What made you want to do a reimagining of the classic Peter Pan story? Was it always a favorite or, given the dark turn this story takes, not-so-favorite of yours? I’ve always loved fairy tales in general, especially the dark ones. And I’ve always loved Peter Pan — the original is such a slim volume, but so beautiful and complex. But I hadn’t thought of it in years, until I had a crazy dream featuring a Wendy in a stone tower and Peter Pan boys flying in and out of the windows. When I woke up, I thought “Hmmm. That’s interesting,” and started reading everything I could about J.M. Barrie and his work.   Besides Wendy and Peter Pan, do you bring back any of the other characters from the classic? Yes. Tinker Bell makes an appearance, as well as one or two other characters I don’t want to give away!   Your story, like many fairy tales, taps into deep fears that many people have – sickness, a child’s disappearance, aging. Have you entertained the idea of using these elements in a more traditional thriller? Fairy tales were some of the original thrillers. Think about it — missing children,…

Luke Dempsey, your hero in TURN TO ME, is a man who’s been to prison. What made you decide on a hero with that history? Luke’s younger brother died when Luke was 14.  Luke tried to save him, couldn’t, and then blamed himself for Ethan’s death.  That trauma sent him on a reckless and self-destructive path.  I had that path end with a stint in prison for two reasons: One, because I wanted the challenge of prison to toughen him. Two, because I wanted prison to serve as his motivation to get his life in order. When Turn to Me begins, he’s been out for a few months.  He’s cynical and withdrawn but he’s also dead set on never breaking another law.   How would you describe the dynamic between Luke and Finley? Grump and sunshine!  I had a ball writing these two.  Luke’s an irritable bad boy hero type and Finley’s an idealistic, Boho animal lover.   Because there’s some treasure hunting in this story, is there a mix of romance and suspense? Or does one dominate the story more than the other? There’s definitely a blend of romance and mystery with a dash of suspense thrown in.  But…

Miranda Owen: As soon as I read the description for THE MURDER OF MR. WICKHAM, I was immediately intrigued. I love Jane Austen, and I love mysteries. What inspired you to write this book?    Claudia Gray: Make no mistake – I am a huge PD James fan – but when I first read Death Comes to Pemberley a decade ago, I couldn’t imagine why she cast Denny as the victim. Has anyone ever worried about what happened to Denny? Wickham was right there, being awful, surrounded by people who had very strong motives to loathe the guy. Eventually I decided, maybe I should stop wishing this very good book would be something it isn’t. If I think some novelist should kill off Mr. Wickham, then I’m going to do it myself.    MO: I love the idea of playing around with characters from a classic novel and putting them in different circumstances and mixing characters from different works by the same author. Is this something you’d do again with a different author? Like Charles Dickens? Do you think you stayed true to the essence of the characters while giving them a new spin?    CG: My hope is that…

First of all – I love the cover for your book THE HACIENDA. It seems to capture the mood based on the book’s description. Your book is described as “Mexican Gothic” and “supernatural suspense”. What does that mean to you? How would you describe that for readers? THE HACIENDA is a genre-bending novel that combines elements of historical, horror, thriller, paranormal, and fantasy, tying it all together with a dash of romance. I believe the term “supernatural suspense” signals to readers what kind of experience awaits them between the covers: a suspenseful, terrifying tale of ghosts, witchcraft, and things that go bump in the night. Mexican Gothic is both a comp title (as in, THE HACIENDA will appeal to readers of the novel Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and, I believe, a genre in and of itself with ample room to grow! So many things about Mexican culture and history lend themselves beautifully to the Gothic as a genre: ghosts, tempestuous colonial histories, long-buried secrets, buildings that are hundreds of years old, the cultural predominance of and tension between Catholicism and traditional religious beliefs, and the skeletal iconography of holidays such as the Day of the Dead. I eagerly await…

Describe the setting that LETTERS TO SINGAPORE takes place for me. LETTERS TO SINGAPORE takes place in Calgary, Canada and Singapore. The protagonist Simran is a new international student at the University of Calgary. Bewildered and alone, she arrives in Calgary (the West) from Singapore (the East). Simran sends letters that go back and forth to 4 women in Singapore. She learns about surviving in a new city, new country and new “everything,” so place becomes a metaphor for transformation and reinvention for Simran.   Does this story draw on personal experience at all? What inspired you to write this book? I was inspired to write this novel when I was accepted into a four-month writing program by the Writers’ Guild of Alberta and Alexandra’s Writers’ Centre in 2019. I was excited and inspired, especially when I found out that my mentor was the marvelous Aritha van Herk. Thrilled and nervous, I finished this novel in 100 days. There are some parts of the novel that draw on personal experiences – one is the skiing adventure. Other parts are the strokes of creative fiction that I enjoyed incorporating as I delved into developing the stories. I enjoyed engaging in the intricacies…

What made you choose 1971 as the setting for A Snake in the Raspberry Patch? I chose 1971 because I didn’t want technology such as cell phones or computers to be in the story. Also, since true crime events in rural communities were part of the inspiration for this book, I didn’t want the date to conflict with other mass murders that have occurred in Canada. And in 1971, I was a teenager so could relate quite easily to what it would be like to live in that decade.   Is the story told through one character’s perspective? Liz is the protagonist, so the story is told through her eyes, but Rose, whose personality seemed to jump out early in the writing, took over many of the scenes. She almost came alive as I wrote. I could even hear her voice in my head.   Do you try to maintain the tension throughout the story? The murders, and/or a killer on the loose, so a potential threat to the girls, are mentioned throughout, creating tension. But I also wanted some normalcy – i.e., depiction of life on the prairie in the 70’s.   Families seem to be the heart of…

Philippa Kirkpatrick has been raised at a castle by a duchess. I’m all about the details. Can you explain Philippa’s position a little bit? Philippa came to Carlyle Castle as a young child, when her widowed father married the Duke of Carlyle’s sister. She was raised at the castle, doted on by the Carlyle family. Her father died when she was a teenager, and then her stepmother, leaving her as the ward of the duke’s mother, the Duchess. The duchess has no other grandchildren and believes she never will; she loves Philippa as a granddaughter and made Philippa her sole heiress (and the duchess was a wealthy woman before she married a duke). As the duchess is elderly, and the duke is unable to run things himself, Philippa gradually becomes the lady of the estate, which she takes to and is determined to do well. The duchess trusts and relies on her completely, which means Philippa has to handle the troublesome new steward, William Montclair, herself.   The description for ALL THE DUKE I NEED doesn’t paint a detailed picture of Will. How would you describe him to readers? Charming and easygoing? Serious and a total boy scout good guy?…

As a reader, I always wondered why it was necessary when an author would come out with a book at the end of a series, telling the same story but from another character’s perspective. Now, as a rabid Night Huntress fangirl, I get it. For years we got stories without directly getting Bones’ perspective. He’s an amazing character with ever getting that window into his psyche, but sometimes you just couldn’t help but wonder. Like in DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE. I admit that it’s not my fav in the series – but largely because I just didn’t understand where Bones was coming from – which is why I loved OUTTAKES FROM THE GRAVE in which you have alternate scenes that gave me what I felt was missing from that earlier book.  So, I know why I’m so excited to read THE OTHER HALF OF THE GRAVE, but what motivated you to write it? You could say that Bones did, and it took me completely by surprise. A couple years ago, I was reading the beginning of HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE for some reason, and on impulse, I re-wrote chapter one from Bones’ point of view. Then, just for fun,…

Your heroine in RULES FOR ENGAGING THE EARL is a businesswoman, among other things. What made you decide you create this type of heroine? Any real-life inspiration? This is a great question; one I’m delighted to answer. It’s a common misconception that women didn’t work during the Regency period. They did. Let’s look at a few. One of the most familiar examples is Jane Austen. Yet, poor Jane didn’t make enough from her beloved novels to make ends meet. Since she never married, she had to rely on the generosity of her brother after her father passed away. There were other trailblazers. Let me introduce you to Harriett Mellon. Have you ever heard of her? Probably not, though her influence on society during the Regency period was great. An actress of moderate accomplishment, part of her fame and biggest success came from her career as a banker and major partner at Coutts & Co. It’s still in business, and it’s where Queen Elizabeth banks. Let’s not forget Eleanor Coade who purchased a stoneware company and turned it into a successful business by supplying neoclassical statues and garden ornaments for the Prince Regent and others during this period. Her pieces are…

I love stories in which a main character “comes back from the dead”. What inspired you to create a story with this plot? THE DUKE IS BACK is book 6 (and the final book) in my Footmen’s Club series. The series was based on the idea of three noblemen betting each other they couldn’t pull off pretending to be servants at a house party. Whoever makes it the longest, wins! That is the premise of the first three books, and I’d only planned to write the trilogy. But readers asked for more (yay!). So I wrote the book about how the couple who hosted the house party met (Book 4, Save a Horse, Ride a Viscount). In that book, there was a mysterious house guest who was hidden away. His name is Phillip. Save a Horse ended on a cliffhanger for Phillip (it was sort of a surprise for me, too!) THE DUKE IS BACK picks up the story of what happened to Phillip and how he reclaims his life.   Phillip’s brother was murdered. I suspect there’s a mystery thrown into this romance. If that’s so, would you say you have an even balance of mystery in romance? Or…