Today
we sit down for a chat with Samantha Washington, bookseller and amateur sleuth
protagonist of V.M. Burns’ Market Street Mysteries Bookstore series.
What was your life like
before your author started pulling your strings?
I was a high school English teacher. I went to work
every day and I enjoyed teaching, well mostly. I had a steady income. My
classes were mostly the same with very little variation, but I was safe. Some
might have called it boring, but it was familiar and as comfortable as an old
bathrobe. I had my secret dreams of running a bookstore and writing British
historic cozy mysteries, but few people knew about those. My life wasn’t
exciting, but I didn’t have people trying to kill me. When my husband died and
I quit my job to open the bookstore, I felt scared. I was in unfamiliar
territory and alone. Now, I’m living my dream of running a mystery bookstore
and writing, but I feel vulnerable. The vulnerability is not just because I
keep finding dead bodies and catching murderers, but my dreams are now exposed
for the world to see and judge.
What’s the
one trait you like most about yourself?
Even though I may be afraid to try new things and put
myself in dangerous situations, I am able to overcome those fears and do what
needs to be done. I think it’s what I admire most about the British in World
War II, the time period for the British cozy mysteries I write. Even though the
United States didn’t enter the war until later, Britain didn’t wait until they
had the support of the allies before they took action.
What do you
like least about yourself?
I wish I were daring, like my Nana Jo. I don’t think she
is afraid of anything. She is confident and embraces life with both hands. She
and her friends say it comes with age. I hope when I’m her age, I can possess a
fraction of her spunk and zeal.
What is the
strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?
The strangest and scariest thing that’s happened to
me was when Nana Jo and I were almost shot for setting off the metal detectors
at the local police station in The Read Herring
Hunt. If it weren’t for my sister Jenna, who happens to be an attorney,
coming to the police station, we could have died.
Do you
argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?
We often argue. My author constantly pushes me into
unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations. I prefer to stay in my comfortable,
familiar and safe world, surrounded by books. Yet, in each book, she continues
to push me to do more things that cause me to stretch outside of my comfort
zone. For example, in The Read Herring
Hunt, she puts my life in danger while exploring the House of David. If she
hadn’t pushed me into exploring a new relationship, I would have been home and
safe.
What is
your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is that I won’t be able to put the
clues together and someone I love will suffer. In The Read Herring Hunt my assistant, Dawson Alexander, is arrested
for murdering his ex-girlfriend. The police are confident they’ve got their
murderer and aren’t looking for anyone else. Nana Jo and the girls from the
retirement village are great at using their extensive social network to find
information. However, it’s up to me to put the information together and figure
out whodunit. If I fail, someone I care about could pay for a crime he didn’t
commit.
What makes
you happy?
I love reading and writing mysteries. Spending time
at my bookstore, Market Street Mysteries, helping people find new authors is
one of the things I enjoy. Nana Jo is the only member of my family who reads mysteries,
but having my family around me also makes me happy. I love when my nephews
Christopher and Zaq come to help out at the bookstore. I also enjoy when the
Sleuthing Seniors and other book clubs meet at the bookstore and enjoy Dawson’s
baked goods and talk and read mysteries.
If you
could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?
If I could rewrite a part of my story, I would have
taken a chance and quit my job sooner, while my husband Leon was alive. My
husband’s death was the trigger that started me on this journey. We had often
talked about opening a mystery bookstore some day. When Leon died, I realized
life is too short not to take a chance. So I sold our house, quit my job and
opened the mystery bookstore we’d always dreamed about. It’s bitter sweet to
have the bookstore without Leon. So, if I could rewrite anything, I would not
have been afraid to take chances. I would have opened the bookstore and started
writing my British historic cozies sooner rather than later.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?
My mom, Grace Hamilton, is the one character who
bugs me. Don’t get me wrong. I love my mom. However, after just a few days in
her presence, I am no longer, the confident, independent woman who can quell an
entire classroom of teenagers with one look. Instead, I become the insecure,
teen who never felt like she measured up. Every Sunday, I spend time with my
mom. We go to church and then go to lunch and a movie or shopping. However,
invariably I end up going home questioning my life choices, my wardrobe or even
my makeup.
Of the other characters in
your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?
If I could change places with any character in the
book, I would love to spend a day in Lady Elizabeth Marsh’s shoes. Lady
Elizabeth is the character I created in the Story within a story. She is
married to Lord William Marsh and aunt to Ladies Penelope and Daphne Marsh.
Lady Elizabeth is intelligent, confident and shrewd. She rules Wickfield Lodge
in a time when women did not have a lot of power. Yet, she gains the respect of
her friends, family, servants, and even Scotland Yard.
Tell us a little something
about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?
V.M. Burns and I have a lot in common. We are both from
the Midwestern United States, although, she currently lives in Eastern
Tennessee. We are both very fond of dogs, especially poodles and both have two.
We both secretly dream of owning a mystery bookstore and writing British
historic cozy mysteries. In that regard, I’m further along than she is. She has
two other mystery series that will release in 2018, but hasn’t yet quit her job
and opened a mystery bookstore. You can read about her other mysteries on her
website.
What's next for you?
Nana Jo and I are planning a trip to England. It’ll
be a great opportunity for me to do some research. I’m hoping it will be very
low key with no dead bodies and no international incidents. However, given our
track record, anything’s possible.
Read Herring Hunt
Market Street Mysteries Bookstore is
thriving thanks to owner and aspiring mystery writer, Samantha Washington. The
local college football team is also thriving. MISU is undefeated thanks to Sam’s
tenant, baker and local football hero, Dawson Alexander. When his
ex-girlfriend, Melody Hardwick is found murdered, Dawson is arrested. Samantha’s
sister, and lawyer, Jenna Rutherford, agrees to represent Dawson. But it’s up
to Sam, her grandmother, Nana Jo, and the girls from the retirement village to
use their connections to find the real murderer. At jeopardy is more than just
a winning season, a football scholarship, and Dawson’s freedom. Failure to
catch the real killer could cost another life.
Writing helps Samantha sort through the
information she and the girls uncover, so she starts the second book in her
British historic cozy mystery series. In the English countryside in November of
1938, Edward the VIII has abdicated from the throne to marry American divorcee,
Wallis Simpson. Germany has rearmed and is threatening Poland. Britain is on
edge and the world is on the brink of war. Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor,
attempts to help England avoid war and secure prominent positions for her and
Edward by negotiating a diplomatic solution. In the age old British tradition,
she invites prominent diplomats to a country shooting party. However, last
minute plumbing issues at Fort Belvedere force her to move the diplomats to
Wickfield Lodge, home of Lord William and Lady Elizabeth Marsh. When Wallis’
maid, Rebecca Minot is found murdered wearing the duchess’s clothes, the Marsh’s
must determine not only, who the intended victim was, but must catch a cunning
murderer and avoid a catastrophe that could send not only England but the
entire world into another war.
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