Some Behind the Scenes Secrets...

/

I love finding Easter eggs (surprises hidden by the developers) in software and bloopers in films. Here are a few secrets from my mysteries that you may not have known about…

In the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, I often named police, waiters, EMTs, lawyers, and other minor characters after some of my favorite pop culture folks. You’ll see some 80s rockers and 70s TV characters serving some amazing dishes or keeping law and order.

In the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, Jules themes the vintage trailers and the tiny houses. Her special décor ties in with the camper like the 1947 Robin Hood Trailer that is decked out in honor of its namesake, the 1959 Sunliner Caravan that sported a posh pink Barbie fashion design in honor of the year that the camper and the doll debuted, and the 1953 Redman New Moon, decorated in honor of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball’s movie from the same year, The Long, Long Trailer. The tiny houses all have a book or author themes and fun amenities like a revolving bookcase or a reading nook for the guests to enjoy. These are named for Beatrix Potter, Bram Stoker, A. A. Milne, and L. Frank Baum. (And I may have been watching The Tiger King at the beginning of the pandemic when I wrote Christmas Lights and Cat Fights.)

I am a huge 80s pop culture fan. Jules is named for Demi Moore’s character in St. Elmo’s Fire. Her last name is a tribute to all the women who wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. Jake is named for Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.

In the Pearly Girls Mysteries (May 2024), the bigger-than-life Chihuahua (at least in his own mind) is named for the one and only Elvis. The four “Golden Girls” who help Cassidy with her event planning business (and her love life) are named for my grandmothers, great-grandmother, and my grandmother’s best friend. And the handsome new bartender in town is named after Austin Butler (who recently played Elvis). I know, there’s a pattern here.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Daphne Silver

/

I’d like to welcome Daphne Silver to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you never want to run out of: Ideas or energy. Unfortunately, I have seemed to run out of the energy part already.

Things you wish you’d never bought: Shoes that hurt and don’t have support, even if they are cute

Things you need for your writing sessions: A laptop and being left alone, even in a busy cafe or place

Things that hamper your writing: People talking to me, which is slightly ironic because I’m a big extravert.

A few of your favorite things: So many books, especially the first edition Edgar Allan Poe I gave my husband.

Things you need to throw out: my maternity clothes. My kiddo is 7 years old already.

Words that describe you: Creative, enthusiastic, generous of spirit

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Bombastic, talkative, speaks before thinking.

Favorite foods: Pizza, dark chocolate, paneer makhani

Things that make you want to gag: Mint, coffee, red meat

Favorite smell: Vanilla, gardenia, tea rose

Something that makes you hold your nose: canned tuna

The last thing you ordered online: Winter gloves

The last thing you regret buying: Pillow covers instead of pillows

Things you’d walk a mile for: My family

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: My family

Things you always put in your books: Unexpected history factoids

Things you never put in your books: Graphic gory violence

Things to say to an author: I can’t wait to read your book!

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Why do you waste your time writing?

Favorite places you’ve been: Italy and Ireland

Places you never want to go to again: Middle school

Favorite books (or genre): Cozy mysteries

Books you wouldn’t buy: Horror, unless they’re for my husband

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Painting. I was a painting major in college.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Learning a new language. I don’t have any linguistic abilities.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: The missing bejeweled covers to the ancient Book of Kells

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: I’m not as daring or smart as my heroine Juniper Blume

About Daphne:

Daphne Silver is the author of the Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. She’s worked more than twenty years in museums and has the great fortune of being married to a librarian. When she’s not writing, she’s drawing and painting. She lives in Maryland with her family. Although she’s not much of a baker, she won’t ever turn down a sweet lokshen kugel.

Let’s Be Social:

http://daphnesilver.com

http://facebook.com/daphnesilverbooks

http://instagram.com/daphnesilverbooks


#WriterWednesday Interview with Gerald Elias

/

I’d like to welcome author and musician, Gerald Elias, to the blog!

Things you need for your writing sessions: Imagination, something to write with, coffee, and a window to stare out of when my brain goes blank.

Things that hamper your writing: Distractions, lack of ideas, no coffee, and thoughts of pastrami.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Promotion, marketing, learning how to brag about my work without sounding like I’m bragging.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Conjuring up the words –– sometimes even the right ones –– to create entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking stories.

Words that describe you: Willing to dive in, ethical, organized, hardworking.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Rash, insistent, too goal oriented.

Favorite music or song: A Mozart piano concerto, Schubert string quintet, or a Bach violin sonata.

Music that drives you crazy: Bad Christmas music arrangements (which means just about all of the new ones), and just about anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Something you’re really good at: Playing music, talking at public events about music and writing, cooking (especially Italian).

Something you’re really bad at: Mountain climbing. I get dizzy too easily, and it scares the crap out of me when I look down and feel like I'm going over the edge. (Gulp.)

Last best thing you ate: I slow-cooked a brisket in the oven for 6 hours. It was so tender you could cut it with a fork. I’m drooling as I write. (Let me know if you want the recipe. It's amazingly easy.)

Last thing you regret eating: That last bite of brisket, leaving my plate with nothing left on it.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Exercise, fresh air, relaxation, a nice view, and especially if there’s a beer or coffee at the end of the mile.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: People talking nonstop about their health issues, i.e. “the organ recital.” Also, loud music, but that would be okay if it covered up the “organ recital.”

Things you always put in your books: Quirky and engaging characters, plot twists, and humor.

Things you never put in your books: One-dimensional characters, gore, gratuitous sex, or endless details about weapons of mass destruction.

Things to say to an author: Go for it! Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! Enjoy the journey, whatever the destination.

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: Let me at least put up a good fight while saving a damsel in distress, and then leave a nice epitaph.

Favorite books (or genre): Thrillers by John le Carré, mysteries by Walter Mosley, Donna Leon, and Dick Francis, and adventures by Patrick O’Bryan.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Books on self-help, financial advice, pseudoscience, and The Art of the Deal.

People you’d like to invite to dinner: Mozart and Fani Willis.

People you’d cancel dinner on: Anyone who says they’ll vote for Donald Trump.

Favorite things to do: Go outside, write books, play music, drink coffee, and most of all, be a hands-on grandpa.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Filling out tax returns, but I don’t think the IRS will accept running through a fire or eating bugs as an excuse.

About Gerald:

Gerald Elias leads a double life as a critically acclaimed author and internationally recognized musician.

His award-winning Daniel Jacobus mystery series, beginning with Devil’s Trill, takes place in the dark corners of the classical music world. Murder at the Royal Albert, the eighth and most recent installment of the series, was described as a “clever, pacey entry” by Publisher’s Weekly. The audiobook version, featuring excerpts of live performances by the Boston Symphony and the author himself, received praised from AudioFile Magazine “as an altogether delightful listen.”

Elias has also penned two standalone novels: The Beethoven Sequence, a chilling political thriller, and Roundtree Days, a Jefferson Dance Western Mystery, which was a 2023 Silver Falchion Award finalist. His musical memoir, Symphonies & Scorpions, was the subject of his 2019 TEDx presentation. His essays and short stories have been featured in prestigious journals ranging from The Strad magazine to Coolest American Stories 2023. He has just signed a new deal with Level Best Books for two new mysteries, Murder on Vacation and Wild Horses.

A former violinist with the Boston Symphony and associate concertmaster of the Utah Symphony, Elias has performed on five continents and has been the conductor of Salt Lake City’s popular Vivaldi by Candlelight chamber orchestra series since 2004. In 2022, he released a groundbreaking recording of the Opus 1 violin sonatas of the Baroque virtuoso-composer, Pietro Castrucci, on Centaur Records.

Elias divides his time between his home on the shores of Puget Sound in Seattle and his cottage in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, savoring the outdoors and maintaining a vibrant concert career while continuing to expand his literary horizons. He particularly enjoys winter, coffee, cooking, travel, watching sports, and being a hands-on grandpa.

Let’s Be Social:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gerald.elias

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geraldelias504/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerald-elias-6a67a0157/

Website: www.mysteriesandmusic.com