In Death in a Dacron Sail, Mary Noonan becomes a private patient of Rhe’s, when Rhe is put on unpaid leave from the hospital following her beating by a patient. Mary is a grandmotherly type, chipper, bright, and energetic, capable of doing many things for herself, but she’s become forgetful lately and isn’t eating. She is quintessentially Irish, with apple-pink cheeks and a round face, and speaks with a brogue. She also likes to cook and tantalizes Rhe with her soda bread and biscuits. Mary also provides Rhe with a pivotal clue, which leads to her discovery of what happened to her childhood friend Deirdre, who disappeared when Rhe was eleven. I loved creating this character – how do you see her? 0 0
Dr. James Manning is the CEO of Sturdevant Hospital. He first appears in Death in a Red Canvas Chair, as a patron of East Almorel, the high end brothel with Pequod undergraduates as escorts. He isn’t there the night of the raid, so he escapes prosecution. He is also involved, although he denies it, in the acceptance of unlicensed tissue (from a funeral home) for the new transplant division of the hospital. That unit is closed as a result, and the MD he recruited to lead it has to resign. Thus he has a real ax to grind with Rhe, who was instrument in exposing both of these activities. In Death in a Dacron Sail, he is described more fully. He is a surgeon, resides in very plush offices in the hospital, and because of his red hair and his habit of bobbing his head while talking, is called Woody (and another worse nickname) by the hospital staff. In this book, he is blackmailing the head of HR, Sylvia Hutty, and also removes security staff from the ER as a way of possibly striking back at Rhe. It works – she is beaten by a patient. In Death by Pumpkin, he plays a very minor role, but he hasn’t yet been removed as CEO of the hospital because the board is loaded with his personal friends. You can expect him to be back in my fourth book, Death in a Mudflat. Red hair? Who can you see as James Manning? The real life James Manning is a friend of mine. One of the students in the first anatomy class I taught at UNC’s School of Medicine, Jim is now a Professor of Emergency Medicine and a fine physician and does not have red hair! 0 0
Lyle Pendergrass is the guard at the rear (employees parking lot) entrance of Sturdevant Hospital. He sits at a station behind a Plexiglas wall separating his desk from the corridor. Rhe thinks he’d been there since before the hospital was constructed and had a suspicion that they’d just built it around him. He probably couldn’t defend the hospital from a cat invasion, but he knew every employee and delivery person and checked Ids. Lyle is one of those minor characters that occasionally pops to life, such as when he fends off an aggressive reporter following Rhe in Death in a Red Canvas Chair and when he provides critical information about the lack of security in the Emergency Room in Death in a Dacron Sail. He’s a loveable and rickety old duck and I’m sure I’ll have him back in future books. What do you think he looks like? Anyone come to mind? 0 0
Dear Readers, Thank you for your votes! We have plenty of feedback and are ready to choose a winner. If you voted for the winning cover, you may be randomly selected to receive a copy of “Death By Pumpkin” signed by the author*. Stay tuned for more updates and information about the upcoming cover reveal and as always, thank you for visiting! *Subject to change. Only email addresses submitted through the poll site will be considered for the prize. Please do not post your email or mailing address in the blog (site) comments below. 0 0
I am cheating today because I don’t have a K. And I’m rhyming… James plays a major role in Death in a Dacron Sail. He is the brother of Peter Barnes, a lobsterman, and in the summers serves as Peter’s stern man, the crew member responsible for hauling, emptying and re-baiting the lobster traps. Rhe knows Peter because they grew up together. Peter is blond, weathered and looks like a Viking, while James is taller and bulkier. He has dark hair, sports a stubble of beard, and doesn’t smile, his face usually fixed in a chiseled block. Rhe notices his eyes in particular – dark brown, almost black, making him look like he has huge pupils. This is a picture of a guy whose name I don’t know, but whom I thought was a great candidate for James. I saw him in the Barnes and Noble where I meet with one of my critique groups, and he was fine with my taking his picture. Do you have an image of James? 0 0
Send me your ideas of what Jack looks like! Jack is Rhe and Will Brewster’s six-year-old son. By the time of Death by Pumpkin, he is seven and in second grade. Rhe had problems getting pregnant and Jack was conceived by in vitro fertilization. Rhe wants another child and is pregnant in Death in a Dacron Sail. Jack looks very much like his father, with whom he has a close relationship through the first book. He’s tall for his age, gangly, with floppy light hair. He has ADHD, which has been a stressor on the Brewster’s marriage because Jack sees a counselor (a hit to their budget) and has the usual difficulties such children have with focusing and doing homework. By the third book, Jack has developed a wicked sense of humor and loves telling puns and knock-knock jokes. He is also close with his Uncle Sam, Will’s brother, and has loves spending time with Paulette, Ted, Sarah and Tyler McGillivray. Paulette is Rhe’s BFF and Tyler is Jack’s age. Death by Pumpkin – coming in May 0 0
In Death in a Red Canvas Sail, Kelly Ingram is the quarterback of the Pequod football team – a tall, good-looking young man with reddish hair who has more than his share of female admirers. Rhe meets him on campus when she is tracking down friends of the young woman found dead in the canvas chair. He makes another appearance just after a young black student, Tanya David, is dropped at Sturdevant Hospital after being attacked and beaten. Kelly brings her to the hospital but doesn’t stay around to identify her. Luckily Rhe knows her, and Rhe recognizes Kelly at the information desk asking about Tanya’s status, she grabs him to find out what he knows. Kelly stonewalls her, but when she threatens him with calling the police, he tells her his roommate, another football player named Raymond Little, was the one who did it. How do you see this young quarterback? Got a movie star in mind? 0 0
Sylvia is a character with a major role in Death in a Dacron Sail. She is the head of Human Resources at Sturdevant Hospital, and Rhe has known her since grade school. Sylvia was a year older, but together with Rhe and another friend, Deirdre, they had been the three Musketeers, always looking for adventure. Of the three, Sylvia was the cautious, no-nonsense one. She reined in their more dangerous ideas for fun, such as climbing around in the collapsing and condemned hotel that sat on the property where Rhe lives now. Deirdre disappeared without a trace when Rhe was eleven, and the search for her is part of this book. Sylvia and Rhe had met again when Rhe started working at Sturdevant, refueling the friendship with lunches together every few weeks and occasional dinner swaps. Sylvia is a feast for a fashionista’s eyes. She shops at Target and TJ Maxx, but she always projects the image of a consummate professional, reed thin and dressed in the timeless styles. In one scene she is s wearing an aubergine knit dress with a mosaic scarf in blending colors, artistically tied at her neck, and black, high-heeled boots. The outfit is a stunning contrast to her graying, close-cropped hair. In another scene, she is wearing a deep green pantsuit with a blue-green paisley silk blouse and a string of silver beads. Can you see Sylvia Hutty in your mind’s eye? Can you send me an image? 0 0
You don’t have to imagine the Glass Trinket. Here is a photo: This is Rhe’s sailboat and it features prominently is Death in a Red Canvas Chair. The Glass Trinket is a 12 foot Beetle Cat, moored at the yacht club from where Rhe sails.This was Rhe’s boat when she was growing up, and like me, Rhe finds a freedom and release in sailing that makes life worth living. Cat boats feature a gaff-rigged sail and cedar hull with an oak frame, which meant Rhe has to spend time every spring sanding, caulking, painting and varnishing. A Beetle Cat has two distinct features: a quadrilateral sail, or gaff rigging, raised by and suspended from a pole or spar attached to the top of the sail, and a centerboard, a retractable keel that pivots out of a slot in centerline of the hull. Rhe uses the Glass trinket to sail up the coast from Pequod and moor near East Almorel, a mansion serving as a high class brothel, which sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean. She climbs up the steep stairs from the beach and snoops around the mansion to confirm her suspicions that young Pequod college students work there as ‘escorts,’ and she almost gets killed in the process. The Glass Trinket will return in my fourth book, Death in a Mudflat. I named the Glass Trinket for a boat owned by a friend of my parents. 0 0
Frank Boyette is another of the minor characters and he appears for the first time in Death by Pumpkin. Actually, his business – the small Italian place called Ernie’s – has been in all three books. In Death in a Dacron Sail, Rhe sees a kidnapping suspect looking at her through the fogged windows of Ernie’s. In Death by Pumpkin, Frank Boyette is one of the small business owners who takes a stand against coercion by students from Pequod College. You’ll have to read the book to find out more. Ernie’s is almost a character unto itself. It is where Sam and Rhe often have lunch together. Ernie’s specialty is pizza, and Sam’s favorite is mushroom, green pepper and sausage. Rhe usually has an Italian salad to avoid the calories. The aromas of baking pizza crust and the other Italian specialties form a wonderful atmosphere for Sam and Rhe’s conversations. Naming this pizza place Ernie’s was an homage to the place in North Plymouth, MA, where I first had pizza. Ernie’s is still there and still offers the BEST thin crust pizza I’ve ever had. Hubs and I eat there at least once every time we visit Plymouth, usually with the company of friends. I did not describe Frank Boyette in Death by Pumpkin. How do you see him? Remember, at the end of the month, I will choose pictures for my characters! 0 0
