Please tell us about your new book!
Murder Undetected is the story of two strong women, one driven by selfish desire, the other by selfless love.
Viane Thibaudet, darling of a hilltop town in Provence, has been getting away with murder. Only Brittany Thornton, newly minted psychologist from Seattle, sees her for what she is, and when Viane attempts to poison her husband, only Britt can stop her.
What inspired Murder Undetected?
The Black Widow, a movie starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell, came out in 1987, and the story stuck in my head. Theresa’s character, the black widow, became wealthy by marrying and killing rich men. Only Alex, Debra’s character, suspected her of murdering her husbands. When no one believed Alex, she tracked the black widow down and confronted her.
What sort of research did you do while writing Murder Undetected?
The setting, a fictional town in Provence, comes from my trips to the south of France. I love the little hilltop towns, the markets, the feeling of community, and the sense that people have lived in that same place generation after generation. A couple of years ago when I was in Paris, I hopped on the TGV to Avignon. I rented a car and spent a day and a half soaking up the ambience in Gordes, Roussillon, and L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.
Have you gone on any literary pilgrimages?
I attend Paris Café Writing, a seminar with Patricia Tennison and seven or eight other writers, in Paris every November. We meet each morning in a café for breakfast and the lesson of the day. Then we write, critique, eat lunch, and write some more. Although the focus is on nonfiction, we also dabble in fiction. Every time I go, I come back feeling that I’ve gained a big boost.
Do you have any must-do writing habits?
Jodi Picoult says, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” So, I write every day, and I don’t worry about whether it’s good or not. It might be awful, but I know I can fix it.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
Actually, this is something my mother always said: “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”
While I was on vacation one summer, I decided to write a historical romance. I planned to finish it by Christmas, and be rich and famous soon afterward. Half a dozen unpublished manuscripts and 30 years later, persistence paid off. Murder Unrehearsed, my debut novel came a year ago.
Murder Undetected is my second novel, and is more suspense than mystery. The Wild Rose Press released it on September 29.
The working title of my next book is Murder Richly Deserved. It started out as a heist or caper, but a body turned up, and now I have to deal with that.
How can people learn more about your book and follow you?
To learn more about Roxanne Dunn and the stories she creates you can visit her online at www.roxannedunn.com, or on Facebook as @roxanne.dunn.127 or Twitter as @roxanne_dunn.