It is my pleasure to have Lida Sideris as my guest today as she celebrates the release of Gambling with Murder: A Southern California Mystery.
How I Write by Lida Sideris
I’m a pantser, not a plotter, meaning I tend to write by the seat of my pants. I don’t bother with outlines, note cards or a compass when writing that finicky first draft. I forge ahead, nearly clueless about what’s going to happen next. I figure if I’m taken by surprise, so will my reader. How’s that going for me? So-so. It’s like searching for buried treasure…with half a map.
Sometimes, it’s the bomb to be a pantser. I can’t wait to discover what comes next. Other times, I ask whaaaaaaat? That won’t work. Back to the drawing board.
As my Southern California mystery series progressed, I made a few adjustments in order to maintain my sanity, which I prize quite highly these days. I complete my first draft as a pantser, writing head first, plunging ahead. But after crossing the finish line, I go back and outline each chapter. It’s about as much fun as polishing silver, but I feel a certain sense of direction. I still forge ahead, but retrace my steps with iron boots to travel back and forth on the path more easily. Plus, it helps me conquer the yips, brought on by asking does this even work?
With Book Four, Slightly Murderous Intent, I was happy with the first chapter. With Book Five, Gambling with Murder, not so much. It felt wrong, which made me go back and travel in a different direction. That’s when the chapter summaries came in handy.
I’m constantly on the lookout for offbeat situations for heroine Corrie Locke and her case-cracking sidekicks. They’re always up for it since nabbing bad guys beats the mundane day job every time.
I usually start out writing each scene straight and then I keep revisiting the scene until I can mold it into something more amusing. I need constant action… and humor… on the pages, or it’s just not entertaining for me.
Maybe I’ve become a planster. Whenever I reach a scene that doesn’t sit well, I review the chapter outline and either move scenes around, scrap them, and/or write something entirely different. That seems to work. It’s becomes a game with moving pieces that I get to arrange and rearrange to ensure the most fun for myself, and hopefully, for my readers.
About Gambling with Murder
A late-night call is all it takes for rookie lawyer Corrie Locke to kiss her day job at the movie studio goodbye, and do what she does best: flex her sweet P.I. skills and go undercover to find a senior who’s missing from a posh retirement community. One small stumbling block: skirting past security to gain inside access to the exclusive Villa Sunset. Time to call in the heavy artillery. Besides former security guard turned legal assistant—now wannabe P.I.—Veera, Corrie relies on a secret weapon: her mother, a surprisingly eager addition to Corrie’s team. Armed with enough pepper spray to take down a band of Navy Seals, Mom impersonates a senior to infiltrate the Villa, Corrie and Veera in tow. Turns out the job’s not as easy as they’d thought. These seniors have tricks tucked up their sleeves and aren’t afraid of using them.
The action gets dicey when the missing senior case turns into attempted murder by a criminal mind who’s always one step ahead. Corrie’s hot on the trail, but finds more than she bargained for…when her mother becomes a target.
Giveaway
Enter a rafflecopter for your chance to win a $15 Amazon gift card.
About the Author
Lida Sideris’ first stint after law school was a newbie lawyer’s dream: working as an entertainment attorney for a movie studio…kind of like her heroine, Corrie Locke, except without the homicides. Lida was one of two national winners of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America Scholarship Award and a Silver Falchion Award Finalist. She lives in the northern tip of Southern California with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens. To learn more, please visit: www.LidaSideris.com
Author Links
- Website: www.lidasideris.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lidasideris
- Twitter: @lidasideris
- Instagram: @lida_sideris
- BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lida-sideris
Purchase Links – Amazon
Visit the tour page for reviews, interviews and more.
Cast Iron Stake Through the Heart 
On again, off again, ON AGAIN–Jolie Tucker and Mick Meiser are giving their relationship another try. Things seem to be working out for them so far, and love is on the menu all over Leavensport! An unexpected pregnancy with a surprising partner, a therapist pairs off with the chief of police, and the mayor of Leavensport falls for Jolie’s Aunt Fern!
Rebecca Grubb
In middle school, I told a teacher about my plans to become an archaeologist. I also announced I wanted to be a novelist. Being an overachiever, I saw no reason why I couldn’t do both. For a few years, I managed to do just that before putting aside my trowel to concentrate all my energies on writing. However, my experiences in these professions revealed the similarities between mystery authors and archaeologists.
Autumn has arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan, but Marlee Jacob, proprietor of The Berry Basket, is feeling a chill for other reasons …
Would you read a book dedicated to making a reader feel worse about themselves, or would you read a book that makes you feel better about yourself?
About the Book
great it was while another says it was good but there was room for improvement, while another tells you they couldn’t stand it, sharing what other people had to say with the group of reviewers you have established for yourself will help you to gauge whether they truly noticed everything in your writing.
Why do you think there are reviews on sites that sell books, appliances, and any other item you can possibly think of? The reason is simple. It is because people want to know what others think. They want to see differing opinions to help them make the most informed decision possible. So should it be with writing. Writers must be able to make informed, intelligent decisions based on suggestions that others have made. When something sounds negative, consider the actual intent behind the suggestion, and then determine whether the person is in any way coming up with something that is a possible revision that can be made. Just as you are entitled to your opinion, so are your readers. This is why only certain books make the New York Times Bestseller list, why certain movies and TV shows win Oscars, Golden Globes, and Emmy Awards, why certain music wins Grammys and American Music Awards, etc. If you have ever thought someone unfairly lost an award, an election, or anything else, you have a different opinion than those who did the voting. You are entitled to this. Remember this when someone reads your work and gives you suggestions. Your emotional and other connections with the 
work you have written is essential to you being motivated to continue writing. This is extremely important. Never forget this. However, don’t forget that others are entitled to their opinions as well, and their opinions may just help you improve your writing and sustain a more solid style from that point forward. Every little bit helps. You just have to see it that way.
About The Face on the Other Side
Not a funny thing when you’re a writer of said mysteries! Plotting a mystery, particularly a murder mystery, is hard enough work! How many bodies can one stumble on before you get a “body magnet” label attached to you, as Nora Charles in my Nick and Nora series has! (although sometimes it’s hard to tell whether she or her cat, Nick, is the body magnet). Syd McCall in my Cat Rescue series is also well on her way to getting the same distinction!
Getting used to life back home in Deer Park, North Carolina, Sydney McCall and her right-hand tabby, Toby, are helping her sister Kat run the local animal shelter. Syd and Kat are all excited about the prospect of the shelter’s newest fundraiser: shopping channel queen Ulla Townsend. Shelter admin Maggie Shayne vehemently refuses to have anything to do with the woman, but the fundraiser ensues as planned. That is, until Ulla turns up dead in the middle of the event.
debuted Dec. 2, 2014. Followed by #2, 
. #3, 
, was released in December. She, Rocco and Maxx make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes from the Big Apple – New York. Catch up with them at 
I’m a reader. A voracious reader. More than a one-book-at-a-time reader. It all started with Dick and Jane stories in the first grade. Once I had those under my belt, I couldn’t stop. Adventures in the pages of books seemed much more exciting than my real life, which led me to ruminate about writing my own stories. There were a lot of beginnings, but not much in the way of middles or ends of stories. I went back to reading.
Think your family’s dysfunctional? Meet Gracie Andersen’s and the peaceful farming community of Deer Creek. Gracie has her hands full–a new business and trying to get her life on track after the loss of her husband and unborn child. When an odd gift from her troubled uncle thrusts her into an investigation of a cousin’s tragic death 20 years ago, Gracie meets with opposition from family and friends. What really happened that rainy, October night when her cousin was killed by a hit-and-run driver? As pieces of the truth are wrenched from the past, her new business, Milky Way Kennels teeters on the edge of disaster. And then death strikes again. Someone is determined Gracie won’t find the truth. With Haley, her black Labrador by her side, Gracie doggedly pursues the trail of clues to unravel the mystery of her cousin Charlotte’s untimely death.
A few years ago, I attended a banquet at yet another conference. The special guest speaker, whose name I can’t remember now, was telling the audience, all authors, about his journey to success.
About Candidate for Murder
Cassidy's Bookshelves 