An Interview with Sherry Harris by E. B. Davis

 

Aside from getting swept out to sea and getting

shot at, I liked living down here.

Sherry Harris, A Time to Swill, Kindle Loc. 671

 

Chloe loves her new life pouring beers and mixing cocktails at the Sea Glass Saloon in the Florida Panhandle town of Emerald Cove. But on the job, the only exercise she gets is walking from one end of the bar to the other, so in the mornings she loves to run on the beach. On this morning’s foggy run, she spots a sailboat washed up on a sandbar. Hearing a cry, she climbs aboard the beached vessel to investigate and finds not only a mewling kitten—but a human skeleton in the cabin.
 
The skeleton is tied back to Chloe’s friend Ralph, whose wife disappeared on a sailboat with three other people twelve years ago. Believing his wife was lost at sea, Ralph remarried. Now he finds himself a murder suspect. Chloe is determined to find out who’s been up to some skullduggery, but her sleuthing will lead her into some rough waters and some bone-chilling revelations…

Amazon.com

 

Not only does Sherry Harris’s main-character Chloe find the ghost ship, the tide takes her out to sea on the ship….

 

Ever since 1872 with the appearance of the sailing ship Mary Celeste, which was perfectly intact but missing her crew and passengers, ghost ships provide perfect mysteries, along with a spooky element. Sherry uses that scenario to open a new investigation into the disappearance of the four victims lost twelve years previously. How do people just disappear from a craft that looks normal? Was it murder? Of course, Chloe finds the solution. 

 

This is the second book in the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mystery series. It was released on July 27^th. If you haven’t read the first book in the series, please go to: From Beer to Eternity, which is now on Kindle Unlimited! Please welcome Sherry Harris back to WWK.                                                                                       E. B. Davis

 

Chloe had a professional job as a children’s librarian. Now she works in a bar. She has returned from two weeks in Chicago wrapping up her life there to move permanently to Emerald Cove. What was the biggest factor in her decision to uproot herself? Chloe went to Emerald Cove because of a promise she made to a friend. While she was there Chloe found out that because of budget cuts she’d lost her job as a children’s librarian. She also fell in love with Emerald Cove and the people, so she decided to make it her home.

 

Does Emerald Cove have a tourist season? Is the weather cold there in the winter? Does the Sea Glass close? Emerald Cove has three tourist seasons – summer people, snowbirds, and spring breakers. October is the time for locals to relax and enjoy although even October is getting busy. The Sea Glass never closes – for one thing it caters to locals and another they have to depend on tourists to make money.

Chloe took note that the man who she dubbed “Neptune” quoted Bette Davis. What was the quote? What is it from? The original quote comes from the movie All About Eve. "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night," said by Bette Davis' character Margo Channing. It often gets paraphrased to a bumpy ride which is what “Neptune” says.

 

 

What makes Chloe’s vintage Volkswagen Beetle her vehicle of choice? Chloe inherited the Volkswagen from her grandmother, so it has sentimental value not to mention she doesn’t have a car payment. When I was doing research for the series a friend and I were walking around the town of Grayton Beach. As we were walking to the Red Bar, we saw a vintage silver VW parked right beside it. It was so cute, that I decided it should be the car that Chloe drove.

 

Is it common in beach towns for people to hold more than one job? Why, and why are they one step from being homeless? Beach towns are expensive to live in and are dependent on the tourism industry. If things go wrong, it can really impact the livelihood of the people living there. Some of the people in the series work two jobs because they are workaholics. Some of them are financially secure, but just can’t imagine retiring. Others have to work two jobs to make ends meet.

 

Why the change from Rhett to Rip? Last time I was in Florida I ran into one too many old, scruffy men named Rhett and it didn’t seem to suit my character anymore. Strange how real life can impact my fictional world. I decided to come up with a fun nickname and story to go along with the change.

 

Ann Williams is a milquetoast name, but the woman isn’t. How did Ann acquire her special skill- set as a “problem solver” and who are her clients? Ha! Ann Williams is the middle and last name of one of my dearest friends and she’d kick our butts if she heard that. More of Ann’s back story comes out in the fourth book so I don’t want to give anything away here. As to her clients? Ann isn’t one to talk about who hires her. People find Ann, she doesn’t find them.

 

You mentioned that during the seventies many large boats disappeared in the Gulf. True? Did they discover anything about the boats? It is true. I did a lot of research about piracy in the Gulf of Mexico. They think that boat owners were unknowingly hiring pirates who’d take over the boats.

 

Delores’s Mile High Pie—filling or meringue? Both! Meringue browned or not? Hmmmm, this isn’t something I thought through. I’m going with not browned on the Key Lime, but definitely browned on the banana cream.

How did Vivi overcome her gambling problem? Regret. She brought someone into her family’s life that almost destroyed them.

 

Boone’s father claims he inherited Boone’s house, boat, and half the Sea Glass in a will dated later than the one in which Chloe inherited them. Will fighting his claims bring Vivi and Chloe closer? One would hope it does, but time will tell.

 

Rip didn’t mention that his father disappeared on the Fair Winds, which became the ghost ship. Why? Rip is a bit mysterious about his personal life. There’s a lot Chloe doesn’t know about him and I’m worried this might present a problem in the future.

 

Why did Chloe buy a model cigarette boat made from cigarettes? I found that strange! Chloe felt sorry for the man, and it provided her a bit of comic relief around a serious incident.

 

I love the recipes and history of drinks contained in your books. How can gin be “bruised” by shaking it? Thanks! I had no idea drinks could be so fascinating. The term bruised means something different in the drinks’ world than when a human whacks their arm into something and ends up black and blue. Shaking gin ruins the botanicals and messes with the taste. Here’s a link to an interesting article on the topic: https://talesofthecocktail.org/techniques/scientific-argument-never-shaking-your-gin/

 

The first whiskey sour recipe appeared in 1872, but by mouth, the recipe dates from the 1700s. Why did whiskey sours have egg white in them? What was the original purpose of a whiskey sour? The egg white adds a frothy element to the drink. When scurvy was an issue for sailors or travelers at sea, lime and lemon juice were added to watered-down liquor, which was the origin of the whiskey sour.

 

Why does Joaquin have two jobs? Neither of Joaquin’s jobs—fisherman in the morning and bartender in the afternoon—pay particularly well. Plus, he likes both and he likes to stay busy.

 

Vivi and Joaquin have a contest to make the best daiquiri. What’s the history of daiquiris? It was created by Jennings Cox, an American engineer, at a party when they ran out of gin. It was named for the nearby town of Daiquirí, Cuba. Although some say that it, like the whiskey sour, is actually another very old drink that helped stop scurvy.

 

What would Shari do? LOL—please explain. So you are a reader of acknowledgements! Your very own Shari Randall helps me with the books. Chloe was a children’s librarian, and I am not, but Shari was. Whenever, I have a question about being a librarian I send Shari an email asking, “What would Shari do?” You may have noticed that Shari’s lovely husband, Bill, also helped with this book.

 

What’s next for Chloe? Three Shots to the Wind comes out March 22^nd. I’m writing the fourth Chloe book.