A Wicked Welcome to Annette Dashofy!
by Julie, wintering in Somerville
I am thrilled to welcome Annette Dashofy back to the blog, and the celebrate the release of her new book, Keep Your Family Close.
Changes
I remember my mother always grumbling about changes. She wanted everything to stay status quo. Of course, change is inevitable. According to Ben Franklin, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I would never want to argue with one of our founding fathers, but I feel “change” needs to be added to that quote.
We all undergo changes, some good, some bad. In the final months of 2023, I ran into a few weeks of both. I’d been cruising along, thinking I knew what I was doing and what I would be doing for the next few years of my writing career. All was blissfully moving along according to plan.
Then my agent and friend, Dawn Dowdle, passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack. I’d just spoken to her days earlier, mapping out a plan of action, discussing writing projects and contracts. The news that she was gone had me in tears. Not only would I not have any more of our laughter-filled phone conversations, but what the heck was I going to do now? My “plan” had been torpedoed.
After a number of days, I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and reached out to some author contacts. Before I knew it, I was signing an agency agreement with Paula Munier and Talcott Notch Literary. Had this not happened as a result of my friend’s untimely death, I’d have been dancing on my rooftop. As it were, I felt immense relief. And no small measure of terror. I’d been playing it safe in many ways for years. Paula is challenging me to up my game. It’s a challenge I’m excited about and am embracing. But in the unknown, there is that terror that I mentioned.
“Change” may have been forced upon me near the end of last year, but I’ve decided it’s my Word of 2024. I’m still terrified, but the excitement of a new project is simmering. The bones of a new story are rattling around in my brain.
But as I think about change in my life, I’m also thinking about my characters. They’re as “real” as other humans (my change-fearing mother also worried about the imaginary friends I talked to as a kid), so they need to face change as well.
Granted, there are characters out there who live through dozens of books and who never change—not naming names—but I want my characters to grow.
In Keep Your Family Close, my recent release and the second in the Detective Honeywell Mysteries, both Matthias Honeywell and Emma Anderson are faced with circumstances that change who they are. Matthias is set in his ways. He’s single. He likes playing the field. He feels safe keeping those walls up between him and anyone who might make him think about commitment or that “L” word. But along came Emma in the first book (Where The Guilty Hide). The feeling she provoked in him scared the bejeezus out of him! As the new book starts, he has tried really hard to back away and stay in his safe zone—until he finds Emma’s missing sister, deceased in an abandoned warehouse. Not only does he feel Emma’s anguish and want to protect her, when she shows up with a male friend in tow, Matthias discovers a deep well of jealousy.
Of course, very little is as it seems, and both of them face changes to their lives that they didn’t expect. By the end (no spoilers!) they’re both different people than they were at the beginning.
I’m currently drafting the follow-up novel and they’re facing even bigger problems and going through even harder changes.
For characters or for humans, change is often difficult. But like diamonds, we need the pressure in order to change from a rock to a gem.
What about you? Are you planning to make any big changes in the coming year? Or are you hoping to stay the course for a while?
About the book:When a badly decomposed body is found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse, Erie police detective, Matthias Honeywell, is called in to investigate.
Meanwhile, freelance photographer Emma Anderson is desperately trying to find her drug-addicted sister, Nell. Then a devastating piece of evidence found at Detective Honeywell’s crime scene brings her world crashing down, a driver’s license belonging to her missing sister.
In need of her assistance, Matthias asks Emma to help with the case, hoping to solve the mysterious disappearance of Nell Anderson. But in doing so, will the investigation uncover more questions than answers?
About the author:
Annette Dashofy is the USA Today bestselling author of fifteen mystery novels including six Agatha Award finalists and one Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award winner. Keep Your Family Close is the second in the Detective Honeywell series set on the shores of Lake Erie.
