As we celebrate the second birthday of A Killer Christmas, I started to think about where the story came from.
Usually I find that my book ideas arise from a specific situation. With A Deadly Rejection it was during a council meeting when I was a local news reporter that the first inkling of an idea popped into my head.
But with A Killer Christmas, it’s a bit different. I can’t remember when I first had the idea, but I suspect it came from a little game of ‘what if’ with myself. In other words, ‘what happens when the curtains open on the Christmas display and things aren’t how they should be’?
Well, things certainly do not go according to plan for Fenleys department store. I’ll let you read the book to find out what happens – no spoilers allowed – but let’s just say The festivities are to die for!
What did amuse me was remembering telling my dad in 2021 that I was going to publish my Christmas novella that year. His response was: ‘Is this the same one you’ve been talking about for the last three years?’. I swelled with indignation at the suggestion that it could have taken me so long to finish a book and publish it. Then I looked back in my writing diaries. There were notes in the 2018 diary about the book. Ooops, sorry Dad.
Why write a seasonal special?
I love Christmas but I also love murder mysteries and so I decided to tie the two together. Christmas is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, so the idea that something nasty could happen creates a good juxtaposition.
A seasonal special is a good excuse to do something a bit different. We only see the story from Emma’s perspective, rather than seeing what the police are up to at the same time. The benefit here is that she can’t really use her relationship with them to get information. Instead she has to really make use of her investigative skills to work out what’s going on.
There isn’t much by the way of subplots either – again, these take up space. Although Ed needs to watch out because Lydia is definitely up to something!
It’s a novella – why do something so much shorter than usual?
I’m a very slow writer, as you’ve probably noticed. The Allensbury Mysteries tend to have big gaps between novels, for which I can only apologise.
My theory was that I could put together something much shorter so fans would have something they could get their hands on between novels. However, plotting a writing A Killer Christmas took a lot longer than it should have done because I kept changing my mind about the plot. Cutting out the police investigation did help to keep things shorter, but it didn’t make it any easier to plan or write.
It’s also a slightly controversial plan to have a novella. They don’t tend to be popular with publishers, given the cost of producing them, but that’s the beauty of self-publishing. You can choose what you want to do and when, which is a big bonus.
Where is A Killer Christmas available?
You can find it in ebook, paperback and audio from most retailers. Click the button and select your platform and format.