Hammers and Homicide

I read an Advanced Readers Copy of Hammers and Homicide this fall and loved it. Paula’s book is out in the world now, she graciously stopped by to chat.

Welcome, Paula!

Hi Jackie! 

I’m so glad you liked Hammers and Homicide! It’s such a relief to hear people are enjoying it and it’s not just rubbish! 

Thank you for having me on your blog. Here’s my answers to your questions. 

You and I both write mysteries set in small towns. Most of my life, I’ve lived in small towns. What about you? Do you live in a small town?

             I’m definitely happiest in a small town! I grew up in a town with a population of right around twelve hundred people. In fact, it’s the town Pine Bluff is based off of in Hammers and Homicide. Not only was the town small but the area is fairly remote. The closest “big town” nearby was only about ten thousand people. Since then, I’ve mostly lived in towns of about ten-thousand, still small town, though I lived in Redding, California for a handful of years. Our current little town doesn’t even have a stoplight, though it’s growing really fast around here and I’m not sure that’s going to last much longer.

Tell us some of your favorite parts of living in a small town. 

            While small towns can be a hotbed of gossip, they’re normally quieter and a slower pace of life than the city. You can hear yourself think. People look out for each other. One of my favorite things about our little town is the concerts in the park series in the summer. We have a gorgeous little park with a gazebo and coliseum seating. Half the town turns out to sit on the grass, chat with their neighbors, and have picnics during the concerts. Kids run around and play and it’s just a good time. There’s a similar scene in Hammers and Homicide. I couldn’t resist adding it!

Do you have a favorite store? Would it be fair to guess a hardware store?

              That’s another thing to love about small towns. Usually, there’s fun and unique shops. Bookstores are always my favorite, and a nearby town has a whole row of vintage shops with tons of refurbished furniture and decor. I like to take a day every few months and wander through those shops! So, no, none of those are hardware stores. The hardware store in my book is based on the hardware store my grandparents owned in my hometown. It was fabulous but no longer exists. When I see an old-fashioned hardware store, I do always pop in and wander around! 

Are you handy with a hammer?

                Somewhat! I can build small things, like a birdhouse, and pound nails into a fence or help put up walls on the chicken coop. Anything bigger would probably not stand up for very long! 

I think that’s impressive. What are some of your hobbies?

                I’m a voracious reader, but aren’t all writers? A few years ago I was doing quite a bit of furniture restoration and repurposing, though it’s been a while since I tackled anything. All my tools and paints are waiting for the next project! I like to knit in the evenings while watching television with my husband, but even that has slowed down a lot. My hands tend to be tired after a day of tapping away at the keyboard. In the spring and summer, we grow a veggie garden and I have scads of flower beds. It’s restorative to dig your hands in the dirt! 

Yes, I’m love to garden too.

How did you decide to make Dawna Carpenter a sexagenarian? Tell us a little about what inspired you to write Hammers and Homicide. 

           

  I’m combining these two questions because they go hand-in-hand. I had taken a workshop about writing family stories not long before I sat down to write Hammers and Homicide. Because I was in the family story telling mode, my thoughts went right to my grandmother when I started thinking about my protagonist. My grandfather was a contractor and my grandmother ran the hardware store they owned in our hometown. I began to wonder how Grandma would have done if she was Jessica Fletcher, and Dawna bloomed out of those initial thoughts. I didn’t give any specific thought to Dawna’s age other than basing her off of my grandmother when I was a young teenager. I drew on my own childhood memories a lot as the setting for the book, the hardware store, and Dawna’s house developed on the page. 

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Jackie! It was a lot of fun to be here! 

It’s been fun, Paula. I discovered we have a lot in common. My grandmothers and my mom all loved gardening, and I have have some iris bulbs I’ve moved from home to home from over twenty years. Not all survived, but some did.

Hammers and Homicide is available wherever books are sold, but here is a link to one of my local bookstores, Vintage Books. Vintage Books | Hammers and Homicide (vintage-books.net)

I love to connect with readers and can be found in the following places:

Website: www.paulacharles.com

Facebook: Paula Charles & Janna Rollins, Author

Instagram: paulacharles_jannarollins