Tax Season Is Terrific for Murder

Please welcome my Wednesday guest, D. R. Ransdell, author of Mariachi Murder and the upcoming Island Casualty. A native of Illinois who opted for warmer winters in Arizona, she bases many of her novels on her own experiences and travels. For example, she actually played violin in a mariachi band. Read about her adventures at http://www.dr-ransdell.com/  I guess we’ll have to wait a while for the novel inspired by tax season, but her thoughts on it will give you a chuckle…and maybe some ideas.

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To write murder mysteries, you need victims. On an everyday basis, sometimes I find these in the form of ex-boyfriends. Sometimes I borrow bad bosses from my friends. But in the tax season, I don’t need any help. I can find plenty of murder victims all by myself.

This year was a case in point. My taxes got me so flummoxed that I was ready to kill Turbo Tax and anybody else in sight. I was especially ready to kill the creator of the K-1 Corporation. The paperwork required to successfully create a K-1 is denser than a dissertation. There couldn’t be any easier way?

While I was working on my taxes, I started procrastinating. I started thinking of all the different ways I could use my tax woes inside my novels. I could easily kill off an evil supervisor who didn’t send a tax form in time, an accountant who purposefully made mistakes, a banker who “mislaid” papers, and a postal worker who accidentally on purpose lost returns on the way back to the mail truck. And that’s just for starters!

Some mystery writers use reprehensible serial killers and other miscreants, but in my own mysteries, I find more horror in the ordinary, everyday detail. Almost everybody has to pay taxes, so murdering off a tax consultant is something that many readers can relate to. Those of us who are normally mild mannered entertain wild fantasies of robbing banks to pay unexpected tax fees. We imagine spying on procrastinators as they race to the post office on the evening of April 15^th. We can imagine auditors who come to our houses never to be seen again.

In short, the tax season is useful. While I find it painful to figure out and pay taxes, it’s always best to look on the bright side of things. As a writer, I can turn routine problems into material for writing. Thus instead of complaining bitterly about doing my taxes, I’ll plot my next story about someone too cheap to pay to have taxes done or somehow who goes crazy when the electronic tax program says “error, please check line 24” for the nine-hundredth time.

Some of my fans ask how I come up with so many ideas for my murder mysteries. The truth is that I have plenty of ideas. The only problem is that during tax season, I don’t have any time for writing!

Please read about MARIACHI MURDER and the upcoming ISLAND CASUALTY at http://www.dr-ransdell.com/

 

 

 

The writing life

A previous title given new life

One of my projects these days

 

Got my income tax "stuff" back from my accountant today. I don't wish to discuss how much I have to pay--it's too much to me, though I'm glad to pay my fair share. But what sent me over the moon was that I made a profit on my writing this year. Don't laugh--lots of writers file a Form C or whatever showing a deficit for years and years. Mine was probably less than a tenth of my total income if that much--not enough to live on, but proof to me that I'm headed in the right direction, and I'm doing a happy dance tonight. It's strange though to think I'm starting a burgeoning career in my seventies, and every once in a while I have a fleeting thought about how long I can keep this up. "At my back I always hear times winged chariot hurrying near." Well, not quite--for my age, I'm think I'm healthy and lively, though I know there are things I used to do that I can't do now.
At any rate, earning that non-living wage keeps me busy with deadlines (some self-imposed) all the time. I laugh looking back at the days, probably forty years ago, when I'd say to myself, "I'd write if I knew what to write about." No problem these days, as ideas and plots are popping in my brain all the time. What I need to do is learn to write them down before they escape.
I'm working on a novel I intend to self publish--ebook and print--and I sent it to a proofreader who said she loved it and hoped I'd turn it into a series. Do you think she says that to everyone? At any rate, I immediately knew who the victim was in the next book--but I have at least one, maybe two books to write before that one.
But I am also determined not to let this born-again career swallow me. Yes, I work at home most nights; yes, I try to keep my mornings clear so I can work. But I want to continue to schedule lunch and dinner dates, to get out in the world. A dear friend has just moved back to Fort Worth, and she has great plans for us to walk daily and to go to art exhibits. I'm going to do those things. Tonight I had a delightful supper with another old friend--and I look forward to many more dinners with friends.
I know of authors who first thing every morning check their sales. First of all, because most of my books are with publishers, I don't have instant access to that information. But even if I did, I don't think I'd look. Nor do I want to be bothered with every new promotional activity that comes down the pike. I do what I can, what makes sense for me to me, and then I let it go.
And one more thing: I want to read more than I have been. While waiting for my car at the car wash, I started a new cozy mystery today--Tracy Weber's Murder Strikes a Pose (A Downward Dog Mystery) and I want to finish it. And I'm having company Sunday night--I want to cook.
In other words, I love this new post-retirement career, but I also want to live a full life and not become a writing recluse. Hmmm....they're some friends I haven't had lunch with in a while. Think I'll send them an email.