There’s a tag game going around among authors. Diana Chambers tagged me posted last week and tagged me for today. She writes that she “was born with a book in one hand and passport in the other.” Before long, she was wandering Paris cobblestones. An Asian importing business led to Hollywood costume design, then scriptwriting…until her characters demanded their own novels. She writes romantic intrigues set in far corners of the world. Her first Nick Daley thriller, Stinger, was recently released by Audible, with the sequel in production. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime-NorCal board.dianarchambers.com, facebook.com/DianaChambersAuthor,twitter.com/DianaRChambers.
I’m tagging Andrew MacRae to answer the questions next Wednesday. Andy has had several mystery and crime stories published recently as well as slipstream, historical stories and children’s stories. For the past dozen years he has also had some success with poetry as well, placing poems in various literary journals and picking up occasional awards. His mystery writing tends to alternate between cozy and noir. His novel, Murder Misdirected, on the light noir side, is about a pickpocket who picks the wrong pocket one day and is now on the run from the police, the FBI and a mysterious and murderous criminal. He is a member of the board of Sisters in Crime’s Norcal chapter.http://www.murdermisdirected.com
For my turn at bat, I could have chosen a villain from one of the three Dani O’Rourke mysteries – a lot of authors say they’re more fun to create than the protagonists – but I’ve been missing the reluctant heroine of my stories since there’s been too much of a delay between writing Mixed Up with Murder and its pub date next spring. So here goes:
1.) What is the name of your character?
Danielle O’Rourke, her maiden name, by the way, since she is almost as determined as her former mother-in-law to distance herself from the title of Mrs. Argetter III.
2.) Is she fictional or a historic person?
Completely fictional, although her profession is as true to real life fundraising as I could make it, based on my experience and prejudices. The art world she moves is what I know – I’ve been a lover of art since I was a toddler, truly.
3.) When and where is the story set?
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so Dani lives here too. Unlike me, she lives in posh Pacific Heights. But because so many superb crime fiction authors have SF protagonists, I decided to complicate things by having Dani’s adventures take place in SF + one other city. So far, that’s been Santa Fe, New York, and a small town in New England.
4.) What should we know about her?
Dani’s a smart professional woman with enough polish to interact with the uber wealthy people she needs to solicit donations from, but her outer confidence is not always mirrored with inner self-confidence. She’s had her share of disappointments in life, and carries some scars, some in the form of extra pounds she worries too much about.
5.) What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
Not what, but who: Her ex-husband, Dickie Argetter III, who messed up their marriage, but now wants to be given another chance. He winds up underfoot every time there’s trouble, alternately messing up and saving the situation. He’s like a very bad puppy.
6.) What is the personal goal of the character?
To do her job well, to help the Devor Museum thrive, and to score a real, uninterrupted date with a handsome, green-eyed homicide inspector whose cell phone rings at the worst times.
7.) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?
I will be posting some fresh excerpts from all my Dani O’Rourke mysteries on my web site, beginning in January, and doing lots of special promotions in 2015. In the meantime,Murder in the Abstract and The King’s Jar are out there, in print and e-book formats, and The King’s Jar is also an Audible.com book.
8.) When can we expect the book to be published or when was it published?
The third in the series is Mixed Up with Murder, due out next spring.
