This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Victoria Weisfeld will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
Mysteries and thrillers are what I most enjoy as a reader, so that’s what I like to write. She Knew Too Much is a thriller, and my first published book, Architect of Courage, is a mystery. Most of my published short stories are in these genres.
What research is required?
Because She Knew Too Much takes place mostly in Rome, I spent a lot of time with maps. Also, picture research was key—not the staged, perfect shots you’d see in advertisements. People’s snapshots were much more helpful. I wanted to see places (or be reminded of ones I’ve been to) from an everyday perspective.
Name one thing you learned from your heroine.
In some ways she’s like me, but she’s a lot braver and more assertive. I wish I were more like her!
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I like to write first thing in the morning, say before 7 a.m., right after I get up and before I shower and dress or have (very much) coffee. Pulitzer Prize writer Rober Olen Butler says at that hour, you have more access to your subconscious mind. I’m a big believer in letting my subconscious do a lot of the work, tapping into my core emotions and beliefs. The story develops in a more creative way than when I try to impose my intellect on a plot or character problem. My subconscious can make connections and find a clear path through the literary underbrush. In mystery writing, unexpected connections work well.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
Definitely a pantser. Sometimes on Facebook writers share a picture of themselves surrounded by stacks of 3x5 cards saying, “Now I have all my scenes outlined, and I can start writing!” My insides turn to jelly when I see that. The way I work is to start with a scene, then ponder what would happen next? What would he do, whom would she call? And the character does that. Then, say, the police come. Then what? I feel I am discovering the story at the same time the reader is. I’m letting it develop, without forcing it onto a path that leads to a predetermined destination. By the time a book I’ve written is published, even though I’ve read and reread the manuscript many times, that thrill of discovery is still there every time I pick it up.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
A stack of papers having to do with the spoofing of my credit card, cancelled this morning. Ugh. Three rolls of washi tape brought to me from Japan, a tin of violet candies, a postcard from Red Hill, home of Patrick Henry, which I visited last summer, and the last sheet of stickers I ordered that say, “I am silently judging your grammar.”
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I usually have one or two short stories in the works, and I’m hoping to cobble together some time to work on another thriller—again for my travel writer Genie, the protagonist of She Knew Too Much—this one set in Egypt.
Do you have a question for our readers?
Would it matter to you if you learned a new book was written by or with a lot of help from Artificial Intelligence?
I hope your readers take the opportunity to read She Knew Too Much. I think they will find it a fast-moving story with touches of romance, humor, and a big dose of humanity. I welcome their responses. Thank you for inviting me to share these few words about the story’s genesis.
Travel writer Genie Clarke arrives in Rome seeking inspiration, but her trip turns deadly when she overhears two mafia operatives discussing a secret "Project." Before she can escape, she's attacked and left for dead. Awakening in a hospital-alive but hunted-Genie finds the police unwilling to believe her. Only Detective Leo Angelini takes her seriously, uncovering ties between her assault, a murdered woman, and a powerful criminal network.
With the threat escalating, Leo moves Genie into hiding, where she becomes both key witness and prime target. Cut off from safety and unsure who to trust, Genie must outthink the conspirators determined to silence her.
From Rome's bright piazzas to its shadowed alleys, she faces a terrifying fight for survival-and an unexpected connection with the detective risking everything to protect her. She Knew Too Much is a lean, suspenseful psychological thriller about fear, courage, and the price of knowing too much.
Read an Excerpt
I crossed the one-way traffic to reach the Piazza del Popolo’s spacious central rectangle. People ambled toward one or another of the half-dozen streets that converged on the Piazza or to the steps leading up to the Villa Borghese Gardens, where I’d spent the afternoon. I was aiming for the Via del Babuino, street of the Baboon, which got its name from a particularly hideous sculpture. In a few blocks, that street ended at the Piazza di Spagna and the always-crowded Spanish Steps, a half block from my hotel.
On the far side, I again negotiated the circling rush of traffic and chanced a look behind. What the hell? The spiky-haired blond had crossed the first stream of traffic. Now he jostled through the crowd, coming straight my way. He was tracking me, and he didn’t care if I knew it. I was in trouble. And, if I didn’t want to believe my eyes, the hair on the back of my neck confirmed it. I picked up my pace, walking as fast as I could in my flimsy sandals.
Dozens of times I’d traveled the few blocks connecting the two piazzas. Now this familiar street radiated hostility, and the stones of the Sunday-shuttered buildings reflected no warmth. Surely something, some business, would be open. I sped past my favorite stationery store, the gallery whose owner I’d interviewed. Shut tight as oysters.
Why hadn’t I asked someone near the piazza for help? Could I have made myself understood? Would they have agreed to get involved? I shook my head in frustration.
About the Author Vicki Weisfeld is a Midwesterner (Go Blue!) transplanted to New Jersey. Her short stories have appeared in leading mystery magazines, including Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, and Black Cat. Find her work also in a variety of anthologies: Busted: Arresting Stories from the Beat, Seascapes: Best New England Crime Stories, Murder Among Friends, Passport to Murder, The Best Laid Plans, Quoth the Raven, and Sherlock Holmes in the Realms of Edgar Allan Poe. She's a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, which awarded "Breadcrumbs" a best short story Derringer in 2017, and the Public Safety Writers Association, which gave a similar award to "Who They Are Now" in 2020. She's a reviewer of New Jersey theater for TheFrontRowCenter.com and crime/mystery/thriller fiction for the UK website, crimefictionlover.com.
Website: http://www.vweisfeld.com">http://www.vweisfeld.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Victoria-Weisfeld/author/B07J1X2B48
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6815763.Victoria_Weisfeld
Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/She-Knew-Much-Victoria-Weisfeld/dp/B0G56LHLLS/
