Luisa Buehler

That old saying , the hits keep coming , could apply to Illinois author Luisa Buehler.

Every year since 2003, Luisa has found new scrapes and mysteries for her protagonist Grace Marsden to be embroiled in. Not that developing all those situations was easy, Luisa admits.

“In the early novels I would take a vacation day and go back to my old college and write longhand (no computer in my life) for eight hours,” she explains. “I could only take off every few weeks and it took me hours to re-read what I'd written to get back in the story.

Luisa, who received her bachelor's degree in English from Rosary College (now Dominican University ) in River Forest , Ill. , says she found the school's Gothic-style architecture the perfect background for a murder mystery. Between her son's birth and her somewhat unwieldy writing process, it took Luisa five years to write her first book, THE ROSARY BRIDE: A CLOISTERED DEATH, 2003, Echelon Press, LLC, www.echelonpress.com . Her fifth book, THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER, which continues Grace's latest adventure, comes out from Echelon Press in September. Learn more about Luisa's books at http://www.luisabuehler.com/ .

Despite the time it took to get her first book done and published, Luisa found herself eager to write more. Having cut her fiction teeth on Nancy Drew books, Luisa was determined – and optimistic - about following in her mentor's footsteps.

“I write because I 'can't not' write,” she states. “I was a 'what if' kind of kid, never caring how or why something worked or happened but rather, what if it happened like this or worked like that?

“Reading Nancy Drew as an impressionable 10 year old made me aspire to being a girl detective when I grew up. I'd walk around picking up scraps of paper and bits of things, and keep them in my dad's cigar box. Every couple of weeks I'd write a short story (three paragraphs tops) about the items. My protagonist was a lot like Nancy Drew except she was Italian (my heritage) as were all her 'chums'. My strict Italian father thought being a secretary was a better career choice.”

Years later, just like Nancy Drew, Luisa found a solution to her dilemma about finding the time and place to write. Early each morning a pajama-clad Luisa can be found at an old hutch desk on the second-floor landing. “It's the only place that no one invades,” she says and laughs.

From 5 a.m., Luisa pounds out what she can on the computer until it's time to go to work as a job-finder through her business, The Hire Solution Employment Corporation. “It's always more than a 40-hour week, but I love the thrill of hearing, ‘she's hired,'” Luisa says.

On weekends, Luisa starts writing at 6 a.m. Luckily, she says her patient husband, Gerry, and equally patient son, Christopher, are proud of her success and don't begrudge what she considers her lack of white glove housekeeping.

“A few mornings a week I do a ‘Swiffer Segment', 15 minutes of housecleaning,” she explains. “I set an egg timer because God forbid I should get involved and clean longer than agreed on. With whom is this agreement? With me. I've worked out a schedule that allows me to assuage the guilt of not cooking most meals and not cleaning on a regular basis.”

If asked, Luisa admits that she did have a valid reason to ditch the housecleaning – even before the first book sold: “Being an optimist I figured when I sold the first book the publisher might want a series. I knew I had stories to tell and justified the time, energy and lack of housekeeping with that logic.”

Who says that being an author doesn't serve more than one purpose?

*Luisa's Books:

The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death, Echelon Press LLC, 2003

Grace Marsden investigates a dead woman's tragedy after discovering a skeleton in a tattered wedding gown hidden behind a college library wall.

The Lion Tamer: A Caged Death, Echelon Press LLC, 2004

Grace Marsden receives a dead woman's letter and discovers a dead man in her yard. Now Grace wonders if an old mystery about a phantom lion and human bones fund at the zoo, is legend, fact or fantasy. And is she next?

The Station Master: A Scheduled Death, Echelon Press LLC, 2005

The thrill of an auction is spoiled when the last antique trunk gives up its secret. Now Grace must find a determined murderer and who knows the ugly secret that will tear the town apart.

The Scout Master: A Prepared Death, Echelon Press LLC, 2006

Young scouts cleaning up a local forest preserve as a community project uncover a mystery involving stolen WWII munitions and a murdered FBI agent. When investigators discover a Wiccan coven and satanic cult using the woods for good and evil. Can the scout law keep anyone safe?

The Lighthouse Keeper: A Beckoning Death, Echelon Press LLC, coming in Sept. 2007

With her marriage in trouble and demons on her doorstep, Grace accepts an invitation to visit a childhood friend in Canada . Georgian Bay in off-season is the perfect place for soul searching and solitude until Grace and nine others are trapped on the island by a freak snowstorm. Grace's hopes for a quiet vacation are buried with the discovery of a local elder's murder.

Favorite Quote:

"It might be insane to live in a dream, but it's madness to live without one." – Grace's favorite mantra from THE STATION MASTER: A SCHEDULED DEATH, Echelon Press LLC.

Favorite Writing or Other Moment

“I rule with laundry! I love to wash, dry and fold--no ironing. It's such a no-brainer; I can think about plots and dialogue.”

Famous Last Words

“When people ask about writing advice, I like to tongue-in-cheek paraphrase Elmore Leonard who advised leaving out the parts people won't read anyhow. Truly, the best advice I ever received was simply to never stop trying.”