ManyBooks Author of the Day
It is a thrill to be ManyBooks’ Author of the Day! Many thanks to them for inviting me over to their blog for an interview. Find out more about my art history mysteries and future projects on their website!
Google Maps to Sell Your Books
If your book is strong in setting, a fun and easy way to reach new readers is by creating a Google Map. Because my novels take place all over the world and the stories are set in actual museums, cafes, and monuments, I thought it would be a good way of transporting readers to the settings I describe. Honestly, creating a map for my novel The Lover’s Portrait, was one of the first things I did when I started self-publishing….
Marked for Revenge: Settings of my Art Heist Thriller
My latest novel, Marked for Revenge, is an art heist thriller about the theft of forty paintings from modern art museums spread across the Netherlands. It is also the third novel in this series featuring art history student and reluctant amateur sleuth, Zelda Richardson. In this book, one of the museum’s Zelda Richardson is working for is robbed at the beginning of the novel and soon our heroine finds herself entangled with the robbers, mob, and police. To save herself…
Tiger Temple Caves in Krabi, Thailand
This is one of my favorite photos of a trip to Tiger Temple Caves in Krabi, Thailand, simply because this monk is so into his work! And what a great space to work in… This trip to Thailand and Nepal inspired two books: Down and Out in Kathmandu and Notes of a Naive Traveler. Here’s a short excerpt from my travelogue about this cave complex: January 10, 2000: Krabi We also visited the interesting Tiger Temple Caves. It’s a series…
When Fiction is Perceived as Fact: Rituals of the Dead
My latest novel, Rituals of the Dead, came to be because I wanted to write a mystery about an Asmat bis pole. Considering the Asmat live in the Indonesian province of Papua, the setting for my historical mystery was easily decided. The premise was simple: my protagonist – an art history student in present-day Amsterdam – would investigate an event that took place in Papua, before the Dutch government ceded their control to the newly-formed nation of Indonesia in 1963….
World War II and Looted Art – inspirations for The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery
The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery is a dual timeline thriller set in WWII and present-day Amsterdam. The plot and several characters were inspired by university lectures and archival research I conducted while studying art history and museum studies at the University of Amsterdam. To learn more about Amsterdam’s turbulent World War II history, read my article “Amsterdam: the Perfect Setting for an Art Mystery“. To learn more about the artists who inspired the portrait from which this novel takes…
Why drafting a new mystery is akin to a Choose Your Own Adventure novel
Writing the first draft of a new mystery always reminds me of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel. This is a time of discovery, when I let my imagination go and try to envision multiple versions and outcomes of the same scene. Much in the same way the wonderful Choose Your Own Adventure series of young adult books by R. A. Montgomery, allows readers to determine the characters’ destiny by deciding what happens at the end of each chapter. When…
Yesterday Uncovered – 1940s with Jennifer S Alderson & The Lover’s Portrait
I am thrilled to be participating in Pauline Barclay’s new blog feature – Yesterday Uncovered! Pauline is an accomplished author and the founder of the Chill with a Book Awards. Her latest feature will shine a spotlight on a different decade every month this year. This month, readers can learn more about the inspiration and background research needed to write The Lover’s Portrait: An Art Mystery. Here’s a teaser: What inspired you to write about the 1940s? While studying art…
Exploring the Locations used in Rituals of the Dead
My latest art-related mystery, Rituals of the Dead, is set in Papua and the Netherlands – two nations on opposite sides of the globe yet connected by a colonial past. Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea – as the Papua Province of Indonesia was known until 1963 – was considered to be one of the last truly wild frontiers. The seemingly impenetrable interior and extreme weather, combined with rumors of headhunting and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, enticed many explorers wishing…
Rituals of the Dead featured Women Writers, Women’s Books website
I am deeply honored to see my article, ‘When Fiction is Perceived as Fact’ on Women Writers, Women’s Books website! This short piece provides insight into the inspirations for my latest novel, in particular Michael Rockefeller’s role in its inception. When Fiction is Perceived as Fact “My latest novel, Rituals of the Dead, came to be because I wanted to write a mystery about an Asmat bis pole. Considering the Asmat live in the Indonesian province of Papua, the…