From the Berkley Prime Crime/Signet Mysteries Newsletter, October 2005

Q & A with Michele Scott, author of Murder Uncorked

Why did you decide to place your first mystery series in the lush Napa wine country?

I set the series in Napa and Sonoma because the wine country has an instant feeling of mystery, romance and escape to it, which is what I want readers to get when they read a Wine Lover's Mystery.

How much of a wine connoisseur were you when you began writing the books?

I don't tout myself a connoisseur. I'm a writer who loves wine and studying wine and learning about it. Of course, I love to drink it, too. Again wine is like a good mystery. You don't know what you're going to get until you open it up and drink it in. The parallel between writing and discovering wine is the learning curve, one can always know more, and honestly there is so much more for me to learn, but I know that I will enjoy the ride.

And the recipes — are those straight from your kitchen?

Most do come from my kitchen. Some are recipes I've tweaked over the years from my favorite cook books, but most of my recipes are me in the kitchen experimenting. Although, there are some recipes that do come courtesy of wine country chefs like Bob Hurley of Hurley's in Yountville.

The story has a definite romantic bent, namely in Nikki's relationship with vineyard owner Derek Malveaux. What appealed to you about highlighting the heroine's romantic life and how were you able to weave it so seamlessly into the mystery?

I think we spend most of our lives either falling in love or out of love, or maintaining the love we have with another person. It was a natural fit for Nikki to have chemistry with Derek. He can fill something for her as she can for him, whether this will ever happen is yet to be seen, as many times as we know in real life people tend to shy away from another as they grow closer. This happens for a variety of reasons. I like highlighting this aspect for Nikki as she's in her mid-thirties and has had some issues she needs to deal with in regard to relationships. She vascillates between wanting a relationship and not. I think this makes her vulnerable and shows she has faults. My herone is not perfect. I want readers to be able to relate to her, as if she could be their friend and discuss their love lives over a glass of wine.

I weaved the romantic element into the mystery by staying true to Nikki. She is a woman with desires and she is also a busy body who gets herself wrapped up in solving murder amongst a zany group of characters. The romantic element is really the sub-plot that strings the series together, as readers will likely want to know what's going to happen next with this group of characters. Of course, the murders keep coming and hopefully keep the reader guessing along the way.

Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?

I start by putting the what if question down on a legal pad, sometimes I get snippets of scenes or dialogue. I almost always have an ending before a beginning. Then, I interview each character in first person, asking questions that may or may not play into the story, but allows me to get to really know who I'm writing about. This is great for a series because your characters are always growing. After that, I do a pretty detailed outline. I may not follow it to a tee, but if I get stuck I can refer to it. I write everyday from 9-3, which is when my kids come home from school, and then many times I go back at night and review what I've done that day. I write fast, so I usually wind up with 10-15 pages a day. The irony to that is that I really don't know how to type—yep, I have to look at the keys.

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

At the bottom of a good bottle of wine! No not really. Well, many times anyway. Inspiration is everywhere! Seriously. I have had inspiration for a story while watching my sons play at a football game, watching my neighbor mow his lawn, or especially while in wine country. Story ideas are EVERYWHERE!

How do you construct the plot?

I read a great book a couple of years ago—"How To Write a Damn Good Mystery" by James Frey. I really learned how to plot mysteries from his book. I use all the techniques I've mentioned from interviewing characters, to a detailed outline. A writer really has to weave the plot so it all works together.

Where do the characters come from? Is it all methodically planned? Or does it just flow out of you?

Characters come from a variety of places. I scrap book photos from magazines a lot of time, so that I have a visual of what I think these characters might look like. Once I have that, I figure out how they think, live, believe. It starts to flow at that point.

What does the future hold for Nikki Sands? What can readers look forward to in the next installments of the Wine Lover's mysteries?

The readers can look forward to more murder and mayhem amongst the vineyards. That's for certain. Nikki can't keep her nose out of a good mystery. They can also look forward to some interesting friendships forming and more humor as Nikki gets involved in some whacky situations. And, as far as in the romance department, readers can definitely look forward to one confused Nikki as she finds herself caught up in a love triangle where eventually my heroine will have to make some tough choices. Oh and, of course, look forward to more recipes and wine pairings!

For more information about Berkley Prime Crime & Signet Mysteries, visit www.BerkleySignetMysteries.com

Read Michele's FAQs on her Meet Michele page!