A Crime Writers’ Interview with Glenda Carroll

We love introducing you, our readers, to other crime fiction writers whose work we have enjoyed. So today, we bring you our Crime Writers’ Interview with Glenda Carroll, author of the Trisha Carson mysteries. Our own Vinnie Hansen has read her latest release, Dead Code, and loved it!

If you want to find Glenda Carroll, she’ll be in, on, or under water—and writing about it. She understands water sports on a very personal level since she swims, surfs and sails. Glenda was a long time sports columnist for the Marin Independent Journal, focusing on sailboat racing. She also wrote for local, national and international sailing publications and then branched into travel writing.  

She is the author of the Trisha Carson mysteries. They are set in the San Francisco Bay area, including Marin, the East Bay State Parks and, of course, San Francisco. Her books have a swimming undercurrent, based on her own experience. She has raced in more than 150 open water swims in Northern California, as well as Hawaii and Perth, Australia.

Glenda also tutors first-generation, low-income high school and college students in English and history. She lives in San Rafael, CA with her dog, McCovey.

Kass Lamb (on behalf of the whole gang): Let’s start with a somewhat open-ended question. What two or three things do you feel people need to know in order to understand who you are?

Glenda: I never planned on being an author. Ever. My background was in communications, public relations and journalism. I was a sports writer for 19 years and everything I wrote depended on facts. Someone once asked me, pointedly, “Do you have a novel in there?”

I was miffed. Huffing and puffing, I replied, “How can you write about something that isn’t true?” 

Well, I learned it was easier than I thought, and that killing people was fun.

Sometimes I suspect I turn potential readers off when I tell them I write about swimming. I focus on open water swimming because I swim in open water (as well as pools)—rivers, lakes, the ocean and during the past two years in the chilly San Francisco Bay.

It is a theme that runs through all my books because water is fascinating to describe — how it changes color, texture and temperature. I do my best to make sure that readers, whether they can swim or not, get carried along with the main character.

Kass: Why crime fiction? What is the appeal of mysteries for you, rather than say romance or science fiction?

Glenda: I don’t read science fiction or romance (except for The Outlander series…Jamie, oh my.) I’ve always read mysteries. That’s what I need to keep me turning the pages.

Kass: What was your favorite book/author as a child? Why was it your favorite?

Glenda: I was glued to each Nancy Drew book that my parents bought me.  Why?  Because there was a girl that solved mysteries, riddles, puzzles. I was captivated.

Kass: Where are you in your writing career? Tell us a little about your stories.

Glenda: I’ve started the fourth book in the Trisha Carson series. Trisha is 40-something and has to start over when her husband walks out on her. She moves back to Marin County in Northern California and into her younger sister’s spare bedroom.

The younger sister, Lena, is the swimmer in the family. Being a nosy, determined, and pushy person, Trisha finds herself knee deep in bodies that die in the water her sister swims in.

Kass: What do you find to be the most fun and/or the most difficult part of the writing process—first draft, editing, researching? Why is that?

Glenda: For me, editing makes me pull my hair out! I write multiple drafts and change scenes all the time. I use a developmental editor, a line editor, a proofreader and Beta readers.  Each time I get their comments it feels like a boulder has been dropped on my shoulders. But I go through each and every edit and decide whether to change the manuscript or not.  I accept 90% of the edits. I end up with about 8 – 9 drafts. Frankly, by the time it’s ready to go to the publisher, I never want to see it again.

Kass: I know that feeling. I sometimes say to my husband, when I’m editing: “I’m so sick of looking at these particular words.” In your latest story, what was the hardest part to write?

Glenda: Dead Code is about cybercrime, something I knew nothing about. I was way out of my comfort zone. However, I had an advisor to whom I could pass my ideas and ask if they were possible. If he said yes, then I let my imagination run wild.

Kass: In your latest story, what changed the most from the first draft to the last?

Glenda: The whole story, to some extent. Around the time I’d finished the first draft of Dead Code, I had my identity stolen. The hackers tore into my emails, bank accounts, health care, phone calls … everything. It drove me crazy trying to figure out what happened and how to stop it (which I eventually did with the help of some techy friends.)  

I knew I had to start writing from the beginning again and add my experience to the book. So I started all over and wrote another “first” draft.

Kass: And there you have it, folks—our Crime Writers’ interview with Glenda Carroll.

Feel free to ask her questions in the comments, and do check out her newest release. Also, see below for where to connect with Glenda and learn more about her books.

DEAD CODE, A Trisha Carson Mystery

Cybercriminals stalk an unsuspecting Trisha Carson.

Until she turns the tables on them.

Amateur sleuth Trisha Carson is being watched. By a laptop that tracks her online life. By a blue-eyed athlete who guides her through an open water swim. And by Frida, her smart refrigerator. What are they looking for?

A determined Trisha hunts down her stalkers and stumbles across a grim plan that will echo throughout the West Coast.

“DEAD CODE is an exciting, fast-paced mystery with vivid scenery and very likable characters that readers will cheer for from start to finish.” – San Francisco Book Review

AVAILABLE ON: AMAZON ~ SMASHWORDS ~ NOOK ~ KOBO ~ APPLE

Glenda hangs out on:

• Her Website:  www.glendacarroll.com
• Indies United Publishing House Author Page:  www.indiesunited.net/glenda-carroll
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Carrollandfriends
• Twitter:  @ggcarroll
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/glenda.carroll
• Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/7069399.Glenda_Carroll

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