Author R&R with Margaret Mizushima

Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Active within the writing community, Margaret serves on the board for the Rocky Mountain chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected the 2019-2020 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a host of animals.

Her Timber Creek K-9 mystery series features Deputy Mattie Cobb, her K-9 partner, Robo, and veterinarian, Cole Walker. Her fifth novel in the series, Tracking Game, has two brutal murders, a menacing band of poachers, and a fearsome creature on the loose in the mountains plunging Mattie Cobb and Robo into a sinister vortex. Kirkus Reviews called it "Part family drama, part animal-infused mystery, part ongoing exploration of the troubled heroine’s psyche."

 

Margaret stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the series:

 

Researching the K-9 Mystery

Many folks think that hands-on, in-person learning is the best way to assimilate knowledge. I happen to agree when it comes to digging up information about how working dogs and their handlers interact and partner. After deciding to write a novel featuring a K-9 patrol team, I was fortunate to discover several terrific consultants who were willing to let me shadow them. But there are many ways to gain information about K-9 work, and here is a list of a few that I’ve found particularly helpful.

Consultants. I’ve connected with several K-9 officers and narcotics detection dog handlers, both on active duty and retired, who’ve not only let me shadow them while they trained their dogs but who’ve also been eager to share stories about their dogs’ prowess. One K-9 trainer invited me to observe a group of officers who were training together and afterward we sat around a picnic table and they answered all my questions about rookie K-9 handlers, which was what my protagonist, Deputy Mattie Cobb, was up against when she was paired with her new partner, Robo, in Killing Trail, the first episode in my Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Consultants are also eager to answer questions when I get stuck in a gray area and am asking, “Can a dog do this?” Most of the time, the answer is yes, and the real life handlers can tell me exactly how the dog can do it.

Hands-on Experience. Some counties have teams that train for search and rescue together. Long before I had the idea to write my series, my husband and I took two of our dogs through search and rescue training with our county group. I learned about nose work, training dogs to scent humans, scent tracking on the ground, and trailing by air-scent. It was an invaluable experience that created a foundation on which to build Robo’s abilities. And the group provided an excellent opportunity to observe a wide variety of doggie behavior and skills.

K-9 Trials. K-9 handlers get together to compete with each other in K-9 trails, drawing officers from around a region to demonstrate their dogs’ skills. They typically compete in categories such as obedience, agility, tracking and apprehension, narcotics or explosives detection, and others. It’s a great way to observe many different breeds, their energy levels, and their responsiveness to their handlers.

Reference Books. I also use several reference books written by experts in training patrol dogs and search and rescue dogs. One of my consultants had written a patrol and protection dog training book that I’m fortunate to be able to use as my handbook, because it’s not widely distributed. I also found a book on narcotics detection training that gave me definitions for many unfamiliar terms and the basics in training and handling narcotics detection dogs. These reference books are particularly useful for terminology.

Observing dogs that share my life is another huge benefit when it comes to writing K-9 stories. After decades of dog observation, it’s handy to be able to put to use those behavioral details that I’ve catalogued in my mind. Nothing beats living with a dog, in more ways than one!

 

To learn more about Margaret Mizushima and her books, head on over to her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Tracking Game and the other books in the Timber Creek K-9 series are available via all major booksellers.

Comments

[Geneva]

I have read several of Margaret Mizushima K-9 mysteries, really enjoy them.

[BV Lawson]

I'm so glad to hear that, Geneva, and wasn't her guest blog post fun? By the way, you'll be happy to hear that the next book in Margaet's series, Hanging Falls: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, is due out Sep 8, 2020.