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Lucy Connelly is…On the Writing Block!
- Sherry Ickes
- Mar 10
- 3 min read
As March is now upon us, and the return of all things green and Irish, let us welcome our next guest author to On the Writing Block, with her series set in Ireland and featuring an author who has a knack for finding crime…
Lucy Connelly travels around the world, usually with her bossy dogs in tow. She is the author of “An American In Scotland” series, the “Mercy McCarthy” series, “The Welsh Village” series, and the “Ainsley McGregor” series, under Candace Havens. The movies from that series are on Great American Family.
Have you spotted the elusive Lucy? Tell us where at www.lucyconnelly.com
What is your ultimate goal as an author?
I don’t know if it’s a goal so much as a compulsion. I need to tell stories. It’s a part of how I’m made. I just want readers to enjoy the work. I hope that I provide a bit of solace from a wild world.
Do you have a writing schedule, or do you write whenever you can squeeze it in?
I do my best to write every day. I try to take weekends off, but it depends on the deadline schedule.
How much research do you conduct for your storylines?
For the mysteries, since most of them are set across the pond, I do a great deal of research. I also try to learn something new with every book. One book it was trains, another jewelry. I try to have fun and weave that into the mystery.
Do you always know who the killer is, or do your characters surprise you in the end?
My characters constantly surprise me. Almost every book the killer changes. It’s fun and annoying.
Bonus Questions:
Any advice for other authors?
Just write and do your best to keep a positive attitude. We all have demons that say we can’t do this or that. Don’t listen to them. Just sit down and write your book.
How much is based on real life versus made up?
I think most authors bring a lifetime of knowledge to what they write. But the best thing about fiction is we get to make things up. Some characters may have traits of people I know, or from me, but the stories are fiction.
Are there any animals in your book? If so, describe them and how involved they are in the investigation.
I love animals. In the Irish series, they have a dog Mr. Poe, who acts and looks just like my dog, Mr. Poe. I guess that goes to the question before. He is very real, but as of yet, he has not found a dead body. Thank goodness.
And I’m working on a new project that has some animals. I’m excited about it.
What is A Body at the Irish Book Club about?
The Shamrock Cove Autumn Festival is filling the town with the delicious aroma of cinnamon-stuffed pastries, the cheerful sight of jaunty jack o’lanterns and… a body at the local book club.
Mercy McCarthy is delighted to see old neighbors and new friends come to the bookstore to support her sister’s autumn book club. But as Mercy closes the chapter on the evening, she stumbles across local grandmother Eva, lifelessly slumped in a squashy armchair at the back of the store.
She recognizes Eva as one of the festival’s main organizers and though she looks to be at peace, the plot thickens when Mercy notices a suspicious mark on her neck. She knows this was no accident. With so many people in the store that night, any one of them could be the killer.
Just as Mercy reads a suspicious-sounding entry for the festival’s fiction-writing contest, another body turns up on the beach. Is someone in Shamrock Cove dying for a bestseller?
It’s up to Mercy and her crime-solving canine companion Mr. Poe to sniff out the suspects before another victim is taken. Could the murderer be the garden center owner who dabbles in chemistry? Eva’s ne’er-do-well grandson-in-law? Or the local busybody who has an opinion about everybody?
You can purchase her books through the following links:
You can connect with her through the following links…
And don’t forget to check out the “Ainsley McGregor Mysteries” on the Great American Family Network that are based on her books written under Candace Havens.
Thank you, Lucy, for sharing your time with us!
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