Today I'm thrilled to welcome a dear friend and fellow author, Karen C. Whalen. Karen is offering to gift one lucky person with an ebook copy of Toes on the Dash. Read through to see how to enter.
Writers are told to write what they know.
I’ve stopped reading books that had the facts wrong. If I can’t trust what is easily verifiable, how can I trust anything else the writer is telling me? But if writers only wrote what they knew, their books would lack the creative and unique story readers are looking for to transport them to another place or time. Would any science fiction or fantasy be written? How about historical fiction? Murder mysteries?
The answer, of course, is not writing only about things you have experienced first-hand. It’s about writing from a place of knowledge. This is the ticket: write about what you’ve come to know. Read, research, and imagine.
Because I write about murder, I’ve attended countless forensic classes and the citizen’s police academy to learn about police procedure and evidence. I’ve made friends with police investigators and pose questions to them regularly. Thank goodness my genre is not science fiction, but kudos to all those writers, like best-selling author Andy Weir, who studied orbital mechanics, astronomy, and the history of spaceflight before writing The Martian.
In my most recent book, Toes on the Dash, Delaney Morran receives an unexpected inheritance—the keys to a tow truck—from a dad she’s never known. Despite the fact she hasn’t changed a tire in all of her twenty-eight years, she decides to give the rough and dangerous business a chance. And when her jerk of an ex-boyfriend is found dead in the trunk of a car she’s towed and her toe prints are discovered on the dash of said car, Delaney becomes the prime murder suspect.
What I knew about the tow business was very little. Before I began to write novels, I worked as a paralegal at a law firm that represented tow truck operators. These car haulers are an under-appreciated, crazy breed, with interesting stories to tell. At the time all the tow truck drivers represented by the firm were men. This is the part I knew about.
What if a woman was in charge? What if the woman was young, trying to make her business a success in a man's world? What if she wore high heels to set herself apart? This is the part where I used my imagination.
As for the research, I watched hours of YouTube videos made by tow truck operators. I learned there are many different types of tow trucks, not just the type with the big hook on the back. I gained knowledge of the lingo and decided upon the type of tow truck my protagonist would drive. I contacted the truck manufacturer for additional details. Did my truck have to have a winch? No. How heavy is some of the equipment? Heavy. I spoke with local tow truck companies, and was disappointed none let me ride along. They said for liability reasons, but I think that was just their crazy talking. I did not let that deter me! I read every book on the tow truck business I could find. I joined towing groups on social media and that’s where the wealth of information exploded. There I met a couple of female tow truck drivers who were excited about my story and provided essential information.
It took me a couple of years to write about tow truck drivers from a place of knowledge, but you may be able to do your research in less time.
Learn what you don’t know and write about that.
Leave a comment, and we'll draw randomly for a lucky winner of her spotlight book.
Excerpt:
I kicked the black tires with my pointy-toed, high- heeled shoes. Isn’t that what you did when you bought a car? Only I wasn’t buying, I was inheriting. And it wasn’t a car, it was a tow truck.
A heavyset man, pushing fifty or sixty, stepped out of an open auto bay and strode over. “Hello, there.” His deep, striking voice was at odds with his mechanic’s overalls and dirty work boots. His eyes swerved down to my heels. “Ya’ here for the truck?”
“I am.” Me, all of five-foot-two, weighing in at 110 pounds, wearing my skinny jeans and slingback stilettos. The man probably thought I couldn’t handle such a big rig. He was probably right. My freckled face was certain to have turned crimson to match the single red braid down my back.
I offered my hand. “I’m Delaney Morran.”
“Byron Oberly.” He returned a hard handclasp, his fingers rough and cracked with dark oil stains. “So, you’re Del’s girl. When the lawyer told me you were comin’ over, that’s the first I heard a’ you. Your dad didn’t say anything to me ’bout a daughter, but I can see the resemblance. Sorry for your loss.”
I stared hard at the truck. The rig was faded white with “Del’s Towing” painted in navy blue on the door. It appeared fairly new and only had a few scratches.
“Thanks.” My chest felt tight, but I gave the man in overalls what I hoped was a confident smile.
About Karen:
Karen C. Whalen is the author of two mystery series for The Wild Rose Press: the Dinner Club Mysteries featuring Jane Marsh, an empty nester who hosts a gourmet dinner club, and the Tow Truck Mysteries starring Delaney Moran, a super feminine shoe-a-holic who drives a tow truck. Both are cozy mysteries about strong friendships and family ties set in Colorado. The first book in the Dinner Club series tied for First Place in the Suspense Novel category of the 2017 IDA Contest sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America. She worked for many years as a paralegal at a law firm in Denver, Colorado and was a columnist and regular contributor to The National Paralegal Reporter magazine. She loves to host dinner clubs, entertain friends, ride bicycles, hike in the mountains, and read cozy murder mysteries.
Find me online:
https://www.facebook.com/whalencozyauthor (author page)
https://www.facebook.com/whalenkarenc (personal page)
https://www.instagram.com/whalenkarenc
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Written in Love series: What happens when a romance writer and a book publisher come together? Love!
Cactus Lil and the City Slicker (Book 1)
A rough-and-tumble cowgirl, “Cactus” Lil Duncan longs for true love, but is afraid to let down her prickly exterior when a city slicker from New York City, with less-than-honorable intentions, tries to win her trust and her hand.
Written in Love (Book 2): Cactus Lil's Big City Debut
Lily and Peter Golding arrive triumphantly in the Big City. But when they learn of Uncle Phillip’s mysterious disappearance, Peter and Lily are pulled into the dark underside of the Big City, then thrust onto the front pages of the newspapers as ‘persons of interest’ in the investigation.
Can they survive the onslaught of attention on themselves, their marriage, and the seedy side of the publishing industry? Can they survive? Period? Or can they discover who is behind this nefarious act, save Uncle Phillip--and themselves?
CONTEMPORARY
IF YOU LIKE MYSTERIES, YOU'LL LOVE THE “BY THE NUMBER OMNIBUS COLLECTIONS”. THREE COMPLETE CARLY TURNQUIST NOVELS IN EACH VOLUME, FOUR VOLUMES IN TOTAL. AVAILABLE HERE
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Counting the Days A 31-day devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk
Mail-Order Romance series: marriage sight unseen, hoping love comes later. Will these men and women find what they’re looking for?
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Recipe for Disaster (Book 1)
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Cooking Up Trouble (Book 2)
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A Fresh Start for Elizabeth (Book 3)
Elizabeth Maddock, widow and chef, answers an ad and finds herself in Boulder, Colorado, passing her infant son off as her brother.
Evan Hamden, childless widower, searches for a cure for TB. While drawn to Miss Maddock, he resists falling in love, But when his patients start dying, he doesn’t know who to trust. Certainly not this invisible God Miss Maddock relies on
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Can Evan and Elizabeth discover whether his treatment plan is faulty, or is somebody behind the deaths? Can they trust each other—and God—to reveal the truth? Releases May 28, 2024 -- available for preorder now.
Healing the Wounded Heart series: Follow these brave women as they venture into fields of medicine early in
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Testing Tessa (Book 1)
Can Tessa find a way to heal a wounded heart through loving the father’s son?
Justice for Julia (Book 2)
Should love come before or after marriage? Julia escapes unfounded medical malpractice claims. Josiah hides in a small town in Iowa with his daughter. But will they be willing to settle for a loveless marriage? Can they fool the residents with their subterfuge? Or will their pasts catch up with them?
Prairie Roses Collection: Adventure and romance in a covered wagon setting.
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Tina (Book 29 in Prairie Roses Collection 2023)
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The Switchboard Sisterhood series: Brave women travel to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1925 to look for love in a town where men outnumber women 10 to 1. But will they find more than they bargained for?
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Morgana (Book 13)
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Christmas Under Main Street series: Will these entrepreneurial women in Pueblo, Colorado,
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Time Will Tell (Book 2)
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The Suffrage Spinsters: Tired of being ignored and treated as inferior members of society, the brave women of the mid-1800’s decided to do something about it. They banded together to initiate what is now known as the Suffrage movement – the decades-long fight for women to achieve the right to vote. The stories in this fictional romance series feature strong heroines of this era who were unwilling to give up their collective voice in order to discover true love.
Rollie's Riddle (Book 10)
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The Reclusive Man/Hers to Redeem series: every man has a secret. And when a woman has a good reason, she won’t let go until she knows what it is.
Dianna’s Dilemma (Book 18)
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David's Difficulty (Book 19 Hers to Redeem)
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A Pink Lady Thanksgiving (Book 3 in Series 3, 2020)
A new home, a new name, and a new baby—who is trying to take all three from her? Kate McBride settles into life in Oregon City, Oregon in November 1879, while furthering her dream to solve mysteries. Her first case: find a missing woman. But when somebody seems intent on stopping her, she and Tom must join forces to reveal who is trying to stop them.
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Kaihtlyn's Choice (Book 19 of the Courting Chaos series)
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Oregon Trail Mysteries: Traveling west in the 1800s wasn’t easy, and neither was settling in Oregon City, Oregon. Join Tom and Kate as they explore the country and solve mysteries.
Kate (Oregon Trail Mysteries Book 1)
A prostitute’s daughter, an outlaw’s brother, and a stagecoach robbery—can anything good come out of Deadwood?
A Pink Lady Thanksgiving (Book 2)
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Kingston Marchmont flees Australia in search of a new life—and a new opportunity to prove he isn’t the man wrongfully convicted and transported.
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By the Numbers series: Join Carly Turnquist in 2002 as she pokes her nose into one mystery after another. Watch as a nudist colony threatens to take over her hometown, then join her as she and hubby Mike travel the country, stopping by Bear Cove, Maine, often enough to still be called residents.
No Accounting For Murder (Book 1)
Most people think accountants are boring. Carly Turnquist is about to prove them wrong. Join Carly, a forensic accountant, as she gets involved with a mystery business that threatens her quiet East Coast town, embezzled money, a missing mayor, and several attempts on her life. Will she live long enough to reveal who the killer is?
There Was a Crooked Man (Book 2)
Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, is joining husband Mike on a working vacation--working for him, vacation for her--at a dude ranch in New Mexico. First she learns of missing stock and unpaid invoices, then veiled threats and a dead foreman threaten to ruin her trip.
Can Carly figure out who wants to put this family-owned ranch out of business, or will she die trying?
Unbalanced (Book 3)
Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, is at home in Bear Cove, Maine, happily planning her son's wedding, when she sees a bank robbery. The only problem is that nobody else sees the robbery, and when she tries to investigate, her credibility is called into question. Add into the mix her husband's long-lost brother who disappears, leaving his son behind.
Five and Twenty Blackbirds (Book 4)
Join Carly Turnquist as she accompanies husband Mike to his twenty-fifth college reunion in Arizona. However, a sleepy little town is about to wake up to its first murder in over a hundred years, and Carly's nose for a mystery is on high alert.
Broke, Busted, and Disgusted (Book 5)
Back in Bear Cove, Carly's best friend is being courted by a smarmy stranger, and Mike's latest client is unhappy with him. When the client turns up dead and Mike is nowhere to be found, the police suspect him, and the video and paperwork they have that shows someone matching Mike's description maxed out their credit cards and cleaned out their bank accounts is compelling. But Carly knows her husband couldn't kill anybody. Could he?
Hidden Assets (Book 6)
Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, responds to a call from her friend, Anne, who is in the middle of a nasty divorce, and travels to Wyoming to help find assets Anne thinks her husband has stolen. But the mystery begins before Carly even arrives when she sees a man thrown off a train. Except there’s no body. Husband Mike uncovers an illegal scam in a computer program he has been asked to upgrade, and then Anne is arrested for her ex’s murder. Can Carly figure out what’s going on, and why a strange couple is digging in Anne’s basement? Or will she disappear along with the artwork, coins, and money?
Petty Cash (Book 7)
Can Carly enjoy a peaceful vacation on Cape Cod, or will a local ghostly legend and a murder keep her too busy to notice what else is going on around her?
A Deadly Dissolution (Book 8)
Carly loses more than daylight when the total lunar eclipse and crime come to town. Can she figure out what’s going on before the suspects escape?
Silent Partner (Book 9)
Carly and Mike take the vacation of a lifetime--an Alaskan cruise. Unfortunately, Carly can't turn off her nose for trouble. Or mystery. Pretty soon she's embroiled with a series of allegations, innuendoes, overheard conversations, and even a shoving match. And before she knows it--a body. Can Carly figure out who the killer is before she ends up floating on an iceberg--or worse?
In the Money
(Book 10)
A million-dollar jackpot, a missing neighbor who won the money, a mysterious investment advice friend, and a cyber-security expert blended together with a dollop of insurance fraud and a smidgeon of gossip—can Carly get to the bottom of it all without ending up sunk in the harbor?
Missing Deposits (Book 11)
Carly looks forward to a vacation when Mike is hired to assist a rancher family in western Colorado catalogue their various mineral rights following the discovery of a large copper field on their property. However, Carly soon learns that the real wealth—and the real danger—aren’t below ground. Someone is out to keep a secret bigger and more profitable than copper. And they’re willing to kill for it.
Risk Management (Book 12)
When Carly is confronted with three terrible monsters, will she survive all three – or will this be her end?
Carly can’t ignore a good mystery. But when her investigations come close to home, she must decide whether to step back or continue, because now her family—and her own life—are at stake. Will she continue? Or will she retire gracefully? Perhaps she can do both.
Mysterious Ink Mystery Bookstore series: Join Margie Hanson, Carly Turnquist’s now-adult granddaughter, as she inherits a mystery bookstore in Edgewater, Colorado. This light-hearted cozy mystery with a dose of romance series is sure to delight you as Margie finds herself in the midst of missing books, murder, hidden secrets, and clandestine affairs. She undoubtedly inherited her grandmother’s sleuthing gene.
The Game is Afoot
(Book 1)
When Great-Aunt Roselda calls, everybody comes running. But by the time Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, and her now adult granddaughter Margie Hanson arrive, Roselda is dead. Follow Carly on her absolutely final case as she mentors Margie into the finer art of solving a murder.
Little Grey Cells
(Book 2)
During renovations to her inherited house, Margie Hanson, library science graduate, discovers a suitcase with several items, including a wedding album, a baby's bonnet, and a rare manuscript. Who hid them there? And why? And where did two people and a newborn disappear to?
Heavier Than Broken Hearts (Book 3)
Dead men are heavier than broken hearts—at least according to Philip Marlowe, the legendary detective. Margie Hanson discovers a copy of “The Big Sleep” in a box lot of books at an estate sale, and she snags it to sell in her bookstore, along with a spice rack and spices for her kitchen. At home, she discovers neither is what she first thought. Can she solve these two mysteries before somebody succeeds in snuffing her permanently?
Nothing is Easy (Book 4)
Margie hosts a Christmas mystery month, featuring four different mystery books for the month. When a series of murders mimics the plot in the books, and she is the prime suspect, she soon learns that nothing is easy.
Christmas Ridge Romance series: a small town in the Colorado mountains. A community center that is the heart and soul of the town. Can the entire town’s Christmas wish list come true?
A Mommy by Christmas (Book 2)
Standalone Books
Always a Wedding Planner Romance Collection
Business partners Felicity Anderson, the cake baker; Kiki Bell, the seamstress; Cassie Blackthorn, the coordinator; and Chef Saffron Delarosa are best of friends in a town that is a romantic wedding destination for many couples—who work together at Weddings by Design to make every bride’s special day perfect. Could each falling into their own romance be the key to working out their differences and learning to trust each other—and God—with their futures?
A Mistletoe Mystery (Merry Little
Mysteries Anthology)
Christmas trees, cattle—and mayhem. Can Holly & Ivy Christmas figure out who is behind this nefarious deed?
Christmas Past, Christmas Present
A widower and his two daughters; a boy lost in the woods -- all in desperate need of a Christmas miracle.
Can Grace and Luke solve the clues in her grandmother’s scavenger hunt and uncover the truth about their real feelings, or will the tension and their differences in goals and faith drive them apart?
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