I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
There are two fictional perfumes mentioned in my Lady Wynwood’s Spies prequel novelette, “Bidding on Treason,” and I actually had a lot of fun figuring out what they were. Mrs. Whichard’s expensive French perfume Enchanté Nocturne is based off of Christian Dior Poison. It has the following notes: Top Notes: Plum, wild berries, anise Middle Notes: Jasmine, incense, cinnamon, honey, rose Base Notes: Vetiver, musk, sandalwood, cedar, amber Mrs. Whichard’s perfume is obviously much less complex, but it still has the plum, cinnamon, and cedarwood notes from Poison. The perfume Melinda suggests for Lena, Sauge Marine (Marine Sage) is based off of Jo Malone London's Wood Sage & Sea Salt. It has the following notes: Top notes: Ambrette Seeds, Sea Salt Middle note: Sage Base notes: Red Algae, Grapefruit I liked how it evoked the wildness of the sea, the quiet of the wilderness, and the freshness of grapefruit, reflecting Lena’s connection to nature and her desire for free...