Greetings fiction fans,
I’m taking a little break from telling you about my vacation exploits to tell you about my fiction exploits.
My third novel overall and the second installment of the Mistress of None series launched this week. In order to write this book, I had to learn about three things: the early days of burlesque, traveling on a river boat, and how to write a mystery. No Rest for the Wicked had some elements of mystery, but was more of an adventure story. (Read the blurb) Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained on the other hand, is a mystery with some adventure elements. A riverboat is a perfect “locked door” kind of setting for a mystery, and you learn more about Vi’s history that shows why she is just the woman to investigate.
Another new aspect of this book is Vi’s friend, Bonnie, gets a much bigger role in the story. There was so much going on in book 1 to establish the world and Vi’s powers, that I couldn’t explore the young widow and her relationship with Vi all that deeply. (Plus, they had only known each other about a week when book 1 ended.) Their friendship and Vi’s problems with letting down her guard are central to Nothing Ventured.
The other shiny new thing is the continued growth of Vi’s abilities and a deepening of her understanding of how things all work. She acquired a brand new skill in the first book, but in the second she learns more about something she’s depended on her whole life. Plus, a new ally tells her there are more than just ghosts beyond the veil…
The first book got Vi from Sacramento to Chicago. This next book skips a little of the journey south and begins in St. Louis where Vi, Bonnie, and her ghostly companion Peter hitch a ride on a river boat captained by an old flame of Vi’s. Some reviews of No Rest complained that Vi didn’t make it all the way to her final destination, so fair warning, she reaches New Orleans only at the very end of this book. The third book will take place there and will bring together threads from the first two books. From the beginning, my intention was to create a cross-country escapade in gaslight era America. New Orleans has always been like the Mordor of Vi’s story, so it felt natural to me for it to take her a while to get there. If all goes according to plan, the fourth and final installment will involve returning to the site that played such an important role in her youth and early adulthood: New York City.
Intrigued? Check out the Amazon page for Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained!
Phoebe Darqueling 