Interview with Diane Weiner, Author of Murder in Training

If you were in an elevator with a stranger and had 1 minute or less to describe Murder in Training before the doors opened, what description would you give?

A retired music teacher and her best friend join a training class to prep for a breast cancer charity race. When a member of the class is murdered in the park during training, the other members are prime suspects. They soon find themselves ‘helping out’ their detective daughters by playing amateur sleuth. After all, they have an inside track to catching the killer before another member permanently crosses the finish line.  

What’s your favorite scene from your new release, Murder in Training? 

My favorite scene in the book is where Susan and Valerie, thanks to their snooping, find themselves locked in a dark office with rattle snakes and have to find a way out of their predicament!

What’s your favorite thing about writing? What’s your least favorite thing about it?

My favorite thing about writing is picking out the cover! Seriously though, I like when the first draft is all down and I can go back and fiddle with the words and sentences. My least favorite part of writing is hammering out the first draft and making sure it all makes sense, the clues make it possible for the reader to solve the case, but there are enough red herrings to make it a challenge for the reader.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write? 

My favorite genre to read is definitely mystery, but not necessarily cozy mystery. I like having a puzzle to solve with surprises along the way, and a little suspense thrown in. I also like contemporary woman’s fiction that deals with moral issues or family dynamics, ala Jodi Picoult or Lisa Scottoline.

Which books would we be surprised to find on your shelves?

You’d be surprised to find books like Running until You’re 100, The Essential Marathoner, The Scrabble Players’ Dictionary, and The Organized Executive on my shelf. I have run 10 marathons (slowly), am obsessed with Words with Friends, and had a brief stint as a school principal.

If you had to pick one place to vacation for the rest of your life, where would you choose?

If I had to choose one place to vacation for the rest of my life, it would be somewhere on a lake with cool summer weather in an air conditioned cabin with fantastic shopping and theater a short drive away. And I’d own my own rowboat.

What will your next adventure or writing project be? 

My next writing adventure is to make boxed sets out of my Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mysteries and my Sugarbury Falls Mysteries. Also, to get my remaining books into audio format. I’m currently writing the next Sugarbury Falls book, and I have an idea for a new series that I’m anxious to start.

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