Here at the Café we seem to be swamped with tea drinkers lately. Yet another one joins us here today, Carola Dunn. So let’s have a cup of her favorite, Tetley’s black tea, and sit back and enjoy. For those of you who aren’t tea drinkers — feel free to grab a cup of coffee as we talk with Carola over tea. Carola’s latest book, The Bloody Tower, just came out in September of 2007. It's a historical mystery.

CAFÉ:
Tell us a little about The Bloody Tower.

CAROLA:
My sleuth, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, visits the Tower of London in 1925. She meets many of the inhabitants and garrison and stays the night after seeing the ancient Ceremony of the Keys. Leaving early the next morning, she finds the body of a murdered Beefeater. Nice reviews in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Mystery Scene, booklist, and at GumshoeReview.com

CAFÉ:
How long have you been writing?

CAROLA:
Since 1979.

CAFÉ:
When did your first novel come out and what was it called?

CAROLA:
1981. Toblethorpe Manor (now available in large print as A Girl With No Name) It's a Regency, but there's a mystery involved — the heroine has amnesia and no one knows who she is.

CAFÉ:
Have you always written mysteries?

CAROLA:
No. 32 Regency novels and a number of Regency novellas, including adventure, time travel, fantasy, as well as the usual comedy of manners — and a fair dose of mystery.

CAFÉ:
What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book?

CAROLA:
Daisy has 2 month old twins, so I didn't want her to leave London. The Tower of London, scene of so much blood-letting over the centuries, struck me as a suitable and picturesque setting for a little more.

CAFÉ:
Tell us a little about the setting and main character.

CAROLA:
William the Conqueror started building the Tower of London in around 1087 AD, with the White Tower, which still stands. A fortress, prison, and palace, it's changed over the centuries, even between 1925 and the present. So the plan at the front of The Bloody Tower is not quite what you will see if you visit today. The inhabitants of the Tower included the Yeomen of the Guard (Beefeaters), including the Yeoman Gaoler and the Raven Master, the Resident Governor, their families, a garrison of Household Guards, the staff of a small hospital, and all the people necessary to run a small town! That gives plenty of scope for all the ingredients of a "village" mystery, with added twists because it's an artificial village with unusual inhabitants thrown together willy-nilly. Daisy Dalrymple, my amateur sleuth, visits friends who live there and gets to know a variety of people before murder brings her husband, DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, to the scene.

CAFÉ:
Sounds very interesting. What is the main reason that you write?

CAROLA:
To pay the bills! It's a strange but wonderful job.

CAFÉ:
Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to take away from your work?

CAROLA:
Entertainment is always the most important aspect, but my favorite letters from readers are those that say Daisy's adventures help them to get through times of trouble and to feel that the world isn't such a terrible place and most people are well-meaning. I always end on a positive note.

CAFÉ:
That is nice. Do you have a schedule for your writing or just write whenever you can?

CAROLA:
I write 6 days a week, about 6 hours a day, but my mind is on duty 24/7. Great ideas often arrive at 2 in the morning.

CAFÉ:
Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what's going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

CAROLA:
I usually write a 6-7 page synopsis for my editor. He didn't ask for one for the book I just finished (The Black Ship, pub 7/08), and in the end I wrote one for myself — not half as polished as it would have been for him! I'm terribly disorganized — thank heaven for search and replace! I usually start making notes of names, times, the layout of places, etc when I'm half way through. And my notes are scattered on little bit of paper all over my desk (and house).

CAFÉ:
Hope they never get lost. If you had your ideal, what time of day would you prefer to write?

CAROLA:
If I don't get going in the morning, I have great difficulty writing later on.

CAFÉ:
Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

CAROLA:
No, I was lucky. Of the 6 publishers I sent proposals to, three asked for the complete ms and two made offers (I'd signed one contract before I got the second offer — too late to start a bidding war, alas!)

CAFÉ:
Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you'd like to share?

CAROLA:
As far as the mystery series is concerned, when I started I planned to title them Death in January, Death in February, Death in March etc so that I wouldn't have to think up titles — each murder would have something to do with the month, such as a body in a frozen lake in Death at Wentwater Court, and the garden beginning to bloom in The Winter Garden Mystery. The editor who bought the first in the series didn't go for the month by month titles, so I had to start thinking up new ones. My favorite, of which I'm quite proud, is Styx and Stones, a poison-pen mystery. As my latest, The Bloody Tower, is the 16th, it's lucky I'm not cramped by only having 12 months to cover!

My best acceptance stories really come from the Regency days: I had a really wild idea for a Regency, with the hero and heroine traveling from Istanbul to London, having all sorts of adventures on the way. Obviously it didn't fit the usual Regency setting, but I talked to my then Zebra editor about it on the phone. She liked the idea and asked me to send a couple of paragraphs for her to show the editorial committee. They bought it as a Regency Historical. So when I started writing I just had the 2 paragraphs to guide me. The story turned into a sort of Perils of Pauline — at the end of each chapter the h&h were in dire peril, and I rescued them at the beginning of the next. Just before I sent it off to Zebra, my editor left. I was sure the new editor wouldn't go for such a peculiar book. She loved it! She had just two suggestions for scenes she would like me to insert. And both were scenes I had intended to put in but just never got around to.

The same editor bought a story I'd despaired of selling. When I wrote for Walker Books, the Regency editor asked for retelling of fairytales with a Regency setting, and I did Rumplestiltskin with an eponymous hero, bits of Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, Lewis Carroll et al. Again, talk about weird. One day I was talking to my editor and she was a bit depressed. I told her about the story and said it might cheer her up, and just possibly she might squeeze it into a Mothers' Day anthology as Rumplestiltskin's mother is a major character. Well, she not only bought it but she created an anthology to put it in: Once Upon a Time, and it was followed with two more matching anthologies.

CAFÉ:
Wow, that sounds exciting. What kind of promotion do you find most effective?

CAROLA:
I've never worked out the answer to this question. If any one knows, do please tell me.

CAFÉ:
Future writing goals?

CAROLA:
I'm just starting a new series set in Cornwall in the 1960-70s. I'm not sure if my goal is to have it continue as long as Daisy has — I'd like to retire someday! Daisy continues also, with Black Ship coming out next year.

CAFÉ:
Person you would most like to meet dead or alive?

CAROLA:
Jane Austen

CAFÉ:
When you have time, what do you read?

CAROLA:
Mysteries, history, science, and a variety of books that happen to come my way.

CAFÉ:
What are your hobbies?

CAROLA:
Gardening, playing recorder, walking my dog, bird watching (2 dozen goldfinches just outside my window right now).

CAFÉ:
You must live in an area with a lot of birds. Favorite TV or movies?

CAROLA:
I don't have a TV and hardly ever go to the movies — partly because I usually wait for a movie to get to the cheap theatre — sometimes they never make it there, sometimes I just don't get around to going.

CAFÉ:
You mentioned having a dog?

CAROLA:
Yes I have a dog, a black Lab/German shepherd mix, who's incredibly mellow (except when meeting a very few dogs she takes exception to).

CAFÉ:
Family?

CAROLA:
I have one son, a darling daughter in law, and two gorgeous grandkids, one girl, one boy.

CAFÉ:
What part of the country/world do you live in?

CAROLA:
I was born in England but after a couple of decades in California, I now live in Oregon.

CAFÉ:
Any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

CAROLA:
Luck, Talent, Persistence — you need two out of three and the only one you control is Persistence.

CAFÉ:
Good advice. Website?

CAROLA:
www.geocities.com/CarolaDunn/

CAFÉ:
Where can people purchase your books?

CAROLA:
Any bookseller for the mysteries; www.RegencyReads.com for out-of-print ebook Regencies (some also available in Large Print).

CAFÉ:
Thanks so much for joining us here at the Café. Your books sound very interesting.

©2007 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.