The Suburbs Have Secrets--Thanks Mom!
When I was a pre-teen and still dreaming about becoming a published author, my mother used to suggest I write a story like Peyton Place. For those of you too young to know what I’m talking about, Peyton Place was a blockbuster book about small town scandals and secrets that later became a TV series. It was the 1960s version of Desperate Housewives and Pretty Little Liars. My mother loved the idea of a novel about a fictionalized version of our street where everyone had some kind of dirty little secret. Flash forward a couple years, and Murder She Wrote became a Sunday night staple in our home. Once again, my mom – who we discovered was a savant when it came to solving crimes before Jessica Fletcher – suggested that I write a small town mystery story where everyone had secrets. Interestingly, she never thought of writing the story herself. She only thought I should write one. Apparently, I was to be the conduit for her imagination. But, that’s an issue for another day (and...