Hi there, guys and dolls! Recently, yours truly was blessed to be interviewed by the wonderful ladies at the fantabulous Mysteristas blog. I was thrilled to be featured by such talented authors the blog is currently womanned (I don’t care if it’s not a word, I like it) by Samantha Bohrman, Kait Carson, Sarah Henning, Cynthia Kuhn, Pamela A. Oberg, Keenan Powell, Sue Star, Mary Sutton, and Diane Vallere. If you don’t follow the blog, you really should. Here’s the confab I enjoyed so much, in case you missed it!

What’s your idea of a perfect day?
I wake up in the morning, feeling refreshed and looking youthful. My houseboy serves me breakfast by the pool and takes flawless dictation of my latest Poppy Cove novel. After my three martini lunch and long nap, I work a little more on my stories, then get ready for a lovely evening on the town with the most handsome and eligible bachelor in Santa Lucia.

Do you have a signature accessory, color, fragrance, phrase, or meal?
Kitten heels, a wink and a smile will get me through anything.

Excluding family, name three people who either inspired you or influenced your creativity.
Nancy Drew, Mary Stewart and Elizabeth Taylor

Do you listen to music when you write?
Oh yes! Ol’ Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra) is my musical dreamboat of choice. Blossom Dearie, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, and Charlie Parker also color the background to my work, just to name a few.

If your latest book were chocolate, what kind would it be and why?
Dark chocolate. It’s rich and mysterious with a hint of noir and a dash of regret.

What made you interested in writing this particular story?
Well, I think we all have a history that affects our present day lives, and if we don’t we’ll want to create something daring about ourselves.

What themes do you regularly (re)visit in your writing?
Everyone has a past or a future that affects the world around them and how they relate, act and react to each other. There’s more to every person than meets the eye.

Tell us about your main character’s psyche or personality. What led her (or him) to be the person s/he is today?
Margot’s quiet and contemplative, a thinker and planner. What she does is usually quite deliberate and keeps many things to herself. Her past choices led her to where she is in A NATE TO REMEMBER, my latest mystery.

Daphne, on the other hand, is an open book – free spirited and impetuous, she’s never had much to worry about or hide. As she discovers that almost everyone she knows has led a life she thinks is more daring than hers, she decides it’s time to take a risk and maybe do something that’s a little more daring to give her something she may regret and be able to tell her own story.

Describe your protagonist as a mash-up of three famous people or characters.
Margot – Nancy Drew, Veronica Lake, Lauren Bacall
Daphne – Doris Day, Grace Kelly, Gidget

If you could host an author dinner party, who are the six writers (living or otherwise) you’d include?
Mary Stewart, Agatha Christie, Grace Metalious, Mary McCarthy, Truman Capote, J.D. Salinger

What’s next for you?
Well, finding things for the pool boy to do after the weather turns…no actually, I’m sure that won’t be too difficult. Oh, and writing the fourth in the Poppy Cove Mystery Series. I’ve also got some ideas developing about some of my background characters forming their own tales outside of Santa Lucia, so I’ll let them take the lead and show me where they want me to go with them.

Toodles,

Barbara Jean