Goodreads asked B.V. Lawson:

What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

B.V. Lawson When I was a child, my grandmother used to say my father's American ancestors who emigrated from the Netherlands were known as "Black-Dutch." I didn't think about that phrase again for years until I reached adulthood and researched it out of curiosity. But what I found was puzzling as there's quite a bit of mystery surrounding the term, with many different interpretations regarding its ethnic origins: does “Black-Dutch” refer to a Native American genealogical link? The mysterious Melungeons of the Southern U.S.? Or Dutch people of Spanish or Portuguese extraction, or possibly Sephardic Jewish colonists?

Of course, the mystery author in me began conjuring all sorts of subplots and branching intrigue regarding these people and their origins. Was the meaning behind "Black-Dutch" purely ethnic or was there a more sinister, criminal underpinning? Were my ancestors a bunch of rogues or gypsies? Did they leave the Netherlands for new opportunities or were they running from the law? This line of thinking naturally led to various storylines for either historical or contemporary crime fiction settings, although I haven't decided in which direction the trail should lead. One thing’s for sure: I appear to come from a long line of rather mysterious people, which makes my choice of occupation seem somehow predestined. #MysteryWeek

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