Why on earth do you do these things to your characters? Thatโs a question Iโve
heard often from readers, and one I feel compelled to answer. Iโll probably get
that question a lot more once people read
A WEE DOSE OF DEATH, in
which Peggyโs dear friend Karaline gets shot.
So, why do I do it?
Because there wouldnโt be much story without it. Because it works. Because the
story line needs it. Because it seemed right at the time. Because I couldnโt
think of any other way to handle it.
All of the above.
I do have to admit feeling really bad about shooting Karaline. Okay, okay. I
know I didnโt shoot her. But I might as well have pulled the trigger myself. As
I write, I feel what my characters are feeling, think what theyโre thinking, and
react/respond as they do.
Thatโs meant some sleepless nights throughout the journey, agonizing over
whether or not I really should push Biscuit off a dock, shoot Karaline, kill
Melissaโs fiancรฉ, or send Harper off on a wild-goose chase. It doesnโt matter
which series Iโm writing. The answer is the same: Yes.
One of the questions I wrestled with as I wrote A WEE MURDER IN MY SHOP, the
first ScotShop mystery, was
Why is Dirk, a 14th-century Scottish
ghost, here in the 21st century? I even had Karaline ask him
that, and the fact that Dirk had no idea why he was here was fairly devastating
to him. The answer, though, is here in
A WEE DOSE OF DEATH. Dirk
figures out his purpose, his mission, his gift.
And itโs pretty cool!
I found myself crying as I wrote that scene, and I hope youโll be moved by it as
well.
All he needed, to find his gift, was for Karaline to get shot.
BANG!
Itโs so much fun being able to make things happen.
Fran Stewart is the author of the Biscuit McKee Mysteries as well as a
standalone mystery A SLAYING SONG TONIGHT, about a Depression-era serial killer
whose favorite song is Jingle Bells. Her new ScotShop Mystery Series from
Berkley Press begins with A WEE MURDER IN MY SHOP.
Fran lives quietly with
various rescued cats beside a creek on the other side of Hog Mountain,
Georgia.
She sings alto with a community chorus and volunteers at her
grandchildrenโs school library. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery
Writers of America.
A second dose of Scottish charm from the author of A Wee Murder in My
Shop.
While business is booming at the ScotShop in Hamelin,
Vermont, proprietor Peggy Winn doesnโt have time to toast her good fortune
thanks to her hot-tempered, fourteenth-century Scottish companion. Being thrust
into the modern world hasnโt been easy for Dirk, but Peggy is at her witโs end
trying to keep the ghostie galoot in line.
But when the local police chief
finds the body of Peggyโs friend Karalineโs college professor in a deserted
mountain cabin, everyone is thrown for a loop. It seems the secretive professor
may have been killed over his ecological work, an idea thatโs only reinforced
when Karaline herself is shot. Now Peggy and Dirk must set aside their
differences to put the cold-blooded killer under loch and key...
I know what you're saying, Leona. Some of the hardest books to read are the ones
that hit close to heart-rending subjects. We authors frequently agonize over
choices like that, though.
(Fran Stewart 10:35pm January 19, 2016)
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