BookEnds Talks to Michele Scott

Michele Scott
Book: Murder by the Glass
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Pub date: June 2006





Michele Scott has been writing stories since she was nine years old. It’s been a long haul to publication, but her love for writing and her determination have paid off. Michele is the author of The Wine Lover’s Mystery Series, and The Horse Mystery Series, coming out in December.

Author Web site: www.michelescott.com

BookEnds: Describe your book in 50 words or less.
Michele: Nikki Sands, a manager at the impressive Malveaux Winery and amateur sleuth, is a guest at a wedding where the grim reaper elopes with the socialite bride. All eyes turn to the jilted ex-lover of the groom and Nikki’s best friend, Isabella Fernandez, as the prime murder suspect.

BookEnds: What is your favorite thing about this book?
Michele: My favorite thing about this book is the humor. I loved writing it and laughed out loud several times during the process at my heroine and her pals.

BookEnds: What is your writing process like?
Michele: I start with character bios and move on from there to character journals, where I write from the first person. My books are written in the third person, so this process really helps me to find each character’s unique voice. After that I do an extensive outline, which I don’t always follow, but I do always know my ending, and it’s nice to have that road map to fall back on, in case I get off track. After that I jump in and write the book, which goes through about three drafts before I send it off.

BookEnds: Where do you get your ideas?
Michele: Where don’t I get ideas? I find ideas everywhere. I’m a people watcher and I listen. It might only be a word or a look I see a stranger give someone else that starts me in with a “what if?” Not all my ideas go anywhere. But some do, and those are the ones that simply won’t leave me alone until I write them.

BookEnds: Do you see yourself in any of your characters? If so, who and how?
Michele: Nikki Sands, who is the heroine in my wine series, is my alter ego. She says and does things that I only wish I had the nerve to do or say. If I was single and gutsy, I’d like to think I’d be like Nikki. I suppose we do have the same sense of humor, which not everyone gets. I definitely see quite a bit of myself in Michaela Bancroft (can’t believe I’m revealing this), who is my amateur sleuth in the horse mysteries. Michaela is very family oriented, kind of reserved (compared to Nikki), and a bit of a caretaker. She has some personal issues to work through, and readers will see that happen for her during the series. That does not mean I have personal issues to work through. LOL.

BookEnds: How do you spend your time when not writing?
Michele: I’m a publicist, a taxi driver, a short-order cook, and a maid. Not really. Well, sort of. I spend a lot of time marketing the books. Just last night I stayed up to do a radio show that aired at 2:00 a.m. on the East Coast. All I kept thinking while drinking my green tea to stay awake was, “Is anyone buying books at two in the morning?”

I have three kids, so I do spend time outside of writing, typically getting one to tennis, another to football or whatever sport he’s into at the time, and another one to guitar lessons. Then I make dinner or whatever meal needs to be cooked, and try to keep the house picked up, which is a joke. No, but really, spending time with my family is important to me and it’s what I love doing outside of writing. I did just recently decide to start doing something for myself, because at the end of a writing day my shoulders are really tight, so I am now going to my local yoga studio and trying hot yoga—talk about feeling your butt melt away. But I have to admit that it does feel pretty good, and I’m sleeping better, too.

To learn more about the Wine Lover's Mystery Series, see Our Books at www.BookEnds-Inc.com.