Author’s Choice Blogs – Three months of experience

By James M. Jackson

A long-standing thought experiment involves the question, “If trees fall in the forest and no one is around to hear them, did they make a sound?” I have my opinion, and you might have yours.

How about this one: “If an author publishes a terrific book, will it automatically find an audience?” It seems obvious that the answer is no, until you turn the question on its head. Is a book really terrific if no one reads it? Visibility is required.

The Rule of Seven in Marketing

Way back in my MBA days, I learned the classic marketing principle that says a potential customer needs to encounter your message at least seven times before they’ll take action. Authors spend a lot of time (and often money) creating those potential touchpoints. I’ve benefited from the writer community providing space for me to share information about myself and my books. This year, I chose to create a new space for other authors to connect with potential readers.

Creating a New Touchpoint

Authors and readers have limited time. I wanted something fast and easy for authors and fun for readers who enjoy learning the inside scoop about authors. And after I set it up, I didn’t want to spend more than an hour a week on the project.

I chose a standard format so readers would know what to expect. Here’s the layout for desktop (on a phone, left comes first, then right):

• The author’s picture on the left; two truths and a lie on the right. Everyone enjoys guessing the right answer or being fooled.
• Eight forced-choice questions chosen from twelve about how the author writes (with room to elaborate or not—the author’s style showing through).
• Three questions about their latest novel (or first in a series) on the left; book cover on the right.
• The great reveal of the lie and two truths.
• The book’s blurb, purchase links, and a link to find out more about the author.

How’s it worked so far?

I’m happy to report that the Author’s Choice blogs have not been trees falling in the forest that no one has heard. They have averaged 227 views. Because big outliers can skew averages, I checked the median, which is 245. The range is from 82 to 431.

Another encouraging thing is that views continue to grow after the week a blog appears. This means when readers come to the website, they often read more than just the current blog.

I had hoped the blogs would elicit reader comments and generate back and forth between the authors and readers. I should have known better. In the early years of the Writers Who Kill blog, we used to have a fair number of reader comments and some back-and-forth dialogue. Over the last few years, as social media sucks up more reading time, that’s rarely the case.

I haven’t tried to track direct sales from the blogs. What I see is engagement: Authors are enjoying the process and are happy with the results. Readers are exploring multiple posts. I’ve even had a few of my readers reach out to thank me for introducing them to new authors. The blog is creating additional visibility.

The Rule of Seven assumes repetition builds trust—what turns a name you’ve seen a few times into a book you’ll try?

* * * * *

James M. Jackson writes justice-driven thrillers with brains and bite, including the Niki Undercover Thriller series and the Seamus McCree series. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website, https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get to read Low Tide at Tybee, a novella featuring Seamus, his darts-throwing mother, and six-year-old granddaughter, Megan).

An Interview with Heather Weidner By E. B. Davis

 

Love is in the air when Hollywood arrives in Mermaid Bay, and the town may never be the same. Fans will do almost anything to get a glimpse of the actors or a chance to be an extra in the Love Channel’s “My Coastal Valentine.” Crowds flock to the cozy beach town from all over and business is booming for Christmas shop owner, Jade Hicks, until the body of a testy reporter is found in one of the actors’ rooms. And if murder isn’t bad enough, someone tries to kill the show’s star, hunky Raphael Allard. The cozy little beach town feels cursed, as the Love Channel threatens to pull out of the project. Jade and the gang, Lorelei, Peppermint Patti, Bernie, Chloe, and Neville the Devil Cat, have to solve the crimes before it ruins the town’s reputation and breaks the hearts of fans across the country.

Amazon.com

 

Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir by WWK’s Heather Weidner is the second book in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe mystery series. It was released on January 16^th. This is the first book I’ve read in the series, but you can catch up by reading the first book, Sticks and Stones and A Bag of Bones.

 

Welcome to the flip-side of WWK, Heather.                                                             E. B. Davis

Is Mermaid Bay based on a real place? Mermaid Bay is made up. I needed a quaint little beach community near the historic triangle of Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. But it is based on a real place. I grew up in Virginia Beach, and there is a neighborhood that my parents lived in when they first got married. It’s Chick’s (or sometimes Chix) Beach near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We used to go there all the time. It was the perfect beach away from all the tourist areas.

 

‘Tis the Season is the shop of main character Jade Hicks. Is her merchandise just devoted to Christmas? The focus is a Christmas store, but in her showrooms, she features themed ornaments for other holidays. In honor of the filming of “My Coastal Valentine,” she decorates the trees with hearts and cupids. (I’m working on Book 4 now, and a CreatureCon comes to town in that mystery. Jade and Patti had a ball decorating some of the trees with Big Foot, Nessie, Yeti, and Mothman ornaments.)

 

The Love Channel is filming in Mermaid Bay. What type of show is “My Costal Valentine?” This is loosely based on the television channels that air holiday romances and small-town mysteries. They are filming the Valentine-themed show in town, and everyone wants to get in on the act.

 

Jade has a French bulldog named Chloe. Her aunt Lorelei has a cat named Neville the Devil. They both bring their pets to work at the shop. How did Neville get his name? Do Chloe and Neville get along well? Chloe and Neville are frenemies who don’t want to admit that they really like the other. Chloe is a butterball of a dog who loves snacks, cuddles, and naps. She considers herself the queen of the store, but Neville the Devil Cat has other ideas. The tuxedo cat was a stray, who made himself at home. He’s a great mouser, and he loves to taunt and tease Chloe. Jade’s single Aunt Lorelei fell in love with Neville, and she takes him home on evenings and weekends. He’s living his best life.

 

The Hollywood people think that any publicity is good, but the town’s business owners beg to differ. What is their contention? Mermaid Bay, especially the old guard, strives to maintain the quaintness of the beach town, and they work had to ensure that it doesn’t become a beach mecca filled with McMansions, big box stores, and loud beach entertainment. The town folk like the idea of the good publicity from the Love Channel’s filming, but they are horrified at the cavalier and diva-like attitudes of the actors. They also don’t want the stain of a murder to tarnish the town’s reputation.

 

Does Ruby have personality problems? Every time she has a problem, she freaks out and calls Jade, like five times, whether it’s a PR issue or murder. What does she think Jade can do about any of it? Why does Jade run to her whenever she calls? Ruby is a tad high strung. She was friends with Jade’s grandmother, so there’s a connection that Jade feels obligated to help even when some of Ruby’s demands are a little over the top. Thankfully, after the Love Channel folks leave town, Ruby finally gets a much-needed vacation.

 

I was surprised that when the body of the reporter was found Nick, the sheriff and also Jade’s beau, wasn’t in attendance. Why were the state police called in? Aren’t the local investigators enough? Mermaid Bay is a tiny town with a limited police force. The smaller towns in Virginia often call upon other localities or the state police to help with large cases and detailed forensic work.

 

I admit to being confused. There were so many Valentine’s Day references, from ornaments, decorations, and cookies, I thought it was February when the action is set near Thanksgiving. Why were these items featured in the shop? Jade and Patti decorated the two large trees in the lobby for the filming of “My Coastal Valentine.” They pulled out all their decorations and special treats for the cast and crew because the store’s going to be featured in the show.

 

Jade is friends with Amy, who is the bookstore owner. Is Amy new to Mermaid Bay?  In Sticks and Stones and Bag of Bones, the local bookstore owner is brutally murdered, and Jade has to help solve the crime. Amy Pemberton arrives in town from Boston to take over her aunt’s store, and she and Jade become fast friends. She also has a store cat, Mr. Darcy, who is a long-haired Persian.

 

Is local reporter, Nell Jones, bad at her job or is she a good neighbor? Nell is always looking for her big break. She wants to do hard core news stories, but she works for a small- town weekly that specializes in puff pieces and town gossip (and coupons for the tourists). She likes being a writer, but she is always looking for that big story that will get her a byline.

 

Todd, another friend of Jade’s and new boyfriend of Amy, owns a hot dog joint on the beach. I was concerned about Jade when she ate there four times in one week, eating a Coney Island dog, a chili dog, a turkey dog, and a plain dog, but with tater tots. Does she really love hot dogs? How does Jade stay in shape? Jade has a junk food habit. She exercises, takes long walks with Chloe, and works incredibly long hours. She’s working on better eating habits in later books.

 

I can understand that Mermaid Bay might not have its own medical examiner or coroner, but having autopsies done in Richmond seems far away. Jade mentioned that Mermaid Bay is near to Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown. Doesn’t Yorktown have autopsy capabilities? In Virginia, the districts are Central (Richmond), Tidewater (Norfolk), Northern (Northern Virginia), and Western (Roanoke). The historic triangle (where Mermaid Bay is located) is pretty much halfway between Norfolk and Richmond.

 

Britt, a TV crew member says, “Nobody observes boundaries anymore.” (Page 63) Do you agree with her? The old guard in Mermaid Bay honors traditions and expects certain behaviors. They work hard to preserve the town’s traditions. I think culture and times are changing. We’ve relaxed a lot of expectations, and how we interact with technology has changed our culture tremendously. I think social media has changed how we react and interact with one another. People share and make comments online that I’m not sure they would if they were having a personal interaction.

 

I wondered, when Raphael seeks Jade out to help him figure out who is targeting him, did Ruby tell him to go to Jade? Raphael is gregarious, and he talks to everyone. From talking to some of the locals, he picked up that Jade had solved a murder in town and that she had a knack (or a passion) for sleuthing.

 

Why would Aunt Lorelei accuse Jade of avoiding her boyfriend, Nick? Jade and Nick have a good relationship, and they’re able to talk about some of the cases, but he does not want her involved in the investigations. And he certainly doesn’t want her poking around asking questions and putting herself in danger. Jade feels a little guilty that she’s been sleuthing and sticking her nose into Nick’s investigation.

 

Who is Lakeisha? She’s a friend of Todd’s. She helps him with some computer research.

 

What’s next for Jade and her gang? Book Three comes out next January. It’s called A Tisket a Tasket Not Another Casket. It’s the holiday season, and the town is sponsoring a fireworks contest. The winners will get the contract for the Memorial Day and Fourth of July firework shows for the summer season. Everyone is excited about the spectacular performances each team is planning until something goes terribly wrong, and an attempt to sabotage one of the competitors leads to murder. I’m also excited to announce that Level Best Books has extended the contract for Jade and the gang, so there will be three more books after this.

 

 

An Interview with Lisa Malice By E. B. Dav

 

I want to believe that life is more than just what we live here on Earth, that our love

for one another never dies, even when the memory of our deep bond is dim.

Lisa Malice, Lest She Forget, Kindle Loc. 2883

 

Haunted by a forgotten past. Hunted by a ruthless killer. No one to save her but herself.

After surviving a car crash, Kay Smith wakes from a coma with amnesia, a battered face, and no one to vouch for her identity. Her psychiatrist is convinced that her memory loss is connected to the horrific flashbacks and nightmares haunting her. As she digs for clues to her past, Kay uncovers a shady character following her every inquiry. Who is he? And what does he want from her?

As Kay’s probes deepen, she realizes that everyone around her has deadly secrets to hide―even her. Emerging memories, guilty suspicions, and headline-screaming murders push Kay to come out of the shadows and choose: will she perpetuate a horrendous lie or risk her life to uncover the truth?

Amazon.com

Because Lisa Malice blogs with WWK, I’d heard about this book. In fact, I had trepidations about reading this story. Why? I’m not a fan of thrillers. To me, they seem like cheap thrills. Then I started reading the book. I was hooked from page one. Why? The main character’s voice is compelling. She seems like a good person. Readers know she’s in a tough spot and trying to do the right thing, but she gets clobbered, and then you want to stick around to find out if she can come through her ordeal all right.

 

It’s hard to define this book. It’s surely is a mystery, but then, we know the bad guy or at least one of them, so it’s also a suspense. There is also a romantic element—one sweet and one sour that comes into play. This is a hard plot to pin down—it keeps the reader wondering—and there’s a big twist. No spoilers here!  So—Read this book, come back to WWK, and let us know what you think!

 

Welcome to the flip side of WWK, Lisa.                                  E. B. Davis

 

Your education is in psychology. Did you ever practice and work with patients suffering from amnesia?

My area of specialty is organizational psychology, which applies the principles of psychology to the design and implementation of program and services that focus on the human factor as a key element of any organization—personnel selection, performance and training systems, team-building, and such. A Ph.D. in psychology requires a broad-base understanding of the field, so the task of researching amnesia, understanding its causes, behavioral and cognitive profile, and treatments was an easy task for me.

 

At the same time, I took a bit of liberty with the profile of a dissociative fugue sufferer. They usually recover their identity and past memories all at once with no memory of what happened during their fugue episode. This happens a lot in fictionalizing this form of amnesia. The Jason Bourne series by Robert Ludlum is a prime example of straying a bit from the actual profile of the disorder. The main character, a CIA assassin whose name is not Jason Bourne, is left dazed, confused, stumbling around and wandering from a traumatic experience—failing to kill a target because the man’s young children were nearby watching as “Jason” put a gun to their father’s head.

 

How did this story develop from its inception?

I was at the gym, watching TV while pumping away on the elliptical machine, when an ad appeared on the screen that sparked a series of “what-if” questions. Each answer led me to another question until I had the bones of a thriller in my head. As my first book, I followed a similar path in writing, one idea leading to another until I typed “The End.”

 

That first draft was a mess, and I spent the next few years editing until I thought the manuscript was ready for the big time. My queries received a lot of interest from agents and acquisitions editors, but the rejections told me I had more work to do.

 

One editor referred me to a wonderful developmental editor, Anne Brewer. I paid for a critique to start, then dug deep into my pockets for a full developmental edit. Anne, who had worked for St. Martin’s Press and Crooked Lane, was very happy and impressed with my revisions. It was fun and helped me be a better writer! (The first draft of my second novel, Rock-A-Bye Baby, is proof that going through the developmental edit process greatly improved my storytelling skills—it received finalist honors for Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award in 2020, a competition for unpublished manuscripts.)

 

Within a few a few months, I had an agent. One acquisitions editor suggested I revised the first two chapters (see response to next question). Two offers came in after that revision. I signed with CamCat and started the final editing process with Helga Schier, CamCat’s fabulous editor-in-chief, tweaking the characters and the plot of Lest She Forget until the story was the best it could be.

 

When we first meet the main character (MC), readers don’t know who she is, but they do know she is feeling guilty for two deaths that she isn’t directly responsible for, but she thinks she might have prevented. She’s driving on the run, the reader presumes, from the killer. How did you decide on what pre-amnesia “facts” to give to the reader?

As a psychological thriller, this story needed to wow the reader from the start with suspense and thrills. My early drafts actually opened with Kay (the name on my MC’s medical chart that she doesn’t quite believe is hers) undergoing hypnosis to help her remember her name and past. But all she saw was a short vague scene that gave away little backstory to how she ended up in a rehab facility with no identity, a battered face, and no memory of her past.

 

Feedback from an editor my agent had queried suggested I actually open with this scene live, as Kay is living it. It allowed me to add in more psychological triggers to her thoughts and emotions—even wish she could forget everything—and ramp up the action and danger. It also offered me a way to introduce two key characters to the story without giving too much away about their identities and roles. The whole chapter oozed mystery, suspense and thrills, just as a psych thriller should. That revised opening chapter allowed me to write a second chapter with Kay waking up from her coma, which again, added more suspense to the story. These changes to my manuscript did the trick. After two years of querying, I received two publishing offers.

 

What compels the MC to research her case in rehab, the second facility since her accident, where she wakes up? I’d think most people would want to rest and convalesce after a car crash.

Kay’s physical injuries are minor, but her psychological ones are not. Her sleep is haunted by terrifying nightmares, her waking hours plagued with horrific flashbacks. Furthermore, Kay is restless from her diagnosis, one that leaves Kay attributing her amnesia to her own weaknesses and failures. For these reasons, Kay is eager to get to the truth of why she is running from herself and her past.

 

Why did you decide to show the reader the villain’s POV? Would the MC have looked paranoid without this evil POV?

I agree that Kay would come across as a bit off her rocker without Felix Jager’s POV, but his perspective is a key element to building mystery, thrills, and suspense throughout the book. We know he’s out there from the very first scene, and in his first POV chapter, we learn of his military background, how he approached that job, the skills he took with him after being drummed out of the service. The reader learns this hired killer is ruthless and intelligent, but not as smart as he thinks he is, and more importantly, not as smart as he thinks others are stupid. It’s a profile of a dangerous narcissist that makes this hitman formidable foe, though one with flaws that open him up to defeat by the heroine. Felix’s scenes give way to more action, more suspense, and more mystery to the ultimate villain—the man who gave our hitman that order to kill Kay at all costs.

 

Felix’s scenes also add suspense to Kay’s scenes, keeping us rooting for her to uncover the truth, as she continues to speculate erroneously on the horrors behind her nightmares, flashbacks, emerging memories, and the man shadowing her every move.

 

A voice inside the MC’s head keeps telling her to, “Keep hiding,” which she believes and abides by. Does she think that voice is her true self warning her?

Anyone in Kay’s position—no memory of herself, her past, no understanding of the visions and nightmares haunting her—might think she’d lost her mind and was hearing voices. But given her diagnosis, that she’s running and hiding from the traumas in her life, Kay suspects this message is her own buried voice, struggling to speak. Later in the book, when Kay experiences another vision, she is not so sure the message is her own that, perhaps, it’s a warning from someone who didn’t heed the words—a murdered woman with whom she had a close relationship.  

 

The psychiatrist gives good advice, and yet, she thinks conventionally like the MC’s lockdown is due to an abusive partner. She’s helpful and yet she’s also ineffectual. What is psychogenic amnesia compared to other types? What is “lockdown?”

Dissociative fugue, as psychogenic amnesia is more formally known, is characterized by a complete mental break from one’s identity and past, often after experiencing prolonged PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome) or an episode of severe psychological trauma. The sufferer will wander away, dazed, and confused without any memories to ground him or her. In a very release sense, they have buried who they are and what they remember about themselves, locked down, so to speak, until suddenly, everything comes rushing back—their names and memories. When (and if) they pull out of it, these people will not have any recollection of what they did and who they met while in their fugue state.

 

The Grand Dame of Mystery, Agatha Christie, apparently suffered a dissociative fugue episode. Unable to cope with the death of her mother and her husband’s request for a divorce, the 32-year-old author left home, then abandoned her car some miles away. She was later seen wandering along a road, thinly dressed for the December night, looking dazed and confused. She was found safe two weeks later but could not recall how she ended up at a seaside hotel or what she had done during the two weeks she had gone missing.

 

The psychiatrist does tell her to explore how she feels about things, not just what she knows about things. Is that the information she uses to trust?

Dissociative fugue involves the inability to recall explicit long-term and episodic memories, including our name, autobiographical information, and the events of our past. What is generally not affected is our semantic memories (general and bits of information that we have absorbed over the years) and implicit long-term memories, those that we form unconsciously that affect the way we think and behave. Sensory memories from sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell may be included here. The doctor’s advice, then, is intended to help Kay learn about herself from noticing what she has NOT forgotten, as well as the emotions connected to those memories. These memories could serve as triggers for Kay to spontaneously recover identity and past, as is often the case with people experiencing a dissociative fugue episode.

 

Once the MC makes contact with representatives of the receiving hospital, the first facility she was in after the accident, she finds that at least one other person is making the same inquiries that she is. What did that tell her?

Kay is on the run from a traumatic event in her past, one she fears is linked to the murder of a young woman. Whether that scenario is her reality, or more closely tied to an abusive husband or partner (as her psychiatrist interprets Kay’s nightmares), Kay realizes she needs to be wary of anyone who may be trying to track her down. It puts the pressure on Kay to remember who she is and why she fled her life before her past—and this shadowy character, who she may be running from—catches up with her.

 

Is PTSD always associated with amnesia? What part does it play?

PTSD is a key element of dissociative fugue, as psychological trauma is the trigger for that form of retrograde amnesia (the inability to remember the past). However, there are other forms of amnesia that have no basis in psychological trauma. Both retrograde and anterograde amnesia (the latter involving the inability to form new memories) are more commonly caused by injury, disease, or substance abuse. Many a fictional amnesiac has trouble with recalling the past or making new memories owing to a severe blow to the head, a tumor in the brain, progressive dementia, or alcohol/drug-induced blackouts.

 

Nick Costa starts out as the MC’s roommate’s friend. His story doesn’t ring true, and he doesn’t act toward the MC as a stranger. She distrusts him and thinks he’s playing games with her. Then, she thinks he’s a journalist out for a story. Why doesn’t she have him blocked from the hospital?

From the moment Nick and Kay meet after she wakes from her coma, she feels a connection to him, one she does not fully understand. Part of her is attracted to the Nick, his friendly attentions, his caring nature, and of course, his rugged handsomeness. At the same time, she is wary of Nick and his efforts to coax her memory into the open. Is Nick someone from her past, or does he simply remind her of someone she has forgotten? Every time Kay starts to question Nick’s intentions, he finds some way to explain away her suspicions.

 

She finds out that she likes well-fitting designer clothing, that she is educated and trained in classical music, knows French, and her palate is sophisticated. But she also finds out that the police think that she might be one half of a crime partnership that was on the run. Why is their theory plausible but not believable to the MC?

There is quite a bit of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Kay may be part of a criminal enterprise, perhaps one involving murder. Her nightmares, her flashbacks, even the police sergeant investigating her car accident all point in that direction. She has a hard time accepting this analysis of her life because she doesn’t want it to be true. Her analysis of every possible scenario surrounding this theory yields inconsistencies and flaws. For example, if Kay really was hardened criminal, perhaps even an accessory to murder, she wouldn’t be so horrified by her deadly nightmares.

 

What are you currently writing?

I have so many ideas percolating inside my brain. One is the story of a lymphoma patient, suffering from bizarre hallucinations from the tumor growing in her head, who believes she has witnessed the murder of another patient down the hall. Another story gnawing at me is about a young woman, a forensic psychology student at a small college town, who comes to fear her own father may be the serial strangler taking the lives of her classmates.

 

For now, I’m finishing up the story of a young woman (Evie), a resident of small town in northeastern Georgia, who arrives home late one night from a paralegal conference and discovers a dead woman in her office. The eerie resemblance between Evie and the apparent murder victim raises a frightening question: Who was the intended target, this unknown woman or Evie? As sirens wail in the distance, she is unsure who she can trust—the baseball cap found at the scene suggests the killer might be connected to the county sheriff’s office. The plot involves decades-old crimes centered on a local doctor and an under-the-radar illegal adoption ring.   

An Interview with Heather Weidner By E. B. Davis

Christmas has come to Fern Valley, and the town’s decked out with enough glitter and sparkle for a month’s worth of celebrations, each more over-the-top than the previous one. The idyllic setting, filled with laughter, carols, and sweet treats, is shattered, along with some of the decorations, when the current wife and the ex-wife of a big-cat showman have a knock-down, drag-out fight in the center of town. Jules Keene, owner of the Fern Valley Glamping Resort, tries to keep peace among her guests and with the town council, but it turns into a catastrophe when Tabbi Morris, winds up dead in one of her ex-husband’s tiger cages.

And if the murder wasn’t enough, Jules discovers that some of the big cats are missing, but the owner and his family insists that nothing is wrong.

Curiosity gets the best of her, and she has to solve the murder and figure out if the owner of Cal’s Cats is pussy-footing around or whether it’s something more sinister before it ruins the holiday season and her business.

Amazon.com

The setting in Christmas Lights and Cat Fights by Heather Weidner plays a big role in bringing the season into the story. Main character Jules Keene’s camping resort of vintage trailers and little houses is dwarfed by evergreens in the Blue Ridge Mountain region of Western Virginia. Periodic snowfalls provide an element of cozy as do the seasonal meals and beverages.

Two unpleasant women vendors dominate the Christmas festival headed up by Jules. They are also guests at the campground and share a man, one, an ex, the other, the current wife. A fatal stabbing results in one becoming the victim and the other, the perpetrator, if only Jules could buy off on the logical and convenient explanation. But of course, she doesn’t.

Please welcome our own Heather Weidner to the flip side of WWK.                                                                                                                                                                    E. B. Davis

Jules was previously married to the “Idiot.” When did that occur? How old is Jules? Jules is in her mid-thirties. She married the Idiot right out of college and realized that he wasn’t the prince charming she thought he was. He’s a good-looking smooth talker who is always looking for a get-rich quick scheme. He shows up at the resort in one of the later books (much to Jules’s chagrin).

Forgive me for backtracking, Heather. This is the third book in your series, but the first book that I’ve read. How did Jules come to own the camping resort? Her parents owned a traditional campground that they bought in the 70s before she was born. After her divorce, she moved back home and put her interior design skills to good use and helped her father save vintage trailers from the dump. She turned them into luxurious accommodations, and it was just in time for the glamping craze.

Jules is the president of the town’s business council. Jules characterized her lead festival-committee person, Elaine James, another business owner, as a little prickly. And yet, it seems to me that Jules has delegated just about everything to Elaine. Jules provides oversight and an occasional hand. When it comes to organizational contact of placing vendors in the correct place, Jules lets Elaine take the lead, which leads to trouble. Wouldn’t Jules have had the same issues with the vendors if she had taken a more active role? I think so. That bunch of vendors was quite unique and opinionated. Conflict was destined to happen. In the earlier books, Jules took on most of the tasks, and her day job and volunteer work were wearing her out. By this story, she’s finally learned to delegate and supervise the great team of town volunteers.

Shouldn’t the cops have been called when the women had a physical fight? Probably, but it’s a small town, and Jules wasn’t sure if the two combatants would have waited for the sheriff or his deputies to arrive.

Does Jules’s boyfriend Jake Evans work for her? How long have they been together? Jake has worked at the campground since his teen years, so they’ve known each other for quite a while. He returned home to Fern Valley from two tours of duty, and it coincided with Jules’s divorce and return to town. He is the maintenance/security guy for the property, and he lives in one of the smaller cabins.

Jules’s aunt Roxanne is actually a wealthy woman. Why does she work at the resort? Her husband has passed away, and her son lives on the west coast. I think she likes the company. Working with Jules gives her something to do, and it helps her keep her finger on the pulse of what’s going on in Fern Valley. She is also protective of Jules, and she tries to help her with the business as much as she can.

Does the resort have a lodge with a restaurant? Jules actually has quite a few employees, doesn’t she? There is a lodge that’s Jules’s multi-purpose room for the resort. The mother and daughter duo of Mel and Crystal cater the breakfasts for guests. They also clean the campers and tiny houses. Jake is the maintenance/security guy, and Lester Branch is the landscaper who keeps the property in order. And of course, Bijou is her little Jack Russell Terrier who is the resort’s greeter and chief squirrel chaser.

How did the wild cats become part of the Christmas festival? Was Jules aware that animal rights activists could show up to protest? This was a head scratcher. How did the wild animals end up in the town’s holiday festival? When the call went out for vendors and parade participants, the owner of Cal’s Cats signed up. They didn’t quite fit the theme of the event, but their animals were a hit with the guests. (And they brought a lot of drama to Fern Valley.) I don’t think it ever occurred to Jules that animal rights groups would show up in town to protest, and it added one more thing for Elaine and her team to worry about.

Why do all of Jules’s trailers and little houses have themes? My husband rebuilds classic cars, and we watch a lot of the refurb shows on TV. I found one a few years back where a couple restored vintage trailers. After watching the show, I went online and looked through all the photos of how people decorated them. Many were done to match the era when they were originally manufactured. I thought it would be fun to theme each one on Jules’s property for something in pop culture. There’s an alien Area 51 one, an Elvis one, and a Lucy and Desi one. Then, when Jules and Jake started to add tiny houses to the results, I had her theme each one of them for an author and his or her works.

Who was L. Frank Baum? I am such a Wizard of Oz fan that I had to decorate one of the tiny houses for the writer. (And it plays prominently in the second book, Film Crews and Rendezvous.) He wrote the original children’s fantasy series. I saw the 1939 version of the movie and became an instant fan. It wasn’t until years later that I found the books.

Why is J. P. Gross Jules’s archrival on the council? He is the town’s grumpy Gus who wants to complain or foil anything the council does. In the first book, he runs against Jules for town council, and he’s still miffed that he didn’t win the election.

Two tiger cubs go missing, and Jules suspects that the cubs’ owner sold them. She finds evidence of the sale on her security tapes. What does Jules do? The owner of the big cats tries to gaslight her when she asks about the missing cubs. He pretends that she is mistaken when she knows she has photos of the four fluff balls. Upset at his insistence that she is wrong, she pokes around on her security tapes and finds proof that something hinky is going on.

Bijou is a Jack Russell terrier. Does she have a rough, broken or smooth coat? Smooth. She’s based on my little JRT, Disney. Disney and her brother Riley (from the same litter) rule our house and torment the hordes of chipmunks and squirrels in our yard. They are such a fun breed with such energy!

What’s next for Jules and Bijou? I just signed a contract with Level Best Books for books four through six, so I’m so excited that Jules, Jake, and Bijou will have more adventures in Deadlines and Valentines, Teddy Bears and Ghostly Lairs, and Dangerous Links and Hijinks.

An Interview with Author Allison Brook (Marilyn Levinson) By E. B. Davis

 

Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor's home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor's collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?

Amazon.com

 

Overdue or Die is the seventh book in the Haunted Library mystery series by Allison Brook, or as we know her, WWK’s Marilyn Levinson. This book brings three murder cases to a close, as solved by main character Carrie Singleton, and leads readers up to Carrie and Dylan’s marriage, when Carrie won’t be a singleton anymore!

 

It is a complex mystery that reveals the horrors of a crime family. It’s always hard to believe how deranged psychopaths can be, and yet they are a reality—thankfully few and far between.

 

Thanks for answering my questions, Marilyn!      E. B. Davis

 

It’s a busy time for Carrie. The holidays are coming up, her uncle is being released from the hospital to recover from a heart attack, her cousin’s family wants to throw an engagement party for Dylan and her, which requires making decisions, and they must pick out a wedding venue. Does Carrie really have time to solve three murders?

Of course not, but when someone is murdered in Clover Ridge, it impacts everyone in the community. Besides, Carrie knows the first two victims and feels obliged to find out who murdered them.

 

Why did Carrie, who wants stability in her life, resist Dylan’s marriage proposal?

Carrie comes from a dysfunctional family. Her father was a thief and spent little time at home; her mother isn't maternal; her older brother, who was her source of security, died just about when she graduated from college. Before she moved to Clover Ridge, Carrie didn't feel she belonged in any one place. She didn't think she could handle marriage and raise children.

 

Carrie and Dylan have both had trying childhoods with difficult families. In a world of selfies and unique tats, they are trying to attain conventional lives, family, kids, house, etc. Are they different than today’s norm?

That's difficult to say. I know of so many young people who marry but have decided not to have kids. Carrie and Dylan are deeply vested in Clover Ridge, which is a main reason why they plan to have a family and continue to be active in their community. Also, family is important to them, especially Carrie's father and Carrie's great aunt and uncle, who were always very good to Dylan as he grew up with his emotionally neglectful parents.

 

Carrie has changed so much from the beginning of the series. Why did she used to dress in Goth?

Dressing that way was Carrie's way of telling everyone she wasn't part of the establishment. Part of the problem was Carrie was a qualified librarian but only given odd jobs to do around the library like shelve books. Once she became head of programs and events, she quickly started to dress professionally and live up to her responsibilities.

 

The new addition to the library has an auditorium that will be used for public programs. But it also has an art gallery for exhibitions, which surprised me. Do the librarians have the time and expertise to fill the space or the budget for hiring stagers, a security system, and insurance policies?

Libraries have art shows all the time. Victor Zalinka has expensive art that he occasionally loans out to museums. He brought in his own crew to hang the library show at his own expense. Otherwise, Carrie and other library employees would put up the art work. Regarding a security system, I imagine every library has one. I simply added extra security to the library's new art gallery.

 

Although Carrie worries that her assistant Susan, an emerging artist, will leave the library, isn’t the library’s new art gallery something that Carrie could have Susan help her with—something that might tempt Susan—so she’ll stay?

Susan is an amazing artist, something Carrie learned in Death Overdue, when Susan came up with terrific ideas for the library's Halloween Party. The Gallery on the Green has been featuring Susan's work and it's been selling very well. Carrie knows it's only a matter of time before she loses Susan, and while she doesn't want to hold her back, she's going to miss the wonderful artwork Susan does to celebrate special days and holidays in the library in so many ways. The library's art gallery can't offer Susan what the Gallery on the Green can.

 

During the addition’s commemorative ceremony, an older woman disrupts the speakers and claims that she, not the town, actually owns the building. Although it turns out that she is suffering from dementia, she isn’t totally wrong about being swindled. How so?

While Emily Pierce Fielding is wrong about owning the building the library had just added on as its new wing, she was swindled by the lawyer she and her family had employed for many years. When she moved to Florida, the lawyer simply "acquired" a home belonging to Emily as his own and unlawfully sold it taking to proceeds for himself.

 

Why did Carrie assume the new auditorium was exclusively hers to use?

Carrie invested a good deal of time and effort to make sure the library got a stadium-seated auditorium for the many future shows and events she's planning to present. Even when the architect miscalculated the costs, Carrie--with ghost Evelyn Havers' help--came up with an alternate plan to keep the auditorium stadium-seated. And so she has a sense that this is "her" auditorium, to be used for adult programs as has always been the case. But now Marion, the children's librarian, would like to offer some children's programs in the auditorium. Carrie soon sees the reasoning behind this. She realizes she's been a bit too possessive and quickly works out a solution that suits both her and Marion.

 

The first murder victim, Martha Mallory, was having an affair. But it turns out that the husband was also having an affair or at least was too interested in Carrie’s assistant, Susan. Will Carrie try to warn Susan that her basis in the relationship is all wrong?

After Martha is murdered, Carrie discovers that Susan and Ron have a budding romance going. Carrie is dying to tell Susan that Ron isn't great boyfriend material. The man is more than thirty years older than her. Evelyn reminds Carrie that Susan's romance isn't her business. Once again, Evelyn tells Carrie that not all romantic couples resemble her and Dylan.

 

Martha, as it turns out, was a blackmailer. Not so much in money; her method was coercion. Why, when Susan was ashamed, did she finally admit to Carrie that Martha forced her to make a copy of a famous artist’s painting?

Susan is horrified by what Martha has pulled, and she's afraid she'll be arrested if Martha tells the authorities, as she said she would, that Susan tried to sell her a copy of another artist's work. Though Martha has told Susan not to tell anyone about this‑—not Ron, not Carrie—Susan finally tells Carrie because she trusts Carrie. Besides, Martha is now dead and can't bully her any longer.

 

When Dylan has to go out of town a second time about his painting and for the Feds about forged art[CB1] , why does Carrie over-react?

When Dylan opened his office in New Haven, Carrie was relieved that he would no longer be going all over the country and abroad to track down stolen paintings and gems. But here he is again, flying out of town to help the Feds in a forged art case that is connected to the painting he's recently inherited. Also, Dylan was assaulted and ended up in the hospital when the thieves stole his painting. Carrie is afraid he'll be hurt again.

 

Are there really such things as deeds to houses anymore? We never got one when we paid off our house.

I'm sure those of us who are homeowners all have legal papers indicating that we own a particular property. Hence, a deed.  

 

Why does Carrie want to keep her own bank account after she is married?

It's part of her independence. She wants to have money to spend on whatever she likes without feeling obliged to discuss it with Dylan. I think it's something all married women should have.

 

Carrie eats lots of beet salad in this book. Do you have a favorite beet salad recipe to share? Is it a holiday thing because most beets are red ?

I don't, but I just finished making a beet dish—peeling and cutting up beets, coating the pieces with olive oil, garlic, salt and onion powder, then roasting them in the oven. When the beets are soft, coat them with a mixture of Balsamic vinegar and honey and roast 10 minutes more.

 

What is next in your writing future, Marilyn?

I've finished writing the eighth and final book in the Haunted Library series, and I've just completed a short story for an anthology. Soon I will be starting my new series.

 

Elaine,

Thank you for interviewing me.

Marilyn

An Interview with Kait Carson By E. B. Davis

 

A family scuba vacation. A dropped bit of equipment. Has the famous Blue Hole of Belize claimed another life?

Hayden Kent has more riding on the answer to the mystery than curiosity. She believes the diver faked his death. As a paralegal and newly minted claims investigator, it’s her job to decide if her company pays out the thirty-million-dollar policy. When her trip to Belize uncovers evidence of fraud, she returns to her beloved Florida Keys and digs deeper into the dead man’s affairs. Her boss’s advice to follow the money sends her to the Cayman Islands where privacy is king, and secrets can be deadly. Hayden’s inquiries put her in the cross-hairs of a killer who will stop at nothing to claim the thirty million. Can she prove the dead man lives before she ends up as shark bait?

Death Dive is the third book in the Hayden Kent mystery series. If you like fast-paced suspense that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go, then you’ll love this series. Underwater, no one hears you scream.

Amazon.com 

WWK’s Kait Carson released the third book in the Hayden Kent mystery series yesterday. The first two books in this series, Death By Blue Water and Death By Sunken Treasure, can be downloaded from Kindle Unlimited. Although the third book, Death Dive, is a great stand alone, reading the previous two books will show major changes main character Hayden Kent has undergone in her immediate past.

 

By the end of the book, I knew two things. Hayden can trust her two female friends in law enforcement and her cat, Tiger, who literally has her back!

 

Welcome to the flip side of WWK, Kait!                                                              E. B. Davis

 

What’s a dive computer? How often do they get tested?

Besides being one of my favorite things, a dive computer is similar to a one-stop-shop visual record of your dive. Mine is air integrated, so it attaches to my tank via an air hose. That feature allows the computer to keep track of the air in my tank, my dive time, how much longer I can stay submerged within the recreational limits and other items. It also records my depth, and my rate of ascent. After my dive it will let me know my surface interval (the time between dives). A very handy gadget. Divers must remember that it is a gadget. For true dive safety, never rely on your computer, but refer to the dive tables for safety.

 

Computers should be serviced annually at an authorized dive shop.

 

What did Jacques Cousteau do to the Belize Blue Hole? Who allowed him to do it? In 1971 Cousteau and his team brought the Calypso to Belize. The limestone “wall” that surrounded the Blue Hole had openings too small to admit the Calypso. Cousteau used dynamite to widen the opening. History is silent about permission, but Cousteau later claimed it was one of his ten favorite dives.

 

Why are inexperienced divers air hogs? Excitement. It’s a gorgeous and breathtaking world under the sea!

 

How hard is it to get a person declared dead by the courts without a body? I thought there was a seven-year waiting period. Not hard, but it is a court process. The statutory wait in Florida is five years. That gap can create additional hardship for loved ones who are already grappling with their loss. If there is good reason to believe a missing person is dead, a suggestion of death can be filed. The court will look at the evidence and can declare the person dead. This not only provides closure to the family, but allows insurance claims to proceed and begins the probate process.

Why would Mallory ask Hayden to stay for a meeting with the deceased family? Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest especially now that Hayden thinks the man faked his death? Why did Hayden stay? Mallory hoped Hayden would be able to answer any questions the family might have about the dive and knew her friend would keep an open mind. Hayden understood that without further investigation, her belief that Joe was alive was little more than a “gut” feeling.

 

How did Hayden get the job with Luis, her boss, who is an attorney for the insurance company? What does Hayden do there? Hayden is a paralegal. In her previous job, she handled probate – the process of settling decedent’s estates. At her new job, Hayden is training as an investigator, and she is a working paralegal responsible for the drafting and filing of legal pleadings, and reviewing policies and claims.

 

I found myself questioning Hayden and Mallory’s friendship. Mallory and her boss, Ed, tried to use Hayden. Then Mallory becomes angry with Hayden for doing her job. Why does Hayden put up with that behavior? Hayden and Mallory have been best friends forever. They are also each other’s devil’s advocates. They’ve worked together in the past. Now that Hayden’s role has changed and they are on different sides of the same case, they need to find their footing. As Hayden tells Luis, “We’ve known each other forever. We argue, don’t talk for a while, but we always have each other’s back. No matter what.”

 

What is well-known diver and author Kurt Milan doing in Belize? He’s been hired by clients to shoot a documentary of the Blue Hole. For all that is known about the Hole, there are many unanswered questions. Cousteau and his men did not get to the bottom, but they did determine that much of the structure was formed above ground and gradually submerged. The bottom of the Hole was not reached until 2018. The information discovered changed much of what we thought we knew about the Hole, and required a significant rewrite of Death Dive.

 

What is bad air? Air that is somehow contaminated with something, often carbon dioxide. It can occur innocently, the fill station too near a source of engine exhaust, but can be fatal. In specialty diving, it can be a poorly prepared gas mix that creates a safety hazard.

 

Hayden is almost left behind by the boat while she is still diving. Does that happen often? What system do they use to prevent that from happening? Not often, but unfortunately, it does happen. One of the most famous cases was depicted in the 2004 film Open Water. Dive boats use various methods to try to prevent a missing diver. Most common are sign in boards and roll calls. Less common are token boards where the diver takes a token before the dive and replaces it on the board when they return.

 

What is a safety sausage? Ah, ye olde safety sausage! They are three to six foot plastic tubes, usually bright orange, that the diver can inflate from their air supply or by blowing it up manually. I have often thought if the diver could manually inflate a safety sausage, they had the lung capacity to get back to shore! When not in use, the sausage rolls up and is secured by a clip to a dive vest. When a diver surfaces far from the dive boat, the best thing to do is get that sausage in the air. It makes you visible to your boat and can keep you from getting run over.

 

Why don’t rebreathers give off bubbles? I always thought of them as breath recycling machines. A diver’s exhale is returned to the device where scrubbers clean the carbon dioxide and recycle it back to the diver to rebreathe. Not only do they not produce bubbles—they’re silent. Spooky stuff.

 

Why are divers fascinated by other divers’ deaths? That varies by the individual, of course. As is common in most extreme sports, tragedies and near misses serve as learning experiences.

 

What differentiates recreational divers from technical divers? Not too much! Recreational divers use air in their tanks and stay at shallower depths. Technical divers use mixed gases depending on the dive and regularly end dives with decompression.

 

Why did Hayden try a risky dive she wasn’t qualified to make? Was her ego too engaged? Yes indeed. She was foolish and should have known better. To be honest, I tried to tell her. She insisted.

 

Can employees be personally sued for actions they took while on the job? In the legal world they can. As a paralegal I carried both errors and omissions insurance and liability insurance. It’s a scary world!

 

Hayden is a bit clumsy, isn’t she? She has her moments! I think she gets that from me!

 

After being shot at, Hayden is suspicious of everyone, even Luis. Has she become paranoid? No, not paranoid. Being shot at made her take a step back and dive deeply into the people involved in the case. One of her favorite tools is to create a mind-mapping chart of relationships. In this case, everyone had a personal connection to the decedent and Luis attempted to conceal his.

 

What’s next for Hayden? Hayden is at a crossroads. The past few years have been difficult. She’s changed jobs, but not professions, her heart is in the law and she always intended to attend law school. The pandemic threw a hitch in her plans, and now she’s trying to find her way.

 

Thank you for inviting me to the other side of WWK! This has been fun. Great questions, Elaine.