When did you realize you wanted to write novels?
My family home had floor to ceiling bookshelves like an old-fashioned library, and I used to climb up the steps and sit there for hours, pulling out books and always finding an entertaining story or knowledge.
A house isn’t a home without walls of books! My first novel was in First Grade, when I wrote about a group of children adopting neighborhood cats and dogs, with illustrations. It was a bestseller among my schoolmates!
How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?
I was co-editor of my high school literary magazine, writing poetry and short stories, and worked after school for local newspapers writing articles, so my writing career began very early. It continued through college and Journalism school, overseas work, and my professorship. However, I had never written a mystery until now, although I was always a fan of the genre.
Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?
Traditionally at first, and I now co-own a small press called Solis Mundi, which I took over from another publisher who retired.
Where do you write?
I can write anywhere, anytime, anyplace, because I was a journalist, often in very difficult situations, and I had to adjust to the local environment and short deadlines. My inspiration for novels comes from being near water or fountains. That’s probably because I’ve often lived near the seaside.
Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?
I tend to choose the music based on the chapter I’m writing. If it’s a romantic scene, I’ll choose classical or pop, and if it’s a thrilling scene, I’ll often choose opera.
How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?
All of my historical mysteries in the Dr. Josephine Plantae Paradoxes are drawn from real life. I’m lucky in that I can base my series on the life of my grandmother, the first woman doctor in large areas of Brooklyn. The true history is almost unbelievable at times, and you can’t make up anything as good! There are fantastic plot points, like doctors writing “booze blanks” to prescribe whiskey for their patients during Prohibition, and Fascist meetings in Brooklyn, and plots to storm the White House and overthrow the president — these things really happened. Some might sound familiar, as history often repeats itself.
Describe your process for naming your character?
The first three books in my series have been called “politically astute madcap romps”, so I try to keep the wit flowing when I write and when I name my characters. For example, in Belladonna, which has a cast of opera divas and dons, I have a ship’s captain named “Bevilacqua” which literally means “drink water” in Italian, and other operatic names.
Real settings or fictional towns?
Real settings.
What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Dr. Josephine is a smart and feisty first woman doctor, but she was also an orphan. So she knows how to pick-pocket and other useful tricks for a sleuth.
What’s your quirkiest quirk?
I love wit and satire, so I try to use as much as possible in my novels. My style is Commedia dell’arte for this series.
If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?
The Alexandria Quartet by Laurence Durrell. It’s so poetic.
Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?
I wish I’d stayed living in Europe. It was amazing. Now I only get to spend a month or so there.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
I don’t understand wanting to follow celebrities or buying luxury brands at all. Seems very shallow to me.
You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Books or water, shelter, food. Remember the Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith when he gets to his safe room with all his books, finally having time to read, but he then steps on his glasses. Ouch!
What was the worst job you’ve ever held?
Jobs with rude angry co-workers: 1. French luxury jewelry store in NYC. Horrible. 2. Connecticut public schools — many special needs directors are IMHO angry and horrid people. If you’re stuck with very bad people, then it’s truly a nightmare. Fortunately, I started my own import-export business, travelled the world, and had a wonderful life. I started a social enterprise for special needs students, too. The best revenge is to live a better life. Be kind to others!
Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?
I gravitate towards flawed but well-meaning characters, and there are so many!
Ocean or mountains?
Oceans
City girl/guy or country girl/guy?
City with a country escape! I can’t stand the suburban sprawl.
What’s on the horizon for you?
In book 3, Cinchona, Coney Island Bones, Dr. Josephine is called to examine medical and spiritual artifacts found in an indigenous gravesite in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Cinchona is the featured poison cure. Book 4 is Digitalis, A Deadly Dame, is a noir and features Chief Detective O’Malley., Finally, Helleborus, Death on the Hudson. Aconite, Queen of Poisons is the first book in the series. Soon, there’ll be a prequel called Gelsemium, available as a free giveaway.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Many people don’t know that Belladonna is one of the most deadly poisons or that Italian fascism was popular and almost took root in Brooklyn just before WWII.
A Dr. Josephine Plantae Paradoxes Mystery, Book 2
In this politically astute madcap romp, Josephine sets sail aboard a luxury ship to find out who killed an Italian opera diva on a Brooklyn stage. But it’s the poisonous plant Belladonna that takes center stage. Who's the killer aboard? Could it be one of the priests carrying the relics of the first American saint, a surreal artist and avantgarde fashion designer with shocking behaviors, an austere British lord, a mysterious Mussolini official, a Nazi doctor, or any of the talented but narcissistic opera divas and dons?
As events heat up prior to World War II, the bodies pile up along the Promenade Deck, as Josephine seeks to solve these Belladonna crimes with deeper roots. Josephine and her friends must catch a killer in international waters before the ship docks in Fascist Italy and it’s too late.
