Red Brick Buildings

One of the settings in my mystery novel, Fatal Whispers, is the Old Port district of Portland, Maine. Known for its cobblestone streets and 19th-century architecture, the area houses specialty shops, restaurants, colorful cafés, and bars.

What fascinated me while researching the history of Portland was the discovery of a Great Fire that occurred there in 1866. While the city was celebrating the first July 4th after the Civil War, a massive fire broke out. It destroyed most of the commercial buildings and left 10, 000 people homeless. However, recovery was swift, and the city was rebuilt with red brick structures in grand Victorian style to portray its economic rebirth. Even today, many of these buildings remain—a testament to the resilience of the architectural style of the past and the energetic development of the community.

The lasting power of these structures reminded me of the main protagonists in my mystery series—characters who beat the odds and overcame obstacles, no matter how dire the consequences. Ghostwriter Megan Scott and investigative reporter Michael Elliott stand tall in the face of attempts to thwart their crime-solving efforts. They don’t flinch in the face of threats but remain resolute in digging up the truth.

As an example, here’s a short passage from Fatal Whispers that portrays Megan in a risky situation:

I could feel the sweat gathering along my forehead and upper lip. I held my breath, praying I wouldn’t inhale any of the poison inside the box. In desperation, I tore my gaze from the potential catastrophe in my arms to the indicators that signaled what floor the elevator was on. Only the third? What was taking so long?

Getting stuck in small dark spaces was a phobia that originated from my childhood days. I’d locked myself in a cedar chest by accident once while playing a game of hide-and-go-seek in the attic. My mother had rescued me after my playmates had told her I’d vanished into thin air.

My claustrophobia was in full force now. I looked to my left, then to my right. People behind me. People in front of me. The elevator was filled to capacity. Like a recurring nightmare, the doors opened on almost every floor but no one got off. The doors kept opening and closing, opening and closing, until I thought I’d scream.

I didn’t remember the rest of the ride down. When the elevator doors opened on the ground level, an invisible net seemed to pull me into the lobby with the others and force us to move as one. My legs felt stiff. I couldn’t break away.

The crowd finally dispersed and cleared a path in front of me.

I saw Michael. His expression turned to one of unease the moment he spotted me. His stare dropped down to the oblong box in my arms. I could always tell when he gets worried. Tiny furrows form along his brow and his blue eyes lose their sparkle.

Want to read more? You’ll find Fatal Whispers at online retailers listed here.

My Guest: Gail M Baugniet

Photo of Sunset on the Beach: © Depositphotos.com/silvestrova

Photo of Sunset on the Beach: © Depositphotos.com/silvestrova

Join me in welcoming mystery author Gail M Baugniet to my blog today. Prior to writing full-time, Gail worked for insurance companies and with law enforcement as a police officer and security dispatcher. After living through many snowy winters in northern states, she now lives in Hawaii where she is working on her next mystery novel. Gail is a member of Sisters in Crime, Inc., and current president of the Sisters in Crime/Hawaii chapter in Honolulu.

Here’s my first question, Gail. What do you consider your biggest struggle as a writer?

My plot and subplots become a bit convoluted at times. Over the course of writing and editing drafts, I sometimes get timelines or events mixed up. For instance, in WITH FIERY VENGEANCE, I had Pepper attending a court hearing at a time that preceded a previous scene, but it wasn’t meant to be a flashback. It was a minor error that required some fancy rewriting to fit everything into a sequential timeline. That is why beta readers are so helpful; they catch my plot missteps.

What book or books have influenced your writing style the most?

Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises comes to mind. Although I write mysteries, this story sticks with me because of the Paris setting. I often choose books by the story’s venue and choose the location before I begin to plot a story. With mysteries, even a locked room can become the setting, but something about that room must appeal to the reader, either its decor, the warmth of a fireplace, or possibly an enticing but troubled spirit.

Give us an interesting fun fact about a character in your Pepper Bibeau Mystery series.

Other than my protagonist, Pepper Bibeau, each story has a new cast of major characters. The one exception is Maluhia Frederick Kane, Pepper’s Hawaiian uncle who is a recurring figure, the person she has always depended on to give her sound advice and support her decisions. At age forty-three, Uncle Fred has never been married, and has often rebuffed the advances of available women. This raised some interesting possibilities. Though I’ve been mildly curious over the years about how that might play out, I learned along with Pepper about Uncle Fred’s ‘secret’ while writing my latest novel.

You’ve recently published the third novel in the Pepper Bibeau Mystery series, WITH FIERY VENGEANCE Anger Burns Deep. Tell us a bit about it.

The novel deals with decisions about Pepper’s fourteen-year-old son, the decisions influenced by murder past and present; and Pepper’s knack for getting into trouble without really trying, this time on two islands: O’ahu and the Big Island of Hawaii. The story, set in late 1972 and early 1973, offers an interesting contrast in lifestyles of small town Hawi on the Big Island and Honolulu’s Chinatown on O’ahu.

In addition to writing your third novel, you also participated in the creation of an anthology, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense. Describe this project for us.

Compiling and formatting the anthology was a new and satisfying experience for me. Thirteen authors living in Hawaii or having close ties to the state participated, submitting mystery short stories set in Hawaii. The short story I submitted, Chinatown Conundrum, is a spinoff of my mystery series. Author Laurie Hanan used personal photographs to design the cover for the anthology. After the stories were written and edited, I copyrighted the full manuscript, arranged the layout, and submitted the completed documents to CreateSpace for publication on Amazon.com in trade book and ebook formats. Proceeds from the sale of the anthology are to be donated to the non-profit organization Sisters-In-Crime/Hawaii to support mystery writers in Hawaii.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Gail. Wishing you continued success with the Pepper Bibeau Mystery series and best of luck with the Mystery in Paradise anthology!

How to connect with Gail:

Twitter @GailMBaugniet

Blogsite

LinkedIn

Facebook Author page

Where to find Gail’s books:

Amazon

Amazon (Anthology)

My Guest: Susan Russo Anderson

Photo of  Notre Dame in Paris, France: © Depositphotos.com/boggy22

Photo of  Notre Dame in Paris, France: © Depositphotos.com/boggy22

My guest today is Susan Russo Anderson. She is a writer, a mother, a grandmother, a widow, a member of Sisters In Crime, and a graduate of Marquette University. She has taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, and an opera company. Susan discusses her work and what inspired her to write two different mystery series that take place centuries apart.

Welcome to my blog, Susan. You are the author of four books in the Serafina Florio Mystery series set in 19th-century Sicily. What enticed you to write about the adventures of a “midwife turned sleuth” in that period?

Great question, Sandra. Beyond the surface stories—there’s always a murder that needs to be solved—is the overarching theme of the Serafina mysteries in all the novels. And that’s migration—in the broad sense, that is.

I became interested in migration a long time ago when I became enthralled with the Lower East Side, an important neighborhood in Manhattan, teeming with immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe from the 1880’s to 1925. And they’ve left their mark. The neighborhood is still an amazing place, a real melting pot, and one of my favorite places to visit. But in the beginning, as I walked the streets of the Lower East Side, characters would appear in my head and they began talking and telling stories. That’s how the series began. My head is filled with them, all related to Serafina, by the way, generations of them.

About Serafina. She’s a 19th-century sleuth and a sleuth has to have a reason for getting around the neighborhood, and one of the best reasons for a woman in the 19th century was midwifery. Midwives were a vital part of the community. They knew everything about everybody. They had instant cachet, far more important than most local officials.

Murder on the Rue Cassette is the most recent book in the Serafina Florio Mystery series. Tell us a bit about it.

The book begins in Paris on April 15, 1874. A group of painters hang their works in a studio on the Boulevard des Capucines. Elena, a Sicilian countess estranged from her husband and living in Paris for the past seven years, attends the opening with her latest flame. She counts many of these artists as her friends, some as her former lovers. Three hours later, Elena’s body is found in the Rue Cassette, fatally shot in the left temple. Her husband, Loffredo—also Serafina’s lover—is charged with her murder and awaits trial in a Paris prison.

Serafina is commissioned by Elena’s father to investigate the countess’s death. The sleuth and her entourage travel to Paris where Paul Cézanne, Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, and other notables make cameo appearances as Serafina interviews friends of the countess. At the same time, she attempts to prove Loffredo’s innocence. As the plot twists and turns, Serafina and her friends find themselves in the dangerous grip of a mind gone feral.

It’s been a busy year for you, Susan. You’ve also written Too Quiet in Brooklyn, the first book in a new adult mystery series featuring private investigator Fina Fitzgibbons. What prompted you to diversify with a contemporary series?

The protagonist, Fina Fitzgibbons, has been rattling around my head for quite some time. She’s a descendant of Serafina, by the way, and has inherited her sleuthing talent and her jade eyes. Someday I’ll write more about the family.

Anyway, Fina had to write her story, and beyond the mysteries and making a living as a private investigator, she’s got issues that need to be aired. Issues that many of us have today, but especially new adults, adults in their early twenties. I think they grapple with these issues—like loving and leaving, friendship and privacy and being disillusioned with society’s constructs, and, for women, making it in a man’s world. Beneath the surface story of Too Quiet In Brooklyn—a murder and a kidnap—Fina struggles with these modern-day issues.

Which characters did you find more challenging to write about: the ones in the Serafina Florio series or the ones in the Fina Fitzgibbons series? Why?

Another great question, Sandra! Oh, I think historical fiction is much harder to write. For instance, I know Paris pretty well, but the Paris of 1874, well, that’s a different place than the Paris of today. I had to do a lot of research, and it takes me more time to develop the characters and to walk in their shoes. I have to be very careful not to give them a modern mouth and brain. But whether the characters are contemporary or historical, I spend a lot of time with them.

Thank you, Susan, for sharing your innermost thoughts with us today. We wish you continued success and look forward to more books featuring your strong-willed protagonists!

How to connect with Susan:

Website

Twitter @susanrussoander

Where to find Susan’s books:

Amazon Author Page

Smashwords

My Guest: Carmen Amato

Photo of Acapulco: © Depositphotos.com/milosk50

Photo of Acapulco: © Depositphotos.com/milosk50

My reading world is filled with books by other authors that I’ve read and enjoyed. One of these is Carmen Amato, author of the EMILIA CRUZ mystery series set in Acapulco. Carmen is a rising star in the International Mystery category and she joins us here today.

Sandra Nikolai: Welcome, Carmen. Here’s my first string of questions for you: Do you plot your novels beforehand? If so, how do you go about it? If not, what’s your method?

Carmen Amato: I’m an outline addict. Before I start a novel I create an outline. I scribble “scenes” on sticky notes and post them on a wall. I’ll arrange and rearrange until I like the flow, at which point I’ll tape them to a poster and hang it over my desk.

That preliminary outline usually survives to about the middle of the book, at which point I’ll have had better ideas and will repeat the sticky note process. For HAT DANCE, I did this three times. By the time the book was done, the last poster was a mess, with some stickies overwritten in red and others hidden behind a snowfall of new ones.

SN: In your Emilia Cruz mystery series, Emilia keeps a log of women who have gone missing from Acapulco. Is this aspect of your novels based on actual statistics?

CA: The official Mexican government count remains elusive, but most news outlets report that at least 60,000 people have been killed or have been reported missing due to Mexico’s drug violence over the past decade. While most think that the casualties are rival drug cartel members fighting each other for control of the lucrative smuggling routes, known as plazas, too many of the victims are those simply caught up in the violence. Poet Javier Sicilia brought awareness to the missing victims of Mexico’s drug wars with a series of rallies and marches after the murder of his son. I saw one news report that said trying to find out what has happened to a missing family member costs about $32,000 in legal fees, bribes, travel, etc. The average annual family income in Mexico is about $20,000.

Emilia’s list of the missing is also a nod to the murders of over 340 women in the Cuidad Juarez area, on the US-Mexican border. More bodies are found every few months and no one has ever been held accountable.

SN: Research plays an important part in a writer’s work. Did you do your own research for scenes involving the lucha libre on the wrestling stage of the Coliseo? Or the fire scene in the restaurant?

CA: I’ve been lucky enough to have traveled a great deal and experienced many of the events and locations in my books. I’ve never been caught in a restaurant fire, however, but used my own experience being in a train derailment years ago to shape Emilia’s reaction to the fire.

As far as research goes, I’m a news junkie and often find ideas in the headlines. Books, online images, and my extensive map collection help me fill in details. My goal is to bring the reader shoulder-to-shoulder with Emilia, hearing her heart pound and helping her calculate the odds of survival.

SN: Can you give us a glimpse into your next book?

CA: Out in October, MADE IN ACAPULCO is a collection of five Emilia Cruz short stories, including “The Beast,” which was recently published in The Huffington Post’s Huff/Post 50 fiction showcase. The stories take place before CLIFF DIVER, the first Emilia Cruz novel.

I’m also outlining the next Emilia Cruz novel, in which Emilia’s discovery of a cartel killing field has unexpected implications for Acapulco’s embattled tourism industry. I’m struggling with the title—DIABLO RIDGE? DIABLO SUN? MACHETE BEACH? Any thoughts, anybody?

SN: If you could bring any fictional character to life for one day, who would you choose and why?

CA: My choice would probably be Jo Nesbo’s brilliant but dysfunctional Norwegian crime stopper, Harry Hole. I’ve read all the Harry Hole books and am waiting impatiently for the next, entitled THE POLICE. They are some of the best international mysteries out there.

Nesbo has put this character through a lot over the years and I think the maverick cop with his jeans, rocker tees, Doc Marten shoes, buzzed blonde hair, and disfiguring scars would be a fascinating person to sit around and trade snide remarks with. Provided he was sober, that is.

SN: Thanks so much, Carmen. I can’t wait to read the next book in the Emilia Cruz mystery series!


About the Author:
Carmen Amato is the author  of political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY and the EMILIA CRUZ mystery series set in Acapulco. Both draw on her experiences living in Mexico and Central America. A cultural observer and occasional nomad, she currently divides her time between the United States and Central America. Visit her website at carmenamato.net and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects. All of her books can be found on Amazon.

Setting: Portland, Maine

 Photo: © iStockphoto.com/rossandgaffney

 Photo: © iStockphoto.com/rossandgaffney

Everything about Portland, Maine appeals to me, from its world-famous lighthouse to its charming boutiques to its alluring harbor front. I couldn’t think of a better way to capture the distinctive flavors of this coastal New England town than to use it as the setting for my second book in the Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery series.

So I created Fatal Whispers, a mystery that focuses on the unexplained deaths of a millionaire’s beautiful young wife, a homeless woman, and a parish priest. Megan and Michael face imminent danger as they try to find the cause of these consecutive deaths in a town where such an occurrence is rare—even in real life. While the story will keep the mystery buffs among you searching for clues, the blend of historic and modern settings in it will add interest to your pursuit.

You’ll journey with my sleuths through the cobblestoned streets in the Old Port and visit trendy shops with arched façades and colorful awnings. You’ll awaken your senses through Megan as she breathes in the briny scent of Casco Bay and enjoys scrumptious seafood dishes in restaurants along the waterfront. A feast for the eyes, Bianca’s Gardens will help you visualize the vibrant flora displayed in this upscale flower shop at the center of a police investigation.

You’ll sit through meetings with Megan and Michael as they interview witnesses connected to high-society charities, forensic pathology, social services, and churches. You’ll be at their side as they follow leads into shadowy corners and beyond locked doorways. And you’ll hold your breath as they confront the enemy.

With a cast of colorful characters and intriguing settings, Fatal Whispers is a triple whodunit just waiting for you to solve.

To get your copy of Fatal Whispers, you'll find the link here.