be. ‘Cozy’ should only come before ‘Mystery’ in the book department description.

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

T.C.: Yes, thank you for choosing my book. If you left a review somewhere, then bless you. More on the way. And I DO pay attention to feedback.

“I USED TO BE SOMEBODY—when Preston Howard walked down the street, kings and queens would move off to the curb. Okay, so that bit of paraphrased hyperbole, courtesy of George Thorogood, might qualify as excessive, but for sure, when I rode into town, mayors, city managers, and police chiefs became more than a little queasy over what kind of wrath I might bring down on their community.”

--From The Sheltering Palms by John Burpo

Preston: The protagonist, Preston Howard, is a labor attorney who has just faced prostate cancer and a forced retirement. He begins reflecting over his tumultuous, fascinating life, wondering whether it has any value outside of his narrow world representing police officers and unions. His bourbon-swilling, piano-playing, brilliant grandfather Buster weaves in and out of this autobiographical fiction novel, first mentoring the younger Preston in matters of politics, religion, and the quest for knowledge, and later saving Preston’s life…maybe.

Preston: There are two pivotal moments in the book. The first one takes place early in Preston’s legal career, when he is uncertain about whether union work is the right choice for his career. He represents a female activist police officer in Oak Lawn, Illinois, who is terminated for union activity. Preston dramatically saves her job and goes on to become a renowned attorney across the country. The second pivotal moment takes place when Preston becomes so despondent over this career that he takes off for the hinterlands. He winds up in a church in Bend, Oregon, where Buster suddenly appears playing the organ----more than ten years after his death, and admonishes Preston for his behavior and attitude.

Preston: There was no way I would edit my work. I hired super editor Jeff LaFerney, who put me through English 101 boot camp. What a great partner!

Preston: I certainly hope so. The photo on the cover captures the essence of Buster: smoking, bourbon, a lighter (that turns out to have an Army artillery insignia), and most important, his Panama hat with the red and blue hatband. The Panama hat appears throughout the book. Also, the notation about the Texas labor lawyer best describes Preston Howard in one short sentence.

Preston: What else then play first base for the New York Giants, before that bastard Horace Stoneham shipped the team off to San Francisco? There were of course obstacles to that goal. First, Whitey Lockman played first base, and I’m certain that Whitey would have fought me tooth and nail to hold on to his spot. Second, while my ability to play baseball allowed me to make it to the college level, I had an anemic arm, a lack of power and as I said in the book, ran like Buster’s grand piano sat on my back.

Preston: This novel is my first stab at fiction, and yes, there is definitely a message. People often stumble in their lives; in Preston’s case, alcohol and womanizing cause his temporary downfall. The important point in the book: when someone gets down and almost out, they can get back up off the floor, lead a productive life, and redeem themselves. This ultimate point capsulizes the story about Preston Howard.

Preston: Yes. During my career, I have written three professional books about police unions. But I found that writing a novel was so exhilarating that I am already working on another book, a sequel to this one about the continued exploits of now retired Preston Howard!