Guest Post

For our tenth wedding anniversary, my husband Don and I traveled to Wales. Our best vacation ever took place only a couple of years ago, but it feels a long time ago, since it was back in the day when one could travel and move about freely. We planned the trip partly because I had written the first book of the Sister Agatha and Father Selwyn series (which is set in Wales) without ever having been to Wales. Progress on the second book was moving along and I realized, I needed to visit. As you can imagine, I was a little nervous. What if the Wales that I imagined as I wrote the books, was drastically different from the real Wales?

Well, a few differences jumped out as we began to explore. For one thing, a lot more sheep inhabit Wales than I ever realized. There are four sheep for every one person in Wales. Consequently, sheep began to populate my storyline. In fact, the sisters at Gwenafwy start a small flock of Mountain Sheep and a new character enters, Ben Holden, the caretaker of the sheep. 

Another difference—and this might sound strange—but Wales is grander than I imagined with its vast green hillsides and stretches of rolling land. The landscape is no less than stunning. I occasionally have my characters, especially Sister Agatha, stopping to breathe in the beauty of the countryside. And as she should. The natural world of Wales is overwhelming in its magnificence. The climate is also windier and cooler than I had imagined. I bought a fleece the second day that I was there.

But lots of the Wales I imagined was the same as the Wales that I visited.

The people were incredibly friendly and down-to-earth.  Sister Agatha and her love of the Welsh people is well deserved. I met so many kind and generous people, it made me want to move there.

The churches and castles were exactly as I pictured them. In fact, they were even more of what I imagined. If that is possible. I stood in the pulpit of St. Asaph’s Cathedral—a pulpit where a major character in the story stands—The Bishop Suzanne Bainton. The pulpit and the cathedral itself were spectacular. The many castles, fortresses, and stone churches are now being incorporated into Sister Agatha’s world. 

Wales. A fabulous setting for a mystery novel. An even better place to visit.

Best vacation ever is a guest post by author Jane Willan for the launch of her cozy mystery Abide with Me. Learn more at www.janewillan.com. See more book news, including Author Interviews, here.

Shrouded in Mystery

By Maggie Toussaint 

In Spawning Suspicion and the other Seafood Caper Mysteries, two characters are standouts. These super seniors are well known for holding court in the island’s tiny post office, where they collect and disperse information.

Octogenarians Ola Mae Reed and Valerie Reed moved to Shell Island about 25 years ago and set up house together. Rumor is these sisters helped their husbands into early graves, but who believes everything they hear? With matching caps of closely shorn white curls, trim bodies, pastel pantsuits, and slip-on sneakers, these gals cut a fine figure.

The eldest, Ola Mae, is clearly the outspoken one of the pair, but just when you think Valerie is the quiet, complacent one, she reins her sister in. These spitfire ladies are well known for squeezing a dollar until it cries mercy. Case in point, they recently sprang for new funeral attire after decades of service from their old outfits. No way would they miss anyone’s funeral. Some islanders call them professional mourners.

My sleuth River Holloway Merrick recently observed that the sisters’ home interior was painted. The sisters had new locks installed too, claiming they needed extra safety precautions to protect them from the sudden wave of island crime.

I could’ve told them they were wasting their money. After all, hardly anyone on Shell Island would ever consider visiting the sisters’ home. Nor would they eat or drink food anything the women fixed for fear of being poisoned. By contrast, my sleuth River isn’t scared to visit the sisters. She does not eat or drink anything the sisters make though.

Despite their murky backgrounds, these sisters bring a sense of community to the island’s seniors. They’re currently mobilizing to elect their candidate Deputy Gil Franklin to be sheriff and have the incompetent one removed.

In addition to having a curious nature, Ola Mae enjoys solving the puzzles in a mystery so she always wants a report from River about the current case. She encourages River to keep up the good work in seeking justice for crime victims.

Ola Mae’s sister Valerie is quietly powerful and versatile, drawing on seemingly boundless reserves of strength and grace to move mountains. People say she was once as outgoing as Ola Mae but her bad marriage dampened her spirit.

Collectively, they’re a strong, charismatic team who rally the community to take action when needed. They lead by example, lending their time and talents to various causes.

However, hidden layers in these women have yet to be plumbed. No one questions their motivation for their various causes. No one researches that old rumor about them offing their husbands. No one remarks on the current spending they are doing.

Is it possible that two stone-cold killers are among the most powerful and influential of all island residents? Check out Ola Mae and Valerie in both Seas the Day (book one of the series) and Spawning Suspicion (newly released book two) and see if you can figure out what makes these gals tick.

Learn more about Maggie Toussaint and Spawning Suspicion at maggietoussaint.com.

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Woods Parkour

by Charlotte Stuart

Parkour was developed in France and became popular in the 1990s. I knew it existed but I didn’t really pay attention until I saw there was a woods version. The first video I saw of woods parkour had me hooked. Leaping and vaulting over logs and other obstacles while surrounded by forest was something I knew I would never be able to do, but I loved the idea that someone was doing it.

After researching parkour and watching a number of YouTube videos, I was not only entranced by the activity itself but by its mission: Believing in your heart that there is no obstacle in life that cannot be overcome. It’s not that I actually believe anything is possible, but I would like to believe it. Unfortunately, I’m much more pessimistic. Or realistic, depending on your point of view.

Anyway, since one of the benefits of being an author is that you can live an experience through your characters, I decided to make my protagonist in Bogged Down, Lavender “Lew” Lewis, a woods parkour enthusiast. That actually came after already deciding she was tall and athletic and physically and mentally tough. Woods parkour was a natural add-on. Especially because I had Lew living in a semi-rural setting in a cabin bordering on a wooded area. 

Simply put, the goal of parkour involves getting from one point to another by the most direct route. It may involve running, climbing, jumping, swinging, vaulting – whatever is needed to complete the unstructured activity where none of the moves are planned in advance. No wonder it’s been described as a non-competitive sport that “turns the world into a playground.

Woods parkour is similar to inner city parkour in some ways, but it has its own special appeal and challenges. The forest stimulates your senses in subtle, primal ways, and the obstacles are less predictable, not always what they seem to be at first glance. A log may be rotten, a tree limb unstable, a rock hidden beneath leaves. An animal can startle with a sudden appearance. A meandering stream may require a last-minute recalculation. Woods parkour constantly demands that you see your environment in a fresh and sensitive way, imagining how you can navigate over, under, around or through a forest’s unique features.

In addition, the woods changes with the sun’s passage across the sky, light slowly fading as it filters through the trees, creating shadows, gradually changing a color photo to a grainy monochrome.

Although Lew uses woods parkour for pleasurable exercise in Bogged Down (A Vashon Island Mystery), it also helps her with other activities. For example, there are several scenes in which Lew is in the woods at night. She is able to navigate through the tangle of trees and debris much more efficiently because of time spent in the woods maneuvering around and over obstacles as part of her parkour training. 

In conclusion, Vashon Island has some wonderful woodlands. If I were athletic enough to embrace the challenge of woods parkour, I can’t think of a better place for it. Meanwhile, I will continue to live vicariously through Lew’s love of and ability to engage in this forest playground activity.

Learn more about Charlotte Stuart and Bogged Down at www.charlottestuart.com. If you liked this guest post, If you liked this guest post, check out some of my author interviews.