Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucy Burdette.
Hi Lucy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My husband and I began visiting Key West in 2008 and fell in love with the island as so many visitors do. A couple of years later, I realized the island would make the perfect for a mystery and I began to plan my Key West mystery series. I had the idea for a food critic wannabe named Hayley Snow, but I needed other characters.
As I wandered through the crowds at the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square in Key West, I spotted a tarot card reader set up at a card table, wearing a deep blue turban with an enormous teardrop rhinestone bisecting his forehead. What if my protagonist, Hayley Snow, was addicted to having her cards read because she was insecure about her own decisions? And what if her tarot reader saw a card scary enough that even he got rattled? And what if she his reactions to dig herself into deeper trouble? And so Lorenzo the card reader was born as a character.
Then, as I walked around the city, I noticed that homeless people were everywhere, including perched on the stone walls around Mallory Square watching the performers and the tourists. Though they blended into the scenery, they probably noticed all kinds of things that visitors wouldn’t see. And so Turtle and Tony became characters.
And then I attended the Key West Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy. And the cops showed us how to search abandoned buildings and look at a crime scene and even how a SWAT team would operate. Officer Steve Torrence answered my questions, so he entered the cast of characters too.
This year as I began writing the 14th book in the series, I attended the Sheriff’s Citizens’ Police Academy to get the police procedure details right as the story moved up the keys. I learned how hard it is to assess a dangerous scene and know how and when to act. I learned how to talk a hostage out of a dangerous situation, how to take fingerprints and look for blood stains, and make a traffic stop. And I gained an adorable new character, Deputy Ryan Lopez.
There have been names and characters given to me that I couldn’t refuse. I offered an auction item to benefit the Waterfront Playhouse–naming rights to a character in TOPPED CHEF. The auction winner sent me a photo and bio of the character he wanted me to include–Randy Thompson, an actual drag queen who performs at the Aqua bar as Victoria. So I took the real Randy to lunch to chat about the psychology of drag queens and watched him (her) perform a few times, and then, what the heck, threw Peter Shapiro, the man who’d bought the character, into the mix too.
And let’s face it, where else but Key West would a bench in front of a convenience store have a Facebook page that could provide a mystery clue? And where else could my Australian shepherd and I march–dressed in hot dog costumes–in a parade of Dachshunds? And where else would that scene work in a book?
I could go on and on–chickens, cats, sunsets, drag queens, and so much glorious food–but I think you get the idea. People like to say, turn the state of Florida on its end and shake it–the loose bits end up in Key West. And thank goodness, all those bits make perfect fodder for a mystery writer.
Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleib is the author of 23 mysteries, including A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS (Crooked Lane Books.) Both the twelfth book in her Key West series, A DISH TO DIE FOR, and the tenth, THE KEY LIME CRIME, won the Florida Book Award’s bronze medal for popular fiction.
Her first women’s fiction title, THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS, and her first thriller, UNSAFE HAVEN, have been published by Severn House. Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a past president of Sisters in Crime, and currently president of the Friends of the Key West Library.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Selling a mystery series to a major publisher! Learning how to dive deeply into my characters and the Key West setting so that new readers are still joining the series after 13 books, and returning readers are satisfied.
Selling the same series to another major publisher after the first cut their entire cozy mystery line. Figuring out how to navigate the world of self-promotion without being pushy and annoying!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As of August 8, there will be 13 books in the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring food critic Hayley Snow and an eccentric cast of Key West characters and places! I like to read a series in order so I can follow the changes in the characters’ lives, but each story stands alone.
-An Appetite For Murder
Death In Four Courses.
-Topped Chef.
-Murder With Ganache.
-Death With All The Trimmings.
-Fatal Reservations.
-Killer Takeout.
-Death On The Menu.
-A Deadly Feast.
-The Key Lime Crime.
-A Scone Of Contention.
-A Dish To Die For.
-A Clue In The Crumbs.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Success with writing and publishing takes persistence, humility, excitement, doggedness, and a little bit of talent. My writing and bookish friends mean everything, celebrating the high moments and supporting me in the low. I am fortunate that my husband and my sister are my biggest fans.
Giving back to the community is so important! I’ve served in local and national offices for my mystery writers’ professional organization, Sisters in Crime. And I love serving on the Friends of the Key West Library, for the last four years as president. I’m always trying new things because if I’m interested and excited, I bet my readers will be too.
Contact Info:
- Website: lucyburdette.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/lucyburdette
- Facebook: facebook.com/lucyburdette
- Twitter: twitter.com/lucyburdette
Image Credits
Coppola Photography
