Margaret Mizushima interview about her latest mystery novel Hanging Falls (Crooked Lane Books, 2020)

Margaret Mizushima interview about her mystery novel Hanging Falls

Mystery Novel – An interview with Margaret Mizushima about her new mystery novel Hanging Falls published by Crooked lane Books. Check out the book here https://amzn.to/2Tlwffm

The Interview

Of all the creative ideas you have, how did this one idea rise about the rest and get written?

I live in Colorado, and southwest of where I live there is a beautiful hiking destination called Hanging Lake. It’s a pristine lake fed by a waterfall and surrounded by mountain peaks and forest. I took my inspiration from the setting, moved it to outside of my fictional mountain town called Timber Creek, brainstormed what type of murder could take place in such a peaceful place, and created the story from there. Setting features strongly in my mystery series, so it’s not unusual for me to be inspired by some type of incident that could take place high up in the mountains.

What is the book about – protagonist, setting, and conflict?

There are three main protagonists in the Timber Creek K-9 mysteries—Deputy Mattie Cobb, her K-9 partner Robo, and veterinarian Cole Walker. Together they solve crimes that threaten their mountain community. And since the books are police procedurals, a homicide is always included. In Hanging Falls, Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo investigate the death of a person they found floating in a mountain lake, while Mattie seeks answers from long lost family about the secrets of her past.

Apart from the setting, how would you say the police force in your series does police work differently from other small communities or bigger cities?

Small rural communities typically don’t have K-9 units, at least not here in Colorado. The larger towns usually do, although the dog handlers are not part of the homicide investigation team like Mattie is in my series. This is an example of the fictional enhancement of reality for the sake of storytelling.

What sort of aesthetic does the book have?

Each book presents a stand-alone mystery set to the backdrop of a character arc for the protagonists that encompasses the entire series, and Hanging Falls is no exception. It presentss a murder mystery while continuing Mattie’s life story. Each episode contains police work, dog handling, and veterinary work that supports finding evidence to solve the case. I like to focus on themes that have to do with family, social issues, and personal trauma recovery; and I design subplots that eventually weave into the main plot, leading the reader to what I hope is a satisfying conclusion. The tone is serious in all the books but not terribly dark, and I limit graphic violence on the page. Though my work falls into the category of police procedural for adults, the books can cross over to teens.

Did you have to do any research for the book?

I do research for every book. Though my past experience in training dogs for search and rescue helps me a great deal with knowing how to handle the tracking scenes for Robo, I’ve never had experience as a K-9 officer nor have I worked in law enforcement. I’ve studied books on K-9 narcotics detection, training dogs for patrol work including fugitive apprehension, and laws regarding the use of K-9s. I’ve gone on ride-alongs, observed K-9 training sessions, attended regional K-9 trials and competitions, and I have acquired very valuable law enforcement consultants who answer questions and vet my work. Speaking of vetting, my husband is a veterinarian, and my years of watching him work and assisting after hours helps me know what Cole Walker, DVM, needs to do. In addition, I always need to research whatever social issues, premises, and motives I’ve chosen for each book. Authors tend to love this part of the creative process.

What is something people might be surprised by about training dogs for search and rescue?

In the training group that I was in, the first lesson for the dogs was to search for their owners. I wasn’t expecting that. The teacher kept a dog in a spot where it couldn’t watch while the owner set a scent trail and hid. The owner would mark their scent trail with short spikes and flagging tape as they went away, so if the dog didn’t follow the trail naturally, the teacher could encourage it to sniff while she led it along the marked track. After the dog smelled the scent article, most of them were excited to go find their owners and took to scenting quickly, either on the ground or through the air if the owner was upwind. Great fun and something we could practice at home with our dogs, playing hide and seek with our kids.

Have you discovered anything surprising about K-9 work?

Yes, the wide variety of dog responsiveness to obedience is amazing. Police departments will sometimes host K-9 trials, to which many officers bring their dogs to compete. In the trials I’ve watched, some of the dogs were extremely obedient and would follow every command, including halting a take down mid stride, something these aggressive K-9s don’t like to do. During the same exercise, other dogs completely ignored their handlers. It was surprising to see such a difference. And the K-9 that wins Top Dog? Impeccable obedience!

What are some of the genre works that inspire you – books, movies, tv, music, etc.

I love to watch crime documentaries and glean some of my inspiration for my stories from them.

What other things inspire your creativity?

This has been tough during these hard times and the Covid-19 pandemic. I do love getting out into the mountains, but this has been a hot, dry summer resulting in wildfires throughout Colorado. Smoke blankets our region and temperatures have topped 90 for a record setting number of days. With the pandemic also darkening our world, indoor group activities have been cancelled along with writing groups, book clubs, and writers conferences. I try to stay positive, visiting friends and interacting with book clubs and other writers via Zoom. I also enjoy my down time with family and our dogs. And I show up at the computer each day, hoping for inspiration as I work on the seventh book in my series.

Will you be writing a novel in the series that involves the pandemic as part of the story?

I don’t know yet. I started writing book seven at the very start of the pandemic, and since none of us knew how the virus would play out, I didn’t want to include it in the next book. I’ll have to see what I feel like doing when it’s time to start book eight.

What is your writing and editing process like? Anything different from other authors?

I don’t think I do anything significantly different from other authors. I like to create a first draft, do a quick polish, ask my beta readers to provide input, revise and polish again, and then off it goes to my publisher for editing. When I write the first draft, I strive for 5000 words per week; sometimes I achieve more, sometimes less.

How has your approach to writing changed over time?

When I wrote my first book, I wrote by the seat of my pants and the book needed months of revision when I was done. After I started writing under contract, I had to learn how to write faster and meet my deadlines. I outlined the next few books. But now, I’ve gone back to only planning a chapter in advance so it will be more fun. Even still, my characters sometimes take wild turns that I didn’t see coming.

Have you done any non-writing work that has influenced how you write or what you write about?

I was a speech pathologist for twenty-five years, and my experience with helping people who have communication disorders and their families has influenced my writing a great deal. I believe this type of work has helped me with character development and the psychology involved with character interactions.

Does speech pathology work make you more sensitive in any way to non-verbal communication?

I believe it absolutely does, especially when it comes to interacting with people who have communication disorders. But I think it has made me more sensitive to discovering non-verbal communication cues among animals as well.

When you were younger was there a power, technology, or fictional setting you yearned for or to be a part of?

This question makes me smile. Yes, as a child I dreamed I would live on the Ponderosa, the mountainous ranch setting in the television show Bonanza. So funny…but here I am, still writing about the west, the rural life, and a small town in the mountains.

I enjoyed Bonanza too. Which character in Bonanza did you most identify with personality-wise or feel you would get along with the best?

Oh, I did enjoy them all, but I think I was attracted to Adam the most for his quiet, intelligent nature. He seemed to be the problem solver in the family, the one who could ferret out the issues. Or at least that’s the way I seem to have stored it in my childhood memories. And of course, I loved all of their horses too, especially Little Joe’s Paint.

Did you have any difficulties finishing this book?

No, this book seemed to come together easily. Now…the one I’m writing this summer? That’s another story. But I attribute that to the many distractions going on in our lives this year.

What’s your current or next writing project?

I will finish book seven in the series (as yet untitled), and next year I’ll write Mattie, Robo, and Cole’s eighth Timber Creek K-9 adventure.

Where can people find you online?

I can be found on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram at margmizu, and my website at www.margaretmizushima.com.

Biography

Name: Margaret Mizushima
Bio: Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She serves as president for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, was elected the 2019-2020 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is also a member of Northern Colorado Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Women Writing the West. She lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals.

Project/work being discussed: Hanging Falls: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery