Author R&R With Katie Graykowski

Texas writer, Katie Graykowski, is a #1 Amazon and international bestselling author of 20+novels, including several romance and young adult series. She's also the author of the PTO Murder Club mystery series featuring Mustang Ridges who lives in the small town of Lakeside, Texas and whose police-chief husband fled to Grand Cayman with his mistress and a million dollars in diamonds he stole from the police evidence lockup. Now a single mother and chair of the Bee Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, Mustang and her friends often find themselves in the middle of unexpected crime investigations.

In the fifth book in that series, Puzzled Pieces, Mustang finds the body of her son’s school bus driver, Imogene Puzzle. Mustang and her best friends Haley and Monica are on the hunt for anyone who might want Ms. P. dead, but she was seemingly loved by everyone. The only possible lead is Ms. P.’s true crime group, The Puzzlers, who were investigating the Hill Country Strangler, a twenty-year-old cold case. When two other bus drivers from surrounding school districts also end up with their throats cut, Mustang begins to think that the Hill Country Strangler might have decided that throat-cutting was a better way to kill. How many more people will die before Mustang, Haley, and Monica puzzle out the killer?

Katie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about her research and writing process:

 

My mystery novel series, the PTO Murder Club Mysteries, is set in the fictional town of Lakeside, Texas. My heroines are three mothers who ran the PTO (parent teacher organization) at their children’s elementary school. I like to incorporate current events into my mystery novels which means research.

I love research. Whether it’s reading everything ever written about a particular subject or binge-watching hours of the History Channel, listening to hours of podcasts, or searching the internet, I could happily OD on research. If I’m in an active writing phase, I have to limit my research because it’s a rabbit hole I will gladly dive into.

I tend to do my research either while I’m writing or if the words are really coming, I’ll make a note on the manuscript of what needs to be researched. After I finish the book, I go back and add in the researched information.

When I’m not in an active writing phase, I’m off the chain and down the research rabbit hole. I’ll find an interesting topic and immerse myself in it.

For example, female spies in World War II. Many women from all over the world risked their lives to help the allied forces. There are some really good books on that subject. While I haven’t written or have plans to write about women spies in WWII, it’s filed away in the back of my mind and will get worked into story at some point.

Or, Artificial Intelligence and how it will change our world. We are watching history in the making. This technology is in its infancy. Whether it’s good or bad remains to be seen. As a mystery writer, AI could be an incredible research tool. As far as AI as a character in a story, there is so much trouble it can get into.

It’s interesting, in 1889 Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of US Patent Office at that time, said that the patent office would soon shrink in size and close, because “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Man was he wrong.

See how random facts can pop up in a story?

For new writers wondering how to go about research, do it your way. Find what makes sense to you. Because I’m an auditory learner, I love listening to biographies and nonfiction audio books. If you’re a visual learner, try a site visit. If the smell of books helps you focus, go camp out at your local library. There’s no right or wrong way to research. Just remember, writing is about the journey and the destination. So, make it a fun ride.

 

You can learn more about Katie and her books via her website and also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The ebook of Puzzled Pieces is available now via Amazon and the print book can be ordered from all major booksellers.