#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Sandra Murphy

I’d like to welcome Sandra Murphy to the blot for #ThisorThatThursday!

Hardest thing about being a writer: Getting started. I’m easily distracted by memes and odd facts when researching.
Easiest thing about being a writer: Coming up with ideas. See the comment about being easily distracted and odd facts—ideas come fast but the next one is apt to bump the current one and then…

Things you need for your writing sessions: My dog next to my desk. He’s my editor.

Things that hamper your writing: My dog. He’s a very particular editor and rewrites are his favorite edits. He also likes frequent breaks.  

A few of your favorite things: Being surrounded by bright colors, chocolate milk always available, a nice breeze, late night hours when it’s quiet.

Things you need to throw out: During Covid’s worst, cardboard boxes amassed. They need to move to another location. Recycled.

Favorite foods: Chocolate milk is an essential component of life, sweets of all kinds, blackberries, black cherries, chocolate anything.

Things that make you want to gag: oysters, escargot, peppers of all kinds, and anything that cooked, resembles how it looked in life.

Something you’re really good at: Staying up all night, starting to write at about midnight.
Something you’re really bad at: Going anywhere before one p.m. and that’s pushing it.

Things you always put in your books: Dogs, cats, strong women, clues and red herrings that start on page one and are explained in the twist at the end.
Things you never put in your books: Dogs and cats can be in jeopardy but are never killed or tortured.

Things to say to an author: That line you wrote? It’s going to be in my mind forever, such beautiful language.
Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: That’s a nice hobby. What do you do for a real job?

Favorite places you’ve been: Greece and Crete, I felt at home the instant I was on Crete. Greece has the friendliest people.
Places you never want to go to again: Through four airports to get there.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Get out of my ‘real’ job but still receive all the benefits that were promised and start writing instead.
Biggest mistake: Trusting a friend who betrayed me.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Traveled to Italy and Greece, alone, no itinerary.
Something you chickened out from doing: At a stage play, the actors came into the audience and wanted to dance with people in the audience at the end of the show. I didn’t dance. I wish I did.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: What happens next?

The craziest thing a reader said to you: Write more. How hard can it be?

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Make jewelry for drag queens.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: A pair of pillowcases. No one told me not to use the full width of the fabric folded over. I had about 18” of more fabric than pillow.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: A pet sitter finds the homeowner hasn’t left for her trip yet. In the story, the owner was dead. In real life, she was running late.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: My character went to a coffee shop with a cool theme. Someone asked where it was, they wanted to go too. Sorry, it’s only in my imagination.

About Sandra:

Sandra Murphy lives in St. Louis, Missouri, south of the Gateway Arch and Anheuser-Busch, near the mighty Mississippi River. On a hot summer day, the smell of hops awakens her imaginary friends. They spin tall tales and she submits them as her own. Her short story, ‘Lucy’s Tree’, won a Derringer award in 2020.  Her latest efforts include ‘Room Service’ for Monkey Business: Crime Stories Inspired by the Films of the Marx Brothers, and editing Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the 60s and Happiness Is Listening to Your Dog Snore, a collection of quotes about dogs.