Sammi Carter, author of CANDY APPLE DEAD, gives us the scoop on her series, how she writes, and a few of her favorite quotes on writing.

Tell us about the genesis of CANDY APPLE DEAD. Which came first, your sleuth Abby Shaw, or the hook of the candy shop?

Usually, character comes first for me, but in this case, oddly, the premise came first.  The idea for writing about an amateur sleuth who owned a candy shop in a small town came about during a conversation with my editor, and everything else just grew from there.  It took me a while to discover Abby and her world.   

Does the book have recipes? Do you make candy yourself? And what kind of research did you have to do to write about a candy shop? (Andy kind of research involving chocolate sounds like research I’d like to do!)

Yes, the book does include recipes.  I've been learning to make candy, but I'm still very much a novice.  I'm getting better at some of the recipes I've been working on, but I still have a long way to go. As for research, I've done a lot of research both on-line and through books and magazines.  I've also spent some time visiting candy shops in small towns and talking to the owners about what their days are like and how they do what they do.  Most recently, I visited a shop in Virginia City, Nevada, and the owner there was extremely helpful. 

CANDY APPLE DEAD is set in a fictional town Colorado. Why did you pick Colorado and what are the advantages and disadvantages of working with a fictional setting?

I picked Colorado because I've lived in the Rocky Mountain west for more years than I'd like to admit <g>.  My parents lived in Colorado for nearly 20 years, so I've spent a significant amount of time in the area I'm writing about, and it's some of the most beautiful country on earth.  For me, the advantages of working with a fictional setting outweigh the disadvantages.  As a reader, I'm equally happy to read about real settings and fictional ones, so I don't have any personal prejudices to overcome, and there's a great deal of freedom in writing about a place that exists only in your own imagination. 

Tell us a little about how you write. Do you stick to a schedule? Do you outline or are you a “seat of your pants” kind of writer? Where is your favorite place to write?

I do stick to a schedule as much as humanly possible.  I'm a single mother with two children, so there are demands on my time, but my kids aren't small, so even though the demands can be pretty heavy when they hit, they're not constant, as they are when you have small children at home. 

My daily schedule is that I'm usually up and at the computer by 6:30 in the morning, I spend about half an hour checking e-mail to see if something important has come in, and then I start to write.  On a "normal" day, I'll write until 3:00, then stop working to take care of family things like making dinner and doing the laundry.  I prefer to take Saturdays and Sundays off, but when I'm close to deadline, all the routine goes out the window and I write from the minute my eyes open until my brain just won't work any longer 7 days a week. 

I'm not really a "seat of my pants" or an "outline" writer.  I do think through the main plot and my subplots so I can decide which points I need to share with the reader before the story is over.  For instance, in a mystery, there are certain things I'll need to share with the reader about each suspect to convince you that the suspect could be guilty, so I'll make note of each of those things and keep it handy so I can make sure they're all included in the book before it's finished.  I don't decide on details, though.  I might know that I need to show the reader that Suspect X was furious with the murder victim for some reason, but that's all I know until the character shares the details with me.  Once that initial list is created, I usually write off into the mist.  It's much more fun for me to write a book when I don't know all the answers.   

  
I noticed on your blog that you list how many pages you've written each day. Doesn't that make you feel pressured or does it motivate you?

What are you working on now? Will we see Abby again in another book?

Yes, you'll see Abby again in CHOCOLATE DIPPED DEATH, currently scheduled for release in March 2006, and I'm currently working on PEPPERMINT TWISTED, the third book in the series. 

What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve been given?

I can't think of any direct advice I've been given, but there are three statements by writers that I've read, each of which has had a great impact on me and the way I write.  Two come from Stephen King's On Writing.  The first is where he warns writers "Do not come lightly to the page."  The second is where is says, "Everyone is the hero of his own story."  The third comes from a book called If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland.  In it, she quotes Anton Chekov as saying something like (paraphrasing madly here) "In fiction you can ask questions of the reader, but never attempt to provide answers, for if you do, he will know you're lying, pushing characters around on stage to make a point." 

If I had to tell you the most profound things I know about writing, those three would be it.