Category: behind-the-book

Behind-the-Book: 5 Facts About Truth or Die

Behind-the-Book: 5 Facts About Truth or Die

Admittedly, book six in The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Truth or Die, doesn’t have a lot of secrets. It was a nice, polite book that cooperated with me from the start. But that’s not to say I didn’t make any changes, or that it didn’t have any challenges. Today, I’m sharing five tidbits about Truth or Die. 1. The idea to jump ahead a few months came while writing Misfortune. From Cliffhanger to Misfortune, Belinda and Bennett’s story spans just a few months, basically one summer. By the time I wrapped Misfortune, I knew I wanted to jump ahead with the next […]

Behind-the-Book: The Inspiration for Misfortune

Behind-the-Book: The Inspiration for Misfortune

One of the most thrilling parts of writing a book is when you get THAT idea. The one that gives you butterflies all over the place and makes you want to drop everything and start writing. And when you’re writing a series, this feeling can be especially important to keep the romance alive for your characters and setting and, well, for you. Going into the fifth book of The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, I knew I wanted to take a different approach to keep it fresh for readers and for me. In the end, two main things became inspiration for […]

Behind-the-Book: The Setting of The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries

Behind-the-Book: The Setting of The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries

As a reader, a setting can actually draw me into a book or a book series. As a writer, the setting can spark ideas. I generally like to work with fictional settings because of the freedom, but they’re usually based on a real place or area.   The story and characters play a large part in choosing an appropriate setting for each story. My cozy mystery series, The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, is set in a fictional place called Portside, located in Rhode Island. Belinda and Bennett made sense on the coast to me, not to mention I love the […]

Behind-the-Book: The Tour That Inspired Belinda & Bennett

Behind-the-Book: The Tour That Inspired Belinda & Bennett

Can you picture Belinda and Bennett parading around Portside in a carriage? Or taking a turn on the grounds, Belinda twirling a parasol and Bennett in a dapper hat? (Well, maybe you can picture the hat!) That’s essentially the image that laid the groundwork for The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. Let me explain.     It all started because I toured a few of the old mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, which take you back to Gilded Age America – when industry moguls like the Vanderbilts dominated society (and didn’t have to pay income tax!). It was the tour of […]