Cameron Darrow
by Death Has Golden Eyes
Released: Jun 25, 2024
Genre: Mystery
Why this book and why now?
It might seem odd for someone who has written only historical fantasy and fantasy romance to suddenly write a mystery, but after the pandemic, a string of personal issues and finishing the ‘From the Ashes of Victory’ series, I was completely burned out. I knew I needed to try something different, and not anywhere nearly as emotionally driven. I had been toying with the idea of writing a mystery for a few years, coming up with the characters, the setting and the overall series premise, but with the ‘Ashes’ series still ongoing, I didn’t have space in my brain for three universes. Authors often say that they ‘need’ to write a book, and in the case of this first Dizzy book I was no different. I needed to write it because I knew that if I didn’t, I might not be able to write anything else ever again, and the characters had already been living in the back of my head for years. If they didn’t come out now, they never would! But an entirely new universe with entirely new characters in an entirely new genre was exactly the change I needed. I never thought about it as a risk, only what I needed to do to prove to myself I could still write books.
What is a significant way your book has changed since either the first draft or the way you thought it would turn out when you first had the inspiration?
I had no idea what perspective I wanted to tell this story from at first. Famously, the Sherlock Holmes books are told from Watson’s PoV in the first person, but that didn’t quite work for me, as Dizzy’s Watson is a vampire from another dimension, and her way of thinking is just too alien. I tried it, though! Ultimately I settled on a tight, over-the-shoulder third-person following Dizzy. It leaves room for authorial voice and gives us access to her thoughts and reasoning, and gives the deepest possible insight into her character. I will say that hiding her conclusions so that there’s still, you know, a mystery, is a bit of a challenge sometimes, however!
What TV show would your main character(s) most likely binge watch and why?
If Dizzy was alive now, it would have to be one of those ghost hunting shows, so that she can laugh and laugh, then get all worked up at how ridiculous everyone is being since she knows what ghosts really are — and aren’t. Who doesn’t love yelling at the TV when your expertise is made mockery of by amateurs? Plus, watching people scream at dust motes and fumble around with Ouija boards while sitting next to a vampire who looks about ready to kill everyone involved for disrespecting the dead with such a farce would produce perhaps lethal levels of schadenfreude. Then she emerges from the shadows behind them, and suddenly they have something to REALLY scream about…
What 3 things would your main character want with them if they got stranded away from civilization, and why?
Cigarettes. At one point Dizzy wonders if they do her thinking for her. They give her hands something to do while she thinks, and as she doesn’t like sweets, her mouth, too.
Brandy. I’m not entirely sure Dizzy can function completely without it. She lives in crazy times in crazy circumstances, and deals with a lot of… questionable… people, who wouldn’t be driven to drink?
Her bathtub. Dizzy spent a stupendous amount of money on a copper, double-slipper bathtub that she adores. It’s her refuge and sole place of stillness she can always retreat to when the world around her has gone insane. And copper is self-cleaning!
Publishing a book is a huge accomplishment and it’s time to party! Choose a celebratory beverage for one of your main characters to toast the release of your new book.
Before the war, when Dizzy’s books on the supernatural were published, it was the French 75. It’s composed of simple syrup, lemon juice (sugar and fruit both being strictly rationed at the time of this story) and gin, shaken over ice, then strained into a glass that is then topped up with champagne. Very simple, very tasty and very numerous if you’re not careful. Being British and having spent years on the Continent, mixing gin and champagne is a natural combination! If only she could get her hands on a lemon again…
