About Jinx Schwartz and her Just Deserts series.


About Jinx Schwartz:
Raised in the jungles of Haiti and Thailand, with returns to Texas in-between, Jinx Schwartz followed her father's steel-toed bootsteps into the Construction and Engineering industry in hopes of building dams. Finding all the good rivers taken, she traveled the world defacing other landscapes with mega-projects in Alaska, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Like the protagonist in her mystery series, Hetta Coffey, Jinx was a woman with a yacht—and she wasn't afraid to use it—when she met her husband, Mad Dog Schwartz. They opted to become cash-poor cruisers rather than continue chasing the rat, sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, turned left, and headed for Mexico. They now divide their time between Arizona and Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

Jinx's seventh book in her award-winning series, Just Deserts: Book Four of the Hetta Coffey mystery series, was recently released. Her other books include a YA fictography of her childhood in Haiti (Land of Mountains), an adventure in the Sea of Cortez (Troubled Sea) and an epic novel of the 30 years leading to the fall of the Alamo (The Texicans).

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 Jinx talks abut the settings in her books

As with any author with multiple books, my settings change.
Just Deserts, 4th in my Hetta Coffey series, moves Hetta to the tumultuous Arizona/Mexico border, while Just Add Water (Book 1) was set in the San Francisco/Bay area. Books two and three of the series take place in Mexico. All of this series feature Hetta Coffey, a woman with a yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it.

Getting the setting right, bringing the reader right there, is incredibly important for an author. Got your geographical facts straight? You’d better!

More than one writer has faced the wrath of readers when they write about an area they are not familiar with, then do not do their homework. I once read a book by a very well-known author who set his story in Mexico, then had his characters driving from Cabo San Lucas to San Diego in something around ten hours. Even the Baja One Thousand drivers have never broken that record. On the map it looks like 1000 or so miles, but in reality? It is a two-day drive up Baja One, a piece of road not to be taking lightly.

I’ve had people approach me in Mexico and tell me I am why they are there. Now, this is a little bit daunting, but so far my Mexico-based novels seem to draw readers south of the border with good results. I just hope none of them encounter the chaos Hetta Coffey seems to stir up!

Just Deserts, 4th in the Hetta Coffey Mystery Series:

Hetta Coffey is a woman with a yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it.

Just Deserts finds Hetta high and dry, however, with her floating home in dry dock for repairs.

With no place to live, Hetta takes on a project in northern Mexico, only to find herself smack dab in a labor dispute involving Molotov cocktails. Scurrying for safety across the border, she rents a house in the Bisbee/Naco area of Cochise County, Arizona, only to find that trouble has followed her. All hell is breaking loose on both sides of the border, even before she gets there.  

Comments

Welcome to Jinx, who is off on her boat as you are reading this.

Marilyn
job for writers said…
hm... very interesting! thank you for sharing your thoughts!
M.M. Gornell said…
Good getting your perspective on setting, Jinx. Especially given all your travels. I enjoyed.

Madeline
Jinx Schwartz said…
Thanks for hosting me this morning, Marilyn. I'm back on US soil for the next two weeks, then back to the boat until spring. I will be writing my little heart out down there, so hopefully Hetta will have a new adventure!
Marja McGraw said…
You're absolutely right, Jinx. The author had better know their setting if they want to keep readers interested. Your stories sound like something I'd enjoy, so I guess my TBR pile is about to grow again.
Amazing! Thanks a lot for this post.
Jean Henry Mead said…
I agree, Jinx. Not only the terrain but other details as well. I once read a novel that had seven numbers on a Wyoming license plate. In reality the plates have a bucking horse, county number and four additional numbers. Things like that turn readers off.
SandyG265 said…
I think it's interesting that your books are set in different locations.
Jackie King said…
Jinx, I'm so proud to be able to say that I know someone who "sails away on the Sea of Corez." Even a virtual friend. Also, good post.
Anonymous said…
Good points. I enjoyed this.

--BrendaW.
Earl Staggs said…
Jinx, I am so jealous of you. You live a life most of us only dream about.
Anonymous said…
Details in setting are important. Your example of what readers will notice if you're wrong is perfect! Thanks, Jinx.
Jinx Schwatz said…
Sandy g265, contact me at jinxschwartz@yahoo.com for your ebook. jinx
This information is really useful! It's just what I was searching for

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