An Interview with Casey Daniels

An Interview with Casey Daniels

 

Today I’m interviewing a fellow member of the Cleveland Sisters in Crime. Even before we started this chapter, I have enjoyed her Pepper Martin mystery series.

G.A      Pepper Martin is a favorite character to mine. When did you start writing the series and

            how did you come up with the character?

C.D.     The first Pepper Martin book, Don of the Dead was published in 2006 so it’s been a few

years since Pepper first came on the scene in the Pepper Martin mysteries. As for how I started writing the series . . . well, to put it simply, I love cemeteries. I hang out in cemeteries. I take photos, stroll, look at names and dates and relationships on tombstones and imagine backgrounds and histories for the people buried there. In fact, I once interviewed for a job as a part-time tour guide at a historic Cleveland cemetery. At the time, I was thinking of writing a mystery (I got my start in publishing in romance), but I couldn’t think of an interesting protagonist. As I was leaving the interview, it hit me – a cemetery tour guide! That’s how Pepper was born.

P.S. I didn’t get the tour guide job, but as it turns out, that was just fine! It gave me more time to write about Pepper’s adventures.

G.A.     Most of the Pepper Martin books take place in Cleveland. Since I don’t live too far away,

I enjoy reading about places that I’m both somewhat familiar with and some I’m not. You’re obviously quite knowledgeable about Cleveland. Is that why you chose this as Pepper’s home?

C.D.     There’s an old writing adage that says “Write what you know,” and I have to confess, I’ve never followed it. If we all wrote only what we know, we’d never write historicals or sci fi or heck, even mysteries since most of us have never been close to an investigation. But since Pepper’s books were to be my first mysteries, I did decide to stick close to what I know, and I know Cleveland. I’ve lived here all my life. Handling the landscape and the history just seemed to make sense in a city I’m familiar with. As it turns out, the Cleveland setting appeals to a whole lot of people all around the world so I’m glad I chose it! 

G.A.     The setting of a cemetery for this series is a little unusual and intriguing. You’ve told us about how you like cemeteries. Is it based on a real cemetery?

C.D.     Yes, Garden View Cemetery in the books is based on a real cemetery, but I’ve taken many fictional liberties. There are lots of interesting historic cemeteries in Cleveland so I’ve used a little of this one, a little of that one to create Garden View.

G.A.     You’ve occasionally moved Pepper to other locations. Why?

C.D.     Just to keep myself sharp and because a couple of stories seemed more “there” than “here.” In Night of the Loving Dead (book #4), Pepper visits Chicago. And in Wild, Wild Death (book #8) I send her to New Mexico. This was sort of cathartic. I have a friend who lives in New Mexico, a friend who had begged me to come visit for years. I finally gave in and did it . . . and guess what? It wasn’t until I was there that she told me she lived off the grid – no electricity and no running water! Was I happy in New Mexico? Absolutely not! But hey, it’s all fodder for fiction. I knew no one would hate New Mexico more than I did except Pepper so I decided to send her there. And yes, Pepper hated New Mexico!

G.A.     This is a question for Pepper. Pepper, are you getting tired of interacting with ghosts or would you miss them if you suddenly lost your ability to communicate with them? Would you like to get married to Quinn, raise children and live a more normal life?

P.M.    Pepper here. I did lose my ability to talk to the dead. That was in New Mexico in the adventure called Wild, Wild Death. At first, I was thrilled. But big surprise, after a little while, I realized my life was pretty quiet without the dead bugging me. Eventually, I had to make a choice, live a normal life or get my Gift back. I’ll let you guess what I chose!

            As for marrying Quinn . . . he hasn’t exactly asked me yet, and even if he did and even if I say (I’m saying “even if” just in case he reads this, I don’t want him to get a swelled head), I don’t think we could ever be a regular couple. After all, he’s a hard-charging homicide detective and he’s been dead himself, remember. He was ambushed by a bad guy and died for a few minutes in A Hard Day’s Fright.” He visited me when he was a ghost. With that in his background and my Gift in mine, I think our lives will always be a little . . . er . . . interesting.

G.A.     Casey, you’ve written other series. Tell us about the latest two series and what name you use for them.

C.D.     Right now, I’m doing three other series, all under the Kylie Logan name:

            One is the Button Box mysteries series, and it’s about a woman who owns an antique and vintage button shop. Book #3 in that series, Panic Button came out on New Year’s Eve.

            Kylie also has two other series premiering this year. The first League of Literary Ladies books, (Mayhem at the Orient Express), comes out on June 4. It’s about a group of bickering neighbors, their court-ordered book discussion group and the classic books they read that help them solve very real murders.

            The Chili Chick mysteries debut in October. The first one is Chili Con Carnage. It’s about two half-sisters who are running their father’s chili spice stand at chili cook-off’s because Dad is missing. Trouble is, Maxie and Sylvia hate each other. Add to that, Maxie’s romantic problems (she has a way of picking losers) and the fact that her latest boyfriend gets murdered and you can see how things get complicated.

G.A.     How do you keep your series separate in your mind? Do you ever mess up sometimes in keeping them straight? And how do you keep your multiple personalities separate when you write under so many different names?

C.D.     I work on only one book at a time. So right now, I’m working on Button Box mystery #4,

            The Button of Doom. When I’m done, I’ll work on League of Literary Ladies book #2. So I concentrate on only one book at a time, and that helps me keep things straight. These are both Kylie books so I don’t have to worry about Casey sticking her nose in and messing things up!

G.A.     Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?

C.D.     I do believe in spirits, ghosts and spirit energy. I’ve seen too much proof not to believe.

G.A.     Writing must take up most of the hours of your day. What do you do for relaxation and fun?

C.D.     Most of the time, I just collapse, but when I do have some energy, I weave and knit. I’m also a beekeeper, so in the summer and fall, that keeps me plenty busy. This year, we harvested 8 gallons of honey!

G.A.     Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.

C.D.     I’m the world’s worst spinner. I never bake. I volunteer at the county Archives, and I love doing research.

Thank you for visiting, Casey. If anyone who enjoys Pepper Martin hasn’t yet read the latest book – Supernatural Born Killers – get it. You’ll find it delightful.