An Interview with Kris Courtney, Author of Florida Retirement is Murder

My work includes original oil paintings that have been shown abroad and won multiple awards and recognition in artistic genre applications of watercolor, acrylic, and multimedia. After a successful early career in Engineering & Robotics, I found through the ashes of a divorce the inspiration and purpose to begin writing and painting. Since then, I have been honored to have studio and gallery locations across the US in Ohio, New Mexico, Kentucky, Georgia, and Florida.

I have penned an award-winning international screenplay (Norma’s Sun) and other various publications that include a personal memoir as well as a collection of self-published children’s books. This new publication is a rebirth of creativity from a series of setbacks that left me with deep depression and writer’s block.

Florida Retirement Is Murder became a fictional conclusion experience from my recent years in Florida. After being dislocated to Central Florida from the devastation of Hurricane Michael in 2018, I found myself surrounded by a vast sea of Snowbird Retirement Community locations and the eclectic characters that populated the region. If you have ever been surrounded by a group of adolescent elders, you will understand the comedic thread that runs through this satire murder mystery. Needless to say, there is an ocean of content to draw from and I think we may need to learn more about what happens next…

Snowbirds do more than just flock.

“Stewart Johnson had worked hard his entire life to reach retirement. However, his Golden Years would prove to be more of a challenge than he anticipated after his wife passed away. Seeking to find peace of mind and warmth in Florida, Stewart became surrounded by a tribe of Snowbird residents who took him on a journey of laughter and sleuthing inside a gossip-riddled community filled with the humorous dysfunction of overgrown children.”

The setting is in Central Florida and the dramatic genre of Fictional Satire Mystery Novel appeals to both young and old. With the more-alike-than-different family ancestry, we all share some of the very same quirks and ability to laugh at ourselves. It is that level of vulnerable exposure inside the minds of senior citizens that we can all relate to with humor. This book will cause the listener to laugh out loud and relate to their own memories or current life history, not to mention an entertaining book club experience. This colorful story will fit perfectly on every shelf and screen.

Oh, Wake Up, Earl!

You can buy Florida Retirement is Murder here.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I am humbled that the God-given talents that I have been allowed to carry in my soul are also able to be a part of another person’s enjoyment or basis for thought. I have always said when it comes to my artistry, I create for your enjoyment, not to collect dust in my closet.

“Never in our silent moments of illusion do we sense the dark parallel that lives beside us. Nor do we suspect the carrier.” – Norma Jean’s Sun

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

As a gentleman born with multiple disabilities, my earliest memories are centered on artistic expression in hopes of escaping reality. Although the majority of my early creativity was painting, I wrote the first page of my personal memoir, Norma Jean’s Sun, at the age of twelve.

After twenty years of an engineering profession in robotics, my true core was forced by circumstances back to creativity and artistry.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

If you have ever been surrounded by a group of adolescent elders, you will understand the comedic thread that runs through this satire murder mystery. Needless to say, there is an ocean of content to draw from and I think we may need to learn more about what happens next…

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

As an artist, creating this cover was very similar to a canvas on my easel.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

Do not take yourself too damn seriously; we all need a good laugh at ourselves! Though you may not ever end up living in Florida or a gated community, we all get old…

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

The first 5-star review (of which there have been many now) on the audiobook. The narrator, Mari Oyaizu Carson, was brilliant and deserves much recognition! This was her debut recording! (It will not be her last :))

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

Florida Retirement Is Murder will continue to discover new experiences in the future and, as a result of being a full-time Florida Resident now, it is my intention to open perhaps my final art studio & gallery soon…

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.