If strong female protagonists are your thing, stay tuned for today’s interview. Kris Bock’s Accidental Detective series stars fifty-year-old Kate Tessler, an ex-war correspondent who gets dragged into solving crimes in her Arizona hometown.
In the following interview, Kris and I talk about good sleuth qualities, mysteries in the American Southwest, writing advice, and more.
Connect with Kris on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, TikTok, BookBub, and her website. Grab Someone Missing from Malapais Mountain from all retailers here.
Welcome, Kris! Someone Missing from Malapais Mountain is book four in your Accidental Detective series. Its heroine, Kate Tessler, is a fifty-year-old former international war correspondent whose dangerous career led to a brush with death and a war injury. What inspired you to write Kate’s character? What qualities do you like to see in a mystery protagonist?
In amateur detective mysteries, you have a lot of older women, such as Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, and Mrs. Pollifax, who have the advantage of years of experience with life. Then there’s Phryne Fisher in Kerry Greenwood’s series (made into the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries for TV). In the books, she was an ambulance driver in World War I at age 16, so it makes sense that she’s fearless and desperate to grab ahold of everything life has to offer. Somehow these ideas combined in my mind to create Kate. She’s been a war correspondent, so she’s adventurous and fearless. It makes sense for people to ask for her help with problems they can’t or don’t want to take to the police, so I don’t have to have her accidentally stumbling on a dead body in every book. She knows how to investigate.
I traveled a lot when younger, although not to war zones. As I faced fifty, I wanted to create a mystery lead dealing with some of the same issues: aging parents, concerns about financing retirement someday, and a body that doesn’t recover like it once did. I didn’t necessarily plan to write humor, but people say they laugh a lot. That comes from how Kate sees the world, which is how I see the world. Laughter helps us survive the hard parts.
Many of your books, including the Accidental Detective series and others, are set in the American Southwest. What do you love about the Southwest as a book setting? Is there anything unique about this region that makes it a great setting for a mystery?
I’ve lived in a small town in New Mexico for over twenty years, three times longer than I’ve lived anywhere else. The landscape inspired my earlier romantic suspense novels, but I wanted to set the mystery series in a big city.
I set the series in Arizona because it provides so many mystery opportunities. The large senior population attracts scammers. Inpatient family members might kill to get an inheritance sooner. The border with Mexico creates anxiety over immigration and various kinds of trafficking. Plus you have all the usual potential crimes in any large population. I created a fictional city within the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and made the mayor someone Kate knew in high school, so she has a connection within the city government. I’ll be able to keep Kate busy for years.
My romantic suspense novels also include real places in the Southwestern United States. For example, in my treasure hunting adventure, Desert Gold, the heroine and her best friend hunt for the lost Victorio Peak treasure, a real Southwest legend about a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider. I drew on personal experiences hiking in the desert for Erin and Camie’s adventures—though fortunately I’ve never stumbled on a rattlesnake nest or gotten caught in a flash flood!
Another book, What We Found, was inspired by finding the body of a murder victim while hiking in the woods. (Read about the whole experience of finding a dead body here.) Someone in law enforcement said that people often don’t report crimes they stumble across. That got me thinking—Why? What reasons would you have for not calling the police? The book also includes falconry, based on experiences I’ve had hanging out with a falconer.
Whispers in the Dark follows a young archaeologist who stumbles into danger as mysteries unfold among ancient Southwest ruins. That was inspired by a trip to Hovenweep National Monument some years ago. I loved that setting and had to use it in a book!
In addition to mystery, you’ve written suspense, adventure, and romance. What are your favorite aspects of these various genres? Are there qualities of any that are more fun—or more challenging—to write? What genre, if any, would you like to tackle in the future?
As a reader, I prefer not too much gore or violence, and I demand a happy ending! With cozy mysteries, you get intrigue, fun and interesting characters, plus a guaranteed satisfying ending. Romance, of course, must deliver a happy ending to the relationship. In romantic suspense, you need the happily ever after for the couple as well as a satisfying ending to the action plot.
For mysteries, I like to know more of the plot ahead of time, to make sure the pieces fit together and there’s enough action. Romance is more character driven, so I only need enough internal and external conflict to keep the characters apart long enough. If I know what they want and need, and why they can’t easily get it, I can start writing and see what happens. I started out as a writer with more focus on plot, so developing my character skills has been fun—but I do love a good, intricate plot with lots of action!
I also write a romantic comedy series with my brother, Douglas J. Eboch. He wrote the screenplay for the movie Sweet Home Alabama and thought it would be fun to write a prequel series where the movie characters are teenagers. It’s been fun and surprisingly easy to write with a partner. It probably helps that we’ve known each other for decades and always talk about writing when we get together! We now have three books out in the “Felony Melanie” series.
I don’t have plans to write in a different genre, but you never know. I’ve been reading some fun science fiction lately . . . But I have another mystery series with one book written, plus an idea for a third series, and a couple of romance series ideas. That should keep me busy.
You have written in so many genres, and published both traditionally and independently, is there anything you can share with new writers and authors? Can you share any writing and/or publishing wisdom that you’ve gathered over your author career?
I write fiction and nonfiction for children and adults—literally a little bit of everything when you consider the books for children, which include historical fiction, ghost stories, biographies, and nonfiction about science and history. My first published book was The Well of Sacrifice (written as Chris Eboch), an adventure for middle grade readers set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. It’s still used in schools when they teach the Maya.
I started writing for adults (as Kris Bock) and self-publishing over a decade ago, first romantic suspense and then a sweet romance series based around a cat café. Marketing is the hard part, so with the Accidental Detective series, I queried agents and eventually landed with a small traditional publisher. That’s been a good experience, but marketing is still necessary and hard! I make most of my money through educational publishing, which is work for hire, usually for a flat fee.
Do I have any wisdom? Basically, you have to work hard, learn a lot about the craft and the business, and hope you get lucky—and accept that you may not, and it’s not your fault.
As for writing tips, I get some of my best ideas while jogging. I’ll get moving and then start thinking about a story problem. Maybe the adrenaline is inspiring—or maybe the feeling of running is reminiscent of being chased, which encourages exciting plot ideas! As a bonus, it makes the jogging time go more quickly. I also like to take walks or go on hikes to brainstorm or even dictate scenes into my phone. Don’t assume something like that wouldn’t work for you. Try things and find out what does work
You can check out my writing tips at my Write Like a Pro! blog. I don’t post new material very often, but the sidebar down on the right-hand side links to past posts on various topics. I particularly like to talk about cliffhanger chapter endings!
I’ve also published two books of writing advice. Advanced Plotting and You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers.
Lastly, can you share what you’re currently working on? Are there any new books, either in the Accidental Detective series or otherwise, that we can look forward to?
In the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys sweet romance series, a Texas ranching family struggles to maintain their privacy and work ethic after an enormous lottery win. Can they build new dreams and find love amidst the chaos? The first two books are out, with three more to follow this year.
As for The Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, Someone Murderous at The Midnight Motel comes out September 15, with one more book scheduled after that so far!
Thanks so much to Kris for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.