Murder Is Our Mascot
Schooled in Murder Book 1
Tracy D. Comstock
Cozy
Mystery/Light Romantic Suspense
Gemma
Halliday Publishing/65k
Murder is the new mascot at Ellington High...
A murdered coach and a missing counselor has thrown the school into a foreign curriculum of anger, fear, and suspicion. English teacher Emily Taylor is determined to prove that her missing friend is not a murderer. But if she's not, then who is? And where could her friend be? Against the advice of fellow math teacher and former crush Tad, Emily and her best friend Gabby dig into the dead coach's past. But someone doesn't want Emily unearthing their secrets and is determined to see that she gets a failing grade in the sleuthing department. Soon, Emily finds herself scrambling for a new lesson plan to solve the murder...before the killer sets his own deadline!
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Excerpt:
The clack of Emily Taylor's high heels echoed hollowly in
the deserted high school hallway. Normally, she loved the sound her heels made
on the tile floor. Her obsession with high heels began when her height topped
off at a gargantuan five foot one inch, and their authoritative tapping sound
typically made her feel confident and in charge. But not this morning. The
click-clack reverberating off the rows of metal lockers seemed ominous, a
warning of some kind.
Letting herself into her classroom, she decided that the
school seemed somewhat sinister because she was unused to being there that
early. Her great love affair with her snooze button meant that getting to
school before it was filled with a mass of hormone-fueled teenagers was a
rarity for her, but she had needed to get in early today in order to prep for a
special before-school meeting with a student's mother. Stevie Davis was new to
Ellington High and was really struggling in Emily's junior-level English class.
Something about Stevie tugged at Emily. He usually hid his
eyes behind his fringe of bangs, causing Emily to fight the urge to grab her
scissors and hack away at his curtain of hair so that she could see what was
going on behind it. The few times he had tossed his hair back with the
irritated shrug that was his typical answer to any question, his eyes had
seemed sad, lost, or…something. Emily wasn't sure what that something was, but
she was hoping that this meeting with his mother would shed some light on his
issues.
Her cantankerous old computer whined to life as Emily
flipped on her desk light. Dark, swollen clouds crowded the sky, swallowing her
early morning classroom in shadows. Emily felt jumpy and spooked, as if those
dark clouds were pressing down on her, enshrouding her in their gloom. Must be
an allergy medicine-induced hangover making her feel strange this morning.
Nothing like fall to get her sinuses going. As soon as she got her notes
together for her meeting, she'd grab a cold shot of caffeine from the stash of
sodas she kept in the teachers' lounge fridge. That would help clear her head.
Or at least it would if Tad, the conference-hour-sharing, next-door math
teacher and fellow soda junkie, hadn't depleted her supply.
As she pulled out samples of Stevie's writing and wrestled
her computer into spitting out a copy of his grade report, the lights
flickered. Glancing out the back wall of windows, Emily watched the increasing
wind whip the trees into a frenzy. Multicolored fall leaves rained down like
confetti. She usually loved the electric feel in the air before a good
thunderstorm, but a loss of power would ruin her day's plans. Figuring she
better make her copies before the ancient, temperamental copy machine went on
the fritz, she began sorting through the piles on her desk for the paper she
needed. They were organized piles, of course. Oh, who was she kidding? Trying
to find the one thing she needed on her messy desk was like trying to isolate a
single snowflake during a blizzard. Shuffling papers and files, Emily jumped at
the first boom of thunder. The accompanying flash of lightning happened to
spotlight the copy of the quiz for which she was searching. Hoping to entice
Stevie into becoming more involved in class discussions, she was starting a
unit on mythology since he had shown some interest in legends. Today's quiz was
over the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, or it would be if she got her
copies made in time.
Tucking all of her information for the meeting with Stevie's
mother into a stray file folder, Emily grabbed up a fresh legal pad and pen and
headed out the door. Halfway there, she turned on her heel to go back for the
quiz she needed to copy. Yep, she definitely needed that soda. A glance at her
vintage Strawberry Shortcake watch showed she was, as usual, cutting it close
on time. But first things first.
Popping the top on the last soda in the fridge, Emily
silently thanked whoever was the God of caffeine for their nectar as she took
her first icy sip of the sugar-laden soda. No diet drinks for her, no sir, as
the extra ten pounds on her hips could attest. Tad had tried to hide the last
can behind a pitcher of green tea, knowing Emily would never touch that, even
if it might benefit her hips. She, however, was on to his nefarious ways. Practicing
her evil victory laugh, she click-clacked her way to the copy room to get her
copies started before the meeting. Another crashing boom of thunder rattled the
windows as Emily threw the door wide, propping it open with those cursed hips
while she flipped the light switch. Nothing. Scanning the hallway confirmed her
suspicions. The power was out. She took a step backward, thinking she would
head downstairs to consult with Principal Matthews. Rain began to lash the
windows over the stairwell, making the darkness of the hall seem even more
complete. She fumbled her way a few feet down the hallway until the lights
flickered back on again. Not wanting to waste a second in case the power
decided to blink off again, Emily dashed back to the partially open copy room
door. Hitting the light switch again with one hand, she rushed toward the
hulking machine on the far wall. That was when papers went flying and sticky,
syrupy soda sprayed everything in its path. Emily went airborne. Throwing her
hands out in front of her to break her fall, Emily winced as they skidded
through sticky wetness. The picture of grace she was not, so finding herself
flat on her face was actually not uncommon for Emily. She could trip on a
completely flat surface. The lights flickered again as she clambered to her
feet, worrying about getting the sticky mess cleaned up before someone else
slipped. Glancing down at her hands, she was busy cursing her lost lifeline,
her last caffeine hit, when she realized that the sticky substance covering her
hands was not soda. It was something thicker, and redder. Finally looking back
to see what she had tripped over, Emily saw what appeared to be a head
protruding from behind an office chair. Taking a cautious step closer, she
could see that the head was surrounded by what looked like a puddle of
congealing blood and was, thankfully, attached to a body. Unfortunately, it
appeared to be a dead body. And
that's when Emily began to scream and scream.
About the Author:
Tracy Comstock is a small-town girl from Missouri. She lives in a home where she is outnumbered 3:1 by the males in her life: her husband and their two extremely adorable, but terrifyingly ornery sons. She has no pets as all living things, besides humans, of course, come to her house to die, including the victims in her books. All her life Tracy devoured books. Her parents' most effective punishment was grounding her from reading. Although she has a B.S. in Education and a Masters in Literature, she was nudged down the path to publication by encouraging (and sometimes threatening!) family, friends, professors, and students. When not working on Emily's adventures, Tracy is an adjunct instructor for several local colleges, where she gets to teach others about her greatest passion: writing.
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Interview
Can you tell us what prompted you to first start writing? What was the first thing you wrote?
I
remember writing my first short story in the 4th grade. I had ordered a book from a book order, and I
just couldn’t wait for it to get here, so I decided to write my own story based
on the front cover and the book blurb. I think my story was like 10 pages long. I called it “Merrie on the Mayflower.” My teacher was so impressed with it, she had
me read it aloud to the class. I was
totally bitten by the writing bug.
Can you summarize your latest work in just a
few words?
A high
school English teacher becomes an amateur sleuth when she finds the body of the
football coach in the teacher’s lounge.
What was the inspiration for this book?
The idea
occurred to me when I was teaching at a small school at the beginning of my
teaching career. I had worked really
late as I had to help chaperone a dance later that evening at the adjoining
middle school. By the time I left my room, I was the only one left in this dark
building. The school seemed to take on a very sinister cloak at night, without
any students roaming the halls. As I
made my way down the darkened stairs, I thought, this would be the perfect
setting for a murder mystery. And the
story was born.
Did you do any research for this book?
I spoke
with an EMT and a high school resource officer to make sure I got all the
details right about medical and police procedures.
What does a typical writing day involve for
you?
I teach for two different colleges, so I work
13-hour days, counting my commutes. I
dictate while I drive, then I try to write at night when I get home. I spend a lot of time writing on the
weekends, but I probably look like a deranged woman, sitting in whatever room
my family is hanging out in, talking to myself as I try to both write and fit
in family time.
How you decide on the names for your
characters?
I
actually started this story back in 2002 and named the main characters
then. I think at the time I was going
for classic names, but also names that did not already belong to one of my
students! That can be a hard task, as evidenced when we tried to name our sons!
Which writers have influenced your own
writing?
All of
the cozy/chick lit mysteries I read have influenced me—especially Gemma
Halliday, Laura Childs, Nancy Atherton, Jenn McKinlay, Ellery Adams, and
Virginia Lowell.
What are you working on next? Do you have a WIP?
I am
currently halfway through my second Schooled in Murder mystery, tentatively
titled School Days, Cruel Days. I am also working on a tie-in short story,
also.
What has been the best part of the writing
process…and the worst?
The best
part of writing is that I love seeing the characters take shape in my
mind. Once I know them, they start
acting out their lives, with all the ensuing drama and joy, and it is my job to
put those lives down on paper. The worst
part of the writing process is finding extended periods of time to write where
I can just get lost in the story I’m trying to tell. Sometimes my OCD takes over and I get too
caught up in revising as I go, and then I lose the thread of the story and have
a hard time getting back into the groove again.
Tell us about your travels.
The
farthest I have traveled is to London as a chaperone on a school trip. I would love to go back. My husband and I love to travel, and we have
been to Mississippi, Louisiana, Michigan, Texas, Alabama, and Florida. I’ve been to Washington state and Victoria
B.C. to visit where my maternal grandmother grew up. If I didn’t live in Missouri, I would
definitely choose Washington state.
Growing up, my family traveled quite a bit also. With them, I’ve been to Tennessee, Colorado,
South Dakota, North Dakota, and up into Canada.
Tell us about your childhood.
I had an
idyllic childhood. I have a younger
brother, and I would say we were, and still are, pretty close. We loved taking family vacations, and it just
seemed like we were always doing something fun as a family. I grew up across the street from where I was
born, and I still live in the same town today, although my brother and his
family have moved away. My parents have
been married for 39 years and have been a beautiful example of true love to
us. They always supported me in chasing
my dreams. My mom is my best
friend. Growing up, we were always
reading books together. She really
fostered my love of both reading and writing.
She is a very talented writer herself.
Most writers have some quirks—what are yours?
As I
said, I am a very OCD person. I feel
lost without an outline. I write a pretty extensive outline before I ever start
the actual writing process. I also write
journal entries in the voices of each of my characters, especially the
murderer’s, so that I know their unique voice and their motivations.
Do
you plot your novels or allow them to develop as you write?
I plot
out all of my novels beforehand.
Have you taken any creative writing courses
and would you recommend them?
I did not
take any writing courses until I went back for my masters in literature. One of my professors could tell by a few of
my journal entries for class that I had a strong desire to write fiction. She
asked me to write something for her, but I was too afraid. To get around my reticence, she changed one
of our assignments to a creative piece.
When she read mine (a piece written in the style of Flannery O’Connor),
she enrolled me in a creative writing class.
I thoroughly enjoyed the class, and even had a piece win a women’s
writing contest and another published in the school literary magazine. I would definitely recommend creative writing
courses, and in fact, I have to several of my students who want to pursue a
career in writing. I think the courses
are invaluable for teaching you how to take critiques and use them to your
benefit.
What book(s) are you reading at the moment?
I just
finished reading Jennifer Fischetto’s One
Garish Ghost and Blueberry Peach Jam, as well as the Cozy Christmas Capers by 19 of the authors from Gemma Halliday
Publishing. I am currently reading
Ritter Ames’ Organized for Homicide and The
Great Gatsby (for the umpteenth time) because I am teaching it this semester.
If you were stranded on a desert island and
could only take three books with you, what would they be and why?
1) Betsy and the Great World by Maud Hart
Lovelace because it was one of my favorite books growing up. In that book, I felt I traveled the whole
world. I still periodically read it because of the cozy, nostalgic feel it
gives me.
2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë because
it’s one of my all-time favorite books.
I could read it over and over.
3) The
Bible because I would be completely lost without it.
17. Do you have any advice for new writers?
Never
give up on your dream. Keep looking for
ways to get your work out there. I would
never have believed that this dream of mine could come true, but it did! Keep writing!!
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