AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. MAYA MAQUIRE FROM MEDICAL MYSTERY AUTHOR MILLICENT EIDSON'S MAYAVERSE SERIES

Today we sit down for a chat with Dr. Maya Maguire from medical mystery author Millicent Eidson’s MayaVerse series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings? 

Before my author made me her marionette, I was the poster child for academic introversion. A shy hermit crab, I studiously avoided any form of social interaction. College at sixteen? Check. Dating? Not until I had three diplomas.

 

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself? 

I have the tenacity of a bulldog on a bone. No setback can knock me down permanently. And when I get to know someone, I relax into humorous banter and the warmth of commitment. 

 

What do you like least about yourself? 

I'm a certified member of the "What If" club. I spend more time imagining worst-case scenarios than a conspiracy theorist on a caffeine bender. I majored in Catastrophizing 101, and I graduated with honors.

 

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you? Crawling around in the dirt with Portuguese pigs. Forget swanky adventures; I get down and dirty with farm animals. It was like my author thought, "Why not add a touch of Eau de Pigsty to the protagonist's journey?"

 

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about? 

Oh, we have our tussles. My author wants me to be this kick-ass dynamo, but I'm like, "Let me navigate life at my own GPS-guided pace, okay?" It's a constant tug-of-war between Dr. Millie’s plot twists and my roller coaster ride through character development.

 

What is your greatest fear? 

I’m phobic about failing as a veterinarian in public health. I wasn't ready to be the James Herriot of clinical animal care. Instead, all creatures great and small are my global responsibility, and the fear of microbial mayhem keeps me up at night.

 

What makes you happy? 

Family, friends, and close colleagues are my rock stars. And nature is my Zen garden. Who knew investigating diseases could be so uplifting? I get to solve microbial mysteries, one exotic locale after another.

 

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why? 

I’d rewrite my personal losses, but those are the price we pay for deep relationships. At work, I had this toxic colleague and instead of reporting him, I tried to suck it up. In hindsight, I should've let the higher-ups deal with him. Lesson learned: not all doctors are heroes.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why? 

Same guy, Dr. Toxic Arrogance himself. His lack of boundaries was like a mosquito in a quiet room—annoying, persistent, and impossible to ignore. A confidence-crusher deluxe.

 

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why? 

Dr. Faye Simpson, the older public health vet in New York City, is a ball of fire. She takes no prisoners, and I love her experimental spirit. But a lifetime focused mostly on work? I'd need more than a coffee IV to survive that. Pass on the all-work, little-love gig.

 

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog? 

My puppet master, Dr. Millie (Millicent Eidson), is also a veterinary epidemiologist and travel addict. She adopted a kiddo from China around the same time as my parents adopted me. Check her out at https://drmayamaguire.com/about and you can see a picture of my real-life “sister.” 

 

What's next for you? 

In the magical MayaVerse, microbes emerge alphabetically, so stay tuned for “Dengue” which drops me into Hawaii battling deadly mosquitoes. Dr. Millie promises me a “Happy for Now” ending in every book, which is a relief given all the suspense and thrilling adventures she puts me through.

 

Corona

A Microbial Mystery, Book 3

 

Veterinarian Maya Maguire approaches the end of her training as one of CDC’s elite shock troops for investigating disease epidemics. Despite unfinished business with a toxic colleague, her work and personal life fall into place. Until COVID, and its impact on loved ones. After investigating the first human case in Arizona, her focus shifts to coronavirus in animals. As a Chinese American adoptee, her origin story comes full circle like an ouroboros—a dragon eating its tail.

 

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AUTHOR MICHELLE CORBIER ON BIKING FOR MENTAL HEALTH

After over twenty years in clinical medicine, Michelle Corbier now works as a medical consultant. Her writing interests cover many genres—mystery, paranormal, and thrillers. When not writing, you can find her outside gardening or bicycling. Learn more about Michelle and her books at her website.

Bike for your mental health

One of the earliest skills I taught my son was to ride a bike. The first bike—only bike—I owned during childhood had orange handle grips with multicolored streamers. It had tall handlebars with a long narrow seat which accommodated me and my baby sister. Because my father served in the Navy, we moved frequently, and I lost that bike. But the desire to speed down a road on two wheels continues. 

 

Bicycling gives me the sensation of flying like a bird. Free, floating above all life’s concerns and complications. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “Health benefits include improved cardiovascular fitness, stronger muscles, greater coordination and general mobility, and reduced body fat. As with other types of exercise, it can also help improve mental health by lowering stress levels and stimulating feel-good endorphins.” Well said.

 

In Hollow Voices the protagonist, Dr. Julia Toussaint, bicycles to release stress and remain fit. An activity she shared with her son before his death. While my son never appreciated bicycling, it’s something I still enjoy and wanted to include in my novel.

 

Medicine is a stressful occupation. While the benefits are many, it wears on medical professionals physically and mentally. The idea for the novel began during one of the most stressful moments in my career. I contemplated leaving medicine, a job to which I devoted most of my life. Caring for people gave me purpose. Medicine provided personal satisfaction, job security, and a stable income. Unfortunately, the work environment became hostile. When things became tense, I resorted to writing. 

 

In the novel, Julia suffers a total mental collapse following the death of her son. Disconnected from reality, she seeks treatment for her mental health. In time, she recovers and discovers a new purpose. But when the people she loves become threatened, she takes drastic action with fatal consequences.

 

Change is a fundamental component of life. While some changes are more traumatic than others, how we cope with those events defines our lives. In Hollow Voices, Julia experiences situations familiar to many people, from office politics, personal loss, to a mental health crisis. Books may transform readers to new vistas or reflect current circumstances. In this novel, a mystery collides with reality. 

 

If I’m having a hectic day, nothing satisfies like biking. Trudging up a hill admiring the scenery, matching my strength against nature, or soaring down a trail with the wind whistling in my ears. Join me. Hop on a bike and drift away on a cloud of endorphins. And when you finish, relax with a good book. 

 

Hollow Voices

Recovering after the death of her son, Dr. Julia Toussaint starts over at a new job with a narcissistic boss. Suddenly, the past catches up with her when a police officer blackmails her. In a fight for her sanity, Julia struggles to protect the people she loves. 

Time is crucial and she must remember what happened after Evens died because the decisions she makes will have fatal consequences. 

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--MYSTERY AUTHOR CHRISTINE KNAPP ON MODERN MIDWIVES AND HOT FUDGE SAUCE

Christine Knapp practiced as a nurse-midwife for many years. A writer of texts and journal articles, she is now thrilled to combine her love of midwifery and mysteries as a fiction author. Christine currently narrates books for the visually impaired. Learn more about her and her books at her website where you'll find links to her other social media.

Modern Midwife Mysteries

Hello! I am a nurse midwife who loves reading mysteries. I had written textbooks in the past but wanted to try my hand at fiction and bring to life a modern-day midwife who solves crimes. So, I decided to combine my passions by writing the Modern Midwife Mysteries. 

 

For many years, I felt that the Midwifery profession was not fully understood and thus not accurately portrayed in fiction. To try to remedy this, I included many current obstetrical vignettes within my series. I wanted readers to see the various areas where midwives provide care. Each chapter starts with an epigraph about the birthing process.

 

Maeve O’Reilly Kensington, my literary midwife has a full plate. She provides excellent care for her patients, struggles with fertility issues, and navigates the upper crust world of her in-laws, all while trying to bring murders to justice.

 

Even though she is married to an amazing chef, she continuously strives to be a good baker. Although cookies are not Maeve’s forte, she eventually manages to bake a culinary delight or two. I particularly love dishes that look complicated but are in fact very easy. Recipes are included in each mystery.

 

This is Maeve’s mother’s recipe for the ultimate hot fudge sauce.

 

Mary Margaret Callahan O’Reilly’s Hot Fudge Sauce

 

Ingredients:

12 ounce can evaporated milk

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Add evaporated milk, chocolate chips, and sugar to a saucepan over low to medium heat. Stir constantly until it starts to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 2-1/2 cups.

 

Murder at the Wedding

A Modern Midwife Mysteries, Book 1

 

Maeve O’Reilly Kensington loves her job as a nurse-midwife at Creighton Memorial Hospital in the quintessential New England seaside town of Langford. Nothing could bring her more pleasure than helping women usher new life into the world... except possibly having a child of her own with her husband, Will. In the meantime, she's happy to celebrate the families of those she treats, and content to support her husband in his newly formed catering business.

 

However, when Creighton Memorial's Chief Obstetrician suddenly drops dead at his daughter’s extravagant wedding reception, catered by Will, Maeve's two worlds collide in the worst possible way. Suddenly murder is on the menu, and Maeve is desperate to help her husband by finding out who killed the doctor.

 

With the help of her wealthy, acerbic sister, Meg, and her quick-witted Boston Irish mother, Maeve sets out to solve a murder and clear her husband's name. But can she stay one step ahead of the killer? Or will they strike again...this time closer to home?

 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH VICTORIAN MYSTERY AUTHOR LISA M. LANE

Today we sit down for a chat with Victorian mystery and literary author Lisa M. Lane. Learn more about her and her books at her website.  

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I think it was after I was turned down for a third time applying for a historical research grant. I had done all this work on H.G. Wells, and the project couldn’t be finished. So I wrote a novella about him and a historian: Before the Time Machine. I loved the writing process, because I’d never thought of myself as particularly creative, had never gone around with plots in my head. Then, I was visiting the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret in London, and stood there thinking, “This looks like a good place for a murder”. 

 

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

As many authors do, I’ve dreamed of this since I was a kid, with my manual typewriter and so many stories . . . So about half a century.

 

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

I decided to independently publish because I saw that what I was doing (first a literary novella, then a thoroughly researched historical mystery) would take a lot of twisting to fit into traditional publishing norms. And I loved the idea of learning the whole process.

 

Where do you write?

I’m old-fashioned, so at the kitchen table. I have a desk. It sits there with books and papers piled on it.

 

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

Midnight silence. I tried music, but it kept pulling me out of the 19^th century.

 

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

For Murder at Old St. Thomas’s, none at all from people I know. Or perhaps combinations of traits, but nothing intentional. But for the historical characters who were real, who lived at the time, I like to read what they’ve written as well as what others have written about them, like obituaries and biographies. I study pictures of them if they’re available, to try to sense how they would have acted and spoken. And plot elements appear all the time, things that happened long ago that no one ever wrote about. 

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

Historical names have to read and sound right for the era, so I have lists of common names, regions, and classes. But I’m also a bit Dickensian: Hannah Fairchild for a lovely actress, Sir Henry Featherstone for a man who’s a social schmoozer with a tough core. My inspector is Cuthbert Slaughter (a northern saint + a common English surname) And then, of course, some of my characters are real people with wonderful names: Sarah Wardroper was matron of St. Thomas’s Hospital, Joseph Bazalgette designed London’s sewer system. 

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

As real as I can get it: London in the 1860s. I research guidebooks, old maps – I want the houses to have been right for the neighborhood at the time, and every walk the characters take to stroll by things that were really there. I’m kind of crazy about it. I’m holding off on a sequel to St. Thomas’s right now because I need a railway timetable from 1870 and can’t find one.

 

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

Constable Jones is very theatrical – he whispers in a conspiratorial hush, serves tea with a flourish. And Geraldine Orson, the stage actress, likes to play everything like a scene. But I think the quirkiest is Jo Harris. To be middle-class and refuse to wear a corset or a crinoline in those days was to be quirky in public.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

My writing habit is so particular: kitchen table, midnight, cup of Guittard cocoa with mini-marshmallows, small bowl of pretzels. 

 

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

Anything by Rachel Cusk or Sarah Perry. I just finished Perry’s After Me Comes the Flood, and I wished I’d written it. Her ability to hold the reader’s attention when you’re in a character’s head for so long, and an unpleasant character at that, is amazing.

 

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

I suppose if I had it to do over, I would have pushed on until I got the PhD. But other aspects of life were always more important.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

All versions of “with all due respect”: “I’m sure I shouldn’t tell you this, but…”, “I wouldn’t say this if you weren’t my friend…”, “I don’t know much about that, but…” – all are followed by something nasty.

 

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

Can I say a library? I suppose that’s not one thing, but let’s go big. A library, an inexhaustible supply of chocolate, and the internet.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

I did temp work as a grocery store demonstrator, manning a table in the freezer section trying to get people to taste green chile salsa. Not only could I not answer questions because I couldn’t eat chiles, but I’m not sure I’ve ever been so cold.

 

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

Not possible to answer, because ever means from the perspective of right now. Different books are best depending on when in your life you encounter them. The best book is the one that answers questions you didn’t know you had, just at the point in your life when you had them. 

 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean, but next to it, not in it or on it. There are scary things in the mountains. And I prefer nature through a pane of glass, to be honest. Nature is so lovely – over there. 

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City, depending on the city. Towns are even better.

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Murder at Old St. Thomas’s has a sequel or two in the works, but I’m not sure it’s really a series in the classic sense. Recurring characters, yes, but the mysteries tend to be solved as a group effort. Inspector Slaughter is not the protagonist in the second book; Jo Harris and her friend Bridget will be on the trail of the killer. 

 

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

I call my Victorian mysteries “semi-cozies”, but the emphasis is on the history and the setting. My characters reflect the diversity of 1860s London, so there are gay relationships, concerns for public reputation, and disputes about medical advances. And to me, London is not just a place to set the story, but a living, breathing character within it.

 

Mystery at Old St. Thomas’s

In 1862 London, the body of a famous surgeon is found, sitting upright, in an old operating theatre. His dead eyes stare at the table at the center of the room, where patients had screamed and cried as medical students looked on. The bookish Inspector Slaughter must discover the killer with the help of his American sergeant Mark Honeycutt and clues from Nightingale nurses, surgeon's dressers, devious apothecaries, and even stage actors. Victorian Southwark becomes the theatre for revealing secrets of the past in a world where anesthesia is new, working-class audiences enjoy Shakespeare, and women reformers solve society's problems.

 

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--HEALTHY BROWNIES AND A NEW PENNY WEAVER MYSTERY FROM AUTHOR JUDY HOGAN

Judy Hogan is both an author and a publisher. Her archives are in Duke University’s Sallie Bingham Women’s History and Culture Collection. She enjoys reading, writing, and teaching and works on environmental issues in Moncure, NC, where she lives. Learn more about her at her website and blog.

A few years ago I was having some numbness episodes in my left hand and arm. They lasted less than five minutes, but I was advised to go to the Emergency Department to check it out. The main doctor I saw was a resident, who was usually overworked and exhausted. Her supervising doctor was a tyrant, as I learned. My own doctor always listened to me, so I wasn’t of the school that medical doctors, even at the highest level, were always right. 

 

This big doctor said he’d found the problem, and threatened me when I refused the medicine.

 

This left me feeling how wrong it was for a medical doctor to tyrannize like that. Hence this book. 

 

Sickness Unto Death is a phrase from Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher. It meant Despair to him. The only medical code I know about for the medical profession is “Do No Harm.”

 

Most of the novel takes place in a teaching hospital in rural North Carolina on the Stroke Ward.

 

Healthy Brownies

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup soy flour

1 tsp. salt

12 T. (or less) cocoa

2/3 cup whole wheat or whole rye flour

4 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Sift together flours, salt, and cocoa. 

 

In a bowl beat the eggs and oil together. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add

the vanilla. Then mix in the dry ingredients in two parts. Add nuts, 

 

Bake in a 12” x 16” greased baking pan or two 8” x 8” pans 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack. Cut into squares. 

 

Sickness Unto Death

A Penny Weaver Mystery, Book 15

 

When Penny Weaver goes to the hospital because of some left arm numbness, her roommate is a very sick woman with pneumonia, diabetes and congestive heart failure. The doctors are worried Tenisha will have a stroke. Penny patiently submits to all the tests the doctors run and is told not to walk without a nurse being called, though the bathroom is only 3 steps from her bed. Tenisha is an unruly patient. She takes out her oxygen IV and yells for the nurse to give her something stronger than Tylenol. Both women have a bad night, and at 6 a.m. the next morning Tenisha falls out of her bed and dies.

 

When Penny’s husband Kenneth visits, he is sure that Tenisha’s death is suspicious. That brings in the detectives from the Shagbark Sheriff’s Department. Their investigation is thorough, but the cause of death is still not clear. Penny also is interviewed, but no solution is found. Penny is quite distressed at her own diagnosis and the prescription for her to take an anti-epileptic drug. She refuses, but the chief neurologist threatens that he will tell the DMV to take away her driving license if she doesn’t take the drug.

 

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#CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA--AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND FINDS INSPIRATION IN CRAFTY TREES

Mendenhall Glacier Gardens

Crafts come in all different mediums, including ones you'd never suspect. Today we have a return visit from USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond, here to talk about the inspiration behind her latest Safe Harbor Medical Mystery. Learn more about her and her books at her website. 

From Strange Trees, a Mystery Grows

In the course of writing more than a hundred romances and mysteries, I’ve drawn inspiration from many sources. Sometimes I get the sense that there’s a key plot twist waiting for me, if I look in the right place... and that I’d better grasp that fleeting bit of inspiration before it escapes.

How to account for this instinct? I consider it a partnership between my conscious and subconscious. That’s what happened when my husband and I took our first trip to Alaska.

In my Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries, a young widowed physician in a small California town teams with his detective sister-in-law to solve murders that affect patients, colleagues and friends. There’s danger and humor, centered on the hospital where he works. 

The dramatic landscape of Alaska hardly fit into the picture. Yet I kept sensing that it might.

We were touring Mendenhall Glacier Gardens, a strikingly landscaped setting created in the aftermath of a landslide, when some remarkable trees caught my eye. They were upside-down, with the roots serving as a kind of flower basket.

Our guide explained that, while one of the owners was clearing away rocks and trees that had tumbled down a mountainside, an expensive piece of rental equipment was damaged. Frustrated about the large repair bill in store, he used the equipment to yank up a tree by its root ball, invert it and slam it down.

Instead of shattering as expected, it lodged in the mud. Struck by a vision of the roots as a petunia basket, he filled the root ball with netting, soils, mosses and flowers. The result was so beautiful that, each year, he creates about 75-100 of what he calls Flower Towers, to the delight of visitors.

photo copyright Dmitriy Raykin,
licensed from Shutterstock 

  

As I snapped photos, I imagined the face of a woman peering at me from one of the trunks. Who was she?

My brain whirled into action. Suppose seeing those unusual trees sparked a memory in a girl who didn’t know she’d ever been here before? Suppose that discovery led to the unearthing of a woman’s murder, with clues that pointed to my hero, Dr. Eric Darcy?

In constructing the mystery, everything had to be turned around so that the reader learns of events through Eric’s point of view. Being falsely accused of murder forces him to unravel the truth behind the disappearance of a woman from his past, and to the stunning realization that he might have a daughter he never knew about.

WhileThe Case of the Long-Lost Lover is the fourth mystery in the series, it stands on its own. It’s an old-fashioned puzzle mystery, with fast pacing, clues for the reader to follow, and carefully researched medical and forensic details.

After the initial spark, the hard work of writing a novel lies in developing a story with twists and turns, and characters you care about. But in this case, the mystery was literally rooted in the inspiration!

The Case of the Long-Lost Lover 

A Safe Harbor Medical Mystery, Book 4

When Dr. Eric Darcy is suspected of killing his former girlfriend, the young widowed physician teams with his PI sister-in-law to uncover the truth. Can they succeed before a murderer closes in on a child who might be his? USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond’s new Safe Harbor Medical mystery is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat until its shocking conclusion!

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GUEST AUTHOR SHARON ST. GEORGE TALKS MEDICAL MYSTERIES

Sharon St. George is the author of the hospital-based Aimee Machado Mystery series. Spine Damage, the fourth book in the series, was released May 15, 2017. The first two books in this series, Due for Discard, and Checked Out, will be reprinted as part of Harlequin's Worldwide Mystery series. A member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, Sharon also serves as program director for Writers Forum, a nonprofit serving writers in Far Northern California. Learn more about Sharon and her books at her website. 

Why Hospital-based Mysteries? Why Not?

What's the first thought that comes to mind when we hear the word hospital? Sickness? Death? Fear? Or do our minds leap to the most recent hospital tragedy to hit the headlines? A stolen newborn, or a crazed shooter taking aim at hospital workers? Is it any wonder so many of us suffer from hospital phobia? Then we must ask why would an author choose to set a mystery series in a hospital?

The answer is Why not? Consider the number of medical dramas aired on television dating from 1951 to the present. A quick online search reveals the number is more than ninety, and most of them were set in hospitals.

Readers of a certain age might realize how long the daytime program General Hospital has been on the air. Its run began back in 1963, and continues to this day. It is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running American soap opera in production and the third longest-running drama on television in American history.

What is it, then, that attracts mystery buffs to medical drama? Let's look at some similarities that might explain the fascination. What are the compelling ingredients in a mystery? First, something goes wrong. Upsets the status quo. But even worse, we don't know who, or what, caused that inciting incident.

The same elements that figure in a crime can be found in the onset of a medical problem. In either case, the investigation must begin. Answers must be found. In the same way that detectives sort through clues at a crime scene, doctors will sort through clues to that headache, but in their case, the patient's body is the crime scene.

Our detectives eventually set their sights on several possible murder suspects. The butler, the creepy nephew, the jilted lover, and so forth. Meanwhile, our doctors do the same. Their headache suspects are muscle tension, caffeine withdrawal, sinus infections, anxiety, and depression, among others.

The investigating continues, leads are followed, tests are done. While detectives utilize a crime lab, doctors rely on radiology and pathology labs. Results are considered, the number of possible culprits is narrowed, until, finally, the perpetrator is identified and arrested, either by the police, or by the appropriate course of medical treatment. Ultimately, the case is solved. Whew!

We can deduce with some confidence that readers and viewers who like answers, both criminal and medical, are the reason some of us write medical or hospital-based mysteries. We offer them a BOGO. By one, get one free. Solve a crime and solve a medical problem. Two for the price of one.

Do we know whether a steady dose of medical mysteries will cure hospital phobia? We'll have to ask General Hospital fans. Maybe someone has done a study.

Spine Damage

Portuguese-speaking Paulo Ferrara is brought into the Intensive Care Unit of Timbergate Medical Center in Northern California with a gunshot wound to his spine. He struggles to explain his situation via a medical interpreter, who happens to be Aimee Machado's mother, visiting from the Portuguese Azores Islands. Paulo's teenage sister, Liliana, has gone missing, and he has set out to find her, but before he can explain why he was shot, he slips into a post-surgery coma. The only neurosurgeon who can help him is Dr. Godfrey Carver, who is on the brink of suspension for not completing his continuing education requirements. This puts him at odds with Aimee, the hospital's librarian and Continuing Education Coordinator. Already planning a trip to the Azores for vacation, Aimee and her pilot boyfriend, Nick Alexander, re-trace Paulo's steps to the Portuguese archipelago where they question Liliana's parents and learn that the girl vanished after attending a party on a mysterious super-yacht. One of the missing teen's friends alerts them to a possible connection to a shadowy online American boyfriend. Time is running out as Paulo's coma deepens, but there are two lives at stake and Aimee refuses to give up as she and Nick travel back to the States and to the San Francisco Bay Area, looking for clues and working in cooperation with their hometown police in search of the truth and the missing girl.

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GUEST AUTHOR JANE FLAGELLO SHARES TIPS FOR FINDING SUCCESS

Jane Flagello writes mysteries with social and life lessons twists. After retiring from a management professorship and a personal coaching practice, she found herself wondering what was next. A creative academic at heart who loves to write, she combined what she loves to do, resulting in her first novel. Now she takes her love of writing and combines it with her goal to shine a light on societal problems not often discussed. Learn more about Jane and her books at her website. 

Finding the “YOU” in Success

Success means different things to different people. Almost everyone who has realized success know these simple truths: hard work comes first, success is a journey, persistence is key, and what you define as success changes over time.

Want to increase your success I.Q.? Ask yourself these two questions:

What’s going on inside me that causes me to do what I do—say what I say—feel what I am feeling?

If I don’t like the results I’m getting—or I want more or something different—how do I change myself (meaning grow and develop) in ways that produce the results I really want?

And therein lies the rub—change!  To get different results you have to change what you’re doing. Change is the shoe that pinches! To let go of what you have always done or planned to do, and seek new ways to accomplish your goals plays out cognitively, emotionally, and physically.

Your ability to change is your critical success factor. Change takes you out of your comfort zone. It can be frightening and confusing, leaving you feeling vulnerable. Embracing change—your ability to change—is the holy grail of what it takes to be successful today.

While change exerts a powerful force, the status quo is an equally powerful, often unrecognized, force. It lulls you into a false sense of complacency. It’s the “bird-in-hand” expression come to life. Fears of loss and an increased sense of vulnerability reinforce the status quo. Why chance changing anything? You know what your current actions are producing. You know how to compensate in those areas where you are not fully up to speed. In some way, you have made a conscious or unconscious decision that you can live with this outcome.

Want to enhance your opportunities for success? It’s all about changing the choices you make emotionally, physically, spiritually, and cognitively. When you are clear on the life you want for yourself, you can harness the power of Y-O-U, keeping the actions that enable the results you really want and letting go of the behaviors that prove detrimental to your success.

Consider these “secrets” to success so that you can hone in on what you need to change:

a) Imagine a success picture of you. What does your picture look like? How far away from that image are you now? What do you have to start doing/stop doing to get closer to it?

b) Identify areas in your life where you are stressed or are suffering. What actions can you take to decrease your stress? What do you need to learn/do?

c) Do things that bring you pleasure—that rich inner feeling, that rush of exhilaration that comes from doing what you really love and want to do. Work is only work when you don’t enjoy what you are doing. And it is hard to be successful doing things you don’t enjoy.

When you are at peace with yourself, your success will skyrocket. There is a pattern, a meaning, a sense to life. It is bigger than we are, yet simpler to achieve than we might imagine. Identify what success means for you, let go of your past, create a plan and take your first step. You have a purpose, and a responsibility to seek out your purpose and achieve it. And when you do, you will have found the success you seek.

Complicity

Evil takes many forms, especially when fueled by the drive to possess things that aren’t yours. The easier it is, the more you take—feeding the devil within.

Morgan Kasen’s life is going nowhere. After two failed marriages, she’s stuck in a dead-end job, writing puff pieces for a local Williamsburg newspaper. Befriending Eli, a homeless man who squats outside her local grocery store, feeds her compassionate side…until his disappearance thrusts her into the dark world of black market organ trafficking. And the promise of her big break—a career-making story worthy of a Pulitzer.

Her competition: Jesse Sinclair—a street-savvy New York City reporter with Pulitzer on the brain…and a great butt in a tight pair of jeans. What he’s willing to do to win his coveted prize challenges Morgan’s trust issues to her core.

Enter two rogue entrepreneurs competing to satisfy their own needs at the expense of the less fortunate. And then the bodies begin to pile up, starting with a vagrant found in the woods missing a kidney.

Power, money, and murder combine in an intense hunt to stop those responsible before any more innocent people lose critical body parts…or their lives.

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