Interview with V.M. Burns
Aloha, and welcome to Island Confidential! I really enjoy your protagonist, Samantha Washington, and envy what I consider to be her dream career. Can you tell the readers a little bit about her?
Samantha Washington was a high school English teacher who dreamed that one day, she and her husband, would open a mystery shop. When her husband dies, she decides life is too short not to follow her dreams. She quits her job and opens the mystery bookshop. She also dreamed that she would write British historic cozy mysteries, which she does.
There is a lot of me in Sam. She dreams of quitting her job and opening a mystery bookshop and writing British historic cozies because that’s my dream. Unfortunately, I’m not courageous enough to go “all in” like Sam. So, there’s no mystery bookshop (yet).
But fortunately for us readers, there are the cozy mysteries! If you met your protagonist in real life, how do you think you and she would get along?
If I met Samantha Washington in real life, I think we’d hit it off. We’d probably spend hours drinking tea, eating sweets, and talking about mysteries.
A Tourist’s Guide to Murder is the 6th book in the Mystery Bookshop series. Has Samantha changed as the story has progressed, or has she stayed the same? On a scale of Kinsey Millhone to Amelia Peabody.
My characters evolve. When the series started with, The Plot is Murder, Sam was still grieving for her husband, and just starting out with the bookshop. Her desire to write British historic cozies was such a closely held secret, not even those closest to her knew about that dream Over the course of the series, she has gained confidence, her bookshop is thriving, she is sharing her writing with others, and she has opened up her heart to the possibility of love.
Have you ever contemplated killing someone that you know in real life–on the pages of your books, I mean?
Actually, I find it therapeutic to murder people I know (in the pages of my books). Whenever someone makes me angry, I kill them in my books. I change the names to protect the guilty, but I usually keep the same initials. My friends and coworkers read my books to see if they recognize themselves in the victim.
The book’s setting, North Harbor, Michigan, feels like a real place. Is it? I can’t find it on Google Maps.
North Harbor is based on the town of Benton Harbor, Michigan which is on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Southwestern corner of the state. People from the area will recognize the locale, so while I change the names, the setting is true to life.
When the movie or TV series is made, who plays the major roles?
I’d love to see Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures) as Samantha Washington. When I first started writing the series, I envisioned Della Reese as Nana Jo, but unfortunately, she has died. However, I believe Jackée Harry would also do an amazing job in the role.
What’s the worst and best advice you’ve heard or received as an author
The best advice I’ve received is to write the book that will keep your butt in the seat. Writing takes time and unless the book is something you feel passionate about, you won’t finish. I’ve been fortunate and haven’t had a lot of bad advice, but the worst advice is when people believe there is only one right way to do things—theirs. Just because something works for one person, doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. I believe each writer needs to figure out what works for them, and do that.
A Tourist’s Guide to Murder
Sam joins Nana Jo and her Shady Acres Retirement Village friends Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae on a weeklong trip to London, England, to experience the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour. The chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Sam—and a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.
But between visits to Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel district and 221B Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes. Despite his employer’s unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on—until another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. Now it’s up to Sam and the Shady Acres ladies to mix and mingle among their fellow mystery lovers, find a motive, and turn up a murderer . . .
About the Author
V.M. (Valerie) Burns was born and raised in the Midwestern United States. She currently resides in the warmer region of the country in East Tennessee with her two poodles. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. Valerie is the author of the RJ Franklin Mysteries, the Dog Club Mysteries, and the Agatha Award-nominated Mystery Bookshop Mystery series.
Author Links
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/v-m-burns
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/burnsvm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmburns
Website: vmburns.com
Purchase Links
Apple – Amazon – Google – Kobo – Nook – BAM – Bookshop.org – Hudson Booksellers – IndieBound – Target
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