I find it interesting that you write mystery, Christian horror and historical novels rather than focusing on one genre. Tell us about your Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series? Do you focus on a single small town? What type of cases does the deputy try to solve?
I only wrote two historical family sagas. They were both based on my own family's genealogy. Though fiction, they are based on fact and I used everyone's real name though I did make up some additional characters. Two Ways West continues to sell well in Springville where I live, because the Crabtree family in the story is the first family to own 640 acres where the town is situated.
The Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series is set in a mountain community in the Southern Sierra, very similar to the one that I live in though I moved it 1,000 feet higher in elevation. The fictional town of Bear Creek is located near an Indian reservation just like Springville. Tempe is a Native American married to a minister. As a resident deputy, Tempe not only keeps the peace in Bear Creek but higher in the mountains and at the recreational lake nearby so she has interesting places to patrol. There is always a murder in each book in the series. Usually the detectives decide the murderer is the wrong person and Tempe sets out to find the true villian.
What exactly is Christian horror? Is there an acceptable way of writing about dark forces that this genre allows?
Christian horror is horror with Christian elements. When I was first looking for a publisher for these books, the Christian publishers said they loved my writing but the story was too scary for their readers and the mainstream publishers said the story was too Christian for their readers. The first one, The Choice, I published through Page Free Publishing which was essentially self-publishing. I had another mystery published by Treble Heart Books and approached the publisher with the next Christian horror which was Deeds of Darkness and it was accepted as was the next one.
Is there any one book that you've written that disturbs you? I read a blurb from Melissa Parcel (In the Library Reviews) that Deeds of Darkness is disturbing on two levels. There's a reason for it, isn't there?
Actually, I like the description that my novel is disturbing. I intended for it to be disturbing. The heroine is a Christian teenager who realizes that the horrible things that are happening in her small town began after a witches' coven reached it's full capacity. She tells her pastor who poo-poos the whole idea and it's left up to her to solve the problem. Of course anyone who embraces witchcraft won't like this book unless he or she is able to embrace it as fiction.
The book that I have coming out soon from Hard Shell Word Factory, Wishing Makes It So, was hard to write because I was fictionalizing something that happened in my life. Fortunately, the true story doesn't have the same dire results that the book does. It's a story of when bad things happen to good people. It's far darker than most of my books.
I don't have a particular reason for writing things that are disturbing, I write what I have to write.
Your latest horror novel, Cup Of Demons, will be published by Treble Heart Books. In it Maginel inherits a gift from Great Aunt Ruby. Why is she haunted by ancestral ghosts and demonic creatures? Why must she now battle for her soul?
Cup of Demons is available now as an e-book and trade paperback from the publisher and the book from my website. The gift that Maginel inherits is not a good gift. I had a great time writing this book. It too has some horrible elements in it. This is mainly about a young woman who loses her faith and finds it again when she must fight evil powers in order to be able to marry the man she loves.
Tell us about your Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. First of all, what is her background and the setting of these novels? How many books are there currently in the series? Will there be more?
Tempe Crabtree is actually my great-grandmother's name. She is one of the heroine's in Two Ways West. However, Tempe in the mystery series is a completely fictional character. I became interested in writing about females in law enforcement because of two women. The first was a resident deputy in my area who I interviewed for a newspaper profile article. She told me about how difficult it was to be one of only a few females in the sheriff's department. The second was a small town police officer I did a ride-along with. From the hours of 2:30 a.m. until 6 a.m. she didn't get a single call. During the time she poured out all the troubles she had being the only female on the police department and raising a child as a single mother. The Native American part of Tempe came from a lovely young Indian I met who I also had the opportunity to talk to for a long period of time.
I was asked to lunch by a woman who had been a deputy and she told me that when she read my books she felt like she was reading about herself. I reminded her that Tempe is Native American and she said, "I am too, I just don't look like it." I also had a Native American call me after he'd read the first in the series and he said he wanted me to know that I got it right. I've given the tribe a different name because I am writing fiction.
There are five books in the series at the moment. The sixth, Calling the Dead, will be published this fall by Mundania. Sadly, the publisher for the print books passed away last year so I had to seek a new publisher. And yes, there will be more.
In the latest book in the series, Wingbeat, a marijuana farm and the murder of a long lost daughter keep Tempe busy. Is she working with the sheriff on this case? Why after years of not hearing about the daughter does news finally reach her family?
In Wingbeat Tempe is an acquaintance with the man whose granddaughter (the publisher put the wrong relationship in the blurb) has been missing since she was a teenager. Tempe is the one who discovers the marijuana farm and of course all these things are related. The granddaughter has returned to Bear Creek and that's where she is murdered. While all this is going on, Tempe's husband is falsely accused of exposing himself to school children because the man who is doing it drives a similar truck to Hutch's and his description is the same.
What are you currently writing? Do you have a publisher for the manuscript?
I'm working on another Tempe book right now. It's tentatively titled Kindred Spirits. In this book Tempe is sent to Crescent City where she meets two Tolowa women and learns a lot about different Indians. She and her husband also go to Santa Barbara in search of a murderer.
Tell us about your background as a writer and what you do 9 to 5.
I am mainly a writer. My last job was caring for six developmentally disabled women in our home which was licensed as a residential care facility. My husband and I did that for 23 years. I wrote while the women went to work, school or day programs. I'm still involved with the residential care business teaching and writing program plans. I spend most of my day at the computer either writing or doing promotion. However, I also have a huge family and spend time with them and I'm on the road a lot doing promotion and attending writer's conferences and mystery conventions.
Of the associations and organizations you belong to, which has been the most beneficial?
I've been part of a writer's critique group for 23 years. Not only have I learned a lot from them, but they've been my first editors. I'm also one of the founding members of the San Joaquin Sisters in Crime. That group has been invaluable to me because of the great speakers they've brought in from law enforcement and crime scene investigators to profilers. Plus I've made lots of good friends through Sisters in Crime. Epic has also been great for learning how to promote electronic books.
How do you promote your novels?
First, I have to say I spend a lot of time and money on promotion--a necessary part of writing these days. My website is probably my number one promotion tool. I promote on all the e-lists that I belong to. I have an e-mail newsletter that I write and mail out once a month. Anyone who would like to subscribe, all that's needed is to send me an e-mail with Subscribe in the subject line. It's just a newsy letter about what I've been doing and some people think it's funny, but usually what I write about didn't seem funny at the time. When a new book comes out I send announcements via snail mail to my mailing list and e-mail announcements everywhere. Usually I arrange a book launch somewhere and make sure to get lots of local publicity. I also try to obtain as many reviews as possible. I give talks at libraries and for clubs and organizations. I also give workshops at writer's conferences. Going to mystery conventions is another way of promotion and it's great to have a chance to interact with them. And yes, I do booksignings, too. I love to meet anyone who has read my books and enjoyed them.
--copyright Denise Fleischer
