The Write Spot: Vicki Delany, Eva Gates
The most difficult thing about hosting The Write Spot is trying to keep my
inner fangirl under control when meeting authors who've given me so much
reading pleasure. This week, my fangirl is having double the trouble as I
welcome "one woman crime wave" Vicki Delany, aka Eva Gates. Vicki is one
of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and the current President of
Crime Writers of Canada.
As Eva Gates, she's the author of the Lighthouse Library cozy
series from Penguin Obsidian, set in a historic lighthouse on the Outer Banks
of North Carolina, featuring Boston-transplant librarian, and highly reluctant
sleuth, Lucy Richardson. By Book or By
Crook, the first in the series, was released in February of last year and followed
by Booked for Trouble in September. The third book in the series, Reading
up a Storm, will be released on April 5, 2016. (And I, for one, can hardly wait to see what Lucy is up to now.)
Vicki Delany began her writing career as a Sunday
writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job
as a computer programmer. Sunday afternoon was often the only time she had to
spend all by herself, with a single candle on her desk for a bit of atmosphere,
a Bruce Springsteen tape in the tape deck, and a nice cup of tea or perhaps a
glass of wine at her elbow.
The years passed and her three grown daughters left home, allowing Vicki more time to devote to her writing. She completed three novels of suspense, set
in Ontario, two of which, Scare the Light
Away and Burden of Memory (Delany) were
published to critical acclaim by Poisoned Pen Press.
In 2007, Vicki took early retirement from her job as a
systems analyst with a major bank and sold her house in Oakville, Ontario. It was then that In the Shadow of the Glacier (Delany), the first book in the Smith and
Winters police procedural series set in the British Columbia Interior was
published. After travelling around North America for a year with her dog,
Shenzi, Vicki bought a home in bucolic, rural Prince Edward County, Ontario,
where she rarely wears a watch and can write whenever she feels like it.
Since settling in Prince Edward County, Vicki has
continued with her writing career, publishing books in several different
sub-genres as well as a book for adults with low literacy skills.
Her new
series of Year Round Christmas Mysteries (Delany) from Penguin Random House launched in November
2015 with Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen. Book two in this fun, cozy series is coming later this year.
Welcome,
Vicki/Eva to the eighteenth edition of The Write Spot, a bi-weekly author
series spotlighting the many and varied places where writers write.
Please
tell us a bit about your own Write Spot.
Several years ago, I read an article on how bad for you
sitting all day is. And so I decided to
give standing up at the computer a try.
And I haven't sat down since.
What makes this spot perfect is the height of the
counter. A standing up 'desk' has to be perfect. Too low and you'll strain your back; too high
and you'll strain your shoulders.
Not only do I now write standing up for my health, but
I also believe it really helps with the creative process. If I need a minute to think, I walk around
the living room or stand at the window.
I'll also mention that this is a totally dedicated
laptop. I write novels on it, and nothing else. I don't even write blog posts,
and I never access the internet or my e-mail from it. That way, I keep my
writing separate from all other computer tasks.
Sounds like a great way to avoid distraction. Other
than your laptop, what's the one thing you couldn't be without in
your Write Spot?
My iPad and Bose Speakers. I play Mozart on the iPad
when I write. And a mug of coffee, of course.
Of
course! What are you working on now?
The first book in the new Sherlock Homes Bookstore and
Emporium series, Elementary She Read (tentative title, but I hope we keep it)
for Crooked Lane Books. The book will be out Spring 2017.
Oooh,
Sherlock! Picture me rubbing my hands together with glee. (Love the title, too.)
Where can readers find out
more about you and your books?
My web page for both Eva Gates and Vicki Delaney is vickidelany.com. Readers can also connect with me on social media:
Facebook: Vicki Delany and Eva Gates (evagatesauthor)
Twitter: @vickidelany and @evagatesauthor
Books by Eva Gates / Vicki Delany:
The national bestselling author of Booked for Trouble returns with another charming
mystery set in the most literary lighthouse in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Order now for April 5, 2016 release!
Misfortune blows into North Carolina's Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery....
After a successful party at Bodie Island's Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.
The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal – but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy...
Misfortune blows into North Carolina's Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery....
After a successful party at Bodie Island's Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.
The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal – but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy...
What would it be like to return to your hometown after twenty-five years in prison for a crime you have maintained you did not commit? And why would you?
Walter Desmond is back in Trafalgar, British Columbia, having been officially exonerated when new evidence showed corruption at worst, incompetence at best, by the Trafalgar City Police conducting the investigation. His pitbull attorney is seeking five million in damages from the provincial government. But Walt has not returned to Trafalgar to pursue money or revenge. He just wants to know the why of it.
The family of the murdered girl, Sophia D'Angelo, is bitterly determined to see Walt returned to prison – or dead. But for Trafalgar's police, including Sergeant John Winters and Constable Molly Smith, the reality is: if Walter didn't kill Sophia, someone else did.
So, case reopened. It lands on Winters' desk. The records are moldering. One investigating officer is dead, the other is retired – and not talking. The police are instructed to treat Walt as if he'd never been arrested or convicted. Someone else apparently killed Sophia, someone still walking free.
Walter Desmond is back in Trafalgar, British Columbia, having been officially exonerated when new evidence showed corruption at worst, incompetence at best, by the Trafalgar City Police conducting the investigation. His pitbull attorney is seeking five million in damages from the provincial government. But Walt has not returned to Trafalgar to pursue money or revenge. He just wants to know the why of it.
The family of the murdered girl, Sophia D'Angelo, is bitterly determined to see Walt returned to prison – or dead. But for Trafalgar's police, including Sergeant John Winters and Constable Molly Smith, the reality is: if Walter didn't kill Sophia, someone else did.
So, case reopened. It lands on Winters' desk. The records are moldering. One investigating officer is dead, the other is retired – and not talking. The police are instructed to treat Walt as if he'd never been arrested or convicted. Someone else apparently killed Sophia, someone still walking free.
But too many minds remain closed. It's good luck for Walt that a group of women in town for the dragon boat race are staying in the B and B where he's booked, women with no local prejudices. But then a townswoman, then a boat woman, are attacked by a rapist, the media gets active, and tempers dangerously flare.
Coming in November 2016:
A grinch is spoiling the holiday cheer and causing fear in the latest from the author of Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen...
It's Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.
But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.
When Gord is found stabbed to death, there's an entire town of potential suspects – and it's up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...
It's Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.
But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.
When Gord is found stabbed to death, there's an entire town of potential suspects – and it's up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...
Permalink: The Write Spot: Vicki Delany/Eva Gates
About
The Write Spot:
I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot' and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.
I've always been fascinated by what goes on behind the scenes. Whether it's backstage photos from my favourite play, a peek into the kitchen where a chef is working her culinary magic, or simply a glimpse through an uncurtained window into a stranger's private world, there's an undeniable thrill of discovery, a sense of secrets shared. It's no surprise, then, that I'm immensely curious about where other writers do their work. I've blogged about it before in this post about my own 'write spot' and so enjoyed the comments, I was inspired to launch a regular feature here at stillpoint. Watch for The Write Spot every other Wednesday and join me as I discover the many and varied places where writers write.
stillpoint
is the blog of Canadian author Cheryl Cooke Harrington
Labels: author, author spotlight, books, Canadian author, Cheryl Cooke Harrington, Christmas cozy mystery, cozy, Eva Gates, Klondike, lighthouse, police procedural, The Write Spot, Vicki Delany, writers, writing
posted by Cheryl @ 12:13 am
Home of The Write Spot
5 Comments:
Love your writing Vicki. Still have not read all of them but planning to do so this year. Really loved the Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen and like Cheryl I cannot wait for a Sherlock Holmes book. I like that you have a computer dedicated to only writing. Very wise move. Keep them coming - your mystery books that is..
Hi Vicki, Good to see you here on Cheryl's blog. Several years ago, I attended one of your workshops in Kitchener. You are an excellent role model for all of us. Best of luck with your books. :)
I look forward to sampling at least one of each of your series.
Hi Vicki--
I loved your interview and hearing about how you write. Your books sound fabulous and now I will have to add them to my reading list, particularly your librarian sleuth books.
Victoria--
Vicki, I love the look of your Write Spot. It's seems so connected to your home that I feel I know when I look at it. Also love the idea of a computer devoted just to your novel. That would eliminate a lot of distractions. I've heard your name before, but confess I haven't yet read one of your books. I intend to remedy that. They sound like my cup of tea. (Sorry for the cliche, but it fits.)
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