What are you currently working on?
The next “Mrs. Jeffries” book, number 37 in the series. The working title is
“Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods”.
Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why?
Goodness, this is a tough one but I’d have to say my favorite one was a Young
Adult book I wrote back in the early nineties. The title is: “Remember Me”. A
dear friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer while I was writing this, which,
oddly enough deals with the death of young man. I had a few pages left to
write when I heard she’d passed and I was devastated. Nancy was a middle
school teacher and a wonderful, no nonsense lady I’d met when we’d joined
the local church. After my character died in the book, I just couldn’t write the
last ten pages. I sat at my desk and stared blankly at the screen unable to
coax out even one word. Suddenly I felt her hand on my shoulder and in that
‘teacher’s voice’ she said, “Now, come on. You’ve got a few more pages to
finish this project - just start writing and get it done. I know you can do this.”
An hour later, the book was completed and those last ten pages didn’t require
one word to be re-written. She’d been my friend for twelve years and I
dedicated the book to her. Hearing Nancy’s voice that morning is the only time
in my life I’ve had what could be called a ‘psychic’ experience but I know it was
absolutely real.
What books have most influenced you as a writer?
There are so many that it’s hard to single just one – I’ve been influenced by
dozens of masters of the craft. Raymond Chandler, P D James, Stephen
King, Nora Roberts, Patricia Highsmith, Barbara Michaels…or goodness, the
list is endless but if I had to choose one major influence, it would have to be
Erle Stanley Gardner. My father had all his Perry Mason books in paperback
and I started reading them as a young teenager. I loved all his characters
including the ones on the TV series and to this day will still watch old reruns.
Perry Mason stood up for the little guy, the one being railroaded by the
system. His “fighting for the underdog” very much influences my work.