The Book:
This book was born the day my neighbor called my first story a “Snooze Fest.” I immediately (no hyperbole here) went to my computer and, as the back cover explains, sat with my hands on the keyboard, stared at a blank screen, and repeated, “Write what you know. Write what you know.” I said it over and over until the keys started moving. What the back cover did not disclose was what was written when those keys moved.
“I got fired from the first job I ever had.” —the first sentence of Dead, Dead in Villa Del Rio.
That first sentence led to three good chapters in a matter of days. The good chapters became very good chapters once edited and rewritten. Then edited and rewritten again, and then again—for years.
It was only when I stopped telling people I was writing a book that I finished it, an additional sixteen chapters.
Writing Dead, Dead in Villa Del Rio was fun.
I liked writing the comedy, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing the story’s murder mystery. The way it unfolded was unexpected. The who was not a surprise. I knew who and why early. It was how the story revealed all, in its own time and own way, that was fascinating. Rushing got me nowhere. Delete, delete, delete. The story was in control—or were the characters?
Once I introduced the characters to each other and gave them a place to ‘be,’ Maddie and the others took it from there.
“Have a seat, Sharon, and enjoy the ride,” said Maddie.
