JL Simpson Interview

Solomon kept moving and grinned again as he heard her grumbling under

her breath. She had a unique way with words. Once he’d established she sucked

at being a detective, perhaps he would suggest she pursue a career as a writer.

Apparently her new term of endearment for him was “half-brained, shit-headed,

arse-wipe of a moron.” When he had more time he would have to come up

with a similarly affectionate description for her.

JL Simpson

                                                                                                                                                     Lost Cause (Page 10)

JL Simpson’s Lost Cause was an unexpected pleasure. JL’s main character, Daisy Dunlop, a curvy strawberry blonde, reminds me of a British Lucy Ricardo, mother of one son, teenage Sherman, and wife to Paul, whom she adores until he displays male chauvinism. I would categorize Lost Cause as a cozy mystery except that Daisy swears a bit too much for a cozy main character. Her husband’s best friend, Solomon, a PI, slated to babysit Daisy while she tries out as an heir hunter, has his hands full. Lucky for him that Daisy doesn’t sit at home awaiting rescue.  

Welcome to WWK, JL.                                                E. B. Davis

Thank you for inviting me.

Would you give our readers a synopsis of your plot?

Well, without giving too much away. Daisy Dunlop loves a challenge but heir hunting is supposed to be easy. She can deal with anything her new job throws at her, except the bullets, bombs and working with P.I. Solomon Liffey. Her husband's best friend is supposed to be looking out for her, but when she uncovers Solomon’s biggest secret he's the one who needs protection.

Why does Daisy and Paul’s son, teenage Sherman, insist that he was left on the doorstep by aliens?

I’m sure we all remember the day when we realized that for us to exist our parents must have done the deed, and the horror that then followed. Poor Sherman is in denial. If aliens delivered him to the door his parents remain virginal and pure, or at least that’s what he’s telling himself.

Daisy refers to Solomon by many names. How did the British couple come to have an “Irish-git” in their lives?

Solomon, the “Irish-git” (I just love British slang), served in the British army with Daisy’s husband, Paul. They were both Military Policemen. Even after they both left the service they remained best mates. When Daisy married Paul she got Solomon as an added bonus, for better or worse, Daisy probably thinks for worse. 

Do you think most men have the instinct to protect women or is it a great excuse to boss the little lady around?

I do think that most men have a natural instinct to protect women. And to be honest if someone was shooting at me then I would gladly let any man stand in the way, women’s lib be damned…bullets hurt!

While getting acclimated to the PI trade, Daisy must rely on Solomon to rescue her. What is Daisy’s reaction when Solomon dubs Daisy, “Princess?”

As you can probably imagine she is not best pleased. She is trying to be an heir hunter, which is a serious job. Princess is not a serious nickname. Killer, mauler, feisty, or something equally ferocious would be more to her liking. She did bring it on herself though. Grown women shouldn’t wear t-shirts with Princess written in pink sparkly writing on the front. Of course she could have taken the out Solomon offered when she said her name wasn’t Princess and agreed the writing was actually referring to her boobs.

One of Daisy’s biggest problems as a former office worker is transitioning her wardrobe to PI appropriate, and yet she uses her attire as an attribute, too. Will Daisy find the perfect blend of professional and PI functional wear?

I have serious doubts Daisy will ever work out what is or isn’t appropriate to wear for any given situation. I feel her pain. My husband has to supervise my clothing purchases and outfits otherwise I am a fashion disaster. Apparently mini skirts and bare legs are not the right clothing for a night out when there is snow on the ground and buses to be caught.

Although Solomon is Paul’s best friend, best man at their wedding, and godfather to Sherman, Daisy’s knowledge of Solomon’s life is spotty. Why, after having a relationship of sorts for years, does Daisy become curious about his life?

Up until Paul forced her to work with Solomon their relationship hadn’t been close. Even more so after Solomon handcuffed her to a kitchen sink, he says for her own safety, not that Daisy will believe or forgive him. When she finds herself stuck working with him everyday she begins to wonder about him. She is a firm believer in the saying know thy enemy. Who is he? And why is he so cagey about his past? And how on earth can a PI afford an Aston Martin that costs more than Daisy’s house?

Daisy’s mission to find an heir, Lord Toby, ends up as part of Solomon’s paying case of insurance fraud. Daisy doesn’t get the reward for finding Lord Toby. Will Solomon share the fees he’ll receive from the insurance company?

What fees? I’m not sure the insurance company is all that happy about the outcome of the case. And what possible fun could there be in having Daisy make a fortune in book one. You know she would just sail off into the sunset with Paul, leaving me with a series that has no heroine for books two and three.

I’m sure you have further adventures for Daisy and Solomon. Would you share with our readers the plot of your next Daisy Dunlop adventure?

Daisy’s fame has spread far and wide. Well as far as the distribution area of the local paper. She receives a letter asking her to take on a case to find a stolen show dog. A poodle. Daisy is terrified of dogs, but she won’t let that stop her…how scary can a poodle be? Besides, it’s the only case she has, and Solomon is too busy trying to work out what has his terrified ex girlfriend banged up in jail and what the dead man he finds in her bed wearing one Santori shoe has to do with it.

On a personal note, why did your husband and you emigrate to Australia?

My husband’s family were ten pound poms. Translation, they emigrated to Australia when he was a kid for the small cost of ten pounds. He spent most of his childhood here and then his family moved back to the UK. I have always been fascinated by Australia so when I met and married him it seemed the sane thing to do and I have never regretted the move. Australia is the only place on earth I would want to live. 

Why do you have a kangaroo problem? How did this innocent, pictured at left, become your victim?

Hmm, you had to bring up the lamb didn’t you? When we had been down under for a couple of years in a fit of, no doubt heat induced madness, we decided to move to the bush. We bought a two-acre block of land in a tiny hamlet in a state forest in Victoria and built our dream home. Now anyone who lives in the country has issues with wild beasties. Fences work for most things, but nothing works for kangaroos. Forget having a garden. You would drive home in the dark and as your headlights illuminated the front lawn it would jump to life, literally, as the hungry monsters bounded off back into the bush.

Now the lamb thing. I’m not good with wildlife. Cows scare me, but sheep are just annoying. Or this one was. Two of them would squeeze between my gate and gatepost and party in my garden everyday. The locals didn’t believe in containing their animals, and their pet lambs called every garden home. In a fit of frustration one day I became determined to stop chasing the little buggers and scare them so that they would never come back. I picked up a rock and aimed to have it hit the ground behind them, but I throw like a girl. My mistake was aiming to miss them. If I had aimed to hit them all would be well. Alas, the rock hit one of them in the head and it went down like a sack of spuds. I panicked and fled the scene to hide at a friend’s house in the nearby town. When I eventually got my courage together I drove home expecting to have to confess my sins to the lamb’s owner and pay for a lamb funeral, but the lamb was gone. A few days later I heard the owner chatting in a local store. The lambs had gone home and one of them had been acting strangely. It kept shaking its head and then staggering around. It survived the ordeal and went on to have lambs of its own and as far as I know it kept our little secret.

Is Taliesin an Australian publisher?

Nope. It’s a small US based e-publisher. I was fortunate enough to work with the owner in my former life as a romance author. When she moved from a bigger romance publisher and set up on her own I offered her Lost Cause because I knew she would do a great job of editing it.

Have you sold world-rights to Lost Cause? Pardon my ignorance, but how does International distribution work?

I have sold the worldwide English language digital rights and the publisher has an option for the print rights. As of now the book is only available as an E-book, so distribution is via the magic of the Internet. I have no idea how international print distribution works but maybe I will find out one day.

Which do you prefer, JL, beach or mountains?

Beach, beach, beach. Preferably one on a tropical island with palm trees and close to the barrier reef so that I can go snorkeling with sea turtles again.

Readers can discover more about JL Simpson at her website. Lost Cause was released earlier this month. If you’re looking for a great summer read, this is one to tuck into your beach bag.