#ThisorThatThursday with Cindy Martin
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I’d like to welcome fellow Sisters in Crime sib, Cindy Martin, to the blog today.
Hardest thing about being a writer:
Finishing the first draft is the hardest part. I’ll get about ten chapters in and then come up with a new character, a new angle, something that makes want to start all over again. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel now for my first novel.
The easiest thing about being a writer: I love words and I enjoy using my creativity. Inventing characters is really a lot of fun and when they come alive on the page it’s magic. It’s a ton of work but also something that makes me happy.
Things you need for your writing sessions: I am all about a laptop on a desk. I like my solitude and dedicating a couple of hours to being in the zone. A cup of coffee and a snack, like an apple or bowl of healthy nuts helps too!
Things that hamper your writing: Too much noise, a rough night’s sleep.
Words that describe you: Creative, impulsive, relentless, social
Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Impatient!
Something you’re really good at: Exercise and anything to do with fitness is in my DNA. As a part time fitness instructor, I enjoy helping others maintain a healthy lifestyle and learn to make working out a regular part of their day. I have a positive outlook, and I consider myself as friendly and wanting to make a difference whether its in the gym or on the page.
Something you’re really bad at: Video games. I could really care less. I prefer to watch my daughters and friends play and sit back.
Last best thing you ate: Toasted Coconut ice cream at our homemade local store. It’s why I work out!
Last thing you regret eating: Onion rings at the county fair. But, come on, they were good!
Favorite music or song: I like a mix of pop, rock and country. There’s nothing like a good Elton John song or Zac Brown Band to get me motivated.
Music that drives you crazy: Not a fan of rap music at all.
The last thing you ordered online: I just moved from the east coast of Florida to a newly constructed home on the west coast of Florida near North Fort Myers. So I’ve been ordering all kinds of furniture and necessities. This morning, my office chair arrived. It’s plush velvet and light gray to match my home library where I write from.
The last thing you regret buying: A quilt online for the spare bedroom. The colors looked nothing like the website. Back to shopping in stores so I can see and touch and feel.
Things you’d walk a mile for. Anything. I love to walk and run and bike. But the thing that would inspire me is a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc at the end of that mile on the beach.
Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: I worked at the TV show, “America’s Most Wanted” for twenty years. One would thing I could look at anything. I’m pretty tough when it comes to viewing crime scenes and homicide photos. But, put a spider in the room, and I’m gone.
Things you always put in your books: Again, going back to my career at “America’s Most Wanted,” one of the things I’m passionate about is missing children. I typically have something to do with a crime involving a missing child and/or a murder of an adult. I like to incorporate scary locations like basements and old Victorian homes.
Things you never put in your books: I don’t like feeling cringy from sex crimes especially on children. Won’t do that.
Favorite places you’ve been: I’ve travelled all around the world. I like small towns and beach towns like the Outer Banks, the west coast of Florida (that’s why I moved here). I recently travelled to Sedona, Arizona and hiked the Grand Canyon, that’s a new favorite. I can never visit Sonoma in the wine country of northern California enough. For international, I’m a fan of Florence and Venice, Italy.
Places you never want to go to again: Kalamazoo, Michigan. Didn’t have a good experience on a work trip there.
Favorite books (or genre): I’m a thriller snob. I love a great thriller novel with a good twist: Lisa Unger, Ruth Ware, Freida McFadden, Lisa Jewell, Tara Laskowski, and Lisa Black are among my favorites.
Books you wouldn’t buy: I’m not a big fan of fantasy however I did enjoy the Harry Potter series. Other than that, I like crime fiction, biographies, and fiction.
Most daring thing you’ve ever done: I was exposed to some scary situations working at “America’s Most Wanted” and previously as a PBS documentary Producer. I interviewed members of the Ku Klux Klan and skin heads in a secret location. My tv crew and I were taken blindfolded. Obviously, everything turned out fine, and I got insight into what makes them tick. I’ve also interviewed two death row inmates face to face. I’m a curious person and I like to ask questions–even when I have to venture outside my comfort zone.
Something you chickened out from doing: Driving a jet ski on open waters in an extreme tour. I did it once and flipped with my daughter on the back. I’ll sit it out unless someone else is driving.
Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: I quilt for fun. I’ve made plenty of baby quilts for my daughters, my grandchildren, and friends. I enjoy the creative aspect of putting different colored fabrics together to creative a beautiful keepsake.
A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: I mentioned I like quilting. It’s very different from sewing clothing. I tried to make matching Easter dresses for my oldest daughter and I when she was three years old. Thank goodness for my aunt, the seamstress. She saved that Easter wardrobe.
About Cindy:
For 20 years, Cindy Martin was a “America’s Most Wanted” TV Producer traveling worldwide to interview law enforcement, crime experts, victims and their families, and criminals. She wrote hundreds of scripts for the highly rated FOX TV show.
Cindy’s short stories are published in a variety of collections:
“Key to the Past,” in the “Crimes in the Old Dominion Anthology” (Sisters in Crime Central Virginia 2025 publication).
“Salt, Sand, Slay,” in the “Gone Fishin: Crime Takes a Holiday Anthology” (Sisters in Crime Guppies 2025 publication).
“Grave News,” in the “Notorious in North Texas Anthology” (Sisters in Crime North Dallas 2024 publication).
“Malice Challenge,” in the “Paradise is Deadly Anthology” (Sisters in Crime FL Gulf Coast 2023 publication).
Cindy was a finalist in the 2022 Six-Word Thriller Contest (Rocky Mountain Chapter Mystery Writers of America).
Let’s Be Social:
Website: Cindy Martin Author – Crime Writer
