Interview with Author Elizabeth Varadan

Today, I have an interview with Author Elizabeth Varadan. Elizabeth has written a Middle Grade mystery ‘Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls.’ After I had read and reviewed Elizabeth’s previous book ‘The Fourth Wish’ I had become a huge fan of her writing. Her latest book didn’t disappoint.

Q. Tell us something about yourself?

A. I’ve loved to read and write from an early age, but I only had time to write full time once I took early retirement from teaching. All through college and teaching, I scribbled mainly short stories for adults. But after teaching eight-to-twelve-year-olds for several years, that age range seemed imbedded in my mind, and I started writing middle grade fiction.

Q. What was the inspiration behind Imogene and the case of the Missing Pearls?

A.  I’ve loved mysteries since I was a kid. When I was ten (and an avid Nancy Drew fan) I had a favorite fantasy of being a detective named Imogene and even started a detective club with friends. So, when I decided to write this story, the sleuth was ten, and named Imogene. I wanted Sherlock to be in the story, so it had to happen in Victorian London. And because  Victorian girls couldn’t go out on their own, the mystery had to happen at home. Thus, her mother’s pearls were stolen, but by whom?

Q. What made you incorporate Sherlock Holmes into the story?

A.  I discovered the original Sherlock Holmes stories in my twenties. I’ve always liked fiction set in England, especially during the Victorian Era. After I went through all of Doyle’s stories and novels, I started finding books starring Sherlock Holmes, but written by other authors as if the author were an editor publishing a new work by Doyle. (I have since learned that these are “pastiches”.) After my brother and his wife took me to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, I began to think, “Hmmm, maybe I’d like to write a story about Sherlock Holmes.”

Q. How did you go about doing research for this book?

A. It helps that I love research. I started out googling historical sites on the Internet, and then started writing agencies on an “as needed” basis. By the time I was well into it, I was writing letters to museum departments, shipping companies, railroad companies (for timetables in a certain year, and that sort of thing). I read more fiction and nonfiction set in the Victorian era to get a feel for the language, as well as the logistics and place names of the day, and then I looked at their bibliographies to get more sources. I have quite a library of my own, now, for future books, and a nice network of consultants, I’m happy to say.

Q. Are you a plotter or a panster?

A. Panster. I usually start out with a character that grabs me, and a problem, and I work from there. Sometimes I do have an end in mind, but that usually changes once the story is underway. About halfway through, I start “mini-plotting”, figuring out what needs to happen for something else to happen. But I have never successfully started with a plot in advance. I did plot two books once, and they are still in my filing cabinet, unwritten, because the thrill was gone. A finished plot left me feeling the book was finished. Irrational, I know, but that seems to be the way my psyche works.

Q. Any chance of turning this into a series?

A. Yes, I do have rough sketches for two sequels. (Rough sketches are as “plotty” as I get.)

Q. Any tips for writing a mystery?

A. Be flexible, and don’t get too attached to your original plan. The person you thought “dunnit” might not be the culprit after all. It also pays to read mysteries that grab you, because that’s the best way to learn what works. I do have several books on writing mysteries that I have found helpful, but one thing I notice is that they don’t all have the same approach, which is strangely encouraging.

Q. What are you writing now?

A. I’m in the rewrite of a “cozy” mystery for adults. And, as I said, I have sketches for two more Imogene books. I also have a historical YA involving a ghost that I’ve been working on for about ten years. Some books are like that. Between other books, I pick it up and work on it some more. It’s coming along, although I hope it doesn’t take another ten years.

Bio:

Elizabeth Varadan is a former elementary school teacher. She taught most elementary grades, but her favorites were the middle grades, and she now writes middle grade fiction. She and her husband live in Midtown Sacramento, California, a beautiful tree-lined neighborhood with bookshops and art stores nearby. Her children’s fiction and poetry have appeared in Ladybug, Friends, and Skipping Stones Magazine. Her adult flash fiction has appeared in several online and print magazines, and her poetry has been anthologized in Vine Leaves Journal and The Stray Branch.

Links:

Elizabeth blogs at:

Victorian Scribbles: http://victorianscribbles.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Varadan’s Fourth Wish: http://elizabethvaradansfourthwish.blogspot.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethVaradanAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/4thWishVaradan

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Varadan/e/B003VOTCFG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1308264854&sr=1-1

Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls is available at:

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Imogene-The-Case-Missing-Pearls/dp/1780927584

MX PUBLISHING: http://www.mxpublishing.com/product/9781780927589/Imogene+and+The+Case+of+The+Missing+Pearls

BOOK DEPOSITORY: http://www.bookdepository.com/Imogene-Case-Missing-Pearls-Elizabeth-Varadan/9781780927589

THE STRAND MAGAZINE: https://www.strandmag.com/product/imogene-and-the-case-of-the-missing-pearls-by-elizabeth-varadan/

Thank you Elizabeth for agreeing to do the Interview. We all wish you loads of luck with your latest book.