Marilyn's Musings

Marilyn, thank you so much for hosting me again. This time I'll talk about one of the ways I research for the books I write. At the moment, my work in progress is The Valley of Fear , the third one in the Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson series. (The first two are available in paperback, eBook, and audio book formats at bookstores, or online.) For The Hounding (first book) I walked the route the victim was running when she was attacked by a pack of dogs. I spent a lot of time driving around neighborhoods, both in Lake Oswego and Portland, where Shirley and Mary live, where the victim lived, where the suspects lived and worked. I made a physical scrapbook of maps, blueprints, and character studies. The Illustrious Client took me to Portland's waterfront to look at yachts, up on pill hill to visit OHSU hospital, site of the first murder, even to Voodoo Donuts. I eat in the restaurants, delis, or coffee shops featured in my books. I use the internet to ...