I’ve had quite a
few exciting moments in my two years as a book blogger, but I don’t think any
of them compare to what I have for you guys today.
I’ve talked about
this a few times before, but in case you’ve missed it, one of my favourite series prior to
blogging (back when I read mostly romance and cozy mysteries and very little
young adult - hard to believe there ever was a time!) was the Passport to Peril
series by Maddy Hunter. I discovered them at my library and fell in love from
the first book. The characters are kooky and hilarious, the mystery is always
tightly woven, and with each book you get to visit a destination that some
people only ever dream of.
I was so sad when
the series ended after the sixth book. Everything was wrapped up nicely, but I
knew I was going to miss Emily and the gang. A little over a year ago when I
was doing a Top Ten Tuesday post either about favourite series or books you
wished more people knew about, I was looking up the order of the Passport to
Peril books and discovered another book was coming out. Thrilled beyond
belief, I rushed to Facebook to see if Maddy Hunter had a Facebook page, and
she did.
I messaged her and
told her how much my mum and I loved her books and how excited we were another
book was coming out. Long story short we got to chatting, became online
friends, and here I am over a year later interviewing her. To say it’s surreal
would be an understatement - how many people actually get to talk to their
favourite authors on a semi-regular basis? Maddy is one of the sweetest people
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know, and it’s my great pleasure and honour
to share this interview with all of you!
Hi Maddy! Thanks so
much for being here today, it’s a real honour to have the opportunity to talk
to you about the Passport to Peril series, which has been a favourite of mine
for many years.
I know you
conceived of the idea of the Passport series when you accompanied a friend's
mother on an escorted tour of Switzerland*, but where did the characters come
from?
Some of the
characters started out as stereotypes based on a few of the people I traveled
with on that first trip. The three Dicks, for instance, were based on three
actual men who'd grown up together and were still basically joined at the
hip. Bernice made an appearance because there's *always* someone on
the tour who's a pain in the neck. Since I decided to write this book in
first person, which I'd never tried before, *I* automatically became the main
protagonist, so Emily is me. Her character is governed by what
*I* would or wouldn't do, so I hope her logical streak comes through! Of
course, *I* would never jump off a tourist boat into Lake Lucerne, so she can
be a bit braver than I am.
I needed a foil for
my character, so since I grew up with my grandmother and often went on
adventures with her, I invented Nana, named after my own Nana. And
Jackie, Emily's transgender ex-husband, appeared for two reasons: I'd once
worked with a man who later became a woman, and, having majored in anthropology
in college, I loved trying to see the world from other people's
perspective. I thought it would be fascinating to chronicle the
dynamic between Emily and the woman who used to be her
husband. Turns out, they're better friends as women than they were as
husband and wife! So that's how I initially imagined the characters,
but once they leaped onto the page and started talking, they all took on their
own personalities. From stereotypes to fleshed out characters. I take
no responsibility for it. They did it themselves.
Have you traveled
to every destination you’ve written about? And do you travel with the intention
of writing a book about a certain place, or do you decide once you’re there
whether you’re going to write a book?
I've visited every
destination I've written about. Sometimes twice! I've incorporated all my
travel since 1999 into the series, so when I go, I know I'll be writing a book
based in the area. And if I'm part of a tour, the other guests usually get
into the act and try to help me find places to kill my characters. I know it
sounds a little warped, but it's great fun. The added benefit of a tour is
that I have a viable itinerary to work with. Interestingly though, the books
usually take place within a three day time span. I have no idea why it
works out that way; it just does. So my reader never sees the
group actually completing the whole tour. But trust me. They really do!
Do you have to do
additional research after you’ve traveled?
Normally, when I
return from a trip, I buy a guidebook to tell me more about where I've been and
what I've seen. I can rely a bit on video that my husband shoots
(unfortunately, we have different opinions of what's interesting enough to be
on tape), and I shoot still photos (mostly of flowers, which have no mystery
value at all, but they're really pretty). What helps me immensely is Googling
the area I've visited and being placed right in the midst of it
online. Click on the map and boom, you're right there. What a boon! Thanks
to Google mapping, I can retrace the whole tour and reacquaint myself with
everything I've seen that I've somehow managed to forget or didn't think was
important at the time. I have no idea of a plot before I travel. I'm there to
be a sponge, soak up atmosphere, and then figure out what to write
about.
Is there a place
you’ve been that you consider your favourite?
I absolutely love
England. I love the high tea, and the flowers, and the accents, and the
pervasive politeness, and the coast of Cornwall, and the history, and the
castles. Not so crazy about driving on the opposite side of the street,
but it's a small price to pay. And I've yet to write a Passport mystery based
in England. I might need to do that. I *did* publish an historical
romance entitled, The White Raven, that took place in 18th century
Dartmoor. It was the story of a thieftaker and a noblewoman and
I became quite enamored with the hero. His name was
Cain. Sigh. What a man!
Who’s your
favourite character to write about?
Barring none, I
LOVE to write about Nana. She's evolved into a composite of my Irish
grandmother and my 90 year-old aunt, and if I'm in a pickle with the plot, she
always manages to get me out of it. When she first appeared on paper, she
was pretty whacky. I seemed to have included her mostly for comic relief.
But after I had a writer friend read a few chapters of the first book and ask
the question, "Why is she so dotty?" I realized that I had to flesh
her out more and make her less one-dimensional. In doing this, I
discovered that Nana wasn't dotty; she was brilliant! She was a woman with
lots of life experience, little education, a great deal of practicality, and
a hunger for documentaries on cable TV. She's so real to me it's
scary! And my mother swears Nana once sat in front of her in church. For a
fictional character, Nana obviously gets around.
How do you come up
with the clever titles for your books?
My book titles have
been a group effort from editors, friends, fans, and me. I'm actually
horrible at thinking of titles, so I need lots of help. My brilliant editor at
Pocket (Christina Boys) came up with the first two titles (Alpine for You and
Top O' the Mournin'), I thought of Pasta Imperfect, an Iowa friend who writes
romantic fiction (Anne McAllister) thought of Hula Done It? and G'Day to Die, I
came up with Norway to Hide, the editorial board at Midnight Ink provided Dutch
Me Deadly, an awesomely clever fan (Christina Ward) thought of Bonnie of
Evidence, and another awesome fan (Gail McDonald) came up with the title of the
book I'm presently working on, Fleur de Lies. It takes a village!
*If you want to
learn more about how Maddy came up with the idea for the Passport to Peril
series, she talks about it (and a bunch of other interesting stuff) in an
interview with Shelley from Shelley’s
Book Case.
Find Maddy Online:
Maddy's latest book, Bonnie of Evidence
