AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR M.S. SPENCER

M. S. Spencer writes cozy mysteries and romantic suspense and has published eleven novels. She’s lived or traveled in five of the seven continents but has spent the last thirty years mostly in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional staff assistant, speechwriter, editor, birdwatcher, policy wonk, non-profit director, and parent. After many years in academia, she worked for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of the Interior, in several library systems, and at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Today she sits down with us for an interview. Learn more about her and her books at her website.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I’ve been writing all my life, and had a few things published but only started to write novels 15-16 years ago. I wrote a novel before we had computers, and when we moved, my husband threw out the only copy I had of it. I loved him anyway. Then I got my first contract in 2008 with my first novel published in 2009.

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Hybrid.

Where do you write?

In my study. It works for me to have a specific space dedicated to work (I think it helps tax-wise as well.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I must have QUIET! Guess I can’t multitask like some people.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Plots: no. Characters: not really. But events and little things are definitely drawn from my rather peculiar life. And no, I will not divulge any of them.

Describe your process for naming your character?

This is almost as fun as deciding who to dedicate my book to. I usually can’t even tentatively assign a name until about the third chapter. It has to fit the emerging character. Even then, thanks to the wonders of modern technology (Find & Replace) I may change my mind a thousand times.

Real settings or fictional towns?

Both. The Pit & the Passion is set in Sarasota, Florida. The Penhallow Train Incident is set in the fictional town of Penhallow, Maine.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Oh golly, they’re all pretty quirky. Rancor Bass, hero of The Pit & the Passion, is a best-selling, wildly popular, wealthy author—and the cheapest man on the planet. But he’s awful cute.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

You’d have to ask my friends (DON’T ask my family.) Maybe that I’m the easiest person in the world to tease?

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

The Late George Apley by J. P. Marquand. It is one of the most exquisitely crafted books I’ve ever read. Or (big surprise) Pride and Prejudice.

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I would have been really, really tough on my husband’s smoking instead of thinking he could do it on his own. Too late now.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Ah, where do I begin? Gum chewing (do they know how bovine they look?), then people who can’t seem to get the extremely simple difference between “lend” and “loan.”

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

A lot of Jack Daniels, a clever man, and…I think that’s all I need.

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

The one retail job I ever had—for the 1970s equivalent of a dollar store. I was thrilled that I could get anything I wanted with my employee discount—trouble was, there was absolutely nothing I wanted. I also thought it was cool to be able to go through the door marked “Employees Only”, only to discover a disgusting bathroom on the other side. I did learn how to fold shirts.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

That is totally impossible to answer.

Ocean or mountains?

I have to have water nearby, but the ocean is not user-friendly enough. I like my Gulf of Mexico. I like mountains, too—not just forested ones, but pink bare rock like in Arizona. Do I have to choose? Why?

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

Country. As Daniel Boone was fond of saying, I need my elbow room.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I just submitted a new mystery set on Amelia Island, FL. Lots of history and bodies. I’m working on a novel set in the Peruvian Amazon. And I’m going to the beach.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Two of my books—Lapses of Memory and The Penhallow Train Incident—are in the process of being put onto audio format. A fascinating process.

Also, a little back-story about The Pit and the Passion: Murder at the Ghost Hotel: Set on Longboat Key, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it is one of the barrier islands that protects Sarasota from the bad moods of the Gulf of Mexico. In the early 1920s John Ringling, of the Ringling Brothers Circus, began a concerted effort to promote the area. He planned housing developments, hotels, the St. Armand’s Circle shopping district, and other elements to draw northerners to Florida. His last great endeavor was the Ritz-Carlton at the tip of Longboat Key. Construction began in 1926…and ended in 1926. The hulk sat moldering until 1964 when it was finally torn down. To locals it was known as the Ghost Hotel.

The Pit and the Passion: Murder at the Ghost Hotel

At midnight, in the darkness of a deserted hotel, comes a scream and a splash. Eighty-five years later, workmen uncover a skeleton in an old elevator shaft. Who is it, and how did it get there? To find out, Charity Snow, ace reporter for the Longboat Key Planet, teams up with Rancor Bass, best-selling author. A college ring they find at the dig site may prove to be their best clue.

Although his arrogance nearly exceeds his talent, Charity soon discovers a warm heart beating under Rancor’s handsome exterior. While dealing with a drop-dead gorgeous editor who may or may not be a villain, a publisher with a dark secret, and an irascible forensic specialist, Charity and Rancor unearth an unexpected link to the most famous circus family in the world.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR M.S. SPENCER

M. S. Spencer has published ten romantic suspense and murder mystery novels. She has two fabulous grown children and an incredible granddaughter and divides her time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and a tiny village in Maine. Learn more about her and her books at her blog.

My new release, Whirlwind Romance, features a heroine who makes jellies and jams from wild fruits she gathers in Florida. 

Up until my thirties, I traveled a great deal, living in many countries with amenities that many would consider below standard. So it wasn't until I married and settled down in an old farmhouse with an acre of land that I could indulge my fantasy growing my own food. We planted apple, plum, peach, fig, hazelnut, and cherry trees; gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries; all kinds of vegetables, including an ill-fated attempt to grow artichokes; and finally, lots and lots of herbs. I built a formal herb garden and planted thyme, lovage, rosemary, chives, tarragon, sage, and lemon balm. The one thing I couldn't get to grow was mint. Yes, the gardeners among you will scoff, but it took me years to get a plot to flourish. When it did, I had to do something or it would take over the entire acre.

So I called upon my sister-in-law, to whom Whirlwind Romance is dedicated. She directed me to an old recipe for mint jelly. Once the mint invasion was under control and I'd mastered the technique, I spent whole summers working up recipes for herb jellies. It was great fun. Despite the fact that I'm not really fond of jelly, they made excellent Christmas gifts.

As I started Whirlwind Romance, I thought about what my heroine, Lacey Delahaye, would do for a living. She lives alone in Florida, her one son grown. What could she do? I thought of the innumerable ecosystems in Florida, from pine uplands, to coastal plains, to palm hammocks—all of which are host to many wild fruits, most of which can be made into jelly. Ah hah! She'd be a jelly maker.

For fun, I added the recipes to each chapter. I hope you enjoy them as much as you do Lacey and Armand's love story.

For your cooking pleasure, here is one of her recipes:

Sea Grape Jelly

Sea grapes are tall, multi-trunked trees with round leaves that grow along Florida's coastal areas. The clusters of grapes ripen in the summer and should be picked when fully purple.

Makes 4-6 pints

8 cups ripe sea grapes

4 cups water

5 cups white sugar

1 box powdered pectin

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 teaspoon butter

Wash grapes. Place in large pot with the water and cook over medium heat until the skins are soft. Press the pulp through a sieve. Place the pulp in a jelly strainer or two layers of cheesecloth and let drip. Add water to the clear juice to make 5 cups.

In a large pot, bring the juice, lime juice, pectin and butter to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and bring again to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil exactly one minute. Remove from heat, skim off any foam, and ladle into hot, sterilized jelly jars to within 1/4-inch of the top. Wipe rims and place the two-piece canning lids on the jars but do not tighten completely. Turn the jars over and leave upside down for five minutes on a padded rack. Turn upright and tighten the lids completely.

Alternate method: Process filled, tightly closed jars in boiling water for 15 minutes. Cool.

Whirlwind Romance

Pirates, Puritans, propaganda, and princes—pieces of the puzzle in the whirlwind romance between a beautiful jelly maker and a mysterious castaway.

In the aftermath of a hurricane, Lacey Delahaye finds herself marooned on an island on the Gulf coast of Florida with a mysterious man. They are immediately drawn to each other, but before Armand can confess his identity, they are kidnapped and taken to a tiny island in the western Caribbean. With the help of her son Crispin and a cadre of loyal followers, she and Armand must face down pirates, power-mad ideologues, and palace intrigue, if they are to restore the once idyllic tropical island to its former glory.

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CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--GUEST AUTHOR M.S. SPENCER ON NEEDLEPOINT AND MURDER

Late 17th or Early 18th Century Italian or French Silk Bargello

M.S. Spencer has published nine novels, lived on five continents, borne two children, and loves the Florida sky and the Maine woods. Learn more about her and her books at her blog.

My romance/murder mystery Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders takes place in Old Town Alexandria, an historic cobblestoned city on the Potomac River in Virginia. It follows the adventures of several artists at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. An old munitions factory on the waterfront, it lay abandoned after World War II until the 1970s, when an intrepid band of local ladies convinced the City of Alexandria to lease it to them for an art center. Today it houses 82 studios, the Art League, the Friends of the Torpedo Factory, and an Archaeology center. I had the pleasure of serving as the Executive Director of the Friends of the Torpedo Factory for several years and watched the artists at work, weaving their often-eccentric personalities into my characters. My office was in the tower at the top of the building, where Milo finds her first dead body.

In Artful Dodging Milo Everhart creates delicate needlepoint, while her friend Tekla Spirikova sculpts large metal objects. Together they fight City Hall (literally,) which wants to give their beloved Torpedo Factory Art Center away. Things get complicated when their greatest adversary turns out to be the man Milo loves, and even more complicated when too many murder victims turn up.

I have been doing needlepoint since my children were small. I made needlepoint Christmas stockings for everyone in the family before moving on to eyeglass cases. Of course, friends and relatives could only use so many eyeglass cases, and after awhile I began to find them hidden in nooks and crannies about the house. I still love it, but I'm not the artist Milo is. Which is why she has a studio in the famous Torpedo Factory and is a juried artist with all kinds of awards.

Antique Crewel Embroidery

Milo paints her own canvases, chooses her own yarns and colors, and finishes the product, be it a clutch or eyeglass case, pillow top or picture. She uses a variety of stitches, including Bargello.

Bargello uses thick, usually bright colored yarn on canvas. It's named after a collection of chair seats in the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy. The long, vertical stitches usually cover two or more threads. It makes a nice thick mat--good for heavy use items, although the technique limits designs to geometric patterns.

Milo also does crewel--true embroidery that uses silk or cotton floss and a variety of stitches such as stem stitch, French knots, and satin stitch. Crewel is used for delicate items--samplers or pillows. Many people like counted cross stitch, but Milo hates it because, since she has to count the stitches to know when to change colors, she can't focus on her love life or the murders that keep cropping up at the Torpedo Factory Art Center.

For more information on the Torpedo Factory, check out their website. You'll also find more descriptions of the art of needlepoint in Artful Dodging.

Artful Dodging: the Torpedo Factory Murders
Waiting out the rain, Milo Everhart takes stock of her widowhood and the handsome man standing in the door to the bar. Little does she know she will meet that man again and again under both passionate and terrifying circumstances.

Tristram Brody waits for his date, too conscious of the beautiful woman sitting by the door. Little does he know that she will hate him for trying to destroy her beloved art center and even suspect him of murder. Nor that she will be drawn inevitably into his arms. 

Little does either of them suspect they will be embroiled in not one, but two murders, in which the fate of the Torpedo Factory, an art center housed in an old munitions factory on the waterfront of Old town Alexandria, will be decided.

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ebook

COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR M.S. SPENCER MAKES JELLY

Although she has lived or traveled in every continent except Antarctica and Australia (bucket list), romance author M. S. Spencer has spent the last thirty years mostly in Washington, D.C. as a librarian, Congressional staff assistant, speechwriter, editor, birdwatcher, kayaker, policy wonk, non-profit director and parent. She currently divides her time between the Gulf coast of Florida and a tiny village in Maine. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

Up until my thirties, I traveled a great deal, living in many countries with amenities that many would consider below standard. So it wasn't until I married and settled down in an old farmhouse with an acre of land that I could indulge my fantasy of growing my own food. We planted apple, plum, peach, fig, hazelnut, and cherry trees; gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries; all kinds of vegetables, including an ill-fated attempt to grow artichokes; and finally, lots and lots of herbs. I built a formal herb garden and planted thyme, lovage, rosemary, chives, tarragon, sage, and lemon balm. The one thing I couldn't get to grow was mint. Yes, the gardeners among you will scoff, but it took me years to get a plot to flourish. When it did, I had to do something or it would take over the entire acre.

So I called upon my sister-in-law, to whom Whirlwind Romance is dedicated. She directed me to an old recipe for mint jelly. Once the mint invasion was under control and I'd mastered the technique, I spent whole summers working up recipes for herb jellies. It was great fun. Despite the fact that I'm not really fond of jelly, they made excellent Christmas gifts.

As I started Whirlwind Romance, I thought about what my heroine, Lacey Delahaye, would do for a living. She lives alone in Florida, her one son grown. I thought of the innumerable ecosystems in Florida, from pine uplands, to coastal plains, to palm hammocks—all of which are host to many wild fruits, most of which can be made into jelly. Ah hah! She'd be a jelly maker.

For fun, I added the recipes to each chapter. I hope you enjoy them as much as you do Lacey and Armand's love story.

Cocoplum

Cocoplum Jelly

The cocoplum is native to South Florida and occurs naturally in cypress hammocks and wetland areas. Evergreen, it forms a dense, clumping bush. The fruit is a dark purple drupe one to two inches in diameter, and ripens May through August. The nut is also edible.

Ingredients:

200 cocoplums to make 2 cups juice

2 cinnamon sticks

4 cups brown sugar

1 box (1.75 oz.) powdered pectin

Place peeled plums and cinnamon sticks in water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, or until liquid is dark purple. Remove from heat and strain, reserving the nuts. Add water if necessary to make two cups of liquid.

Shell the nuts and chop. In a jelly pan add the juice, nuts, and pectin and bring to a rolling boil. Pour sugar in all at once and bring back to a rolling boil. Boil exactly one minute.

Standard Procedure: Remove pot from heat, skim off any foam, and ladle into hot, sterilized jelly jars to within ¼ inch of the top. Wipe rims and place the two-piece canning lids on the jars but do not tighten completely. Turn the jars over and leave upside down for five minutes on a padded rack. Turn upright and tighten the lids completely. Makes about 4 pints.

Alternate method: Process filled, tightly closed jars in boiling water for 15 minutes. Cool.

Whirlwind Romance

In the aftermath of a hurricane, Lacey Delahaye finds herself marooned on the Gulf coast of Florida with a mysterious man. They are immediately drawn to each other, but before Armand can confess his identity, they are kidnapped and taken far from civilization to a tiny, remarkable island in the western Caribbean. With the help of her son Crispin, a small, but proud young boy named Inigo, and a cadre of extraordinary characters, Lacey and Armand must confront pirates, power-mad ideologues, and palace intrigue if they are to restore the once idyllic tropical paradise to its former serenity and find lasting happiness.

Buy link