Where Do Your Sleuths Live?

I write where I know. I’m a Virginia girl, and all of my stories and books are set in the Commonwealth. We have mountains, beaches, lakes, and urban and rural areas.

My sassy private eye, Delanie Fitzgerald, lives in a Yates Model of a Sears Catalog House. Back in the day, folks would order the home from the catalog, and it would arrive by rail to be assembled on your lot. Many of the boards and parts had the model numbers stamped on it. There are quite a few that have been restored across the country. The Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries are set in Chesterfield and Richmond, Virgina, and she sleuths in the nearby towns and counties.

In the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, I made up the small town of Fern Valley which is located near Charlottesville, Virginia. Jules restores vintage trailers to create glamping (glamorous camping) experiences for her guests. She owns a campground full of vintage trailers and tiny houses. Jules lives in one of the restored cabins on the back of the property.

In the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries, Jade Hicks lives in a small beach cottage that she inherited from her grandmother. Her shop and house are in the fictional town of Mermaid Bay. It’s located near the Historical Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. ‘Tis the Season, her shop, is in a converted beach cottage with a large front porch. The town prides itself on preserving the traditions of the quaint beach towns of the past without McMansions and big box stores.

In the Pearly Girls Mysteries (March 2025), Cassidy Jamison is an event planner who lives on her property. Her apartment is the top floor of the converted farmhouse which is also her office. The event site boasts a refurbished barn, a serenity garden, an amphitheater, and a cave. Cassidy lives in Ivy Springs, Virginia, which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains along the I-81 corridor.

In my cozy mysteries, I created fictional towns near real places in Virginia. Each amateur sleuth has the type of job that brings her into contact with a lot of people (many of whom turn out to be suspects).

It’s fun to create worlds for the characters and places for them to live and work and solve crimes.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Susan Schwartz

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Susan Schwartz to the blog today for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: Pen, paper, highlighter, computer, a great idea, good writing music, big glass of unsweet iced tea

Things that hamper your writing: Playing on my phone, slow internet, household distractions – pets, laundry, dishes

Hardest thing about being a writer: Coming up with good ideas for new stories while the characters from previous stories keep asking when they are coming back for a sequel

Easiest thing about being a writer: Being an introvert, I love the solitary time I get to write.

Favorite foods: Chorizo, Salchichon, Manchego, Birch Beer, Pizza, Anything Italian or Spanish, some Vietnamese

Things that make you want to gag: Cilantro, Cottage Cheese, Mushrooms

Last best thing you ate: Grilled chicken breast with shrimps and crab meat

Last thing you regret eating: Sausage patties

Things you’d walk a mile for: Help out an injured animal or charity that I believe is doing great work

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: Being accosted in a store, People who chew with their mouths open and those who think because they are chewing gum everybody wants to see and hear it,,,,,,,,,,We don’t!

Things you always put in your books: A little bit of me and my life experiences, a twist at the end

Things you never put in your books: Political or religious overtones

Things to say to an author: I love your book, how did you go about getting published, what is your favorite type of tea?

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: This book sucked and I would burn it, you are an awful writer who I will never read again………

Favorite places you’ve been: Rome, Pompeii, Madrid, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia Zoo, Paris, Seoul, and any Hard Rock we could find in any of those places

Places you never want to go to again: Orlando – just a really bad experience, Las Vegas – been 7 times, had enough, LOL!

Favorite books (or genre): Horror, Paranormal, Medical and Psychological Thrillers, some historical type fiction - for example, I loved The Girl with the Pearl Earring based on a painting by Vermeer. Da Vinci Code and subsequent sequels were also quite interesting.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Fantasy, Westerns, Historical Romance

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Stephen King, Bentley Little, Michael Palmer, Daniel Palmer, Penn & Teller, Tom Ellis, David Baldacci, Geoff Castellucci, Keanu Reeves, Thomas Jefferson, Stjepan Hauser, Luka Sulic, Lindsey Sterling

People you’d cancel dinner on: Any reality TV show person, Leland Gaunt (Needful Things), Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs), Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter), Bill Sikes (Oliver)

Favorite things to do: Write, read, travel, traipse old cemeteries and graveyards, answer really weird questions, LOL!

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Writing, eating cilantro, organizing big projects, public speaking in front of non-peers, facing shots or blood draws

The coolest person you’ve ever met: John Barrowman, Star Trek Cruise 2017 – William Shatner, Marina Sirtis, Terry Ferrell, Ethan Phillips, John de Lancie, and a whole bunch more, really exciting to have them altogether. I also met John Grisham at the Virginia Book Festival one year, and he tried to tell me he was Stephen King.

The celebrity who didn’t look like he/she did in pictures/video: Teller because he actually talks – LOL!, Seeing some of the Star Trek people in street clothes was really a game changer, they didn’t look like themselves, especially those characters who played a Ferengi or other space creature.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: The short story called “I Thought You Did!” I incorporated some of what was happening in my son’s college adventures into the story. I just embellished it quite a bit.

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: My story – The Sparkling Floor – Whenever OR people read it, they always tell me they know not to make me mad anytime soon. I just laugh maniacally…it couldn’t possibly be true to life or could it?

About Susan:

I have been an avid writer for around 25+ years doing everything from writing freelance articles to editing manuscripts for other authors. I also love to write horror stories that have a twist at the end. My alter ego is an Operating Room Nurse/Nurse Educator who loves creating tales from the interesting and weird things I have seen. I am a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Virginia Writers Club where I have served as President of the Richmond Chapter and 1st Vice-President of the state organization. I have two novels in the works, a paranormal romance and a medical thriller. My non-fiction book, Haunted Charlottesville, was released in May 2019. Another paranormal book, Haunted Inns and Hotels in Virginia, will be released August 2023.

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanschwartzauthor/

 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ncc17lu

 Website: www.susanschwartzauthor.com

 Instagram: @susan.schwartz3

20 Things I Learned about Specialized Law Enforcement in Virginia

Recently, Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia hosted a specialized law enforcement panel with officers from CSX Railroad, the Virginia Alcohol Beverage and Control Board, and the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries. Their jobs and jurisdictions are unique, and I picked up some good information for future mysteries. Here are a few things I learned.

1. The railroad police began with the Pinkerton guards. Allan Pinkerton was also the Father of the Secret Service.
2. All of these law enforcement agencies work closely with other local, state, and federal groups. They are often involved in special task force efforts.
3. Railroad tracks are on private property. If you're on them, you're already trespassing.
4. A lot of modern shipping (retail, HAZMAT, and military) goes by rail.
5. Train riders (stow-aways) often tag the railroad cars to leave messages for others in their community. Hopping trains is illegal. If caught, you could receive a ticket or be arrested.
6. If you have an issue or an emergency at a railroad crossing, look for the blue sign at the gate. It has a contact number. If you're stuck on the tracks, notify the railroad authorities on that sign. They can notify any oncoming trains.
7. Technology helps with safety (e.g. camera on trains and sensors on the tracks).
8. It takes time to stop a train. A train hits a car with the force that a car would hit a soft drink can. If you get stuck on the tracks, get away from the car.
9. Trains are quieter now (except for the whistle). If you're on the tracks (and if you have headphones on), you might not hear it.
10. Virginia prohibition enforcement began in 1934.
11. Currently there is an exhibit on alcohol and Prohibition at the Library of Virginia. It's called "Teetotalers and Moonshiners." It runs through December 2017.
12. In the past ABC officers were called revenuers.
13. If you're interested in the history of moonshine, check out the National Geographic's documentary. A lot of it was set in Virginia.
14. Game wardens became Conservation Police Officers in 2007 in Virginia.
15. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries uses science to determine the wildlife populations across the Commonwealth. They decide if hunting/fishing numbers need to be increased or decreased to protect natural populations.
16. Virginia's Game and Inland Fisheries just celebrated its centennial. For more information, check out its YouTube channel.
17. Curtilage is the maintained area around a house. This is usually the boundary of where they can search unless there are special circumstances.
18. Baiting for hunting is illegal in Virginia. Often you will see corn on the ground (deer) or peanut butter on trees (bears) to attract animals.
19. Blaze pink will be an official safety color in addition to blaze orange.
20. Coyotes are not native to Virginia, and there are no bag limits on them. If you hunt and fish in Virginia check their publications or website for licensing and restrictions.

How Much of Your Mysteries are Based on Truth?

Recently, I was asked, "How much of your mysteries are based on real events or places?"

I do a mix of real and fiction in my short stories and novels. All of my city settings are real places. I tend to set my works in Virginia cities and counties because I write what I know.  If a crime occurs, I make up that location's name. I wouldn't put a horrific or violent event at a real restaurant or store. But if you've been to the real cities, you'll recognize landmarks and street names.

I get ideas for crimes and capers from real cases, but I usually take liberties with the details. In my short story, "Washed up," a beat up suitcase washes up on Chick's Beach, and it's filled with some mysterious contents. Back in the 80s, there was a real case where suitcases filled with body parts did wash up on beaches on the East Coast. In my story, I thought it would be interesting for beachgoers to find something old and sinister in an unexpected place.

I carry a notebook with me wherever I go, and I am always jotting down names and interesting tidbits that might one day make their way to a story.

I base some of my characters on combinations of real people. I blend characteristics of several real people to make an interesting fictional person. And phrases that family and friends say frequently appear in my stories. I have two co-workers who keep asking me to make them villains. I haven't done that yet, but I do hint from time to time that unruly team members will end up in a dumpster in a future story.

I use friends and family member's names for minor characters. In Secret Lives and Private Eyes (out May 2016), my sleuth, Delanie Fitzgerald, gives herself all kinds of aliases in her investigations. These are usually names of friends and family. And every once in a while, you'll find police, EMTs, or FBI agents named after my favorite authors, rock stars, or actors.  

One of my oddest writing moments happened when a woman with the same name as one of my main characters followed me on Twitter. What a fun surprise!

One of my favorite mugs...

My Winchester Adventure...

Last weekend, we visited Winchester, Virginia, and we toured the most beautiful library that I've ever seen. The Handley Regional Library is in the downtown district. The dome, stained glass, spiral staircases, statues, and books, books, books are incredible! What a great place to spend an afternoon!

We found Patsy Cline's grave at the Shenandoah Memorial Park and visited her home on Kent Street.

Virginia is such a scenic state. To a girl from the flat part of the state, the mountains are majestic, and I can't wait to get back to see them when the leaves start to change.