I’ll confess that when I recently interviewed Aggie Sloan-Wilcox for this blog, she was only too happy to comply.  However there was a caveat.  Aggie claimed that to be fair, I ought to submit to an interview with her, as well.  Aggie’s nothing if not determined.  And those of you acquainted with her know that Aggie always gets her man or woman.  Sometimes a little late, but hey, nobody’s perfect.

I explained to Aggie that I really had very little to say about my life.  After all, I am a minister’s wife, just like she is, and what could possibly happen that’s worth recording here?  She just looked at me, then I remembered to whom I was speaking.  Okay, that excuse fell flat.

So, in the interest of justice–a biggie with our Aggie–I’ve decided to comply.  Aggie promises to keep this short.  And after all, lately Truth is an issue with my favorite clerical sleuth.  We’ll hold her to it.

Emilie, I wonder if writing a mystery series about a church and congregants who kill or get killed was all that wise a step, particularly since your own husband is still a minister?  Has that decision ever come back to haunt you?

I’ve purposely set my series in a very different environment from the church my husband and I are part of.  While the Consolidated Community Church of Emerald Springs is a liberal church, it draws from several denominations for its clerical leadership.  The church is small and fairly traditional in some of its practices.  The town of Emerald Springs is small, as well, and midwestern, with its own unique flavor.  I live in Northern Virginia, just a stone’s throw from Washington DC.  When the president throws a party complete with fireworks, we hear them–and wonder if we’re under attack.  Politics is our life blood and politicians adorn our hallways.  Our church is solidly Unitarian-Universalist and very large.  At any given moment there are at least half a dozen events taking place within its walls, often related to social justice.  So while there are some similarities, there are many more differences. (more…)

Please welcome today’s guest, Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, who has chosen this interview over the Women’s Society monthly meeting at her church. The Women’s Society’s guest speaker will be Browning Kefauver, Emerald Springs’ mayor, who may be running for re-election next year against the Women’s Society’s own Sally Berrigan. Aggie preferred not to witness the slaughter.

Of course “slaughter” is never a good word to use when introducing Aggie. She’s just a wee bit defensive about her reputation and admits to becoming more so in the past few years. Unfortunately Aggie’s name has fast become synonymous with murder in the peaceful little Ohio town where her husband is the minister of the Consolidated Community Church. The church has a long, honorable tradition as well as far too many members either charged with murder or, well, worse.

The good news? After settling into the Tri-C parsonage, Aggie discovered she has a talent for bringing murderers to justice. The corresponding bad news? She’s not always very quick about it.

So without further introduction–because this one is getting worse and worse–let’s welcome Aggie to the blog this morning.

Aggie, your upbringing was not traditional. Your mother supported you and your sisters by traveling the craft show circuit and selling her handiwork. Your father lives in a survivalist compound in Indiana. Tell us what you learned from both?

Thanks for inviting me (I think), although it surprises me that my reputation has extended so far from Emerald Springs. Just for the record, I’m sure it’s complete coincidence that since I arrived in Ohio, the murder rate in town has skyrocketed. Junie, my mother, claims that according to the I Ching, because of my modesty and compassion, the benevolent will of heaven flows through me to right the wrongs in the world. Ray, my father, says the murders are just another sign of a vast international conspiracy to bring chaos to every household in North America.

I’m sorry, what was your question? (more…)

Aggie Sloan-Wilcox is at it again.

For those of you’ve yet to meet Aggie?  Aggie is the sleuth in my Ministry is Murder series, a minister’s wife who seeks justice with the same enthusiasm with which her scholarly husband seeks enlightenment.  Aggie always seems to be around when the going gets rough for somebody  in the small town of Emerald Springs, Ohio.  If people weren’t sure about this young woman when she arrived–a free-spirit with odd notions of what’s expected and two highly precocious daughters–they are even less sure as time goes by.  Because Aggie seems to attract murderers.

Aggie has consented to an interview with me later this month, in honor of the publication of A Truth for a Truth, book five of the series.  But before we get to that?  Several months ago on Facebook my readers and I spent some time concocting limericks in honor of National Poetry Week.  I thought this one featuring Aggie herself, written by the talented Kay Myhrman-Toso, was priceless.  Kay managed to get in something important about each book.  If you didn’t know Aggie before you dive into it, you’ll know her well afterwards.  If you did, enjoy figuring out which books Kay refers to.

As for the cover ?  A wee snafu somewhere during production means this cover is not as dark and forboding as we’d hoped. But I think it still catches the eye.  I hope both the cover and Kay’s limerick send you on a search for Aggie’s next tale. (more…)

I have the best career.  If I’ve had a bad day, I can quietly and efficiently make it better.  Without lifting more than a finger (or ten) I can make certain that somewhere, justice prevails.  I can even, if I’ve had a particularly awful day, make sure that somebody I’ve grown to despise is forced to pay the ultimate price.  How satisfying is that?

At the other extreme, if I’ve had a great day, if small children have offered me flowers, puppies have cavorted at my feet and I’ve glimpsed long-married seniors kissing in the park, I can quietly and efficiently capture that feeling and make sure that people who should fall in love, do. 

When I’m at my computer, the world is mine. 

I’m asked, and often, why I started writing mysteries when my career began in romance and moved into longer relationship novels.  For a more detailed version, you can check out today’s blog at Fresh Fiction, where I’m the guest blogger.  My piece is entitled Why I Became a Serial Killer.  Do take it with a grain of salt. 

Yesterday I finished a synopsis for my newest women’s fiction idea, tentatively called The Treasure of Happiness Key.  We’ll see if my publisher keeps that title.  (Shall we take bets?) Treasure, is a story about friendship, even while it has a strong suspense plot brewing. But while I was typing away, A Lie for a Lie, about murder and the lies we tell to save ourselves, was hitting the shelves.  “Lie” is the fourth in my Ministry is Murder series.  Aggie Sloan-Wilcox is a free-spirited minister’s wife in a small Ohio town.  Murder seems to follow her everywhere. 

Yes, the books revolve around church life; no they are not meant to be inspirational novels, although I like to think that the quiet, confident way Aggie and Ed live their lives is inspiration of a sort.  But you’ll have to pardon me when I say that I find churches to be funny places.  Funny in every sense of the word.  And yes, I’m intimately connected to the institution, being married to a minister myself.  For decades I’ve watched the comings and goings, and I can truthfully say that what happens in churches is a microcosm of the world around us.  Which is why I chose to set my series in one.

Can you tell from the cover what kind of mystery this is?  Indeed you can.  Light on violence, heavy on characters, color and humor.  These are my feel better books, and even when I go to my computer with a heavy heart, it’s lighter by the time Aggie and I have spent some time together.

I hope they do the same for you.

By the way, when you read A Lie for a Lie, pay careful attention to Sister Nora and her honey, Yank.  Then go to my contest page.  If you answer a simple question, you’ll have the chance to win a delightful musical water globe. 

Happy reading.