The president of the Scottish Association of Writers on her DI Shona McKenzie mysteries, writing dual points of view from killer and police, and the one rule crime readers will never forgive you for breaking.

Wendy H. Jones writes Scottish crime with a body count, a feisty detective, and one ironclad rule: you can kill as many people as you like, but never touch the animals.

In this conversation she talks about her dual-point-of-view mysteries, her many series, the illness that turned her toward novels, and the runaway buffalo that became a picture-book deal.

Wendy H. Jones is a Scottish crime writer based in Dundee and president of the Scottish Association of Writers, as well as co-founder of the crime festival Crime at the Castle. She served 23 years as a Royal Navy and Army nurse, leaving as a Major.

She writes the DI Shona McKenzie mysteries, the Fairways in Florida young-adult series, and Cass Claymore Investigates, and works as a full-time author.

DISCUSS YOUR BOOK

Full transcript of the interview follows.

Richard Lowe: I’m here with Wendy H. Jones, who is a Scottish crime writer. She lives and works in Dundee, where her books are set. She is the president of the Scottish association of writers, the co founder of crime at the castle, a Scottish crime festival and presents Windies book buzz in Mearns FM Good morning windy or is it morning they’re in Scotland.

Wendy H. Jones: Now this evening for me seven o’clock at night.

From Navy Nurse to Crime Writer

Richard: I’m in Florida, and it’s mid afternoon for me. All right. So why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Wendy: Well, I came from a different background actually to writing. I joined the Royal Navy when I was 18 as a nurse, and then I joined the Army as a nurse. And after 23 years in the services, I left with the rank of Major so I’m a major and major went to each gyms.

But I know that I use it the only person interested in that major part of that I think was probably the taxman but everybody else is it doesn’t really bother about it. And the age that bits important in my writing, Wendy, I get called Wendy, John Sanderson is my middle name.

But the reason I use the H is because if you look up Amazon for Wendy Jones, you get a lady that wrote the sex lives of English women. And I didn’t write that there’s no sex. And so the age is important.

Richard: I understand.

Wendy: People get over some price. So but I’ve always been a reader. I’ve always I’ve read since I was three. I joined the library when I was three, which was some feat really, because you can join to your five. But I had a library card early. I worked my way through all the mysteries, you know, the usual things.

The Hardy Boys, the Famous Five, the secret seven, Nancy Drew, everything like that, and then progressed on to adult train books. So crime was a natural progression for me really?

Why Crime, and the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries

Richard: Okay, good. Why? Why was that a natural progression? What did you find interesting about crime?

Wendy: Well, everybody in my family read crime that so the roles there were always easy to read. But I like crime because I like the, the duality of it. There’s not only you get to know the characters and important you get to know the characters, but there’s also a mystery to solve.

There’s also something else happening, you know, you never know what twists and turns it’s going to take. Now appreciate that happens in most writing. If you read literary fiction, that will be the same, but it’s not quite so many dead bodies. Were not literally a fiction really. Doesn’t crime books.

Richard: Understand, what are some of the crime books you’ve written?

Wendy: Oh, I’ve written loads. I’ve written the DI Sean and Mackenzie mysteries. Dr. Shawna McKenzie, the sixth in that when Dr. Shawna Mackenzie’s bit feisty, a bit funny, a bit smart bit sassy. And at the beginning of the first book, she’s just returned to Dundee that books called killers countdown, and she’s just returned to Dundee, having lived in Oxford most of her life because her father moved there when she was two with her husband, who then kind of shoved off and left and he said he was moving in with someone else.

So she’s, men are not so good. Although she does have a bit of a thing for the pocket of fiscal who is a mine so you know where she she gets it, the sweet romance improves a bit. However, she’s also in the middle of a really, really strange case.

And they can’t understand why the dead bodies are piling up thick and fast, and sometimes two in a day. But the books that Dr. Shawna Mackenzie books are a bit different because you get to see things from the perspective of the killer. And you get to see things from the perspective of the police.

So it’s a jewel storyline, and the sixth in that series, and they all begin with killers, killers, candidum killers craft killers caught so on and so forth. I won’t go through all six of them. And then I’ve written another series called the fairness in Florida mysteries. That’s a series of young adult mysteries.

They’re a bit famous five meets Scooby Doo, but for an older age range, and the first one was called the Douglas curse. The second one, the haunted book will be out in September this year. I’ve just published our pillar for preorder a brand new series called cast claim or investigates, and the first one is called antiques and alibis, and curse.

Claymore is a red headed motor motorbike riding ex ballerina who inherits a private detective agency and accidentally hires an ex con dwarf and an octogenarian. This is a bit John Ivanovic comes to Scotland really?

Richard: I see. I see. So in your first series, you have multiple points of view.

Wendy: Yeah, I have the killer’s point of view and I have the point of view of the police,

Richard: but not the hero. Or is the police that okay,

Wendy: use the heroes? Yeah, the hero is Dr. Sheldon Mackenzie. Yeah,

Richard: okay. Okay. Good. That must have been interesting to write then. Yeah, it

Wendy: was it was sorry, I should say for the international listeners. The DI stands for Detective Inspector. Okay. Nobody realized this unless I told you

Favorite Memories and the One Unbreakable Rule

Richard: all right. All right. What’s your what favorite memories do you have about writing?

Wendy: favorite memories about writing? Well, I’ve got so many memories about writing where we I mean, I was I was doing fanfiction before fanfiction was was the thing to do. It was fashionable. Because when I was five, my mother who was a secretary has reason I could read really early.

She told me to read really early. And she was a secretary and she decided that I needed a typewriter. So she bought me a typewriter, or real typewriter. I was only five. So five I was writing Nadi fanfiction. So I’ve been writing all my life really. When I was in the services when I was abroad, I always did writing.

I, you know, I wrote about my travels and kept journals, things like that. But since I’ve become a writer, it’s been an absolute whirlwind adventure. There’s so many memories about what I’ve done. I mean, I’ve been to a bunch of con have spoken a bunch of times on a panel.

That was amazing. And New Orleans and Toronto, getting to me all the crime writers. I’ve spoken at conferences all over Britain. Meeting fans is just amazing. You know, again, letters from fans is amazing. Sometimes you get letters from fans say no, you’ve got this wrong in your book, which is fair enough.

If you’ve got something, never kill an animal. Seriously, never kill an animal. You will get letters saying don’t kill the animals. Now bear in mind I write about serial killers. There are a lot of dead bodies and nobody cares until you kill an animal. Seriously, keep your hands away from the utmost. Right? Yeah, I’ve got so many memories. I’ve met so many lovely, lovely people.

Richard: Yeah, remember, there was a movie starring Keanu Reeves. I forget the name, John Wick. And it starts off with the puppy getting killed. And man, man oh, man, did they get a lot of letters? It’s one of the most popular movies around. But they got a lot of letters about it.

Wendy: Okay, seriously. That is Scottish Crime Writers who’ve got cats in the Bucha at about 180 at all because it can’t kill them off.

Leaving Nursing for Novels

Richard: So how did you get into writing as opposed to being you said you were a nurse. That seems like an interesting change of career.

Wendy: Well, when I was in the army, my last post was I was the head of preregistration, Nurse Education for the Army, Navy and Air Force. And I was working in academia. And then when I left the services, I was working in academia, I was a manager of teacher training courses, then I ended up as the Director of University faculty.

And because I was working in academia, you’re expected to publish. So I did a lot of different modules for various nursing courses. I wrote articles for magazines, I wrote nursing textbooks, things like that. And the probably all or print No, because a nursing textbook was at a print before you printed it really, to be honest.

So I was always writing but then I got really ill and reevaluate my life moved back to Scotland. And I thought the board I thought was a bit too young for this. So I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. And it seemed to work and the rest is history.

You know, and I’m better now. I’m not Hill anymore. But I know traveling. I want to kind of know that.

Richard: I know that ceiling. Do you write full time?

Wendy: I do write full time. Yeah. I’m very fortunate in that I’m in a position to be able to do that. Yeah.

Richard: That’s you’re making a good living at it.

Wendy: I am Yes, I make a very good living at it. People seem to like my books. And people seem to like it when I talk. So I tell all sorts of funny stories when I’m talking to people in stitches. So I don’t know whether they learn anything or not. But my goodness, they’re entertaining.

Many Series and a Runaway Buffalo

Richard: And you sell tell us your books?

Wendy: Yes and no. My first series Dr. Shawna Mackenzie mysteries is published under my own imprint which is Scott Lawson. The various Florida mysteries are published with a publisher of books to treasure fabulous, fabulous children’s publishers. My cosplay more mysteries, ready to be published under my own imprint. And I have just signed a publishing deal for a children’s picture book I should do with another publisher called Morgan Instead of great publishing, another fabulous publisher, an up and coming independent publisher with one independent publisher of the year last year, so I’m very excited.

Can I tell you a story about this poach picture book. People might be interested. Last year in Scotland in December, there was a buffalo went missing a real life buffalo went missing from a buffalo farm. Now, in December writers were really busy and running around crazy. And I didn’t realize this buffalo from missing but somebody tagged me in a post on Facebook saying Wendy Johnson.

All right, it might be wrong here for here. Anyway, it’s cut long story short, the buffalo it was a young buffalo made a boat for it. And nobody would find them. They were hunting for this buffalo for 13 days. And they just could not find them. And they hunted all over Scotland and received sightings of them but couldn’t find them.

So eventually, he just took himself home. But by this point, the air patrol had gotten involved. People were looking for him with night vision goggles to these friends out for a walk to see if they would attract them. The BBC got involved, which was a British Broadcasting Corporation, and they called embed.

So this was no bad the buffalo. He’s a young one year old buffalo. So he’s a baby buffalo. The Buffalo farm asked me if I would write a picture of them. Can I sit if I can get a publishing contract, which I did very fortunately, I managed to get a publishing contract for this picture that because it’s very hard to get children’s picture book, contracts.

And I the first book is coming out in October, the end of October. Congratulations. It’s 30. The Buffalo and the book is going to be called Becky’s Great Escape.

Richard: That sounds fascinating. And basically the kids will love it.

Wendy: Seriously, how can you go from Craig Wright into a picture books about buffalo?

Richard: Are you illustrating it yourself? Are you having?

Wendy: Seriously? No, I couldn’t I can’t draw straight line with a ruler. Nobody would want me to illustrate anything? Seriously? Okay, so

Richard: you found an illustrator somewhere and having them

Wendy: draw? Yeah, isn’t really strange. Yeah, no, me.

Richard: All right. What kind of tips would you give other writers to help them succeed? Since you’re very successful? I’m sure they could learn something from you.

Wendy: Well, one of the things I see one of my magazines, and this one doesn’t work for everybody, but it certainly works for me. And I would advise people to do is see Yes. So you worry about the aesthetics of it later. So if somebody said to you, Oh, would you like to write a picture book about a young buffalo?

Just see yes. And then think, what the heck have I done? And then by the time you’ve said, Yes, you do something about it? Yeah. If people say, Would you like to talk at a conference? Say yes, if people go, Hey, would you like to come to Australia and speak at a conference?

Say yes. You just say yes to anything, and then work out the aesthetics of it later. And within reason, obviously, if somebody says, well, we want you to go to Tibet and do a book signing, but you have to pay for all yourself, you might want to weigh up the pros and cons of how this might work. Because it might cost you a lot of money. And you might only say one book.

Richard: What time did you say yes. And it turned out to be more than you thought.

Wendy: It hasn’t happened to me so far. Thankfully, I’ve been very fortunate. And every time I’ve said yes, it’s what kind of, for example, next year, I’m hoping, or I will be doing a book tour of America. And that all came about through saying yes, so I’m going to be and I’m going to be your neck of the woods as well.

Richard: Awesome. Awesome. Maybe we can meet? That would

Wendy: be that would be brilliant. So yeah. And I said, Oh, yeah, we can do that. And then it started out. It was a couple of weeks, and now it’s six weeks. Like, okay. But yeah, just say yes, everything’s great. You can work out the aesthetics of it later.

Richard: That’s what I’m a ghostwriter. And that’s what I do. Somebody says you want to write this book? Sure. And then I figured out how to write it later.

Wendy: And when you say what else have I got myself into?

Richard: Yes, so you like crime? And you’ve said some reasons why you like crime? What are some of the other reasons why you like it so much. What are what are your readers like it also?

Wendy: Well, I’ll tell you why the lightest Scottish crime fiction is Scotland second biggest states right after whiskey. So the rest of the world thinks that we’re a bunch of drunk and we must do all we do striking and reading like crazy train boots. I think people like to dance on the edge of the wall without getting into trouble.

And I like being a crime writer because it’s the only way you can kill people without getting into trouble and thrown in a prison. So you get rid of anybody you’re like now that I’ve ever got rid of anybody real? Well, I think also people like to be able to come to different areas or one gang of crime clients from all over the world.

I need kind of accent in Florida in the Florida swamp. So, you know, but you get to, you know, live in the Florida swamps without actually living in the Florida swamps with all these mosquitoes or whatever it is each year to death when you’re there. You know you you can do it with your good liver curiously, but I think they’re right the danger I think readers like the danger. I mean like to try and work out who did it and why they did it.

Richard: Have you ever thought of doing like a crime science fiction book?

Wendy: Well, I’ve never actually thought I didn’t crime science fiction books. It’s not something that’s so I don’t read science fiction. So I think I struggle a bit. I’d love to read a bit of science fiction really before I could do that. I tell you what I do do though.

I do murder mystery events. And I’ve done some a local mill. And I’ve done I did one at my church which was to raise funds for our young people to go out and help build a clinic English sittin. So I did that. It was like 100 people sat down eating dinner.

And while we all have to donate something that I’ve written, and then they had to guess it wasn’t there was a price. So it was all refund really?

Richard: Well tell me what a murder mystery event is?

Wendy: Well, the one that I did, my church was beautiful. Everybody had dinner. So they paid for a ticket included dinner, and they sat down and we emptied out a play in between the courses. And then at the end of it all. So there was clues we pass clues around and at the end of it all they decided who had done it the audience and there was a price for the table that got it right.

Then the one that I do some at a local mill called body mill. It’s an old an old flour mill. And I actually did there they get taken around the mill and there are characters in all the rooms in the mill and the village cottage, and the the character act something out there give a spiel.

And then there are people that are going around, get a chance to ask questions. And they go around in various groups every 10 minutes. And then at the end, the person who gets it right out of the group, they get a price they get a book. They have to solve clues.

Richard: That sounds like loads of fun. I’ve done one myself here in Florida. They have a once a week that that does that. It was fun. Yeah. No, I did. I like it. No, did you write it? No, no, no, I was invited. All right. Yeah. Yeah, I got them I got who got murdered wrong.

Wendy: When I go to these things, I usually get them wrong as well. Nobody could just solve it. Yeah.

Richard: Yeah, exactly. I was having too much fun just talking and I didn’t really pay attention.

Wendy: Yeah. I went to a couple in Orlando.

Richard: So how do you promote your books? And I’m everywhere.

Wendy: And people say that they go Wendy, you are everywhere. So I’ve written a book on marketing, and corporate marketing. And it’s full of different ideas, but they’re all ideas that I’ve already done. So I I mean, I am everywhere. I go to conferences, I speak at conferences. I go to local book fairs, I go to local fairs.

I use social media, I use social media advertising, I use paid advertising, I co promote with other authors. I help other people. It just be seen if you’ve seen then people will remember you. I’m in all the book shops, I do events, book shops, things like that. And I’ve got several events set up for Betty the buffalo already when he comes out.

I do events. I’ve done book signings in banks in Scotland. I entertained the queue basically on top of murder and mayhem in Scotland, which is a really easy thing to do, because I live in Dundee. Dundee is the moderate capital of Scotland in real life. So you’ve got a lot to you know, if you say to them, if you say to the police, or when would be the best place to bury a body or get rid of a body that just anybody like somebody’s already done it?

Yeah. I’ll be done already. But in real life. And we have lots of stories. I tell stories in the bank and one of them I tell is that Jack the Ripper might be buried in Dundee in the police station. And what happened was, you know, everybody knows who dropped with their Parisians in Victorian London.

He was going around killing prostitutes, and then he just disappeared a fist. Yeah. So there was a chap called William Henry. Bodhi came up from London. And he went into the police station after he taken rooms and been there a little while and he says, Oh, my boyfriend died so I chalked it up and food and a pack in case.

Most people would kind of call the funeral director but actually, anyway, they said, Yeah, they won’t have a look. Yeah, she was in the pack in case and they basically said Yeah, Winkley story we think you’d kill there. We’re going to train for webdam So before we could send to them, say To sum to be hanged, in public housing, I might add because I’m still public hanging so there was a knock at the door.

And then came the Met police. The police from London say that chap you’re about to hang from London, when you left London, the childhood from Roger Stone, we think he’s Jack the Ripper. Nobody proved it either way. He was hanged. But at this point, he was so notorious, that they couldn’t really hang in.

In in Dundee publicly because there was already had to get the cavalry in for crowd control for hanging in Don’t be there wasn’t much to do. You know, so are hanging past a time. They couldn’t really get to it there. So we hand them inside the police station, then bury them there.

There you go. That’s dandy for you, and I entertain them with stories like that. I have a new site take with me, I have a Duncan. It’s a replica dog. And I might add, it’s illegal to have divers in Scotland. And I have permission from the police to have it. With me, and things like that. So I am, you know, I do everything really?

Richard: So you’re one of those rare writers who’s actually more extroverted than introverted?

Wendy: Yeah, probably Yeah. Like being out and about meeting people, you know, book signings and cafes, Russians, whenever, you know, whatever anybody will have me to do a book signing.

Richard: That’s very interesting. So you just get yourself out there into the world, like on the show, for example, and people come with the know who you are, and follow it to you and buy your books.

Wendy: Absolutely. Plus, I got a radio show. So I tell people about things on the radio show as well. Well, the radio show is not namely about me. It’s about other people. It’s interviewing other authors.

Richard: How do you remain productive? How do you keep going?

Wendy: I do a lot of writing. I try to write every day. I try to do something every day. i When I’m on the go, I write in trains, planes and not automobiles, because I get carsick if I’m a passenger, and I can’t do if I’m driving, it’s illegal.

But I write everywhere. And that’s one of the things I do know as a promotion, but it’s a bit of fun. I put on Facebook and Twitter, today’s writing is brought to you from and they’ll be a picture of where I am. So maybe a virgin train or the plane or somebody really famous his desk like Montgomery, you know, feel Marshall Montgomery, I was doing some writing from his desk, you know, stuff like that.

So some everywhere really famous, you can usually blog your way into anywhere to do some writing for five minutes and get a picture taken.

Richard: Okay, so you don’t suffer from writer’s block. Then.

Wendy: To be honest, if I get stuck at one bit, I just started a bit later on in the book. So I just move on. And I’ve always got a notebook with me. So if I think of something, or I’ll even have no I have a notebook on my phone, I use Evernote.

So think of something I’ll type on Evernote, and I’ve got five minutes when I’m waiting, I’ll type something on Evernote, and then I’ll put it I can copy and paste it to my book when I get back. So it’s so easy now.

Richard: Interesting. Are you pretty Are you technically apt?

Wendy: Technically after I’ve got an early adopter, so I’ve got at the moment I’ve got Apple everything, iPhone, iPad, I Mac, MacBook Pro, and everything just synced between everything. So you don’t even have to do anything. You know, but I am purely chip, can I tell you about my minute.

The latest thing I’ve found I’ve never seen anything, vellum. If anybody’s never used vellum for formatting your books, my giddy aunt. It’s the most amazing program in the world. It’s amazing. But you can only use on a Mac, you have to go to vellum dot pub, but unfortunately, it’s only for Mac products.

Richard: Well tell me a little bit about it. Well, basically,

Wendy: I uploaded I had to I’d finished my book and it was still double LIDAR hadn’t been formatted or hadn’t been double spaced. It hadn’t been justified. I hadn’t put any of the, you know, the return. I hadn’t put anything indented in paragraphs or anything. I hadn’t done anything.

I wanted it to Belem and it appeared a nanosecond later with the title of the book of a chop, because obviously I have my title in it. We’re on a title page for the book, and everything formatted for Kindle. And then I said I wanted it formatted for every other thing.

So ePub for Kobo EPUB. dated the cover, uploaded the cover, did the cover for all those areas. I obviously had a cover I paid for a cover that I professionally designed when I just uploaded that it did it all and you can do QuickBooks as well, and it just does everything for you. Seriously, I couldn’t believe it. And you can Oh,

Richard: it’s great. I assume they charge for it.

Wendy: Yeah, you You pay this you can either pay 25 pounds, every time you are dollar sorry, every time you download, so you can do it for free until you download it then you pay $25. Or you can pay for lifetime access and you never pay that $25 and the lifetime access what that gets you is your any of your ebooks and your paperback, you can pay it and that’s $249 If you just want ebooks it’s $199 I don’t think I even paid that because I got it so long ago, but and then I got paperback included because I already had it. So

Richard: what other I’m curious what other genres have you considered besides crime and children’s book? Have you considered anything else?

Wendy: I write nonfiction. So I’m read I’ve written the publishing book. And I’ve written I’m writing a book called Motivation matters. Motivation. I know Petrie, which is neuro linguistic programming. So I’m going to use some aspects of NLP in that to help people get ready for the day and to motivate them to write.

I’ve never really considered any other genres because I don’t really read many other I’m going to write I’ve got another series which have started, which is a cozy crime series started with an elderly woman who lives in a cottage in a village. It’s a bit Miss Marple, like really book contemporary.

But it’s all around crime and mystery. Because I do read widely, but I don’t read read widely enough that I could do any other genre, if that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah, if I read romance, and I would probably write a romance but I don’t write romance at all.

I’m a Christian mystery girl. I’m a Christian. And I’ve read Christian fiction. But it’s not something that I’ve ever dabbled with even writing Christian fiction either.

Richard: Okay? And what is your favorite thing about being an author over, say, working as a nurse or some other career?

Wendy: Autonomy, you’re your own boss. And you don’t have to tell you where you want to turn up every day. You don’t have to turn up every day, if you don’t want to. If you want to stand up downstairs and write in your pajamas, you can do it. You know, it’s up to you really what you do, and you manage your own time you manage your own business.

So I’ve got total control over my own business. And I like that. And I like the fact that you can use your imagination. I mean, if you use your imagination in nursing, it would get you in bother because you’d end up killing someone. Accidentally, I might add anybody that uses an imagination in nursing and really have killed a lot of people in some prison?

Richard: Yes, they get caught.

Wendy: Yeah, most of them do. Eventually. Yes.

Richard: What is your least favorite thing about being an author?

Wendy: Well, again, it’s the same thing, you do have autonomy. So if you want to sleep on the sofa and do nothing else, then that can happen as well. You really do need to motivate yourself, which is why I’m writing that book, to help people watch themselves motivate themselves every day.

The least favorite bit about writing I do spend a lot of time on trains a lot of time, which is very nice. But you know, sometimes you’d like to be at home as well.

Richard: I understand. I spend a lot of time sitting in this chair, so I gotta get up and move. Okay. Yeah, I totally understand. Do you use anything like voice dictation? Or do you type?

Wendy: Right? Can I just say, I have a Mac computer? And a Scottish accent? Oh, that does not go well together. Why do dictate, but it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. And marks are not the best for dictating. Even with Dragon Dictate. It’s still not intuitive.

Richard: I use it on Windows and I managed to write five or 6000 words a hour sometimes just dictating.

Wendy: I mean, I have done dictation. But when I go back and look at it, some of its gobbledygook and I’m like what the heck was I trying to say?

Richard: I know that feeling.

Wendy: But I’m quite a fast writer, but not that fast. Heavens. I need to really get into this dictation. I do have a laptop, a very old laptop that’s got windows, I might try that.

Richard: Windows 10 With Dragon Dictate 15 works really well.

Wendy: I haven’t got I don’t think my computer will even allow me to load windows 10 It’s that old.

Richard: I’m sure that’s true. That’s true. Do you have any closing remarks or anything you’d like to say to close off?

Wendy: I just want to say to anybody that wants to be a writer, you know, sit down and write do it. Everybody thinks I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do it. Just try it or join a writing group. I am have joined So I’ve been to writing groups, I’m in one called Angus writers circle, which meets in our broth, which is, it’s 20 minutes from my house to there, it’s not far.

And then I do another one that it’s called City writers, which I run. And that’s in the very church in Dundee. And that’s 20 minutes from where I live. So I go to writers groups, or join an online Writers Group. The Scottish association of writers has one call.

I’m not trying to advertise it just trying to help, but it’s called the writers umbrella. But there are loads out there just look, join a local writers group, and you will get help and assistance, you will get encouragement. And if you do that, then you’re more likely to write and the other thing I want to say to people is, if you’re writing a book, tell the whole world.

Okay. When I first started my first book cover, I was going to tell anybody and a friend of mine said, you know, tell everybody, you’re more likely to do it. Right. And so I wrote a blog and I said, Oh, I’m going to write a book. And it’s going to be a bunch of mystery second and DNN people in the comments.

Good. Where can I buy it? And I was like, Whoa, not written anything yet. Right? Because people want to buy already. And because I was telling people, they were keeping me accountable. And we’re going so how’s the book coming on? It’s, yeah, it’s your blue coat. Yeah, it should just cost way more when it got really delayed for various reasons.

And people have seen as past clean water. Yes. Cast clean water. Yeah. If you tell everybody, you’re accountable, and you’ll finish it, because everybody wants it.

Richard: So other words, kind of start promoting the book? Well, before you’re finished with it.

Wendy: Absolutely. So the best time to start promoting your book is right now, if you haven’t started writing yet, from what your book, if you have started writing yet, promote your book, if you’ve got nine books, done any promotion, promote your book. That’s the time to start promotion.

Richard: Good. Well, thank you for coming on. Thank you, Wendy.

Wendy: It’s been an absolute pleasure.

Richard: Yes, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

Wendy: You’re a pleasure to talk to me. All the way to Florida.

Richard: It’s amazing in this world, we can talk across the ocean. It’s fabulous. So you’re on author talk with Richard Lowe. Thank you for viewing it. And if you like it, subscribe to it. There’s a button down below subscribe and hit the notify button and you’ll be notified of any new updates. And Thank you Wendy for appearing on the show.

Wendy: You’re absolutely welcome.

Quotable moments

Frequently asked questions

Who is Wendy H. Jones?

Wendy H. Jones is a Scottish crime writer based in Dundee and president of the Scottish Association of Writers. A former Royal Navy and Army nurse who left the services as a Major, she writes several mystery series including the DI Shona McKenzie books.

What are the DI Shona McKenzie mysteries?

A Scottish crime series featuring Detective Inspector Shona McKenzie, told from both the killer’s and the police’s points of view. The titles all begin with the word Killer, such as Killer’s Countdown.

What other series does Wendy H. Jones write?

The Fairways in Florida young-adult mysteries, described as Famous Five meets Scooby-Doo for older readers, and Cass Claymore Investigates, about a red-headed, motorbike-riding ex-ballerina who inherits a detective agency.

What is the one rule Wendy H. Jones says never to break?

Never kill an animal. She notes that crime readers will accept any number of dead human bodies but will write letters of complaint the moment a pet is harmed.