Peg Herring

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Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

Reading. Writing. Reading some more. Back to writing.

When and why did you start writing books?

I started in the early 2000s with plays for my HS drama class, which always had 40+ kids, mostly girls. Since there were very few plays that fit my group, I wrote one. A publisher snapped it up. I wrote another, and a different publisher took that one. I thought, "Gee, this writing thing is easy. I'll write a novel!" Six years later...a publisher for that. It wasn't as easy as it first seemed, but by then I was hooked.

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

My career was teaching. Writing is what I do for myself now that I'm no longer in the classroom.

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

Hard to say, but probably Loser from the Loser Mysteries (3 books, starting with KILLING SILENCE. She was hard to write, but very real to me.

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

I've moved from straight mystery into women's fiction, which I find more demanding, because relationships and character matter more. I still like solve-the-crime writing, but I'd say each of my WF books (DECEIVING ELVERA; SISTER SAINT, SISTER SINNER; AND AUNT MARGE) has stretched me as a writer.

Who is your favourite author and book?

Impossible to answer. I love classic writers like Dickens and Shakespeare. I like contemporary writers like Laura Lippman and Michael Connelly. I read a lot of what my local booksellers recommend, like LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY and THE MAID. For a break from fiction, I choose authors like David Grann, who make nonfiction read like fiction.

What book are you reading right now?

Michael Crichton wrote several books before he was famous as John Lange. I just started THE VENOM BUSINESS.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

The ideas seem to bloom in my head, not quite full-blown, but a nice, strong skeleton. It takes a ton of work to make those ideas into something another person can read and enjoy.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Gardening; I help with the vegetables, but the flowers are completely mine.

Do you have any new books in the works?

AUNT MARGE releases January 1, 2024. Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it concerns a young woman who needs recovery time, so she agrees to visit her Aunt Marge, a woman she hardly knows. The results are shocking and sometimes terrifying.