The Nutcracker Conspiracy (A Thorny Rose Mystery #4) by Lauren Carr

Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 388 pages

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Acorn Book Services

Release date: January 30, 2020

Synopsis

Three years ago, the nation gasped in horror when the President of the United States barely escaped an assassination attempt that left two dead—the vice president’s wife and the attempted assassin. Even after numerous investigations proved otherwise, conspiracy theorists argue that the assassin was acting on orders from the CIA, FBI, and every federal agency within a hundred miles of the capital.

Aspiring Author Dean Conway is the last person Lieutenant Commander Murphy Thornton wants to spend his Saturday afternoon when they end up at the same wedding reception table. While their wives tend to bridesmaid duties, Murphy is trapped listening to Dean’s latest work-in-project—completing the manuscript of an investigative journalist who’d disappeared months earlier.

“She was number twelve,” Dean says.

“Twelve?” Murphy asks.

“Twelve witnesses connected to or investigating The Nutcracker shooting have died either in an accident or suicide.”

Two days later, Dean dies suddenly―but not before sending a text message to Murphy:

“13”

Pre-Order Your Copy Today!

Scheduled release date is Jan 30, 2020!

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Interview with Lauren Carr

Today I’m excited to have Lauren Carr here today sharing some insights into her books, characters, and what her life has been like since taking over a blog tour company.  I’m tired just thinking about her schedule!  Thanks for stopping by Lauren.

Can you share a bit about your journey to becoming a writer/published author? Looking back at your childhood were there any early signs you would become an author?

I was making up stories since I could talk. My mother used to marvel at my imagination. Also, I was one of those kids who had an imaginary friend. His name was Sam. I remember him. I would tell him stories. I was telling stories to the dogs. When I would read books, a love I inherited from my mother, I would rewrite them. I’d turn The Bobbsey Twins mysteries into stories about a kidnapping.

I believe writers are born writers. It is something you are born with. You can always spot a writer. When you ask a “normal” person how their day is going, they will say, “Fine.” But when you ask a writer, they’ll set up the scene and characters, and give you a blow by blow about their day.

Where do you find inspiration for your storylines? For the characters you create? What kind of research do you do to help with the details?

I can get inspiration from anywhere. I confess, I watch a lot of true crime shows to get inspiration from actual murder cases. Forensics Files. Even fiction shows. I use them as a jumping off point.

Even though my books are character driven, the murder mystery always comes first. Since I write a number of different series, I then have to decide which series is a better fit for the mystery. For example, the mystery in The Nutcracker Conspiracy had to go to the Thorny Rose series because that series is placed in the Nation’s Capital. There was no way I could have placed a conspiracy involving an attempted assassination on the president in the resort town of Deep Creek Lake.

I’ll get a germ of an idea and bounce it off other writers. Then I will think on it while working on other things. Sometimes I’ll think about a storyline for weeks, or months, or even years. The plotline for my next work in progress, the next Mac Faraday, is one that I have turned over in my mind for more than a year.

I’ve been asked if I write down story ideas. The answer is no. Someone once asked Stephen King that. He said that if he wrote down his ideas, he would have a journal of bad ideas. I have found that to be true.

The good plotlines will stick with you. I’ve been inspired with what I thought was a great idea only to have it fade away and disappear. That’s why I don’t’ start writing a book until I have everything sorted out in my head.

How does the writing process work for you? Do you schedule a time every day, work madly when inspiration hits or ?

I make time for writing. I love to write, and it is something that I look forward to every day. Since I took over iRead Book Tours, that is basically my day job. Writing is my escape. I dive into the world of my characters and shut everything else out.

I’ve worked with a number of writers and I tell them that if you want to be an author, you need to make time for your writing. There are always going to be chores and family and duties and jobs that can fill up your time until you find you have no time left to write. Granted, if you have a full-time job and a family, there will be things that you have to take care of. But there are also time thieves that will eat up time that you could otherwise spend writing. I cut out television. Time in the evening that others would be watching television shows, I spend working on my next book.

As an author – what do you enjoy most about the writing process? What feels like a chore?

Working out the murder case. Figuring out the entire plotline of how the murder was committed and then how my detectives solve the case—that I enjoy the most. I also enjoy editing the book. I know that sounds weird, but when I read through it after having written it and seeing everything coming to life is a kick.

The chore is getting the words on the page after I have put everything together. I enjoy writing the first half of the book because at that point, everything is still coming together. But by the time I reach the last half, the book is written in my mind. It’s done for me. Then, I still have to type the words out on the page and that is a chore. Sometimes, I feel like my own typist.

What’s next for you as an author? Do you have any new books in the planning or writing stage?

The next Mac Faraday mystery! This is book fourteen—Came Upon a Midnight Murder. This will be released this summer. It will have a Christmas theme to it. So look for Christmas in July—or June. We’ll see.

About the Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Thorny Rose, Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries—over twenty titles across four fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and two spoiled rotten German shepherds on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook  ~  Instagram

Giveaway

Prizes: ​ $50 Amazon Gift Card courtesy of Lauren Carr, author of THE NUTCRACKER CONSPIRACY (ends March 6)

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