Mysteries and Musings from

The Arbor Scribe

In my first post this year I stated that occasionally you'd hear from some of the characters who inhabit the books I write. And that will also include my very opinionated little Muse named Yardley. I'll let her tell you about herself and how she got her name.

Since my plan for the, hopefully, near future release of the three Royce Thorne books in her series, she is making her debut (drum roll) now. Poor Royce. Her first adventure has been in print twice but is out-of-print at present.

Sylvia: Royce, tell us a little about yourself, just a few facts.

Royce: Our backgrounds are a little similar. Grew up poor, married young, etc. Both of us came late to the writing world. Did you use yourself as my model?

Sylvia: Not intentionally! Remember, you began as a character in a short story that evolved! So how do you feel about talking to readers of the books you inhabit?

Royce: I'm not really eager to do it. Remember! You created me as a rather introverted policeman's wife, devastated when he was killed in the line of duty.

Sylvia: You never had children. Why?

Royce: Yes. My birth family was the dictionary definition for dysfunctional. Poverty-stricken, father an unfaithful husband, wannabe race car driver, but when he was killed in a crash, my mother crawled into the bottle and finally fell from a window and died. I was about eight. I wanted one day to have a stable, loving family, but the fear of any children I might bear having a family like mine, kept me from believing it could happen.

Sylvia: But when you met Eddie, after surviving foster care, you took the leap. Had you come to believe it could work?

Royce: I fell in love with Eddie, so convinced myself to take the chance. For several years I thought it worked out.

Sylvia: When did you become disillusioned about your choice?

Royce: Eighteen years before Eddy was killed.

Sylvia: But you didn't divorce him?

Royce: I became critical, nagging. He knew something was very wrong with me, but I can only suppose his deeply felt guilt kept him from trying to find out what. He was a decent man. I guess we loved each other still and couldn't bear to go our separate ways.

Sylvia: So, years later, he was killed and his will shocked you to the core?

Royce: I doubled down on my vow that no one would ever find out about his infidelity.

Sylvia: Did something happen that threatened to reveal the secret?

Royce: (sigh) Yes. A woman was killed in Fall Creek. Very sad, of course. But I never dreamed it would impact my life so dramatically for ill, but also in a really good way.

Sylvia: Unearthing more secrets along the way, right?

Royce: Indeed.

Sylvia: Disguise for Death, Royce Thorne's first unexpected foray into amateur detecting will be available soon.

Royce Thorne must rethink her decision to keep secret her late husband's betrayal to save someone she has come to love.