The author talks about her romantic whodunit
Another Stab at Life (Spyglass Lane Mysteries), the first volume in her Volstead Manor series: Bailey Walker’s in over her head—she’s inherited a mansion with enough mysteries to trip up Sherlock Holmes and enough gothic nightmares to scare off Dracula…
Q: The Spyglass Lane Mysteries all have elements of romance, faith, and
suspense—which of those facets was hardest for you to write? Which was the
easiest?
Perhaps
writing the suspense aspect is the hardest, because I had to constantly come up
with situations that either put my heroine in peril or at least made her
squirm. The dangers had to be believable, move the plot along, and fit within the
story as a whole. I never know if I’ve succeeded until the novel is in the
hands of the reader. They get the last word if I’ve pulled it off. The easiest
part is adding the faith element. I just let it develop organically within the
story.
Q: As a whodunit writer who is a Christian, in what ways did your faith
impact how you write a murder mystery?
Well,
in times of trouble, my heroine, Bailey, cries out to God for help. She doesn’t
reply on her own grit and gumption to get through the day, or in her own
abilities to figure out the mystery. Since I’m a Christian, and since that’s
how I handle the snags and sufferings in my own life, it’s only natural that my
heroine would have faith or discover it through the course of the story.
Q: Tell us about your amateur sleuth.
My
sleuth, Bailey Walker, is independent and funny. She also has trust issues,
because of the tragedy and betrayal in her past. But she is able to rise above
these trials with forgiveness and love. I hope I’ve given my heroine all the
qualities that will make the reader care about her and root for her all the way
to the end of the story.
Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made
up?
My
characters are bits and pieces of all the people I’ve known and met over the
years, with a sprinkling of imagination thrown in too.
Q: Who are the authors that inspire you as an author?
Tosca
Lee, B.J. Hoff, Jane Austen, and Ann Radcliffe