Edith Maxwell, author of STRANGLED EGGS AND HAM and former President of SinCNE, answers questions about her newest book and writing. Have thought or questions about writing, eggs, or South Lick? Leave a comment!
How would you describe the plot of the book to your former Indiana University grad-school buddy?
Remember how hot and steamy it got in August, and how pretty Brown County was? We either slowed down and got lethargic, or tempers went up with the thermometer. Well, when Robbie Jordan’s Aunt Adele gets word of an environment-destroying resort going in, she doesn’t slow down a bit. She musters all kinds of friends – her childhood bestie, an Amish farmer, Robbie’s baker friend, the hardware store owner, and others – to stop traffic on the state route in protest. But what about the locals who need jobs? They’re royally upset at the protest, and they need the employment the resort would offer. Robbie is caught in the middle. What could possibly go wrong?
What was the a-ha moment that made you write this story?
I always think about what kinds of issues would confront the residents of South Lick (South Lickians?) beyond interpersonal ones. Brown County is a lovely corner of the world – hilly, wooded, artsy, independent – and I thought, what would happen if a luxury resort bulldozed its way (literally) onto one of the prettiest hilltops around? How would locals react? Would they want the new jobs or prefer to save the trees and the view? Suppose a lawyer helping the protestors is murdered? And there we had the kernel of the story.
Who is your favorite character and why?
In this book, Robbie’s Aunt Adele has a great role to play as leader of the anti-resort group. She’s seventy-one, competent and caring, fearless, and funny, all in one package.
Is there a setting in your book that you would like to visit?
I would love to eat breakfast or lunch at Pans ‘N Pancakes, Robbie’s country story restaurant in South Lick, and stay in her B&B rooms upstairs. It’s that real to me, and the food is fabulous!
What is the hardest part of writing a book?
For me, the hardest part is the middle. Without fail (and I have completed twenty-two novels, all under contract), I get bogged down halfway through. It’s SO hard to wrap my arms around everything I’ve already written and still keep the story going with momentum until I get to the exciting end. If you ever read a book of mine that has a second victim later in the story? That was me exercising my Get Unstuck trick. By now I know if keep typing, if I persist in following my characters’ lead, I’ll get to the end without using The Trick.
Maddie Day writes the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. As Agatha and Macavity nominated Edith Maxwell, she writes the Quaker Midwife Mysteries, the Local Foods Mysteries, and award-winning short crime fiction. Find her at edithmaxwell.com, at the Wicked Authors blog, on Killer Characters, and elsewhere.