Five Fun Facts

1. Hot Chocolate Freaks: My hero, Mitch Turner, and his 11-year-old daughter, Julia, drink a lot of hot chocolate in Two Lethal Lies. And they are VERY particular about the type. No open-packet-and-add-water for them. This comes from my stint in Seville, Spain, where hot chocolate and churros is an afternoon treat. You've never enjoyed the drink until you've had it there—thickest, richest, most chocolaty I've ever tasted. Dip in a freshly made churro—paradise! I've got a bunch of hot chocolate recipes on my website, so come on over and check them out. Or email me yours and I'll include it with the others!

2. Radio Research: In an early draft I had a car problem I couldn't solve. So, where do you go for unsolvable car problems? Click and Clack of Car Talk, of course! You can hear my question and their on air response on my website. Sadly, though, the scene using their answer was deleted from the final book. But you can still read it. Where? My website, of course.

3. Southern Yankee: My heroine, Neesy Brown, is from a small town in Tennessee. Two Lethal Lies takes her, among other places, to New York City, where she has to learn what a knish and a nosh are. I had fun with this, since I'm a New Yorker living in Tennessee and had to learn what country ham and red-eye gravy were.

4. The Iowa Way: I stationed my FBI agent in Iowa's Quad Cities so I could send him to Muscatine. My brother and his wife moved there and I had a fun time visiting them. Everyone I met was so warm and welcoming. Among other things, I got to ride a combine and harvest corn. I used the layout of Muscatine, which is on the Mississippi River, as a partial model for Crossroads, the small town in Tennessee in which Two Lethal Lies takes place.

5. Lies, the Movie: No, I haven't sold the book to Hollywood, but you can see who I'd cast if I did sell it. Go to StoryCasting.com and click on Two Lethal Lies. You'll not only be able to see who I'd cast, but you can create your own cast, too.