Lilly’s mind buzzed as she continued putting pieces of the puzzle together. “They must have said something to him about running the land after they were gone. Something that wasn’t in the will, the official will that I got after they died.”

“Just let him keep working the land, as if nothing changed.” David shrugged.

Lilly stood up suddenly, pulling her hand from his. “No, if it was as simple as that, why would he make such a dramatic proclamation?”

David watched as she began to pace the porch. “Because he’s a crazy old man?”

“Grandpa or Grandma must have said something to the effects that he’d be getting the land when they went. Who else was going to run it? Their only son wanted nothing to do with them.” Lilly paced faster, warming up to her theory. “However that agreement didn’t make it into the finalized version of the will before they died… or it was never meant to?”

Lilly turned to David, eyes sparkling. “He wants the land. He wants me to follow through with their verbal agreement. Grandma must have written about it in her more recent journals. I’m certain I can find proof of the verbal agreement. Wait, are verbal agreements legally binding?”

She paused a tapped a finger against her lips. “He still thinks he’s getting the land. He doesn’t know what the will actually said and believes I’m keeping the land from him and he’s threatening me to make sure I follow through. I mean, I am the daughter of Harold’s ‘evil son’, so why wouldn’t I keep the land from him as some sort of last dig at his alcoholic father?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on,” David grabbed hold of her hand as she passed, jerking her to a halt. “Slow down there, Nancy Drew. You’ve had a pretty disruptive day today. Let’s keep the conspiracy theories down to a minimum until you’ve had time to think this all through.”

Lilly pressed her lips together as she yanked her hand free from his. “Why won’t anyone believe me about Earl being dangerous?”

David sighed and stood, stretching his arms over his head. “Because, he’s not dangerous. Earl Graves is just a cranky old man who has a chip on his shoulder and thinks the world owes him. He’s not trying to scare you off your land, he’s not trying to get you to pay up on a debt he thinks is owed him. You just need a good night’s sleep and you’ll realize why this all sounds crazy in the morning.”

“But—“

“Get to sleep.” David jammed his hat back on his head. “I’ll be back in the morning for chores and I’ll check in on you to make sure you’ve come back to reality.”

Lilly frowned as she watched him walk off the porch and head to his truck. Why was no one believing her? She couldn’t shake the bad feeling she got—and continued to have—about Earl. He was trying to get her off what he believed was his land.

And no matter what it took, she was going to prove it.

Interview with Amy Gregg

Amy Gregg’s cozy mystery, FARMED AND DANGEROUS, will be published in late 2021 by Fox Pointe Publishing

RG: What is your most recent book?

AG: Most recent book is Farmed & Dangerous, out late 2021 from Fox Pointe Publishing. Why should a reader start my book next: First in new cozy mystery series, think Hallmark Channel meets Green Acres; reader will enjoy heroine Lilly as she navigates farm life & murder mysteries.

RG: Describe your books in 3 words.

AG: Hallmark meets Murder

RG: What is your favorite thing about your cozy mysteries?

AG: Can write it a fiction mystery, paranormal mystery, comedy mystery, cozies are an open subgenre.

RG: What is another genre that you would love to write?

AG: Comedic fiction like Carl Hiaasen or Christopher Moore.

RG: Have you always been driven to write?

AG: My drive for writing started in the 5th or 6th grade when my friend Shannon and I began our infamous “Story”. I don’t think we ever gave it a title… huh. We were big X-Men fans and read a lot of the comics and watched the classic 90s animated show, so we started what would in current times be called “fan fiction” of the X-Men; though with our own superheroes. The story was hand written in spiral bound notebooks and I think there ended up being about 10 100pg notebooks. I have them right now in my apartment, it’s been waiting about 20 years to be typed up. Should get to that soon before the notebooks disintegrate!

RG: When writing, are you a night owl or morning person?

AG: More of a night owl, though I’m trying to train myself to be a morning person.

RG: Are you a Pantser or Plotter?

AG: I’m a Plantser.

RG: What works best for you: typewriters, computer, dictation, fountain pen, or longhand?

AG: Right now writing in longhand in notebooks works best for me. There’s something about the crisp newness of a blank page that gets the words flowing more than a blank Word doc. After I’ve written a good chunk of a scene I enter it onto the computer and do any little edits or tweaks at that time. Sometimes I think faster than my hand so not all the words get written down. My dream is to write a story exclusively on an old timey typewriter—I have a L.C. Smith & Bros Typewriter, a Post-Union Desktop, that is maybe a late 19th century model that I’d love to get fixed up and crank out a story on that beauty.

RG: Why do you think crime fiction has moved from whodunnit to whytheydunnit?

AG: I think it’s moved to “whytheydunnit” is because, frankly, the world is a dumpster fire and we want to know how to fix it. If we learn the “why” behind someone’s actions, we can pay attention to warning signs and stop it from happening again. I’m a psychology major and have always been intrigued by the “why” and “how” behind people’s actions. What were those catalyst moments that took that person from say, a mere passing revenge fantasy on the jerk boss to actually doing it. Over the last 5 years there have been so many mass shootings, a definite spike in crazy that we need to know why these things are happening. That’s why I think there’s an increased interest in murderer documentaries and true crime shows… we want to know what’s ticking in their heads, what lead them to do these horrible things. It’s not good enough to have a bad guy for the sake of being bad, there needs to be reason, that tipping point. We need that proof that inherently people are good, and some outside force give them that push to go over to the Dark Side. Cuz if it’s really that easy to be a bad guy for the pure evilness of it, then we’re all SOL.

RG: What is your writing Kryptonite?

AG: Me. I am my biggest and toughest obstacle when it comes to writing. It’s hard to pinpoint just one culprit, I have a feeling they tag-team it like in WWE. My brain isn’t wired right, which I think is par for the course when it comes to writers. It’d be interesting to see a study done of writers and the correlation of mental health issues. I have a slew of mental health issues that in one turn make it easy to tap into my creativity like no other, then on the flip brings everything to a grinding halt. Between the severe depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, OCD, Borderline Personality Disorder, suspected ADHD, Imposter Syndrome, crippling self-doubt, perfectionist all-or-nothing, unintentional comparison with other authors, and the invention of the internet… it’s hard to say which the culprit is. Sometimes a day’s worth of writers block can last a few weeks to years.

RG: Do you have a day job?

AG: I do have a day job, what I tongue-n-cheekily refer to as my Evil Day Job. I work at the front scheduling desk of a clinic. I find it a distraction because during the time I’m supposed to be working I have the best ideas and can’t always find time to sneak in a little writing session. Although, that being said, back when I was first writing Farmed & Dangerous, the clinic wasn’t as busy as it is now—it had just opened and was still gaining traction in the community—so I had more time to write at work… I actually wrote 85-90% of Farmed & Dangerous at my desk, my boss said as long as my “real work” got done first she didn’t care if I used my free time to write. So, I owe her a huge debt for helping getting this book done! My Evil Day Job has also added an element to my writing—since I have to sneak little writing blocks here and there and over lunch, I’ve gotten better at getting to the point faster? Being more precise with my writing. I have a tendency to use lots of words/sentences/adjectives while writing so having shorter writing sprints I feel has helped me get to the point faster and be more deliberate with my word choices.

RG: Who do you consider to be your biggest and best mentor and/or inspiration?

AG: Oh lordy, ugh. Like, literary inspiration or non-literary inspiration? I never seem to answer these right so I’m going to over answer! If it’s literary then it’s everything. I can name on one hand the books that I didn’t like, I just love books. There’s been so many times when I’ve finished a book and said “Dammit, I wish I wrote that book!” or “I want to write like this when I grow up.” Some of the authors who have definite influence on my work are Patti O’Shea, Carl Hiaasen, Jonathan Maberry, and Helene Wecker. Just to name a few.

If you mean non-literary inspiration? That would be my mom. She unfortunately passed away long before any of my writings saw the eye of a publisher. She pushed me to use my creativity when I was younger; I think it was a way to try and reign in my near-feral energy. In my book Magic & Madness I have a dedication to my mom and in part it goes “You bought me a typewriter instead of a Playstation, so this is all your fault” And I’m eternally grateful for that choice she made for me all those years ago. So with each WIP I strive to create something that she’d have been proud to show off to her friends in the Ruth Guild.

RG: Which non-literary piece of culture could you not imagine your life without?

AG: Uh… the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s perfect escapism at its finest. Although, could that be literary since its source material is comic books, which are a form of books? And the story telling, character arcs/progressions, world building… are all very literary… I’m failing at this question I think. But the MCU did give us Chris Evans as Captain America and who can say we as a society has not been bettered in some way with the gift of America’s Ass?

RG: What are you currently reading?

AG: At the moment I’m reading The Book of Life, by Deborah Harkness. I finished A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night quite a few years ago and got sidetracked from finishing the trilogy. Then eventually I’ll get around to Time’s Convert (book 4).

RG: Which famous author, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

AG: Hmm… either Jane Austen or Mary Shelley. These women are badass women. They wrote as themselves, not under a pseudonym or pretended to be a man… although I think at first Austen published her first work as “A Lady” or some silly thing like that. They are some of the few women of that era to last as quintessential authors. It’d be interesting to pick their brains and see what it was really like being a woman and trying to break into a man’s profession—well, to be honest, what wasn’t strictly a man’s profession back in the eighteenth and nineteen centuries? Would the pressures of work-life balance more or less than what it is today? Did they ever suffer from Imposter Syndrome or is that just a modern ailment of creatives?

RG: What’s been the best compliment from a reader?

AG: A reader once told me that she didn’t want one of my books to end and she was mad it was done. Another reader/friend informed me she loved my book Through the Woods and loved the way it ended, knowing it “was building up to a sequel”. The look of utter horror on her face when I told her it was a standalone was the best.

RG: Is there a phrase or quote about writing you particularly like or that inspires you?

AG: I found this phrase posted on Pinterest, and it has helped me curb my all-or-nothing perfectionist thinking. “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” ~ Shannon Hale.

Amy Gregg Biography

Amy Gregg is the Minnesota Book Award-nominated author of Relic Chosen: Magic and Madness from North Star Press. She is also the author of Through the Woods and Next Weekend, from Lulu Publishing.

She began her writing journey in middle school and never thought to stop. Save for those four years while attending Concordia University, St. Paul to get her B.A. in Psychology. And that handful of years to start a family. Somewhere in there, she sleeps. When not writing she enjoys watching movies, reading, spending time with family, and spirited discussions of all things Marvel. A native Minnesotan who grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, this “city girl” lives with her daughter and 15lb cat west of the Twin Cities.

Amy is currently working on a rural cozy mystery series soon to be released from Fox Pointe Publishing.

Social Media sites:

Facebook: Amy Gregg, Author

Twitter: @amylgregg

Instagram: @amylgregg