So, who am I?
Sarah E. Glenn loves mystery and horror stories, often with a sidecar of humor. Several have appeared in mystery and paranormal anthologies, including G.W. Thomas’ Ghostbreakers series, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, and Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology. She is the Web Maven for the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and also serves as Editor-in-Chief for Mystery and Horror, LLC.
Sarah developed strong ideals from her parents, a salesman turned missionary and an activist turned social worker. Despite their tutelage and a short stint as a classical languages grad student, she still loves Kolchak, superheroes, geek fandoms, and pop culture.
Her great-great aunt served as a nurse in WWI, and was injured by poison gas during the fighting. After being mustered out, she traveled widely. A hundred years later, “Aunt Dess” would inspire Sarah to write stories she would likely not have approved of.
Shaddap already! What's the giveaway?
On December 5th and 6th, the Kindle version of Murder on the Mullet Express will be free. Also, if you comment on my blog post with the word "snowbirds," you will be entered into a drawing for the new audiobook version of Murder on the Mullet Express!
Oh, wait. You won the drawing, but don't want an audiobook? We can negotiate sending you a print copy of MOME, or one of the other books in the series. Write me at sarahglenn 63 @ gmail.com minus the spaces.
And now ... the interview!
1. What inspired you to start writing? I began reading
at a very early age. I loved stories. Loved, loved, loved them. I couldn’t
think of anything nobler to do (not sure where humor came into it). My earliest
writings were continuations of the stories I loved (aka fan fiction), which I
drew as well as wrote. I began with horses (big Black Stallion fan),
moved to Betty and Veronica, and eventually to The X-Men, where I
introduced my own characters.
In college, I was introduced to
fantasy. I shifted to prose inspired by Roger Zelazny’s world of Amber, but developed
my own plots and characters. I do enjoy other worlds, whether science fiction,
fantasy, or historical.
2. What did you want to be when you grew up? A witch,
an astronaut, an alien, a superhero, a spy, an actress, and an author. The
beauty of being an author is that you can be all of these people and more.
3. What genres do you write? I started with horror and
paranormal tales, but my interest in mysteries developed over time. People’s secrets
and hidden motivations are fascinating. Zelazny’s first Amber series (the first
five novels) starred Corwin, who woke up with amnesia in a private hospital and
broke free. His first question was “Who am I?” The hospital’s records led him
to his sister, who was not forthcoming. A brother, one of many, shows up. He’s
in trouble, and offers to help Corwin take the throne. Turns out Corwin has
been missing for longer than their father. The family has been betrayed by one
of their own, and Corwin must discover what is going on.
Meeting Gwen sharpened my
interest in mysteries as a genre. She is a long-term Agatha Christie fan. I’d
read several of my grandmother’s Perry Mason books, but mostly watched my detectives
on television. Together, we discovered Anne Perry, Donna Andrews, Catriona
McPherson, Janet Evanovich, Louise Penny, and the Elizabeth McPherson series by
Sharyn McCrumb.
4. What advice would you give to a new writer, someone just
starting? Write what inspires you. Don’t “write to market.” By the time you
finish writing a story in a popular trope, the readers will have moved to
something else. Plus, you will have wasted your energy on writing something you
didn’t love. Writing is something that comes from the self, like any creative
endeavor.
5. Plotter or pantser? Oh, I pants my way through the
beginning of everything I write. I have tried outlining first, but it takes the
life out of the process for me. I usually have to write 30,000 words of a book
before I figure out what the real story is. Then I outline, usually with the
help of a calendar.
I don’t write in chronological
order; I write the first scene that appears in my head. Eventually the
narrative grows into a scene and sequence pattern, and the plot takes form. At
some point, I have to move a block of story because I realize it should have
happened earlier in the tale, and then retrofit things so it looks like it was
there all along.
6. Do you listen to music while you write? My co-author
can only write in silence. My imagination rides music like a horse. When I’m
writing in a specific historical period, I listen to music (with earbuds) from
that era. It helps set the mood, and in some cases, the attitude of the
culture. The popular music of the 1920s is more rambunctious than the compositions
of the French Romantics and Impressionists, even though they aren’t far apart
in age. Life has a soundtrack, as far as I’m concerned.
7. How did you convert your book into an audiobook? Scott
Ellis of Scott Ellis Reads spoke to our Sisters in Crime chapter a few years ago. One of our dreams has
been having audiobooks, so when we reconnected with him earlier this year, we
decided to go ahead with him.
We sent Scott sample material
from Murder on the Mullet Express, and he sent us audio from different
narrators who work with him. Even though the primary characters were mostly
female, we chose him for his facility with the different accents and general tone.
Scott guided us through the
process with ACX, which is owned by Amazon (so far, Amazon has provided us the
best bang for our buck for the series). I claimed our book on ACX, and extended
an offer to his company (we had agreed on the rate by then).
He posted his reading of the
first chapter quickly, and we made comments. We also met with Scott via Zoom to
provide more information on the characters—their general tone (pleasant, gruff,
etc.), backgrounds (some are Southern, others are not). Scott offered his
suggestions for how minor characters might sound.
After that, he uploaded
recordings of the chapters to ACX for us to listen to and approve. Once we had
approved the initial recordings, we then received completed recordings for
final approval. It was a last-minute chance to catch problems, which I
appreciated.
The projected date of completion at
the time of the offer was late January 2025, but the audiobook became available
before Thanksgiving. Amazon/ACX runs the book through its own approval process.
They say the average time for approval is 10 days, but ours took two weeks. But
there were no requests for corrections!
Gwen and I were both pleased with
the work Scott Ellis did with the audiobook. He did an excellent job.
On December 5th and 6th, the Kindle version of Murder on the Mullet Express will be free on Amazon. If you comment on this post with the word “snowbirds,” I will enter you into a drawing for a free copy of the audiobook. If you don’t want a download of the audiobook, I can send you a print copy of Murder on the Mullet Express or another book in the Three Snowbirds series.
Lightning round – Just for
fun:
Tea or coffee? Yes, with sugar.
Lots of sugar.
Morning person or night owl?
Whooo, me?
City or country? The ‘burbs suit
me best.
Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Halloween.
Extrovert or introvert? Introvert
in person, extrovert online.
Print, ebook, or audiobook? Ebooks
for nonfiction, audiobooks for fiction.
Pizza, burgers, or pasta? Pizza.
See, I can give a straight answer!
Other books by Sarah E. Glenn
Murder at the Million Dollar Pier - co-written with Gwen Mayo.
Ybor City Blues - co-written with Gwen Mayo.
Short Stories:
"Bolita and Blues" - Paradise is Deadly: Gripping Tales from Florida’s Gulf Coast
"Hornswoggled" - Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon
"Two Old Crows" - co-written with Gwen Mayo for Mystery with a Splash of Bourbon
"The Odds Are Always Uneven" - co-written with Gwen Mayo for Hoosier Hoops and Hijinks
"New Age Old Story" - Fish Tales: the Guppy Anthology
Okay, that's about all the fun I can stand. I got wordy.
I hope you have a great end to this year, whichever holiday you do or do not celebrate. Drop me a line below--I'm eager for other people to hear our first audiobook!
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