Lynn Slaughter Novelist
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Creative Writing Instructor

What a pleasure to host GG Calpo on my blog as she celebrates the release of HOOK, LINE, AND MURDER. As a longtime teacher, I love that GG features retired educators in her novel and has such thoughtful things to say about writing cozy mysteries.

First off, congratulations on the release of HOOK, LINE, AND MURDER. Can you share with our readers a bit about the novel and what inspired it?

HOOK, LINE, AND MURDER is about retired grade school teachers chasing down the killer of a former student. And the story was inspired by my sister, who had retired from teaching. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and wasn’t doing well. It was difficult to accept that I would lose my sister soon. I had just then finished the first draft of book 1 of a young adult urban fantasy trilogy then and wanted a writing project that would put my imagination on a different path. When I decided to try my hand at writing cozy mysteries, it felt right to cast my amateur sleuths as retired teachers, to honor my sister and her life.

Your investigators are all retired teachers. In addition to honoring your sister, what led you to make that choice?

I wanted amateur sleuths who are tried and tested. Ones who have been through tough times and good times, and gone through it all with a smile and a hug. And the only people I knew who had all that were my mother and my sister. They never stopped smiling and handing out love, no matter what challenges life threw them. And both of them were teachers.

A related question: How did you decide what POV (singular or plural) from which to tell your story?         

I started writing the story in third person, actually. But when I read it back to myself, it felt distant. And if I, the author, were feeling distant, I was worried how more distant it would feel to the reader. It wasn’t what I was aiming for. I wanted the reader to feel what Meg Brightbook was feeling, and get inside her head and skin. Rewriting it in first person POV was the best revision I did for the story. 

Meg has a corgi, Cannoli, who appears in your novel. Did your own corgis at home give you ideas for how Cannoli might get involved in your story?

Oh yes! When I write about Cannoli, I always think of how our corgis would behave if they were in the situation Cannoli is. Corgis are very protective and very lazy at the same time. Our corgis can splay themselves on the floor all day long, like a rug, but the minute they sense someone at the door, they’re up on four feet and barking. They’re also very intelligent but very stubborn. You cannot get a corgi to do anything they don’t want to do.

Did your former career as a retired CPA and lawyer provide you with any ideas for your novels?

As a financial and legal adviser, I got to know what moves people, their priorities and desires. And I think this helps me write relatable characters facing choices that matter, with consequences that follow.  

What led you to decide to write fiction?

I’ve always had stories running through my head, even from an early age. The more fantastical the story, the better it was. I loved reading science fiction and fantasy. I was amazed at writers who built whole worlds, civilizations, in their minds. But I didn’t put pen to paper until 2018. I was nearing retirement, and I had the time to indulge.

How did you go about developing the skills to write novels?

Back in 2018, I took online writing classes with UCLA Extension. I was still working then, so I couldn’t take more than one class at a time. In 2019, I started attending writing conferences. My first one was with NC Writers’ Network at Wrightsville Beach, NC. I found the experience very encouraging. The writers I met were very supportive of aspiring writers. But I decided I needed more exposure to the genre I was writing (cozy mystery) so I attended Malice Domestic, which was a lot of fun. Bought a lot of craft books. Read a lot of craft books. But with all these educational efforts, I don’t consider myself done growing and developing as a writer. It’s very much an ongoing process and I’m always looking for classes, webinars, conferences and retreats that would help me grow.

These are frightening times for immigrants in our country. As a Filipino American immigrant, do you anticipate threading immigrant experiences into your fiction?

I am plotting out Book 3 and, depending on how the book evolves, it might be possible to weave in the immigrant crisis. But the focus, necessarily, would be on individuals and the community. In the meantime, Book 2 of The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery portrays Filipino culture as practiced by immigrants and subsequent generations living in Long Island. And I hope readers will appreciate and enjoy reading about it.

What’s next for you writing-wise?

Thanks for asking this! I started a series of short cozy mystery stories about Luzviminda Abad, a retired Filipino-American detective who refuses to let her age—and the fact that she’s retired—stop her from catching criminals. Readers can download the first of the series by visiting me at www/ggcalpo.com. Subscribe to my mailing list to get a new Luzviminda Abad short story every two months. And Book 2 of The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery Series is with my editor, Melanie Billings of The Wild Rose Press. Fingers crossed, I’m hoping to have it out by the end of 2026. And I hope to put pen to paper with Book 3 soon.

Anything else you’d like to add, or wish I’d asked that I didn’t?

For me, cozy mysteries are all about characters and how they grow. And because of this, each book of The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery Series focuses on the emotional arc of one of the retired teachers, while moving forward in solving the central question of “Who killed Meg Brightbook’s husband and son?” Meg’s character evolves through the series while a friend grows and develops alongside her in each installment, and that layered progression keeps the series fresh.

About HOOK, LINE, AND MURDER

A deadly catch and small-town mysteries—Meg has a mystery to solve.

In the small town of Whitman’s Port, retired kindergarten teacher Meg is knitting her life together—until murder unravels her stitches.

When a former student is found dead, Meg refuses to trust the investigation to the same detective whose past mistakes have left her with unanswered questions about her own family’s tragedy. With her close circle of retired-teacher friends, Meg turns their cozy lunches at Sweet Buns Café into sleuthing sessions. Between lattes and fresh scones, the friends get themselves into… and out of… trouble, uncovering secrets better left buried.

But as the friends dig deeper, someone goes after Meg. Is it the killer? And can Meg and her friends reel in the murderer before Meg becomes the next deadly catch?

Hook, Line, and Murder is a lighthearted cozy mystery filled with humor and steeped in friendship, with golden-age sleuths who refuse to take no for an answer.

BIO

GG Calpo is a retired lawyer and accountant who traded contracts and numbers for the far more enjoyable chaos of fictional crime. Now she writes cozy whodunits featuring warm-hearted golden-aged sleuths who’ve seen it all, heard it all and will investigate a murder with zero hesitation. She loves stories where the stakes are personal, family and friendships are paramount, with characters who refuse to follow the outline and endings that pull the rug out. When not plotting twisty crimes—on paper only, of course—she spends her time reading, crocheting blankets and sweaters for her five grandchildren, watching mystery TV shows and taking long walks in her neighborhood. She lives in Central New Jersey with her husband and two corgis, Whiskey and Nugget. Visit her at www.ggcalpo.com.

Social Media Tags

https://facebook.com/gg.calpo

https://instagram.com/gg.calpo

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/194657776-gisella

Buy links for book

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2YT1P7B

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hook-line-and-murder-gg-calpo/1148773282?ean=2940184995168

https://books.apple.com/us/book/hook-line-and-murder/id6755481320