Jo, tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up reading Dumas, Twain, duMaurier, Dickens and the Brontes. I loved the atmosphere of those books. Add the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce movies and the moods of 1940s/50s movies like Brief Encounter, Night Must Fall, and The Thirty-Nine Steps, and I knew I wanted to write mysteries, and the books had to be set in Britain. That was a must even though I knew only what I’d seen in the movies and read in the novels. But the British pull was tenacious. Three years ago I discovered that I have literally centuries and centuries of English, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Do genes mean anything? My first visit to England was during my college years and that cemented my joy of Things British. Since then, I’ve been lured back nearly a dozen times, and lived there for a year during my professional folksinging stint. I combined my love of writing, mysteries, music, and board games by co-inventing a mystery-solving treasure-hunting game, P.I.R.A.T.E.S. I founded the Greater St. Louis Chapter of the international mystery writers/readers organization Sisters in Crime, serving as its first president. In 2001, I graduated from Webster University with a BA degree in English and departmental honors. I live in the St. Louis, MO area with my cat, Tennyson, and way too many kilts.
Please share an enticing tag line of your current work with us.
This is for Photo Shoot. It’s a novel in the McLaren mystery series, which features Michael McLaren, a former English police detective who now investigates cold cases on his own. Tag line: The body of a woman in a rowboat, a kidnapper’s deadline, and the threat of a loved one’s death plunge McLaren into an investigation as deep and dark as Scotland’s lochs.
Your novel is being made into a TV series/movie. Who’s in your dream cast?
Golly, what a great question. Well, since we’re talking about Photo Shoot, and since McLaren as well as the series is British, I’ll go with British actors. I’d cast Matt Ryan or Ben Mansfield as Michael McLaren. For his grandfather Neil, I’d choose Jim Broadbent. McLaren’s uncle Brandon would be Hugo Wearing, and Brandon’s wife would be Lena Headey. If McLaren’s friend and sidekick Jamie Kydd were in this particular book, that actor would be Oliver Coleman. Although, when I began the series some time ago, I imagined Douglas Henshall as Jamie. But time’s marched on and Douglas Henshall—as well as all of us—has aged a bit, leaving my book-bound Jamie at Oliver Coleman’s age. Jamie’s in the other books, so Mr. Coleman could be in the series, if it came to that!
How do you come up with the titles of your books?
For the Peak District mystery series the title usually comes from the British custom that’s the backbone of that particular story—each book in that series is based on a different custom. For the McLaren books, the titles normally spring from the event that led up to the crime or is the major focus of the plot. The first book, “Cold Revenge,” came from the murder that was an act of revenge and which shoved McLaren into his investigative job. “An Unfolding Trap” dealt with the trap that was laid for McLaren and slowly unfolded as he looked into a case. “An Unwilling Suspect” refers to McLaren himself because the majority of the plot dealt with the police suspecting McLaren of being the killer and McLaren’s struggle to find the real one while under this suspicion. The current novel, “Photo Shoot,” has a double meaning: the victim was a photographer on a photo shoot outing when she was shot and killed.
What does your writing space look like?
My office is a spare bedroom used exclusively for writing. Along one wall is my desk, which is an 8-foot long kitchen countertop that sits on three 2-drawer filing cabinets. The cabinets are arranged to create a knee hole so I can sit there, two cabinets to my left and one to my right. Large desk top model iMac computer and printer sit on the desk, along with thesaurus, book notes, the usual mug of pens and pencils, desk lamp, etc. Three black ladder bookcases line one wall—these hold my reference books, some marketing items, photos of two English police friends and a St. Louis-area police friend (and occasional co-author of a few Peak District mysteries), and my English Bobby helmet. A closet and another ladder bookcase claim a third wall. A large window comprises the fourth wall. A painting, a writer’s cartoon, and miscellaneous postings and clippings adorn the walls. Compact and cozy.
What do you like to do after meeting a word count/finishing a manuscript to relax and reward yourself?
When I write the first draft of a novel, I set goals: twenty pages, fifty pages, one hundred pages. After that the goal is measured in word count by thousands until I get to my objective of 50,000 words for the first draft. Then for the finished product the aim is 75,000 words, though some books are more than 75,000, but that’s my target. When I achieve those counts there’s no reward or party other than treating myself to a root beer or brownie or give myself a mental handshake. For a book’s completion and coming back from the printer…that’s a difficult question to answer because I don’t ever celebrate in the usual sense. When my first novel was published I had a small buffet dinner in my home, invited several friends, and books were available for purchase should anyone like one. That in itself was a let-down because the printer slipped my novel’s dust jacket onto the wrong book (a book of poetry)! But usually with a book’s finish I just relax for the remainder of the day, or perhaps the next one, too, and then it’s back to thinking of the next book to write, in whatever series grabs my fancy.
What are your hobbies away from writing/the computer?
In my non-writing time I enjoy photography, baking, reading, playing my guitar, and researching the British branch of my heritage. I usually meet one day a month for morning tea with my friend Sandy, but that’s not really a hobby. More like laughing time.
Where are your favourite places to read and to write?
In the spring and fall, I like to read on my back deck. I have a nice black iron bench and a comfy cushion. I can sit there, read, watch the birds at the feeders, and enjoy the weather. In summer, I read in a little reading nook I’ve carved from a corner of the guest bedroom. An upholstered, high back chair occupies a corner of the room and it’s flanked by two bookcases on one side and a low credenza of books on the other. Winter’s reading place is either in the book nook or in front of the blazing fire in the living room…fire in the fireplace, not the room on fire. I always write at my desk. Always. I can’t use a laptop because if I were outside I’d be bird watching or cloud watching. I need to sit at the desk: my plot outline, research information notes, character matrix, map of the particular area for the story, British dictionary et al are spread over its 8-foot length. Those are too many items to cart somewhere else.
What are two things people might be surprised to know about you?
Hmm… Perhaps that when I was in the second grade I sang “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” a cappella, solo, in front of the entire school. And when I was a camp counselor, I was bitten by a rabid skunk.
What books might we find on your bedside table?
Usually a book on British history, particularly Plantagenet or Tudor eras. Also quite common would be a book of WWII code-breaking stories. Perhaps a book on some nature topic such as volcanoes or weather. And I’d probably have a nice coffee table photo book on the solar system or the Cassini space mission.
What can we expect from you next? Are you working on anything new?
I’ve finished book ten, “Empty Handed,” in the McLaren mystery series. It’s currently with the editor (early March) but I should have it back soon and be able to do the edits and see it published by the end of April 2019. This week (early March) I began plotting the eleventh McLaren mystery, “Black Moon.” I hope to have that out by mid autumn 2019. Then maybe back to writing one of the Linn House Mysteries, an amateur sleuth series taking place just south of St. Louis. That should hold me for a few months!
Thank you for the interview, Darlene. This was fun, and I hope your readers found something interesting in my answers.
Learn more about Jo and her books: www.johiestand.com
Fiona Lennox was found in a rowboat on a Scottish loch, shot to death during a late night photo shoot. Did she rent a boat in order to photograph the moonlight on the water? She could’ve done, being a professional photographer, but she was also a proponent of civic causes, which she documented with her camera. Did someone linked to one of her crusades kill her, or was the motive personal?
As McLaren uncovers layers of Fiona’s life and the reason for her nocturnal outing, he becomes the target of intensifying attacks. But it’s not until he races against a kidnapper’s deadline and the threat of a loved one’s death that he realizes who killed Fiona---implications as deep and dark as the Scottish loch.
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