That Pesky Roving Reporter

Roving Reporter: I’m so glad I caught up with you, Blanche Manos. It has been a while since I’ve interviewed you and I’d like to know if anything has changed in your life. Any new books in the works?

Me: I’m so glad you asked. Yes. In September, Pen-L Publishing will release the fourth Darcy and Flora cozy mystery, Grave Heritage.

RR: Hey, that’s great! Any chance that you can give me the inside scoop on what it’s about?

Me: Sure, be glad to. Darcy Campbell and her mother Flora Tucker have moved into their new home on Granny Grace’s acres. They are far from town and the only neighbors are the owls, other birds, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, and the occasional mountain lion.

RR: You’re kidding, aren’t you? Mountain lion? I thought your books took place in Oklahoma and everybody knows there are no mountain lions in Oklahoma.

Me (shaking my head): You’re from the city, aren’t you?

RR: Well, yes, but what…

Me: Then you have no idea what happens in those heavily wooded forests and along the river at night. Do you?

RR: Okay, you’re right but I’ve been meaning to ask you about your book titles. They all sound kind of morbid to me.  The Cemetery Club, Grave Shift, Best Left Buried, and now Grave Heritage. Do you realize all those titles have something to do with (shudder) cemeteries?

Me: I kind of suspect they do. You see, I wanted something to tie the books together and since the first book had the word “cemetery” in it, I decided to go with that theme.

RR: What about the first book in your new series, Moonlight Can Be Murder. Does it center around cemeteries too?

Me: Oh, my, no! It centers around moonlight and how murders seemed to happen under a full moon.

RR: Do you mind if I say I think you’re just a tad on the weird side? I mean, I understand you taught kindergarteners, sweet little lovable children, and now you are writing about crime? Isn’t that an odd quirk?

Me: Nobody ever said that writers are normal. If they were, I don’t think mysteries would ever have seen the light of day. By the way, what is “normal?” Are you normal? Oh, never mind. Don’t answer that. Real life is sometimes a bit mysterious too, isn’t it? Also, I like putting people I meet into my books. I change the names, of course, and disguise them so they don’t really recognize themselves. I’ve been thinking of putting a reporter in the next mystery.

RR (with a squeaky voice): As the victim?

Me (laughing): You never can tell.