When Neighbors Become Rivals by Kate Carlisle

JENN: I am so excited to have my friend Kate Carlisle here with us today! Kate always makes me laugh - in person and in print - so needless to say I already have her newest book in my hot little hands and if you don't, you should!

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of the Fixer-Upper Mysteries, featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too. Eaves of Destruction, Fixer-Upper Mystery 5, is available now. Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is bringing the Fixer-Upper Mysteries to TV in a series of movies starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson. Visit Kate online at www.KateCarlisle.com.

We all dream of that happy little neighborhood, where we get together for block parties, water each other's plants when one of us is out of town,  exchange cards at Christmas. Barring that, we hope that we can politely ignore each other and go on with our lives.

Sometimes neither of those things works out. Sometimes neighbors become friendly rivals, and sometimes those friendly rivalries turn darker.

Which is wildly awkward, since—hello!—you see each other every day. It's embarrassing as a full-grown adult to skulk at your windows before taking out the trash so you can make sure your neighbor's not outside at the time! (Personal note: Not that I've ever done that! My neighbors are all lovely.)

Have you ever lived in a neighborhood where everything becomes a competition? Whose yard is the nicest? Who has the biggest, brightest, gaudiest display of Christmas lights?

I recently read an article about a man who started buying Christmas lights with his high school paychecks, and has continued to add to his collection every year. Imagine if he lived across the street! You could go broke trying to compete with him.

Or blind.

In Eaves of Destruction, it's time for the Annual Victorian Home and Garden Show. For years, Petsy Jorgensen has seethed at her failure to win Best in Show. This year, she's determined to take the honor away from her neighbor, Joan Derry, no matter what. Contractor Shannon Hammer has been hired to do finish work for both homeowners, and she's determined to remain unbiased and do her best work for both, despite strong pressure to show favoritism.

The rivalry escalates, as these things often do. . . but in this case, someone winds up dead. And Shannon feels honor-bound to catch the killer since the murder happened on her watch.

Murder is on the to-do list when construction contractor Shannon Hammer looks for a killer in the fifth Fixer-Upper Mystery....

At the annual Victorian Home and Garden Tour, Lighthouse Cove, California's premier contractor, Shannon Hammer, realizes that the competition is about to turn deadly....

Shannon is in high demand among rival homeowners, who will do anything to win Best in Show. One-upmanship and even espionage break out among neighbors, construction crews, decorators, and landscapers. Thanks to several new hires, Shannon is sure she can handle the extra load—until murder throws a wrench in the works.

The small town's corrupt building inspector is found dead on one of Shannon's jobsites, and soon plenty of suspects are coming out of the woodwork. When another body is discovered, Shannon calls on her team of close friends and devilishly astute thriller writer Mac to help her nail down the details and build a case against the killer before the door shuts on someone else—for good.

And now to you, readers. What kind of relationship do you have with your neighbors? Has your relationship with them changed since you first moved in?

When a Book Becomes a Movie!

Jenn McKinlay

Jenn and Kate, drinking wine. Shocker.

The book to movie conundrum. I don't think there is an author alive who doesn't think about what will happen if their book becomes a movie, so I am thrilled to have Kate Carlisle, my long time friend, mentor, wine-drinking buddy, and partner in shenanigans, share her perspective of this very thing, since Kate's fabulous Fixer-Upper Mysteries were brought to the small screen by Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, in the first of what will be a series of movies starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson. Yay!

 
Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries. 

Learn more about her books at www.KateCarlisle.com.

Kate: On January 15, I had the honor of seeing characters who were born in my head come to life on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. It was quite a milestone in my career. And here's the best part: I loved the movie!

Jenn: I did, too! Jewel and Colin had real chemistry and as an amateur sleuth she was utterly charming.

Kate: The feedback from readers has been overwhelmingly positive. I have heard from a few who questioned why the producers made changes to the story. The way I look at it, Shannon now lives in two parallel universes—in the books, and in the movies. We can enjoy them both for what they are, even if they're not identical.

Jenn: Agreed. They are such different formats. Still, your sly sense of humor, snappy dialogue, and clever plotting was evident in the film just like your books. Such a treat for me and all of your readers to see your work in a new medium.

Kate: When I'm writing books, I don't have the same limitations that filmmakers have. I can write a car chase without worrying about how I can afford to total two cars. They also have only two hours, minus commercial breaks, in order to tell a satisfying story. That means they need to limit the number of characters, and get all emotions across as best they can through dialogue and the actors' expressions.

As a novelist, I have no limits other than my imagination, and that I stay true to the world I've created. In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, California, the best man for the job is a woman—Shannon Hammer, owner of Hammer Construction Company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Shannon discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too! Book 1 is A HIGH-END FINISH.

Jenn: I loved this book! The whole series is just wonderful. BTW, Mac is my fictional boyfriend! 

FIVE THINGS THAT SURPRISED ME ABOUT TURNING MY BOOK INTO A HALLMARK MOVIE

1. The initial offer. I wasn't shopping my books around to producers. I had no idea this was in the works until my agent called to tell me that Hallmark was interested in my series. Can you imagine how I danced around the house as soon as that phone call ended?

2. The casting. Right from the first call, I was told they were looking for a project for singer/songwriter/actress Jewel, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. She is the perfect blend of feminine, smart, and tough to capture Shannon's character. And Colin Ferguson, her male lead, is handsome, intelligent, and has great comic timing. Here I am with him (and a copy of THIS OLD HOMICIDE) at the red carpet gala in Hollywood the night before the first movie aired.

3. Seeing my name in the opening credits. "Based on the Fixer-Upper Mysteries by Kate Carlisle." Pinch me!

4. The explosion. In the first scene of the movie, a boat explodes. That wasn't in the book, but wow, did it make a great impact on screen. It kicked off the mystery with a bang. Literally.

5. The secrecy. I wasn't allowed to publicize the movie until given the go-ahead. Hallmark Movies & Mysteries issued a press release, but I couldn't say a word. Filming started. Jewel and Colin Ferguson both posted videos and pictures from the set on their Instagram account, while I remained silent. For months, readers would email me or post questions on my Facebook page about the Hallmark movie because they'd read about it online, and I simply… couldn't answer.

But now I can shout it to the world—and the good news hasn't stopped coming. That was just the first Fixer-Upper Mystery movie! Filming on the second will happen in February. I'm planning to visit the set this time, and I'll be sure to share pictures in my newsletter. Sign up at www.KateCarlisle.com. While you're there, check out the free goodies available to members of my mailing list in the Secret Room.

Jenn: I can not wait to see pictures from the set! Very exciting!

So, Reds, what is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation? Any questions for Kate?

What's it like when your book becomes a movie? Um, strange #DeborahDonnelly

LUCY BURDETTE: Deborah Donnelly was one of my first writing pals--and I miss her and her quirky wedding planner mysteries. So I was delighted to hear that her first-ever book has been made into a movie--and I begged her to tell us about it...


DEBORAH DONNELLY: Veiled Threats, the first title in my Wedding Planner Mysteries, is going to air on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on October 19. I’m thrilled - no surprise there. The surprise, at least to me, is what a long strange trip it was from page to screen.


Back in 2005, a cousin of mine gave Veiled Threats to a buddy of his, an independent film producer. I say that as though I know what "independent film producer" means. I don't, not exactly. But I was delighted overjoyed ecstatic to get that first phone call from the producer, and waited eagerly for the option to be negotiated and the check to arrive. 

I waited until 2007.

But was I ever happy to get that check! And happy every year thereafter, as the option was renewed again and yet again and yet again. There were nibbles from a studio here and there, there was a tug on the line every once in a while, but mostly the years just went by. Then at last came a plot twist: Hallmark was interested. Interested enough to make a movie? Well no, not yet. But willing to talk about it.

That was in 2012. Are you doing the math here?


From time to time over the next eternity, I'd get a bulletin from my agent. The talks with Hallmark were "continuing." Then they were "promising." At one heady moment the talks were even "advanced." Mostly, the talks were slowwwwww.

Then suddenly the talking stopped and, oh joy oh rapture, a screenwriter was hired. Was I consulted about the script? Do I look like J.K. Rowling? I went back to waiting.
 

 
Finally, early in 2014, filming began with Vancouver B.C. standing in for Seattle. I was not invited. But I was paid. Not quit-your-job money, but not nothing. Plus I had the exquisite experience of going online and seeing my very own character, wedding planner Carnegie Kincaid, heading up a cast list on IMDb.

Carnegie, who I invented out of my own head, right there on IMDb! And there was my smoldering attorney Holt, and my irrepressible reporter Aaron, and…

 
Whoa, wait just a darn minute. Aaron is supposed to be shorter than Carnegie, that’s part of the comedy in my romantic comedy/mystery. So how come the actor playing him (second from left) is four inches taller than Erica Durance, who’s playing her?

And what’s this guy Switchblade doing on the cast list? I never wrote a character named Switchblade. And where’s the fan favorite Boris the Mad Russian Florist? And don’t tell me they’re really going to call the movie “Wedding Planner Mystery.” I thought that was a placeholder, not the actual title!

Aha. Now the realities of TV movie-making were starting to sink in. They get to call it what they want. This is not a film OF my book, it’s a Hallmark movie based ON my book. So a photo shoot on the slopes of Mount Rainier was probably a no-go. Not to mention that underwater sequence beneath Carnegie’s houseboat. And of course they couldn't jam all the subplots into a single movie. As for my not-especially-graphic sex scenes, well, this is Hallmark, after all.

So. Let’s just say that having one’s 350-page book transformed into a lower-budget, two-hour, family-friendly movie is a lesson in patience, gratitude, and acceptance. I’ve been ever so patient. I’m exceedingly grateful. And on October 19 at 9 pm Eastern, 8 pm Central, I’m going to switch on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries and settle down with a bowl of popcorn, heavily seasoned with acceptance. I hope you’ll join me.

Deborah Donnelly is the author of Veiled Threats, Died to Match, May the Best May Die, Death Takes a Honeymoon, You May Now Kill the Bride, and Bride and Doom. Read sample chapters on her website and more about the movie here.

And PS from Deborah: Good news! The Hallmark movie's in the New York Times. Not such good news! They don't look upon it any too favorably. Now I'll admit, they have a point about the chirpy perkiness and the perky chirpiness. But better that than the criticism leveled at the other movie mentioned. "Humorless gore"? Bleahh. Anyway, all publicity is good publicity, right? 

Breaking news: Kathy Reel is the lucky winner of FAIL by Rick Skwiot! Shoot me an email lucyburdette at gmail dot com and we'll arrange the drop!