An Interview & Excerpt with Author, Violet Ingram

Where were you born? 

Dayton, Ohio. I’ve lived here almost all of my life. I figure it was good enough for Orville and Wilbur Wright it’s good enough for me.

What inspired you to write your first book? 

I’d been making up stories since I was a kid. After the birth of my fourth child, I decided it was time to put some of them down on paper.

Do you write full-time or part-time? 

It depends on the week. I’m a stay-at-home mom with five kids. I’d say until recently it was part-time but now it is full-time unless a kid is sick then all bets are off.

How did you come up with the title? 

Actually, I came up with the title first and then wrote the book. I just had an image of a bloody high heeled shoe and went for it.

Are experiences in the book based on someone you know, or events in your own life? 

No, thank goodness or else somebody would definitely be in need of bail money and I don’t do that.

What book are you reading now? 

I just finished True Colors by Krysten Lindsay Hager. It is a middle grade to Young Adult book. I loved it and so did my girls.

What are your current projects? 

I’m working on DEATH BY NAIL GUN book two in the Kim Murphy Investigator series.

Who is your favorite author? 

Sorry, I can’t pick just one. That would be like choosing a favorite pair of shoes, or a purse, or a child. Can’t do it. That wouldn’t be fair to the others.

What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

I love getting the initial words on the page but the editing not so much. I second guess every single change I make. It drives me crazy.

Do you have any advice for writers? 

The two best pieces of advice I got were to keep writing and to read books that are in the same genre that you write in.

Now...let's check out an EXCLUSIVE excerpt from Violet's, Death By High Heels!

CHAPTER ONE

Sunday evening

Cops hate it when you vomit all over their crime scene--a mistake I had no desire to repeat. Then again, the fact I’d just trampled all over this scene was probably a whole new mistake I should have avoided. I stared at the corpse and fought the urge to hurl. If only I hadn’t answered the door, I’d be eating dinner instead of standing in my neighbor’s apartment looking at a dead guy.

Said dead guy was just sitting there in the chair. You would think he was asleep--if not for all the blood and guts spilled onto his lap. I tore my eyes from him and asked the question I most wanted the answer to.

“What the heck did you hit him with?”

Lindsay dropped the strand of blonde hair she’d been twirling and glanced down at the floor. “My shoe.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve already told you. Twice. I hit him with my shoe.”

“Damn it, Lindsay, you can’t kill someone with a shoe!”

“Hello, they’re Via Spiga.”

“Ugh.” I glared. There was no way in hell she had done this kind of damage with a shoe. If she had, women would soon be saying goodbye to their much-beloved accessory. Men--even NRA members--would insist on an instant ban of the deadly yet sexy weapon.

I set my hands on my hips. “Any idea how he got this giant hole in his stomach?”

“What? No, I hit him and ran.” Lindsay’s face paled and she leaned against the doorframe.

“Come here and see if you recognize him.”

“Gross, no way. Besides you’re the detective you figure out who he is.”

Technically, I was a private investigator, a fact that had continually escaped my neighbor.

“Get over here!” I turned toward her and spotted Lakeview, Ohio’s oldest beat cop standing behind her, his gun drawn. It would have been scary if only he didn’t look like Santa Claus dressed as a cop for Halloween. With the beginnings of a snow white beard and a pot belly in the making.

“Ah hell,” I muttered. “Hey Duncan.”

“Kim Murphy. Oh man, the Chief’s gonna be pissed,” Officer Duncan said.

“We don’t really have to tell him, do we?”

“You don’t think he’s gonna find out his daughter got herself mixed up with another dead guy? You didn’t kill this one too did you? Wait, don’t answer that.”

“I didn’t kill him. Jeez.”