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20
April – June 2014
www.deltalivingmagazine.com
Not dirty, not deep, no vampires!
DELTA READS
Author Kathleen Hering keeps students in mind when writing her mystery novels
Photos by
Charleen Earley
By Maria Tavares
mrh_tavares@yahoo.com
I
couldn't tell you how ex-
cited I was to be able to in-
terview an author. Not just any
author, but Kathleen Hering. She
has a unique writing style that
will keep you turning pages. Her
first book, “Hammered, Nailed
& Screwed,” is filled with twists
and turns and handy advice for
the inner interior decorator.
Main character Laura Howard
is “haunted” by her deceased
husband. His ashes are on her
mantle, but he's calling her house
phone and leaving brief messag-
es. Instead of spoiling the rest of
the story for all of you, I wanted
to get to know the stylish, savvy
mind behind the creative self-
dubbed “Designer Mystery.”
How did you come up with
your titles: "Hammered,
Nailed & Screwed" and
"Ripped,Stripped & Flipped?"
The main characters in Ham-
mered, Nailed & Screwed and
Ripped, Stripped & Flipped are a
builder and an interior decorator,
so I was seeking words related to
carpentry. The "S" word in each
title adds interest without be-
ing over-the-top risqué. I write
comic mysteries. They're not
dirty, they're not deep, and there
are no vampires.
Anything you're working on
now? Will another novel have
the same three-worded tag for
a title?
Plot ideas for a third Designer
Mystery keep bouncing around
in my head. I have to let those
ideas settle for a bit. "Yes" to the
three-word title. I had tentative-
ly decided on Hammered and
Nailed for the first book when
my sister Margie – formerly
thought of as a sweet, southern
lady – suggested the third word.
She was right.
How much research do you
do to write your books? How
long does it take? Where do
you begin? (For example:
"Hammered" is full of in-
terior design and police jar-
gon. Was this all background
knowledge or did you have to
do some digging?)
When I retired from full-time
work, I was at odds. I watched a
lot of HGTV decorating shows.
I later called that my "research
stage" instead of admitting I had
loafed away all those afternoons.
For the second book, I did re-
search about Italianate houses.
Ripped took about two years,
start to finish. I hadn't thought
about the police jargon, but, in-
terestingly, my great grandfather
and grandfather were both cops
and my father was a fireman.
What inspired you to put
catchy themed quotes at the
end of each chapter in "Ham-
mered?"
It's a gimmick I hadn't seen
done before. I threw them in for
fun.
When plotting your stories, do
you dream up your characters
or do they mostly resemble
people in your life?
With the exception of the
funny older lady Esther, I create
the characters. Esther is modeled
after my grandmother.As Grand-
ma got older, she just blurted
out whatever was on her mind.
Character Esther does too.
Do you ever encounter a bout
of writers' block? What tips
or tricks do you use to con-
quer it?
If I get stuck, I concentrate on
writing silly patter and dialogue
between characters for a later
chapter. That's the part I enjoy
most anyway.
If you weren't a writer, what
other dream job do you think
you would have had?
I think I would have liked to
be an architect. I wouldn't have
wanted to design great glass and
steel buildings. I'd shoot for de-
signing unique small houses
without wasted space and where
the cook didn't bump her head
on the upper kitchen cabinets.
At what age did you discover
your love for writing? How?
Robert E.Appleton, my ninth
grade journalism teacher in Bur-
bank, CA, inspired confidence in
all his students. I think his influ-
ence is also the reason I majored
in journalism later in college.
When writing, do you need
absolute peace and quiet? Do
you have a specific space or
routine (or quirks!) to make
the magic happen?
I write at a painted wooden
desk with a large window above
it. There's a laptop computer and
a defiant printer, plus two small
carefully printed signs on the wall
near me. One says "Keep clam
and proofread." The other reads
"Careful, or you'll end up in my
novel." Quiet is nice, but I started
writing fiction when my sons were
Oregon author Kathleen Hering has written two designer series mystery novels
Ham-
mered, Nailed & Screwed
, and
Ripped, Stripped & Flipped.