Interview With Award-Winning Author Margaret Mizushima

 

 

 

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? Years ago, I attended several presentations by FBI agents on topics related to human trafficking. I tucked the information away until I felt I was ready to write a book with this theme. After moving to the Pacific Northwest, I met a retired FBI agent who once worked on a human trafficking task force, and I had the opportunity sit and chat with her. Our conversation inspired me to pull out all the information I’d saved before, add her information to it, and sit down to write this book. 

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Fighting Edge is written for anyone who enjoys mysteries, especially police procedurals, set in the great outdoors. It will have even more appeal for dog lovers and those who love K-9 books. And a short description: A routine welfare check becomes a nightmare when Deputy Mattie Walker finds a young mother dead and a hysterical toddler, possibly the only witness to a brutal crime. Soon, Mattie discovers another criminal act in Timber Creek, revealing a dangerous mix of drugs and suspected human trafficking. Meanwhile, veterinarian Cole Walker notices shady activity during routine calls at dog kennels, leading them to suspect a chilling truth: organized crime has infiltrated their rural mountain community. 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? First and foremost, I hope readers will be entertained and immersed in the plot, the family story behind the investigation, and the mountainous setting in the book. Beyond that though, I hope to spotlight the lesser-known side of human trafficking—using children as slave labor—and to show how this scourge is a multi-billion-dollar industry, endangering kids smuggled from other countries as well as those picked up on the streets from our own cities in the U.S.

 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? I submit several titles to my publishing team at Crooked Lane Books, and we select the one we like best as a group. I also submit a description of both the action and the setting in the story for their designer, who uses it to come up with a cover. Again, as a team, we collaborate and provide input for the final cover. I think this one, number eleven in the series, is one of my favorites.

 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? LOL Yes, that might be good advice for certain! Seriously, unless you’re compelled to write fiction, it’s best to stay away from it and enjoy being a reader. But if you know in your heart that you have a book you need to create, attend writing workshops that focus on the art and craft of fiction writing first. For over a decade I attended two writing conferences: Colorado Gold in Denver and Pike’s Peak Writers Conference in Colorado Springs. There are similar conferences all over the country, but for me, these two were within driving distance. At these conferences, I attended workshops on all aspects of writing, including the business related to the industry. And it’s there that I also met the individuals who later became my literary agent and my publisher.

 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? I believe it’s getting harder to achieve a book published by a traditional publisher while independent and self-publishing is growing astronomically. But before people jump into that model, they need to identify their marketing, sales, and distribution plans, or they’ll end up with very low sales numbers. The popularity of different genres shifts from year to year, and it’s hard to predict what readers and publishers will be looking for next. I’ve heard that statistically, fewer people are reading books these days, and more are watching movies and series on screens, though audio books are growing in popularity. All this confirms that if you need to make an income from writing, proceed carefully and don’t quit your day job.

 

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? My books feature a sheriff’s deputy, her K-9 partner, and a veterinarian who is the dog’s vet and the deputy’s love interest. Together they fight crime in a rural area surrounded by mountain wilderness. I grew up on a cattle ranch in a similar Colorado setting, and I’ve been married to a veterinarian for over forty years. My husband and I have participated in search and rescue training with two of our dogs in a group from our county. My lifetime is chockful of experiences that lend to the authenticity of country living, the life of a veterinarian, and dog training. And I get information regarding K-9 handling and police work from law enforcement friends and my husband’s clients.

 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Others compare my books to those by C.J. Box, Craig Johnson, and Anne Hillerman. I use a simple style focused on storytelling, character arcs, and a plot filled with plenty of outdoor and dog handling action and details. Though I have eleven books in the series, each one stands alone and offers a complete mystery to solve; but if a reader wants the total arc for each character, they might want to start with book one, Killing Trail.

 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? I didn’t know what was going to happen in the climax of this book and how it was going to end until I got to that point. I knew that my plot and subplots all needed to be woven together by the climax, but I was surprised at how explosive it was. And even more surprised when one of my protagonists almost dies. I intended to show how policing is a hard profession, but boy howdy, I didn’t realize just how hard it would be in this book. My reviewers seem to love it though, thank goodness.

 

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? If you love dogs, the Colorado outdoors, and mysteries, this is a book you should try. I invite you to come visit the fictional town of Timber Creek, Colorado, and get to know Deputy Mattie Walker, her partner Robo, and Cole Walker, DVM, in Fighting Edge. If you love it, go back and read the rest of the series. There are enough Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries published now for a long binge read. 

About The Author: Margaret Mizushima writes the internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She served as a past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is the recipient of a Colorado Authors League Award, a Benjamin Franklin Book Award, a CIBA CLUE Award, an IBPA Gold Award, and two Willa Literary Awards by Women Writing the West. Her books have been finalists for a SPUR Award by Western Writers of America, a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Colorado Book Award. She and her husband recently moved from Colorado, where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals, to a home in the Pacific Northwest. Find her on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, X @margmizu, Instagram @margmizu, and her website www.margaretmizushima.com.

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About Brian Feinblum

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For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum