Guest Post, Spotlight & Giveaway: THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO by Debra Sennefelder

As part of a virtual tour organized by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, Debra Sennefelder has stopped by to talk about her latest release – The Corpse in the Gazebo – and where she gets her the ideas for her cozy mysteries.

WHERE I GET MY IDEAS by Debra Sennefelder

One of the most asked questions I get is – where do your ideas come from. Every writer’s answer will be different. In fact, a group of writers could be shown a photograph as a writing prompt, and each writer would have a different story idea. I know because I was a part of that group. And even if two writers had the same story idea, their story would be unique to her and her genre. As you can tell by now, this isn’t an easy question to answer. But I think (I hope) that you’ll enjoy the explanation of my process.

The idea for THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO came from thin air. Seriously. I was at my computer with a Word document open because I had to write summaries for the books I pitched to my editor. The other book I was writing a summary for was last year’s release, THE CORPSE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. I’d wanted to write a story about a true-crime podcast and a cold case. With that summary completed, I needed another idea. I sat back and thought…for a long time. Finally a thought popped into my mind about one of Hope’s neighbors being killed. Then I considered Hope becoming a suspect. Yes!

The thing about ideas is that they are a dime a dozen. Ideas come to authors all the time. The trick is to identify which ones can actually carry a 300-page book.

A few years ago I took my Shih Tzu shopping. First, we went to the local pet shop to buy food and birdseed. Our next stop was what used to be a state-run psychiatric hospital for a walk. The property, over 180 acres, was purchased by the town I live in and is being re-purposed. But the project isn’t complete, and there are still abandoned buildings on the property.

Let me just say now that there is a creepy history to the property. The stories are endless since the buildings that housed and cared for hundreds of patients were connected by underground tunnels. Let that sink into your mind for a bit. Get the picture? Creepy. Anyway, the property is slowly being turned into a space where residents can walk, run, bike, ride horseback, and open fields for sports. It’s also the place for concerts and art shows. But for a writer, like me, it’s also a place for ideas.

Back to the walk. We reached a building and my pup wanted to get closer. I tried to distract her. After all, we had a walk to continue on with. She wasn’t budging. She wanted to get closer to the building. Now my imagination is kicking in. Did she hear something? Smell something? Sense something? I allowed her to continue forward. She sniffed her way up the steps and around the side of the building. I let her continue on while my mind started turning over a story question – what if….and that led me to begin asking what–if. What if a protagonist is out walking her dog at a similar location, and the dog leads her to a dead body, and it’s the first of several as a serial killer emerges. Boom! Story idea!

That is how writers get ideas. From innocent walks with dogs, ordinary trips to the grocery store and even the nightly news. There’s a story idea practically in everything a writer sees, hears, or experiences.

Thank you for visiting with me today as I celebrate the release of THE CORPSE IN THE GAZEBO.

About The Corpse in the Gazebo

Food blogging is turning Hope Early into a household name. But the dead body down the block makes her a #1 suspect . . .

It seems everyone loves Hope’s blog these days, and she’s busier than ever volunteering to help other women create their own paths to success. So she’s shocked when a neighbor petitions to run Hope right out of her small Connecticut town! Set in her ways, apparently Birdie Donovan doesn’t like the chaos Hope’s sleuthing creates, the police activity and crime scenes, and it’s happening way too often lately. Eager to make amends, Hope bakes Birdie a batch of her best muffins. The delicious treats might have smoothed things over—until Hope discovers Birdie dead in her gazebo the very next day . . .

Now instead of worrying about holding on to her beloved home, Hope is trying to stay out of jail. Because suddenly she’s the lead suspect in the case. Not even her boyfriend, Police Chief Ethan Cahill, is promising he can clear her name, much less discuss the investigation with her. It’s up to Hope to get to bake new ground on the case before the lifestyle brand she’s created—and her whole life—crumbles . . .

Includes recipes from Hope’s Kitchen!

Giveaway

Enter a rafflecopter for your chance to win a copy of The Corpse in the Gazebo.

About the Author

Debra Sennefelder is an avid reader who reads across a range of genres, but mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery.

Her first novel, THE UNINVITED CORPSE (A Food Blogger mystery) was published in 2018.In addition to writing the Food Blogger mystery series, she writes the Resale Boutique Mystery series. When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in retail and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Her writing companion is her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu, Connie.

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