Mystery Monday: Murder of Convenience

Mystery Monday: Murder of Convenience

For an author, the road to publication, whether it be for that first book or the tenth, release day is a cause for celebration. That manuscript that is dreamed up then put to paper, then revised and rewritten, perhaps countless times, is finally “birthed.” It is “out there” for everyone to see—the most nerve-wracking part of the process.

Let me give you a little story behind the story of my “book baby.”

My employment background is primarily in Human Resources (referred to Personnel by some folks), and even though I’m no longer in the field, I am intrigued my women who work in jobs traditionally held by men. I’m especially fascinated by the women during WWII who left their homemaking roles to take up jobs or volunteer positions that were unlike anything they had ever done. I admire these women who went out of their comfort zone to answer their country’s call, sometimes overcoming great difficulties to do so.

About eighteen months ago, I was considering my next project and decided to create a series of books about a group of women friends who “do their bit” for the war effort through some of the organizations. For the first book, I chose the USO and you’ll hear more about that organization this week on Wartime Wednesday.

Next, I had to figure out how to get my character to the USO. I didn’t want it to be just because she wanted to volunteer, but rather more of a “running away to join the circus” scenario, so I had to create a reason for her to run away.

Having read several fiction books about mail order brides and arranged marriages, I decided to subject Geneva to a marriage of convenience, but because they were no longer the norm, I had to come up with a reason for her parents to choose this route for her. At that point, I knew she needed some sort of physical challenge that was incurable during the 1940s.  

After quite a bit of research I discovered a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Still incurable, this condition causes tunnel vision and eventual blindness. In order to understand the disease from a character’s point of view I read quite a few articles, memoirs, and autobiographies by individuals who suffered from this and similar diseases. Each one of the people who wrote these works focused on the solutions they found to live with their condition and prepare for eventual blindness. One women even wrote a “how to” book. I also put myself in several disconcerting situations where my vision was blocked or limited.

I hope in some small way, my book honors those folks who served on the Home Front during WWII.

For a limited time, Murder of Convenience is available for $0.99: www.amazon.com/dp/ B07JVT42FW