Edith Maxwell's Blog, page 97

Eight Years Old

Usually when you are eight years old you are in third grade. Who was your third grade teacher? Did you like her? Where did you live? Do you have any strong memories of being eight? A picture?

Barb: When I was eight years old we lived in Montclair, New Jersey, where I attended Edgemont Elementary School. My teacher in a combined second and third grade class was Miss Hogan. I had also had her in first grade when she taught a combined first and second grade class. She was a revered teacher, who had taught a slew of accomplished people including astronaut Buzz Aldrin. I adored her.

Me as the bird in Peter and the Wolf, our class play. The cat is Virginia Severn, Peter is Hilary Hinds, grandpa is Joel Bluestein. I can’t remember the duck, but I feel like her name was Linda. Peter and the Wolf is excellent for second and third graders–no lines to learn!

Edith/Maddie: In third grade I was the short kid with the skinned knees. We had an older teacher, Miss Drumm, who taught us aeronautics, among other things. We learned all the parts of an airplane and how they fly. We each built a wooden one, so we did some carpentry, too. I did a little larceny, as well, stealing two wheels from my brother’s truck.

Edith at girl scout camp the summer after third grade.

Liz: In third grade I went to the Pleasant Valley School (it wasn’t really that pleasant) and I had Miss DiMauro as a teacher. She was super sweet and I remember liking her a lot, but I don’t remember much other than that!

Sherry: We lived in Davenport, Iowa. My third grade teacher was Mrs. Kibby and I’m so grateful to her because she worked extra hard with me and is one of the reasons I love to read. I left first grade in the top reading group, but my second grade teacher was awful. She’d fall asleep in class and leave the room for long periods of time. I left second grade in the bottom reading group. Mrs. Kibby not only worked with me in class, but sent extra reading assignments home with me. Every kid needs a teacher like her.

Julie: I had Mrs. McDevitt in 3rd grade. She was small, and very prim. The next door teacher was Mrs. Styles. Mrs. Styles was bigger, wore flowered dresses, and had long gray braids that she wound around her head. Sometimes we got to go to Mrs. Styles’ class. We’d all get up and do this shuffle dance thing while we did our times tables. I loved third grade.

Jessie: I feel like such a downer when it comes to this question! Sorry everyone! I would have to admit that third grade was a pretty terrible year for me. My family moved cross-country, I went to two new schools during third grade and my family was in considerable upheaval on a lot of fronts. One good thing about that year stands out though. Somehow an extremely kind librarian made the decision to allow me to have a library card even though I couldn’t prove residence in her town. She even let me check out as many books as I could carry. That librarian, and Nancy Drew, got me through a lot of tough times that year!

Readers: Answer the same questions!

Welcome Back Esme Addison!

I’m so happy to welcome Esme back to the blog! I’m delighted that the second book in her Enchanted Bay mystery series, A Hex for Danger, is coming out on July 13th. It is up for preorder now! And I’m thrilled to be doing an event with Esme and S.C. Perkins on July 22nd. The event is free. Click here for details!

Here’s a bit about the book:

The small town of Bellamy Bay has its share of skeletons in its closet, but it isn’t used to bodies turning up in the local history museum. After all, this coastal North Carolina town is much like any other…except, of course, for the mermaids.

Helping to run the family business, an herbal apothecary while keeping her supernatural secret hidden is no easy feat for water witch Aleksandra Daniels. But somehow she’s still found time to help her friend Celeste, who has her own Caribbean mermaid heritage plan the annual Mermaid Festival. As fun-seekers throng the beaches, Alex gets to know and is intrigued by renowned artist Neve Ryland, who’s in town to decorate the local park with a mermaid-themed mural. Celeste, however, is less enamored with the artist, as Neve has been spending entirely too much one-on-one time with her boyfriend Jasper, director of Bellamy Bay’s history museum. Then, a reception for Neve ends abruptly when the artist is found dead in his office.

The police investigation nets Celeste who asks Alex to find the true culprit. With the help of her magically-inclined aunt and cousins, Alex dives in to clear her friend’s name. But there was more to Neve Ryland than met the eye…and Alex fears she may be in way too deep. Will she catch the crook or be next on the hook?

Esme: Like many people, I enjoy visiting the beach.

There’s just something about the feel of the sun on your skin, the smell of the ocean, the crunch of the sand underfoot, the lulling action of the waves and the sound of the crashing surf that calms me, instills a deep sense of well-being and tranquility.

Research confirmed for me what I already knew – being near the ocean provides quantifiable benefits for the human brain. This article in HuffPost is just one of many that discusses the topic. And it is those types of interesting facts: myth, wives’ tales, and fables that are based in science that I enjoy exploring in my speculative fiction.

If you read my series, you’ll find that I try to be as realistic and factual as possible even with my fantasy elements. The sea is healing and a source of power in the Enchanted Bay Mystery series – and that’s not made up!

Speaking of the sea, I actually feel at home at the ocean’s edge – so it’s no wonder I created a cozy mystery featuring women descended from mermaids. Ladies that can command the water and heal with herbs, some that come from the sea.

Even though this series is inspired by my Polish-in-laws culture, in many ways it is an own voices story. Not culturally or racially, which is how that term is traditionally used. But I work with herbs and use herbal remedies to heal my family. I find restorative powers by the sea – and in the sea. And like the characters in my Enchanted Bay series, I value family above all else.

I am not, however, a mermaid!

But I do believe there is magic in our world – if we just know where to look. And so my latest novel, A Hex For Danger is quite personal to me. A mystery that incorporates realistic magic, deep family connections and people seeking answers.

I hope you enjoy reading the second book in the Enchanted Bay Mystery series, A Hex For Danger as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Readers: If you love going to the beach, what is it about that part of the earth that resonates with you?

Bio: Ever since Esme discovered Nancy Drew, she’s wanted to solve mysteries. As a mystery author, she’s finally found a way to make that dream come true. A former military spouse, Esme lives in Raleigh, NC with her family. When she’s not writing or dreaming up new mysteries for her sleuths to stumble upon, you can find her dancing her calories away in Zumba, patronizing her local bookstores or visiting the beach, the mountains and all historical sites in between. Learn more about Esme at esmeaddison.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @EsmeAddison.

The Great Eight

Jessie: In New Hampshire, feverishly running headlong towards a June 1 deadline!

In keeping with this month’s theme concerning the number eight I found myself reflecting on the past few years of my career and all the things that have happened or that I have learned along the way. I came up with a list of the top eight things I love about being an author. Here they are in no particular order:

All stationery purchases can easily be justified. This includes notebooks with thick creamy paper, shimmery bottled inks and beautifully crafted fountain pens.Reading isn’t an indulgent pastime but rather it is more of a saw-sharpening exercise. After all, if one does not read, how can one possible hope to write with any degree of skill? Daydreaming and imagining are all part of a good day’s work. Sitting at the desk staring out the window or stretching out on the floor of the office gazing up at the ceiling are pursuits worthy of being penned into the calendar.Life’s unpleasantnesses can be spun into gold on the page. Every time I get cut off in traffic, put on hold by a bureaucraticminion or encounter a service provider who clearly would like to pursue another career path, I make a mental note of ways the experience can be added to a novel. In this way even a difficult day ends up being valuable. You can set you own dress code. The pandemic opened this up for a lot of people who suddenly found themselves working remotely. But authors have always enjoyed that particular perk. I know a lot of people have taken to dressing down in recent circumstances but I have derived a great deal of pleasure from wearing shoes that would not be comfortable if I couldn’t kick them off after a while or dresses and jewelry that are generally reserved for conference banquet nights. Such fun!Research trips are a business expense. For writers like me who love to travel, this is a huge boon! As soon as conditions allow I have a few trips in mind. I have a stash of frequent flyer miles simply burning a hole in my pocket!As a follow up to the previous benefit, sliding down research rabbit holes makes for a better final product. I adore the research phase of any project and enjoy building time for it into my schedule. In fact, next month my work blocks will be entirely devoted to indulging my curiosity on a few subjects that have been on my mind of late. I cannot wait to see just where they will lead!And finally, connecting with readers, either in person or in online spaces such as this one never gets old, no matter how many years go by! I am so grateful to all of you who have helped make an author career possible by dint of your interest in reading! Here’s to at least eight more years of fun!

Welcome Guest Raquel Reyes

Welcome, Raquel! I met Raquel at Bouchercon in St. Petersburg, Florida a couple of years ago. I was immediately impressed with how smart and passionate she is. I’m so delighted that since then she got a contract for her new Caribbean Kitchen mystery series. Just writing that makes me hungry! The first book in the series is Mango, Mambo, and Murder which is up for preorder. The book doesn’t come out until next October, but I couldn’t wait until then for you to hear about it! I’m happily reading it right now. Here’s a bit about the book:

Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith becomes a seasoned sleuth in Raquel V. Reyes’s Caribbean Kitchen Mystery debut, a savory treat for fans of Joanne Fluke and Jenn McKinlay.

Food anthropologist Miriam Quiñones-Smith’s move from New York to Coral Shores, Miami, puts her academic career on hold to stay at home with her young son. Adding to her funk is an opinionated mother-in-law and a husband rekindling a friendship with his ex. Gracias to her best friend, Alma, she gets a short-term job as a Caribbean cooking expert on a Spanish-language morning TV show. But when the newly minted star attends a Women’s Club luncheon, a socialite sitting at her table suddenly falls face-first into the chicken salad, never to nibble again.

When a second woman dies soon after, suspicions coalesce around a controversial Cuban herbalist, Dr. Fuentes–especially after the morning show’s host collapses while interviewing him. Detective Pullman is not happy to find Miriam at every turn. After he catches her breaking into the doctor’s apothecary, he enlists her help as eyes and ears to the places he can’t access, namely the Spanish-speaking community and the tawny Coral Shores social scene.

As the ingredients to the deadly scheme begin blending together, Miriam is on the verge of learning how and why the women died. But her snooping may turn out to be a recipe for her own murder.

Raquel: Miriam Quiñones-Smith is the main character in my Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. Here is the doll I used to help me visualize her. Is that weird? It’s kind of like having a three-dimensional mood board.

Miriam is Cuban-American with a Ph.D. in Food Anthropology. (Did you know the percentage of Latina’s with PhDs is in the single digits?!. That’s one reason it was important to me to have an aspirational Latina in my story.) She faced prejudices and stereotypes in her pursuit of higher education, and her doctorate was hard-earned. Dr. Quiñones is also the mother of a preschooler.

So, when Miriam’s husband asks her to postpone her professorship search to stay at home with their young son for a year before he starts kindergarten, she is conflicted. She loves her son. She loves her husband. And she REALLY wants the career she’s studied years for. She has a passion for Caribbean culture and foodways. All those sleepless nights with a teething baby in one arm and a research book in the other hand have to pay off. The ink on her diploma is barely dry. She can’t give up her dream of writing an African diaspora Caribbean cookbook that easily.

Mothers often put their careers on hold to be the primary caregiver. I know I did, especially regarding my writing, which was one of the motivations I had for giving Miriam such a heartstring conflict. She worked very hard for those letters behind her name. She wants and deserves the career that goes with them. Thankfully, her best friend offers her a good solution. And the It Takes a Village adage (workplace childcare, afterschool care, and of course family and friends) comes into play, too.

            You’ll have to read Mango, Mambo, and Murder to find out exactly how Miriam juggles career, motherhood, and amateur sleuthing.

Readers: Does access to quality childcare change career outlooks for mothers? Would it have made a difference in your career path? Look for the giveaway below!

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Raquel V. Reyes writes stories with Latina characters. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and the Caribbean feature prominently in her work. Raquel is a co-chair for SleuthFest. Her short stories appear in various anthologies, including Malice Domestic’s Mystery Most Theatrical and Midnight Hour. Mango, Mambo, and Murder, available 10-12-21, is the first in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series. She blogs on Cozy Florida with two other Florida cozy authors. Find her on social media as @LatinaSleuths.

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Giveaway: Raquel loves all things Miami like Miami Vice, flamingos (neon and real), art deco, wild parrots, and the Golden Girls. She has a Golden Girls magnet set to #Giveaway to one randomly drawn person that leaves a comment on this post and joins her newsletter between now and June 15th.

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The Current Now

by Julie, enjoying spring in Somerville

Over the winter I listened to Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody series. I have read through the series at least twice, and enjoyed hearing Barbara Rosenblatt’s narration. “Recommended for you” brought up the first novel in her Vicky Bliss series. I realized that I’d never read The Laughter of Dead Kings, the last book in the series. Or perhaps I had, but I was still so early in my own writing career I ignored the preface, where Ms. Peters (actually Ms. Mertz, but I digress) talked about “the current now”.

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Vicky Bliss is a character in a “present day” series written by Elizabeth Peters. I put quotes around present day because the first novel, Borrower of the Night, debuted in 1973. Here are the release dates of all six novels:

Borrower of the Night (1973)
Street of the Five Moons (1978)
Silhouette in Scarlet (1983)
Trojan Gold (1987)
Night Train to Memphis (1994)
The Laughter of Dead Kings (2008)

Though there are 35 years between the first and last novel’s publication dates, in book time it’s been five or 6. And yet, in the last book, The Laughter of Dead Kings, Vicky, John and Schmidt all have cell phones, which places the novel in the 21st century. The author explained that in her preface.

“So how do we writers explain the inconsistencies and anachronisms? We don’t. We can’t. So please don’t bother writing to point them out to me, ignore them as I have, and place yourself in ‘the current now’. To quote my friend Margaret Maron, to whom I owe that phrase and other excellent advice, ‘Isn’t it fun being God in our separate universes, where we can command the sun to stand still, and it does?'”

As a writer, I’ve been thinking a lot about the choices she made while writing this series. The first four were published within 14 years, so keeping book time made sense. In 1994 she kept to the same book time, and the book felt like it was placed in the 70s or 80s. But writing in 2008, wrapping up the series, she felt like she needed to make a leap in the world time, but keep the book time the same. She makes comments about Egyptian tourism and artifacts in Laughter that required some 2008 context, and that may have been why.

I should also say that the series holds up. The plots are strong, more romantic suspense than mystery but that’s fine. There are passages that show the time period, but they don’t feel dated. I’m a huge Elizabeth Peters fan, and am so grateful for the joy she’s given me over the years, especially over the last few months. For other fans, you know that Jacqueline Kirby and I are becoming reacquainted now.

Every writer, including all of the Wickeds, make their own choices about the worlds they create. These choices are about locations and characters. But they are also choices about time, and how it passes.

I just turned in book #5 of the Garden Squad series. It takes place a year after Pruning the Dead. In “real” life, over 3 years will have elapsed. In writing it, I tried to eliminate as many time references as possible. I hope to write many more books in this series, and I have no intention of ever addressing the pandemic, so 2020 can’t exist. Does that mean that book 8 may skip three years? Perhaps. Or perhaps time may keep creeping forward.

I read a quote by Agatha Christie talking about her Hercule Poirot character. She said that if she’d know how popular he’d be, she would have made him younger earlier on. As a writer in 1920, she couldn’t have imagined how popular her Belgian detective would be. She definitely subscribed to “the current now”, and kept him roughly the same age while the rest of the world moved on. Happily for all of us.

The Laughter of Dead Kings is the second to last Elizabeth Peters novel published. The last (written solely by her) was A River in the Sky, an Amelia Peabody. Both of these books are really wonderful, over the top yarns spun by a master. As both a writer, and a reader, I’m a big fan. I’m also glad to know, and understand, the concept of “the current now”.

Readers, any Vicky Bliss fans? How do you feel about the concept of “the current now”?

Eight in the Evening

Last week we talked about what we are doing at eight in the morning. What are you normally doing at eight in the evening Wickeds?

Julie: After years of working a full time job, my writing time is evenings and weekends. At 8pm, I’m frequently working on a novel. I try and stop by nine, and that’s when I knit. In non-pandemic times, once a week or so you’ll see me in a theater at 8pm.

Liz: By eight I’m either trying to do the word count I may not have gotten to at eight in the morning, or if that’s done (and sometimes even if it’s not) I may be watching a show or reading a book.

Edith/Maddie: Because I get up so early, I’m toast by eight. Dinner is over and I’ll be on the couch with a book, quite possibly with a little glass of bourbon at my side.

Jessie: Eight at night is totally variable for me. My work day is over, dinner is done and dusted and as my kids are no longer in the needing help with bedtime phase, my time is my own! I might be attending a Zoom lecture or tour. I might be visiting online with friends. If the weather is nice I love to spend some time in the screen house listening to records and reading. Sometimes I am in the living room knitting in my favorite chair whilst watching a class on SkillShare. Other times I am watching something with my husband on television. The only thing that is certain is that my dog Sam will be curled up nearby!

Barb: At eight in the evening we are finishing dinner and clearing away the dishes. Then, at least on most of these pandemic days, Bill and I are settling in to watch TV. In the last thirteen months I feel like we’ve watched everything that is on television. That said, we’ve seen a lot of terrific, amazing stuff.

Sherry: Often we are on the couch to watch some show that we both like or I’m getting ready to take Lily out for her last walk. Now that it is light so much longer, I like to go out for a little stroll sans Lily. A couple of nights ago I tried to get her to go for an evening walk, but she was not having it.

Readers: What are you usually doing at eight in the evening?

Welcome Debut Author Mia P. Manansala #giveaway

I’m so happy to introduce you to Mia! I first met her at Malice Domestic, was impressed by her impassioned speech when she won the Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Crime Writers of Color, and amazed by her volunteerism with Sisters in Crime and the broader crime writing community. Arsenic and Adobo, Mia’s debut book in her Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series just came out last week. Here’s a bit about the book:

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…

Mia: Cabot Cove. Stars Hollow. Midsomer County.

What do these places all have in common? They’re charming, quirky, entirely fictional, and great places to set a murder mystery. OK, so as far as I know Gilmore Girls never had a whodunit episode, but think of the possibilities!

Why set your story in a fictional place rather than ground your story in an existing setting? This was something my mom asked me when I told her my book wasn’t set in Chicago (though there are mentions of my protagonist’s life in Chicago), but a fictional small town a few hours outside the city. She pointed out that setting it locally would appeal to other Chicagoans who’d delight in recognizing familiar landmarks. Which was something I’d taken into account when trying to figure out the world of my setting, of course. But in the end, I chose a fictional setting for a few reasons:

I needed it to be a small town

While it’s possible for cozies to take place in big cities (KILLER CONTENT by Olivia Blacke is a prime example since it’s set in Williamsburg, NYC), the premise for this book first came to me as a play on certain rom-com tropes, most notably the small-town girl who goes off to the big city to make her mark on the world but is forced to return home. I reference my protagonist Lila’s life in Chicago, but it’s mostly to contrast her life in Shady Palms.

I didn’t want to be constrained to an actual town’s geography

As a Chicagoan, I HATE when books and movies get it wrong and I didn’t want to be that person writing about a place that’s clearly unfamiliar to them. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m terrible at both geography and descriptions. Early readers of my initial draft would ask me questions about the town since my characters seemed to exist in a void—I had no idea what the defining features of the town were, the size of the population (I’m a big city girl, so my ideas of a “small town” are rather skewed…), or even what Lila’s family restaurant looked like.

Luckily, one of my critique partners said certain aspects reminded her of Ottawa, IL, which was exactly the population size and distance from Chicago I was hoping for. I went on a writing retreat to a farmhouse AirBnB in that town with some friends and soaked in the atmosphere as I revised. I used that trip as well as my imagination to start filling in the blanks. The best part is, since I’m writing a series, the town expands a little in each book—after all, Shady Palms is a character, and every character should exhibit growth as time goes on!

Mia on the porch of the Air BNBI like the challenge of coming up with a fun town name

[INSERT PHOTO OF MANUSCRIPT. CAPTION: Early draft of ARSENIC AND ADOBO before it had a title]

I love how unusual town names can be (did you know that there is both a Booger Hole AND a Booger Hollow in the U.S.?) and knew I wanted my setting name to be unique. After trying more common names like Shady Grove, Shady Oaks, and Shady Pines (all of which apparently exist in Illinois), I decided on Shady Palms as a placeholder until I found something better. The more I wrote, the more the town name seemed to fit, and so Shady Palms, IL was born.

Dear Readers: Do you prefer books set in real locations or fictional towns? Also, do you have a favorite fictional location? Answer in the comments to be entered in a giveaway for a physical copy of ARSENIC AND ADOBO! U.S. only.

Bio: Mia P. Manansala (she/her) is a writer and book coach from Chicago who loves books, baking, and bad-ass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture. A lover of all things geeky, Mia spends her days procrastibaking, playing JRPGs and dating sims, reading cozy mysteries, and cuddling her dogs Gumiho, Max Power, and Bayley Banks (bonus points if you get all the references.)

Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @MPMtheWriter

Survey Says…and a #giveaway

by Barb, happily typing away in Portland, Maine

Halloween Party Murder Advance Reader Copies are here! These are uncorrected proofs of the novella collection with stories by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and me that will be released on August 31, 2021. I’m giving away one copy of the ARC to two lucky commenters below.

When Shucked Apart was published in February, I conducted a giveaway for a print of my new map of Busman’s Harbor, Maine. When people responded with their names and physical addresses for mailing, we asked them a few (entirely voluntary) survey questions. I thought you might be interested in the answers.

In all, 522 people requested the physical maps, which was, weirdly, almost the exact number I had estimated. The vast majority chose to answer the survey questions. As a survey sample, the responders have to be viewed as unscientific. Unless “people on Barbara Ross’s mailing list, who care about the Maine Clambake Mysteries enough they want a map/and or love maps and/or can’t resist free stuff,” can be taken as a sample.

Here are the results.

How will you read Shucked Apart?

Audiobook 4%Ebook 46%Mass max paperback 50%

How will you access the book?

Amazon 50%Independent bookstore 8%Library 19%Other large retailer (B&N, Chapters/Indigo, Walmart, etc.) 21%Share with or gift from a relative, friend, etc. 2%

Have you read the previous 8 books in the series?

None 9%Some, but not all 30%Yes to the books, no to the novellas, 20%Yes to all of them 41%

The one statistic that surprised me was the 9%, approximately 50 people, who wanted the map, but had read none of the books. I had assumed that the people who would order the map would be diehard fans, especially as it is freely viewable online.

A glance at the comments section, however, indicated that many of these people had some or all of the books sitting in their TBR piles or ebook libraries and saw the map as motivation to dig the books out and read them. I hope it worked!

Speaking of the comments section, there were so many lovely, lovely comments about the series. I blush. Thanks everyone who commented so very much.

Readers: Do any of the survey results surprise you? Comment below or just say “hi” to be entered to win an ARC of Halloween Party Murder.

Guest Annette Dashofy #giveaway

Edith here, blissfully alone in a Cape Cod cottage for a week writing my brains out. And delighted to welcome my good friend (and sometimes retreat-mate) Annette Dashofy back to the blog! She has a new book out that I can’t wait to read. One lucky commenter here will win a signed copy of Death by Equine!

Veterinarian Jessie Cameron agrees to fill in for her mentor, Doc Lewis, at Riverview Racetrack so he can take a long-overdue vacation. When he’s tragically killed by one of his equine patients the night before he’s supposed to leave, Jessie quickly suspects the death is anything but accidental. Her search for the truth is thwarted by everyone from well-meaning friends to the police, including her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Undaunted, she discovers layers of illegal activities and deceit being perpetrated by the man she thought of as a father figure, creating a growing list of suspects with reason to want Doc dead. Too late, she realizes that her dogged quest for the truth has put her in the crosshairs of a devious killer desperate to silence her. Permanently.

You Should Have Been a Vet

One night many many years ago, I received a frantic phone call from one of my horsey friends. She thought her mare was dying. Her vet was out on another emergency call and couldn’t get there for over an hour. In tears, she asked if I could come over and wait with her. Of course, I went.

As soon as I arrived at my friend’s barn, I pressed a thumb into her mare’s gums to observe how quickly they pinked back up. The capillary refill time was normal. Having no stethoscope with me, I pressed an ear to the mare’s belly and noted the absence of bowel sounds, something that should always be present with a horse. I quickly diagnosed colic. Had I thought about it earlier, I’d have brought the syringe filled with banamine that I kept in my refrigerator. Lacking the drug, I suggested my friend and I take turns walking the mare until the vet got there.

Once he did, he pressed a thumb into the mare’s gums. Then he listened to her gut with his stethoscope. “It’s colic,” he proclaimed and immediately injected her with banamine. Shortly afterwards, the mare passed manure and was fine.

My friend was ecstatic. “You should’ve been a vet!” she said.

Those words, spoken on a stressful night, stuck with me and were a seed that eventually sprouted in the form of Dr. Jessie Cameron, DVM. Jessie first traveled from my mind to the page back in 2005, well before Zoe Chambers and Pete Adams appeared in my subconscious.

I’d certainly done enough minor veterinary procedures on my own animals. Neighbors who knew I kept that syringe of banamine in my fridge (because I once had a horse who colicked on a regular basis) called on me when one of their foals suffered from the ailment. Still, I was not a vet, but I figured I had a good base from my experience to write about one.

Another friend had once gotten me onto the backside of a local racetrack because I had a horse with a mystery lameness. The racetrack vet had lots of experience with lameness and had the diagnostic equipment to determine the cause of my riding horse’s on-again-off-again limp.

An old well-known and well-loved veterinarian was tragically killed by one of his equine patients. It was horrible. The man was nearing retirement and apparently trusted the horse too much. Or maybe he simply wasn’t paying attention. Or both. It was another incident that imprinted on my mind…and is likely part of the reason I decided against being a vet!

Three separate events over a wide number of years, which rattled around in my memory, gelled into a character, a location, and a plot.

Was it that easy? Oh, heck no. I did a lot of research, picked my veterinarian’s brain numerous times, observed and assisted on lots of procedures, and worked as a groom at the racetrack. But the genesis of my latest book definitely goes back to that night in my friend’s barn and her words: You should’ve been a vet.

Fellow writers, have you had snippets from life that stuck with you until they ended up in a story? Even decades later? And readers, have you ever had a moment when someone’s words made you consider a different path? Did you follow it? I’ll send a signed copy of the book to one lucky commenter

Annette Dashofy is the USA Today best-selling author of the multi–Agatha Award nominated Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic and deputy coroner in rural Pennsylvania’s tight-knit Vance Township. Her latest release, a standalone, is Death by Equine, about a veterinarian at a second-rate thoroughbred racetrack seeking the truth about her mentor’s mysterious death. She and her husband live on ten acres of what was her grandfather’s dairy farm in southwestern Pennsylvania with their very spoiled cat, Kensi.

A Lovely Visit and Some Research

I just spent two weeks with my mom in the Florida panhandle. It was my first trip in over a year and my first time back in Florida in sixteen months. It was so great to get to see my mom. Being there with toes in the sand is a lovely way to renew my connection to the area and it enabled me to do a bit of research for my Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Saloon mysteries. While I was there I turned in the third book in the series, Three Shots to the Wind, worked on the release for A Time to Swill which comes out on July 27th, and tinkered with ideas for the untitled fourth book.

So what is my connection and why write about this area? My parents started vacationing in the Florida panhandle in the mid-eighties. Soon they started spending part of the winter there and finally they moved to Destin, Florida. My family lived in the area for almost three years when my husband was stationed at Hurlbert Field and taught courses on Sub-Saharan Africa at the Special Forces Schoolhouse. (Yes, that’s what it was actually called!)

Is that Chloe Jackson in the boat she inherited from Boone?

I’ve been visiting the panhandle for a long time and watched (often with horror) the massive growth of the area. It went from long stretches of lovely beaches to high rises and houses being crammed in every available space. One developer actually managed to get the city council to approve moving the road so he could make a beach front housing development. It took another area of stunning views away from the general population. Now all you can see is an ugly stucco wall and the top stories of too big houses.

There are always disagreements between the locals and the masses of tourists visiting the area. On the one hand all the tourists means there are more restaurants, grocery stores, and amusements. But there is also wear and tear on infrastructure, massive traffic jams, and more crime. The fight over who owns the beach continues with current Florida laws tilting back to property owners. Looking at the intersection of all of this is fascinating to an author like me.

It’s not always easy to put aside all the noise and just enjoy the beach. But I gave it my best shot as many times as I could while I was there. My mom and I took some wonderful walks at the Crab Trap. We loved spotting dolphins, pelicans, and just taking in the stunning color of the water against the oh, so white sand. It truly does feel like paradise at times.

Readers: Do you like doing research for projects?