Let’s Talk About Writing: Using Life as Inspiration by Julie Hastrup

I’m delighted to share this post on writing by Julie Hastrup. Her short story in Larceny & Last Chances, ‘Skeeter’s Bar & Grill,’ was shortlisted for Best Short Story in the 2024 Derringer Awards. Her latest story, ‘Dinner at Angelo’s’ is included in the upcoming Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers. Take it away, Julie:

I’m frequently asked where my stories come from, that is, what inspires me. Like most authors, my answer is always: Life.

As a crime writer, I need to add a caveat that I’m not a serial killer, nor do I know any. I’ve never poisoned anyone, tempting as it may be. And I’m not from a crime family. There’s no Mafia blood running through my veins.

I’m really a rather boring woman getting up there in years. The older I get, the more invisible to strangers I become. This is ideal since I prefer to observe the world around me. So while I live a law-abiding life, I can happily imagine what would push the people at the next table over or in line at the grocery store over the edge. They have no idea how many people they’ve murdered.

My latest story to be published, ‘Dinner at Angelo’s,’ takes place in a family-run restaurant where all the town’s official and unofficial power players eat. Everyone knows each other and turns a blind eye to the crimes happening around them. After all, the “family” keeps the town safe from outsiders. I grew up in a village run much the same way. There was a powerful family that called the shots, and no one dared go against them. The old saying of “go along to get along” was the community’s secret motto. And so it is at Angelo’s. As with real life, my fictional setting gets upended by change. My central characters react, often not in their best interests. One small tweak to the way things have run for years cascades until, well, you’ll have to read the story to find out.

Here are the first four paragraphs:

Charlie’s Buick crunched into Angelo’s gravel parking lot. The single bulb dangling over the entrance cast a narrow cone of light through the fog that had swallowed the night. The place was packed, as usual, and he found a slot in the last aisle, seven rows from the door. 

Angelo’s had no marquee. Word of mouth—that’s how the restaurant filled every table every night. It wasn’t the kind of joint Charlie and his friends typically went on a night out. Too expensive. If he hadn’t been coming here since he was a kid, tagging along with his father, he wouldn’t have known the place existed. 

Charlie slammed the car door shut and snaked through the sedans, trucks, and station wagons filling the lot. He passed Mean Mickey’s Chevy and Uncle Joey’s Caddy. Without looking, he knew his father’s cousins, Old Tommy and Pauley Short Arms, were there as well. 

The restaurant’s red-curtained windows protected its patrons from curious glances. Charlie didn’t care about them. He only had eyes for Ellie, leaning against the closed door where he knew she’d be. The tip of her cigarette glowed as it moved from her mouth. He’d watched her every Tuesday when she took her eight o’clock break outside under the blue awning. And this Tuesday, it was Charlie’s turn to approach her.

Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers is currently on pre-order at the promotional price of just $2.99 (reg. $5.99 USD/$6.99CAD). Find it at www.books2read.com/midnight-schemers. 

Julie Hastrup grew up in the Appalachian region of Ohio, but her home now alternates between a small fishing village in Denmark and a trawler putzing around the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to her Derringer finalist story in the anthology, Larceny and Last Chances, Julie’s work has been published by Shotgun Honey and Mystery Magazine. Professional memberships include Sisters in Crime, ITW, Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Mystery Writers of America. Find out more about Julie at www.hastrup.com.