Q&A with Sylvia Dickey Smith, author of Deadly Sins Deadly Secrets
Q: What drew you to writing in the mystery genre?
A: That’s a mystery! Oops, sorry, couldn’t resist. Seriously, I had a story I wanted to tell and after much consideration and consultation with other writers, I decided that mystery was the genre to best fit the story.
Q: Where did you get the idea for your Sidra Smart series?
A: I expected my first book to be a stand-alone work. I had never written before, so I took an online how-to course at the same time I was writing it—not the easiest way to go. This led to numerous rewrites. I knew I wanted an older protagonist who had her own issues and who knew nothing about being a private eye. Since I knew little about the business, I figured that would be the best way to go. I could learn along with Sidra.
I had fun coming up with the double entendre name of the detective agency—the Third Eye. Before Sidra inherited the business, it was owned and operated by her late brother, Warren Chadwick, who worked intuitively. Sidra is also intuitive but doesn’t know it, for any sense of the mystical had been forbidden in her home. Now, she is divorced, and during the series, we watch as she finds her voice and learns to listen to her own sense of knowing.
I struggled with where to set the series, and settled on my hometown of Orange, Texas, the last get-off on I-10 before entering Louisiana. Orange sits along the meandering Sabine and Neches Rivers and is surrounded by bayous and swamps. It is a small town with a colorful past and a promising future. Cajuns, cowboys, shipbuilders and oil refinery workers populate the area today. Previously, it was home to pirates and slave traders, and before that, by Paleo-Indians called Atakapa, believed to be cannibalistic. The area abounds in mystery. The series has certain paranormal elements in it, although it is not written as a paranormal mystery. I have never seen a ghost before, but respect those who have. I think the whole paranormal element adds an intrigue, and an interest, to a work that lots of folks enjoy. I do.
Q: Tell us a little about your novel, Deadly Sins Deadly Secrets.
A: This second book in the Sidra Smart & The Third Eye mystery series again transports the reader to colorful, but mysterious southeast Texas where hurricanes are wont to blow, and mosquitoes grow as big as dragonflies, where Civil War heroines lived and died in obscurity, and live again. Where everyone knows everything about the other—or at least they think they do—until the sins of the past catch up with the secrets of the present.
By now, fifty-year-old Sid Smart Sid thinks she knows where she’s headed. She’s divorced her preacher-husband, she’s inherited a private detective business, and she’s solved her first case. But then she moves into a ghost-active house and discovers that the past holds the key not only to her future, but to the lives of innocent people trapped in an unholy web of deception that spans decades.
When tobacco-spitting, chair-rocking Dempsey Durwood convinces her to clear the name of his dead son in the murder of a local couple, Sid finds herself confounded by clues that lead nowhere. She battles her own prejudice, a burned-out office, the disappearance of a local preacher’s wife, and a midnight trip through a murky swamp before clues begin to fall into place.
But when skeletal remains of a local boy, missing since the 1970s, are found half-buried in ancient shell mounds, and that this event ties back to the murdered couple, Sid realizes the past holds the key to the present, but she’s still unsure what she’s dealing with, or whom.
Q: You’ve written one previous novel. Is it still available for purchase? If so please tell our readers where it can be found.
A: The book is Dance on His Grave, and yes, it is most definitely available for purchase. It is the first book in the Sidra Smart series and is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com or any other online bookstore, or through any book retailer. Also, readers can email me for instructions on ordering a personalized autographed copy.
Q: Your publisher is L & L Dreamspell. How did you find them? What drew you to choosing L & L Dreamspell over other publishers?
A: L & L Dreamspell is a new publishing house. They have been in the business for a year. I learned of them through one of their authors. I emailed and asked him about his experience with them. His comments were encouraging and so I submitted a manuscript to them. Their positive response came within a couple of days. The fiction editor said she had fallen in love with my voice and immediately offered me a contract. The two “L’s” are delightful, supportive, encouraging, creative, and determined women who want to make their authors a success. Also, they are Texas based, which is nice since my series is set in the state.
Q: Do you have an agent?
Not currently. I have had two, neither of which worked out. The first one dropped off the face of the earth and the second one closed her business before she got an offer on my first book. After several more close calls, I decided to submit directly to publishers. After I contracted with L & L Dreamspell, another agent offered to represent me, but at that point I decided I would go it alone.
Q: There are many mysteries in bookstores. What do you think sets your book apart from the others?
A: I call myself a “storycatcher.” One reviewer said that I “weave a tale tighter than a hangman’s noose,” and that my characters resonate with a down-home feeling found in small towns all across America. That is exactly what I hope to capture. The heart of America is in the thousands of small towns across this great country. I chose a small town in which to set this series in honor of such characters that inhabit these towns, turning a black and white world into full-spectrum color. My plots are complex, with twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and guessing. They also deal with social issues that we each face. My older female sleuth is easy for Baby Boomers to identify with. Plus, I think bayous, swamps and a touch of history add to the mystery.
Q: What two pieces of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
A: Keep your derriere in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite and rewrite some more. (One of the biggest mistakes many aspiring author make is submitting their work to agents or editors prematurely.) And a third piece of advice for free: DON’T GIVE UP!
Q: Are you working on another book? If so, could you tell us a bit about it and when do you think it will be available for purchase?
A: Yes, I am working on the third book of the Sidra Smart series. The working title is Dead Reckoning. In this book Sidra defends an old woman named Boo Murphy. The book opens with Boo paddling a pirogue through the swamp hunting squirrels when she spies a pirate schooner believed to be that of 19th century Privateer Jean Lafitte, resurrected by a low tide. Awed by the find, she climbs aboard and imagines she’s a 17th century female pirate sailing with “Calico” Jack Rackam. She returns the next day to show the schooner to her cousin, but they don’t find the schooner. Instead, they find her cousin’s husband, dead. As Sid works to clear Boo, she must deal with her own ghosts and finds herself infatuated with one of them.
Q: What is your writing schedule like? And approximately how long does it take you to write a book?
A: I generally get up around five a.m. and write several hours, take a break for lunch and write a couple more hours before stopping for the day. In between times I take the opportunity to rewrite or make adjustments in my manuscript gained from critique groups. I can usually write a manuscript, start to finish, in six to nine months. Work on book three has been slowed down a little. We downsized, which took a lot of physical energy and time, and then my mother passed. So I’m humping to get book three done by deadline. I’ll make it. I work better under a deadline than I do having all the time in the world.
Q:. Is writing your full time job? If not, what do you do to pay the bills. And if there is a connection for writers, tell them how they can reach you.
A: Yes, I write full time. That does not pay the bills, however. I pay my bills based on retirement benefits my husband and I receive. (see live links below)
—I love hearing from other writers, and can be reached at sylvia@sylviadickeysmith.com. —I have a newsletter I send out every three months or so and people can sign up for it on my website. —I also love to read comments from readers who read my blog at http://sylviadickeysmith.blogspot.com.
Another piece of good news is a fan called me and asked if she could head up a Sylvia Dickey Smith Fan Club. Of course, I said yes! Folks can watch my blog or my website to keep up with that development. I love hearing from fans, they make my day!
Q: Do you find it helpful, as an author, to have a website for book promotion? If so, why?
A: Oh most definitely! I use my website to keep folks informed, to help them get to know me better, to contact me, to know when new books are coming out, where I am and where I’ve been. I also offer a couple of Cajun recipes—that sort of thing. I think any writer needs a website. I established mine soon after I started writing my first book. I wanted to start getting my name out there. It has been invaluable. When folks hear of me and my books, I want them to be able to find me, fast and easy.
Q: What are three of your best book promotional ideas for authors?
A: Keep an active blog. By active, I mean submit something to the blog at least twice a week. Learn all you can about marketing the blog and link to others.
The second idea that has made the biggest difference for me is to involve the Chamber of Commerce in the town where your book is set. Involve them in marketing your work. Offer to sign books at the chamber, promote the town on your website and in your presentations. Give back, in other words. This probably holds true most effectively if your setting is a small town. Otherwise, you might have difficulty gaining their interest.
Another idea is to create and distribute an email newsletter. This keeps you in the forefront in the minds of readers. Also, find unusual, out-of-the way locations to conduct book signings. For instance, I signed in a local wine store. We had a great time, and sales were good.
Read our review: http://reviews/deadly-sins-deadly-secrets
Author’s Links:
Web site: http://www.sylviadickeysmith.com
Email: Sylvia@SylviaDickeySmith.com
Blog: http://SylviaDickeySmith.blogspot.com