Donna Andrews - Rockin' Around the Chickadee
Joining me for this episode is New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews. Donna and I chat about her latest (36 in total) in the Meg Langslow Mystery series, Rockin’ Around the Chickadee. The story centers around Meg trying to keep her pregnant sister-in-law calm and stress free during the Christmas holiday season when suddenly a dead body is found in Meg’s yard. Meg finds herself once again in a murder mystery. Have a listen to my chat with one of the best mystery authors. Enjoy!
Listen to Episode #221 Now:
BIO:
DONNA ANDREWS is a winner of the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, a Romantic Times Award for best first novel, and four Lefty and two Toby Bromberg awards for funniest mystery. She is a member of MWA, Sisters in Crime, and the Private Investigators and Security Association. Andrews lives in Reston, Virginia. The Falcon Always Wings Twice is Andrews's the 27th mystery in the Meg Langslow series.
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Announcer: Welcome to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.
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Tim Link: This is your host, Tim Link, and I'm super excited that you're joining us, because I got one of my all-time favorites, a friend of the show.
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Tim Link: Of course, we're talking about New York Times bestselling author, Donna Andrews.
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Tim Link: We're going to talk to Donna a little bit about her latest book, which is Rockin' Around the Chickadee.
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Tim Link: So I always love the titles, I always love the cover, so we'll delve in a little bit about that.
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Tim Link: And of course, we need to know what's going on, because this is part of the Meg Langslow series, as you know it.
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Tim Link: So we need to find out what Meg and her cohorts are up to.
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Tim Link: So it's going to be a super exciting show, and everybody hang tight.
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Tim Link: We'll come back right after this commercial break.
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<v SPEAKER_5>Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.
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Announcer: Welcome back to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.
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Tim Link: Joining me now is New York Times bestselling author, and our good buddy and pal and favorite of the show.
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Tim Link: Of course, we're talking about Donna Andrews.
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Tim Link: Donna, welcome to the show.
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Donna Andrews: Thank you.
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Donna Andrews: Glad to be back.
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Tim Link: Yeah.
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Tim Link: It's good to hear from you.
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Tim Link: Good to see you and talk to you in the latest book, Rockin Around the Chickadee, or the Meg Lancelot Mystery Series.
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Tim Link: Tell us a little bit about this particular book and a little bit about what Meg is up to without giving away everything.
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Donna Andrews: No spoilers.
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Donna Andrews: I'll try to avoid spoilers.
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Donna Andrews: One of the things that I try to do is take Meg into new fields, new areas.
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Donna Andrews: I like to figure out how to use what I'm interested in.
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Donna Andrews: It's research.
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Donna Andrews: One of the reasons I made Meg a blacksmith is that now, instead of being like, oh, Donna's going to the craft fair to spend money, oh, no, Donna's doing research.
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Donna Andrews: Anytime I can use what I get interested in, and during the pandemic, for some reason, I became an addict of true crime podcasts.
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Donna Andrews: Oh, boy.
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Donna Andrews: I started to listen to all these true crime podcasts.
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Donna Andrews: It's not unrelated to mystery, but I got so into it, I thought, I'm going to use this.
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Donna Andrews: Meg is a crime solver, and it occurred to me that, she's an amateur sleuth, I'd like to have a reason for her to sleuth, not just, oh, I'm a good sleuth, I can solve this and the police can't.
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Donna Andrews: I don't buy that.
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Donna Andrews: If either of us found a dead body any place where we were, would we start sleuthing or would we call 911?
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Tim Link: I'd run, I would run.
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Donna Andrews: But it occurred to me, so normally I have Meg sleuthing because someone she loves is either suspected or in danger, or maybe she's in danger.
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Donna Andrews: I like, you know, a threat to a family or friend.
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Donna Andrews: But it occurred to me that if you're a true crime fan, there's another reason you might want to sleuth and that's because there's a case you're really interested in that you want to seek and help it be solved.
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Donna Andrews: And so I have that happen when in a previous book, her nephew, Kevin, the tech, he's, it's kind of like having a sentient firewall in her basement.
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Donna Andrews: Any tech needs in the family, Kevin takes care of.
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Donna Andrews: Well, Kevin's got bit by the true crime bug and he's running a true crime podcast.
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Donna Andrews: And in a previous book, he gets her to help him solve three cold cases.
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Donna Andrews: Well, in this book, Meg's grandmother has looked around and said, you know, my son is the local medical examiner.
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Donna Andrews: My one of my grandsons is a true crime podcaster.
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Donna Andrews: One of my, you know, they've got the local CSI in the family.
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Donna Andrews: They've got Meg's grandfather runs a DNA lab.
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Donna Andrews: And her best, you know, one of her good friends is the chief of police.
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Donna Andrews: We've got all the makings for a really good convention.
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Donna Andrews: It's called Presumed Innocent.
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Donna Andrews: And it's a convention that is, it's designed for people who think that a friend or family member has been unjustly convicted, or maybe they're just really interested in a true crime case.
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Donna Andrews: All the tools you need to help prove someone has been unjustly convicted, you will find here at Presumed Innocent.
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Donna Andrews: And they have a couple of actual exonerees, including one that I was very fond of, because while in prison for decades for a crime, he was now proven to have not committed, he got into training service dogs.
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Donna Andrews: So he's bringing his latest service dog trainee to the conference.
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Donna Andrews: And I remember during about only a couple of books into my series, someone said, you know, I can always tell that if someone mistreats an animal in your books, you're either going to kill him off or make him the killer.
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Tim Link: That's right.
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Donna Andrews: I don't like to be quite that obvious, but you know.
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Tim Link: Yeah, just do's, just do's, right?
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Donna Andrews: I think the fact that he's going around training service dogs, I think he might be one of the good guys, you know?
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Donna Andrews: And it all takes place at the local fancy hotel, and Meg is, as usual, gets sucked in when one of the convention visitors gets offed.
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Donna Andrews: And he's the most obnoxious person.
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Donna Andrews: There's so many people who have a grudge against him that it's going to be hard to figure out who might do him in.
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Donna Andrews: And meanwhile, the chickadee part of the action, because we've always got to have a bird in the title.
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Donna Andrews: I was sure, how can we organize chickadees?
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Donna Andrews: And I remember my mother, my mother, my dad was an avid avid bird watcher.
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Donna Andrews: He didn't quite have a life list, but he carried a telescope in the trunk of his car.
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Donna Andrews: So if he saw an interesting bird in the distance, he could get out and study it.
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Donna Andrews: Wow.
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Donna Andrews: Mom was just, mom said, you know, you throw a little seed on the feeder, and the chickadees and the cardinals are going to show up.
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Donna Andrews: She watches what shows up, and she was always particularly fond of the chickadees.
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Donna Andrews: So I decided in this book, Meg's sister-in-law, a couple of books ago, her brother got married, and her sister-in-law is now like eight and nine tenths months pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy, so she's kind of confined to the house.
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Donna Andrews: And one of the few things that keeps her from going stir-crazy is that they got a bunch of bird feeders in the backyard and she's gotten really into watching the birds and she's, like my mom, she's particularly fond of the chickadees.
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Donna Andrews: They're feisty and they will show up.
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Donna Andrews: No matter what you put out there, the chickadees will come and eat it.
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Donna Andrews: I like that in a bird.
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Donna Andrews: Yes.
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Donna Andrews: Yeah.
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Donna Andrews: Occasionally, my dad would get special feeders for special seeds that thistle seed feed her to a bird that only ate thistle seeds.
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Donna Andrews: And the birds that brush all the seed off the bird feeder except for the sunflower seeds.
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Donna Andrews: Chickadees don't care from my observation and mom's observation.
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Donna Andrews: They'll eat what's there.
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Donna Andrews: So we like them.
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Donna Andrews: And of course, we're Rockin' Around the Chickadee for Christmas.
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Donna Andrews: And they're not birds for Christmas.
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Donna Andrews: It varies, but chickadees are one of the birds that stays around for the winter.
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Donna Andrews: So we like them.
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Tim Link: Yeah.
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Tim Link: Big fan of the birds too.
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Tim Link: Yeah.
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Tim Link: Every morning, it's my daily routine to let the pups out in the backyard.
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Tim Link: And once I get them squared away, it's bird feeder time.
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Tim Link: And there's those ground feeders we have here like Tohees.
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Tim Link: And some of the thrashers that we have, the bigger birds, they like the ground cover.
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Tim Link: Of course, they've got to get there fast because we have a couple of chipmunks out there that dash in and out to grab their mouthfuls.
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Donna Andrews: And the furry gray wingless birds, as we call them.
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Tim Link: That's it.
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Tim Link: That's it.
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Tim Link: But I tell you, not to go too far off topic, but these little dudes running around everywhere, getting into my wife's garden, tearing up whatever, planting whatever in our pots, mysterious things grow up, et cetera, et cetera.
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Tim Link: All of a sudden, this year, we've tried to grow sunflowers.
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Tim Link: Love sunflowers, tracks the birds, great, you know, just beautiful.
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Tim Link: But we haven't had a whole lot of luck down here in the southeast.
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Tim Link: Just the weather's too hot.
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Tim Link: Wouldn't you know it?
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Tim Link: One of the pots that this little rascal buried his favorite sunflower seeds in has grown several sunflowers.
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Donna Andrews: And the only ones were able to grow, I bet.
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Tim Link: The only ones were able to grow.
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Tim Link: They're six foot tall, hanging there.
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Tim Link: So I think he finally got tired of us, you know, cursing him out, like dying, tearing up everything.
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Tim Link: He's like, I'll leave him a couple sunflowers.
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Tim Link: Yeah, I'll give him a couple sunflowers.
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Tim Link: I like the Chickadees too.
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Tim Link: They're always bopping around, which, yeah, that's my best Chickadee.
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Donna Andrews: And I read someplace that the more DDDDs they put on the end of their call, the more excited they are about whatever they're calling about.
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Donna Andrews: They're like, Chickadee, they're calm, but Chickadee, they're upset about something.
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Tim Link: They're very nice.
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Donna Andrews: I haven't had much chance to observe.
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Donna Andrews: It's one of the bits of research I did while working on the book.
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Donna Andrews: I love looking up weird facts and then finding a way to work them into the book, usually by grandfather, insisting on sharing them.
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Donna Andrews: At one point, Meg, grandfather says something is a really interesting animal and she doesn't want to ask.
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Donna Andrews: She said, I didn't need to ask why it was an interesting animal, because I knew no power on earth would keep him from telling me.
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Donna Andrews: Grandfather is a good addition to the cast.
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Donna Andrews: I love it.
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Tim Link: I love it.
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Tim Link: So it sounds like everybody is there, the whole family is there, the whole cast is there and Meg's knee deep into it again.
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Tim Link: How does she do her balancing act as she usually does?
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Tim Link: It's solving the crimes, but also keeping everybody in line in a bay.
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Donna Andrews: Luckily, her grandmother is there, her grandmother Cordelia, and Meg comes from a long line of very, very intimidatingly smart and powerful women.
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Donna Andrews: Like nobody messes with mother, and now that they've, you know, her father was abandoned in a library as an infant, and only during the course of the series do we meet grandfather and then grandmother Cordelia.
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Donna Andrews: Like nobody messes with Cordelia, and Meg is not organizing this convention, she's just there helping.
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Donna Andrews: And when a murder happens, of course, that kind of gets delegated to her.
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Donna Andrews: But yeah, Meg is taking after her mother and her grandmother and learning a lot from them.
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Donna Andrews: I actually, in the book I just turned in, I actually had Meg, there was, I just finished a book and I'm waiting for the copy edits that involves something called a Mutt March.
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Donna Andrews: Mutt March, okay, yeah.
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Donna Andrews: I read about, there's a number of towns that have something like this.
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Donna Andrews: It's basically a fundraising and adoption awareness event.
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Donna Andrews: Oh, yeah, yeah.
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Donna Andrews: I have a parade through town, all the animals from the shelter march.
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Donna Andrews: If you fall in love with a dog, you can put it a hold on it.
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Donna Andrews: But of course, since it's my town, I have to go over the top.
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Donna Andrews: I don't know what other shelters have, but we've got nearly 400 dogs marching in this Mutt March in costume.
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Donna Andrews: One of my friends said, if she'd read the first couple of Meg books, she might not have ever continued the series because she said, why does Meg let everybody dump on her all the time?
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Donna Andrews: She's always doing something.
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Donna Andrews: Meg is learning.
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Donna Andrews: She's actually recruited her mom to run the Mutt March, she's only helping out.
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Donna Andrews: So Meg is getting smarter.
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Donna Andrews: She's helping Cordelia with the conference in Rockin Around the Chickadee.
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Donna Andrews: She's helping with the Mutt March, but she's trying not to let them put her in charge of everything all the time.
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Donna Andrews: It's a struggle, but she's working on it.
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Tim Link: I love that.
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Tim Link: And I love the fact that, you know, I've talked to you about this before, and I just love the fact that you know these characters.
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Tim Link: These are part of your fabric of life, as if they were sitting right next to you.
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Tim Link: You know, with Meg, I love the fact, like, here you talk about, you know, in the early days, you know, everybody dumped on her, and now she's getting a little bit wiser to things.
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Tim Link: And so this has happened over years.
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Tim Link: I mean, this is the 30s.
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Tim Link: Yeah, this is the, what, 36th in this series.
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Donna Andrews: 36th book over nearly 25 years now.
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Tim Link: Wow, that's amazing.
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Tim Link: Kudos.
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Donna Andrews: I should say, I'm kind of Peter Panning some of the characters, as they call it.
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Donna Andrews: There's Spike, the small, evil dog, who, the small, evil one.
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Donna Andrews: I'm sorry, it's completely unrealistic that Spike is still around after 25 years, but I'm not killing him off.
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Donna Andrews: We're not doing boring reality here.
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Tim Link: No, no, it's like, you know, it's one of those television shows where everybody is in high school.
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Tim Link: They're all in their 20s, but we're saying they're in their teens.
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Donna Andrews: And they've been in high school for a decade.
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Tim Link: Exactly, exactly.
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Tim Link: That works out.
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Tim Link: That works out.
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Tim Link: And you know, when they start growing beards and stuff, that's well, maybe, but, you know, we don't have to worry about that.
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Donna Andrews: I don't think my readers want to see me knock off any of my characters, human or, or canine or whatever, you know.
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Tim Link: No, because they'll call you on it.
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Tim Link: They'll call you on it.
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Donna Andrews: Yeah.
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Tim Link: And that was the amazing thing, you know, that you know these characters so intimately.
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Tim Link: And you also, you know, as an author, have to be aware that, okay, I have to know their history because your fans will definitely call you on it if you kill somebody off or somebody disappears, or you know, something, you left something hanging, those type of things.
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Donna Andrews: Every once in a while, a reader will call me on something that I got wrong.
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Donna Andrews: The biggest mistake I ever made in the first book, Meg's brother, Rob, is studying for, he's just graduated from law school and he's studying for the bar exam.
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Donna Andrews: And at one point, I had Meg say that what a pity it was that he didn't bother even take the bar exam even though he managed to graduate from the difficult and not inexpensive University of virginia Law School.
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Donna Andrews: And the readers called me on that because at a previous time, I had marveled that Meg, that he actually passed the bar exam on the first time.
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Donna Andrews: And here I have two contradictory things.
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Donna Andrews: I actually managed to, they call it in fan fiction, they call it retconning, retroactively.
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Donna Andrews: What happened is that at one point, Rob comes up with something that's actually a decent bit of legal advice.
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Donna Andrews: He's not a practicing lawyer, he's a game inventor, but he comes up with something and makes us, that's a good idea.
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Donna Andrews: And he says, yeah, maybe you'll stop telling people I flunked the bar exam.
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Donna Andrews: And he says, I didn't ever tell anyone you flunked it.
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Donna Andrews: I just told people since you knew it the minute you graduated, you never wanted to practice as a lawyer, that you'd lied to us and told us you passed it, so we stopped nagging you about when you were taking it.
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Tim Link: Nice.
00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:55.760
Donna Andrews: At which point, Rob says, well, when you said it, it kind of almost sounds like a smart thing to do.
00:14:55.760 --> 00:14:57.100
Tim Link: Good recovery.
00:14:57.100 --> 00:14:57.940
Tim Link: Good recovery.
00:14:58.100 --> 00:14:58.960
Donna Andrews: Yeah.
00:14:58.960 --> 00:14:59.660
Tim Link: I love it.
00:14:59.660 --> 00:15:00.460
Tim Link: I love it.
00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:00.700
Tim Link: All right.
00:15:00.700 --> 00:15:02.480
Tim Link: We're going to take a quick commercial break.
00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:08.920
Tim Link: We'll come back and continue our conversation with Donna Andrews, talk a little bit more about her book, Rockin' Around the Chickadee.
00:15:08.920 --> 00:15:11.100
Tim Link: Also talk to her about writing in general.
00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.300
Tim Link: Always like to pick the brains of the masters.
00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:14.800
Tim Link: So everybody hang tight.
00:15:14.800 --> 00:15:16.540
Tim Link: We'll come back right after this commercial break.
00:15:17.020 --> 00:15:19.920
Tim Link: You're listening to Animal Writes On at Life Radio.
00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:33.039
Tim Link: Hi, this is Tim Link, animal communicator and pet expert, and host of Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.
00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:35.819
Tim Link: Have you ever wanted to know what your pet is really thinking?
00:15:35.819 --> 00:15:42.639
Tim Link: Do you want to find out if they truly understand what you're trying to tell them, or wish you could build a better understanding and closer relationship with your pet?
00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:43.839
Tim Link: Well, now you can.
00:15:43.839 --> 00:15:47.539
Tim Link: Learning to communicate with animals is a four-part on-demand workshop.
00:15:47.539 --> 00:16:05.479
Tim Link: In the workshop, you'll learn the essential techniques that are necessary to communicate with animals, including what is animal communication, breathing correctly to achieve the perfect state to communicate with your animals at a deeper level, using guided meditation exercises, a method to communicate with animals, and how to send and receive information from your animals.
00:16:05.479 --> 00:16:15.839
Tim Link: So if you're wanting to learn how to communicate and connect with your animals at a deeper level, visit petliferadio.com/workshop and purchase and download Learning to Communicate with Animals.
00:16:15.839 --> 00:16:17.439
Tim Link: You'll be glad you did.
00:16:25.739 --> 00:16:33.039
Announcer: PetLifeRadio.com Welcome back to Animal Writes on PetLife Radio.
00:16:33.699 --> 00:16:38.039
Tim Link: Continue our conversation with New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews.
00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:43.779
Tim Link: Yeah, Donna, I always ask this question, but I always find it very relevant, at least in my mind, it's very relevant.
00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:48.779
Tim Link: The fact that you have a series of books and there's expectations there.
00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:55.659
Tim Link: You've got to keep things in line and keep characters fresh, but yet keep them in place.
00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:59.219
Tim Link: But you have to have a mission and purpose.
00:16:59.219 --> 00:17:06.039
Tim Link: So I guess the question at the end of the day, when everybody picks up a copy of the book, Rockin Around the Chickadee, what do you hope they get from it?
00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:10.619
Tim Link: Is it more of just fun and excitement and knowing what Meg and the gang's up to?
00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:14.459
Tim Link: Or is there always some sort of a hidden tidbit in there?
00:17:14.459 --> 00:17:20.679
Donna Andrews: There usually are, you know, if I'm going to go about something, there usually is some sort of hidden agenda.
00:17:20.679 --> 00:17:34.819
Donna Andrews: I use Meg's grandfather, for example, to, grandfather's always got something about in the environment or animals or, you know, he's a world famous environmentalist and naturalist, bird lover, animal lover.
00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:38.039
Donna Andrews: So grandfather usually has something to say.
00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:39.499
Donna Andrews: Sometimes he's a little over the top.
00:17:39.499 --> 00:17:53.279
Donna Andrews: Grandfather has been known to say, for example, that all of our problems here on the eastern seaboard with the deer, the white-tailed deer, would be solved with the introduction of a proper number of wolves into the ecosystem.
00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:57.679
Donna Andrews: Grandfather may be the only person who thinks this is a good idea, but he's really gung-ho on the idea.
00:17:57.679 --> 00:18:01.719
Donna Andrews: Grandfather is my spokesperson for stuff about the environment.
00:18:01.719 --> 00:18:13.159
Donna Andrews: And in this book, one of the things that came up, I have become really fascinated by the fact that, I become fascinated by bad behavior in the true crime fan space.
00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:20.399
Donna Andrews: There are people who get a B in their bonnet about something, and they will listen to no evidence.
00:18:20.399 --> 00:18:27.419
Donna Andrews: Either they think someone is guilty, guilty, guilty, or they think someone is innocent, and no amount of evidence is gonna convince them otherwise.
00:18:27.679 --> 00:18:29.599
Donna Andrews: And I've become fascinated with phenomena.
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:35.939
Donna Andrews: There are people who did get, they didn't get a fair trial, but that doesn't mean they're innocent.
00:18:35.939 --> 00:18:42.519
Donna Andrews: It just means that, I mean, they could be guilty of sin, and still get a bad trial.
00:18:43.219 --> 00:18:46.059
Donna Andrews: So the fact that they, you know, yeah, they got a bad trial.
00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:58.999
Donna Andrews: One of the biggest examples, there's something called Brady violations, which is a, which I, now, I mean, one of my friends recently said, you know, you're really getting into this true crime legal stuff, aren't you?
00:18:58.999 --> 00:19:08.779
Donna Andrews: A Brady violation is when the prosecution doesn't share with the defense information that the defense could have used to help its case.
00:19:09.739 --> 00:19:21.399
Donna Andrews: So, for example, if the prosecution had three suspects and they think Suspect A is their guy, but they never really prove, they can't prove that Suspect B didn't get it, Suspect B doesn't have an alibi.
00:19:21.399 --> 00:19:38.179
Donna Andrews: If they don't tell the defense about that, it's a Brady violation and it can result, you know, it's the prosecution's duty is to share everything that might be probative, anything that might be to the defense's advantage, or they can get the trial overturned.
00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:39.899
Donna Andrews: Stuff like that.
00:19:39.899 --> 00:19:49.999
Donna Andrews: But I got fascinated by this idea that just because someone is an exoneree, because their trial was found to be unfair, are they necessarily innocent?
00:19:49.999 --> 00:19:52.399
Donna Andrews: Or are they just someone who got a bad trial?
00:19:52.399 --> 00:19:56.899
Donna Andrews: A guilty guy who got off because they screwed up his trial.
00:19:56.899 --> 00:19:58.299
Donna Andrews: And I found this idea fascinating.
00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:04.519
Donna Andrews: Also the idea that people get so passionate about crimes that have nothing to do with them.
00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:18.139
Donna Andrews: It's one thing if it's your friend or your relative, but there are people who spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and money following true crime cases that just happen to get to fascinate them.
00:20:19.479 --> 00:20:27.979
Donna Andrews: And I listen to true crime, but I have not yet made any missions to see any crime scenes or anything like that.
00:20:27.979 --> 00:20:34.079
Donna Andrews: I just like listening to crime podcasts and getting ideas for how I can getting ideas for books.
00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:34.679
Tim Link: That's the key.
00:20:34.679 --> 00:20:38.879
Tim Link: That's the golden nugget there, I would say, because I've never listened to one.
00:20:38.879 --> 00:20:40.539
Tim Link: I will say that.
00:20:40.539 --> 00:20:43.879
Tim Link: I don't have any interest in that whatsoever.
00:20:43.879 --> 00:20:45.879
Tim Link: But I know it's extremely popular.
00:20:45.879 --> 00:20:50.119
Tim Link: But for you, how you could listen to that, of course, get enjoyment, get interest in it.
00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:54.099
Tim Link: But weave that into some of the mysteries.
00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:56.159
Donna Andrews: It's an indulgence, but it's an indulgence.
00:20:56.159 --> 00:21:01.119
Donna Andrews: I mean, I have to have sort of like a couple of things that come together to make a book.
00:21:01.139 --> 00:21:07.819
Donna Andrews: One is that I have to have a crime and an interesting crime that Meg can add something to.
00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:13.039
Donna Andrews: I mean, most crimes, an amateur sooth cannot do anything about.
00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:26.259
Donna Andrews: So I normally try to put it in a situation where Meg feels inspired to solve the crime because something bad could happen if it's not solved fast enough and she knows the police, they have to follow up rules, they have procedures.
00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:28.699
Donna Andrews: So I need a crime that Meg can contribute something to.
00:21:29.879 --> 00:21:36.239
Donna Andrews: And then I need a way to get at least one, if not lots, of birds and other animals involved.
00:21:36.239 --> 00:21:38.559
Donna Andrews: And I need stuff for her family to do.
00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:46.459
Donna Andrews: So yeah, and one of the things that's become dangerous, my cast of characters has grown over the years.
00:21:46.459 --> 00:21:52.399
Donna Andrews: Every time, I mean, every time I do another book, someone in the family seems to come home with another animal.
00:21:55.139 --> 00:21:59.959
Donna Andrews: Meg now has five llamas, two barncats.
00:22:00.439 --> 00:22:01.819
Donna Andrews: They're a bunch of dog.
00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:03.439
Donna Andrews: I think they're half a dozen.
00:22:03.439 --> 00:22:13.899
Donna Andrews: Only four dogs that actually live there, but half a dozen other dogs that belong to deputies who work long shifts and they drop the dogs off, so they won't be lonely.
00:22:13.899 --> 00:22:19.439
Donna Andrews: I've got Meg's cousin, the CSI, training the Pomeranians to be scent dogs.
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.719
Donna Andrews: Two of them have become search and rescue dogs.
00:22:25.719 --> 00:22:27.139
Donna Andrews: God knows how they do the rescuing.
00:22:27.139 --> 00:22:35.959
Donna Andrews: You need some humans along, but her cousin Horace, the CSI, Watson, his dog, he's a cadaver dog.
00:22:35.959 --> 00:22:38.779
Donna Andrews: He turns up his nose at finding anything other than cadavers.
00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:42.099
Donna Andrews: We always like it when Watson has nothing to do.
00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:50.379
Donna Andrews: If Watson starts alerting, we get worried and people keep coming home with more dogs, and now there are 400 dogs in Meg's backyard.
00:22:50.379 --> 00:23:06.999
Donna Andrews: In the next book, the only new dog on the scene in this book was the service dog that is allowed in the hotel because he's a service dog, she actually.
00:23:06.999 --> 00:23:17.819
Donna Andrews: But yeah, so I look for family stuff, bird and animal stuff, and a crime that, we're not going to be solving too many drug cases because the books are on the cozy side.
00:23:18.239 --> 00:23:32.979
Donna Andrews: Preferably a crime, I love a crime that has roots in the past either of the characters or the town, where you have to dig up the history of the town of Caerphilly, which actually is a fictitious town in virginia.
00:23:32.979 --> 00:23:35.219
Donna Andrews: I invented it so I could have my way with it.
00:23:36.199 --> 00:23:46.219
Donna Andrews: I started off the books, the first couple of books in my hometown of Yorktown, virginia, and about the third or fourth time, someone asked me, which deputy in the sheriff's department is your deputy?
00:23:46.399 --> 00:23:48.999
Donna Andrews: And he wasn't a good guy.
00:23:48.999 --> 00:23:52.639
Donna Andrews: I decided taking him to a fictitious town would be a better thing.
00:23:53.399 --> 00:23:55.799
Tim Link: Yeah, probably a good idea.
00:23:55.799 --> 00:24:02.819
Donna Andrews: Once I get all those elements together, I can start writing a book with Christmas books in particular, as soon as I've got a good title.
00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:07.359
Donna Andrews: Because I can't really write the book until I know what birds are going to be featured.
00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:14.939
Donna Andrews: If I come up with a plot that involves Orioles, and my publisher approves a title with Cardinals, I have to go back to the drawing board.
00:24:15.719 --> 00:24:18.639
Donna Andrews: So I'm always very excited when I get a title approved.
00:24:19.699 --> 00:24:27.859
Donna Andrews: The one that comes out next year in the summer, I will only be saying this title when I'm sober, because I could really mess it up.
00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:30.479
Donna Andrews: It's for ducks' sake.
00:24:30.479 --> 00:24:31.119
Tim Link: Yes.
00:24:31.239 --> 00:24:34.899
Donna Andrews: I'm trying to dig a duck pond and they find a skeleton.
00:24:34.899 --> 00:24:41.139
Donna Andrews: I just a few days ago got a Christmas title approved, then I'm going to start writing any day now.
00:24:41.139 --> 00:24:44.839
Donna Andrews: It's going to be five golden wings.
00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:50.559
Donna Andrews: Yeah, I think we're going to have golden eagles, that's the golden wings.
00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.559
Tim Link: Golden wings, that's nice.
00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:53.459
Tim Link: Yeah.
00:24:53.459 --> 00:24:55.799
Tim Link: You come up with a tie, that's very intriguing.
00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:56.919
Tim Link: I don't think I knew that about you.
00:24:56.919 --> 00:25:05.259
Tim Link: You come up with a title, they approve it, and then you structure your book around that, making sure you have the three prongs.
00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:08.979
Tim Link: The one is the animals, the family and the mystery.
00:25:08.979 --> 00:25:09.179
Donna Andrews: Yeah.
00:25:09.179 --> 00:25:12.539
Donna Andrews: My editor really likes to have whatever bird is mentioned in the title.
00:25:13.379 --> 00:25:17.919
Donna Andrews: He really likes to have the birds involved, not just there as window dressing.
00:25:18.639 --> 00:25:23.259
Donna Andrews: The one that came out this summer, between a flock and a hard place.
00:25:23.259 --> 00:25:23.899
Donna Andrews: It was great.
00:25:23.899 --> 00:25:25.539
Donna Andrews: Any bird that flocks, I could use.
00:25:25.539 --> 00:25:27.279
Donna Andrews: I used feral turkeys.
00:25:29.259 --> 00:25:31.479
Donna Andrews: I actually knew where I grew up.
00:25:31.479 --> 00:25:36.879
Donna Andrews: There was a neighborhood in Hampton, virginia that was afflicted with feral turkeys.
00:25:36.879 --> 00:25:47.819
Donna Andrews: Not wild turkeys, but domestic turkeys that have escaped from a turkey farm and managed to survive, regained some of their ability to fly, enough to flap up in the trees.
00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:49.579
Donna Andrews: They interviewed this one poor woman.
00:25:49.579 --> 00:25:54.119
Donna Andrews: The turkeys were roosting in the trees, pine trees in her backyard, and she had toddlers.
00:25:54.119 --> 00:26:02.539
Donna Andrews: And every day, if her toddlers wanted to play on the swing set and the slide, she had to rinse them off, rinse the turkey off.
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.519
Tim Link: Oh, yes.
00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:07.779
Donna Andrews: And she said, I gave up completely on the sandbox after a couple of days.
00:26:09.459 --> 00:26:12.099
Donna Andrews: And people think, you invented that, didn't you?
00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:12.939
Donna Andrews: No.
00:26:13.159 --> 00:26:18.339
Donna Andrews: I read about it and I thought, I remembered it like, oh, let's add some feral turkeys to the plot.
00:26:18.339 --> 00:26:19.419
Donna Andrews: That'll be fun.
00:26:19.419 --> 00:26:20.339
Tim Link: Nice.
00:26:20.339 --> 00:26:24.039
Tim Link: I don't think I've ever seen or heard of feral turkeys, and I hope I don't.
00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:25.199
Tim Link: Wild turkeys, yes.
00:26:25.199 --> 00:26:27.559
Tim Link: And they're very territorial.
00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:43.539
Donna Andrews: There are a growing number of neighborhoods that are afflicted with large, mostly turkeys and peacocks, but there actually is a place in the Appalachian where they have a friend says there's a couple of feral emus that are still managing to survive.
00:26:44.199 --> 00:26:44.579
Donna Andrews: Wow.
00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:52.019
Donna Andrews: Nothing like driving along a mountain road near Blacksburg, virginia and seeing a feral emu rising out of the mist in front of you.
00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:53.459
Donna Andrews: I want to go see that.
00:26:53.459 --> 00:26:54.899
Tim Link: That would be interesting.
00:26:54.899 --> 00:26:55.959
Tim Link: That would be interesting.
00:26:55.959 --> 00:26:58.079
Tim Link: Yeah, the peacocks, I'm very familiar with them.
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:01.639
Tim Link: The area we live in, it's quite new growth.
00:27:01.639 --> 00:27:04.439
Tim Link: You know, a lot of old farmland was sold off, etc.
00:27:05.239 --> 00:27:09.079
Tim Link: There's just literally less than a mile from the house.
00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:13.699
Tim Link: There's a stretch of road, there's probably six homes still on it, and they're holding out.
00:27:13.699 --> 00:27:19.039
Tim Link: They're holding out till, I don't know, somebody passes away or they get even more money, whatever it may be.
00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:24.759
Tim Link: And one of them has a small little farm of mixtures of all kinds of different animals and she's got peacocks.
00:27:24.779 --> 00:27:25.599
Tim Link: Oh yeah.
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:26.979
Tim Link: I can hear those peacocks.
00:27:26.979 --> 00:27:31.959
Tim Link: Now, it's usually like three in the morning when I'm laying the dogs out, I hear the peacocks.
00:27:31.959 --> 00:27:33.319
Tim Link: Quite interesting sound.
00:27:33.379 --> 00:27:36.419
Tim Link: If you don't know what they are and you don't know where they're at.
00:27:36.419 --> 00:27:39.339
Donna Andrews: Small children are being tortured in the distance.
00:27:39.339 --> 00:27:41.199
Donna Andrews: It is.
00:27:41.199 --> 00:27:42.639
Donna Andrews: They're excellent watch animals.
00:27:42.639 --> 00:27:49.759
Donna Andrews: I'm not sure whether they do all that much to guard your property, but they will let you know whenever anyone comes on the property.
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:50.359
Donna Andrews: Nice.
00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:53.579
Donna Andrews: That loud screaming.
00:27:54.219 --> 00:27:54.659
Donna Andrews: Thanks.
00:27:55.139 --> 00:27:56.259
Tim Link: Well, I'll be looking for those.
00:27:56.259 --> 00:27:56.999
Tim Link: Now, I'm going to be looking.
00:27:56.999 --> 00:27:59.719
Tim Link: I always thought it was feral cats, and that's the only thing I had to worry about now.
00:28:00.239 --> 00:28:11.059
Donna Andrews: Feral peacocks, yeah, and you're generally going to know if you've got feral turkeys in the area, because if you can imagine a turkey sitting in a tree, a bunch of them sitting in a tree, it's a sight to behold.
00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:12.079
Donna Andrews: It really is.
00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:13.559
Tim Link: Turkeys sitting in a tree.
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:15.499
Donna Andrews: No, no, no.
00:28:15.499 --> 00:28:22.859
Donna Andrews: They get a little skinnier than the kind that lands on a Thanksgiving table, but not quite as, I mean, wild turkeys are kind of lean and mean.
00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:24.819
Donna Andrews: They're pretty sleek.
00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:25.439
Tim Link: Yes, they are.
00:28:25.439 --> 00:28:29.899
Donna Andrews: Turkeys are kind of like halfway between your butterball and your wild turkey.
00:28:29.899 --> 00:28:37.879
Donna Andrews: And there's nothing that keeps me happier than finding a small fact about some bird or animal that I can use that.
00:28:37.879 --> 00:28:38.379
Tim Link: Little and baguette.
00:28:38.379 --> 00:28:40.019
Donna Andrews: I'm gonna use that as the plot.
00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:40.799
Tim Link: I love it.
00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:41.939
Tim Link: I love it.
00:28:41.939 --> 00:28:51.479
Tim Link: Well, Donna, tell us then a little bit about, are you gonna be out and about anywhere, any place people can sneak up and see you and get some signatures, any events going on?
00:28:51.479 --> 00:28:56.039
Donna Andrews: I'm doing a bunch of events in the Northern virginia around Halloween.
00:28:56.399 --> 00:29:05.999
Donna Andrews: Well, a couple of fellow authors and I are doing events at local bookstores at, there's the One More Page in Falls Church and Scroll in Reston.
00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:13.439
Donna Andrews: And they're also, our local chapter of Sisters in Crime has what we call our all author extravaganza.
00:29:13.439 --> 00:29:22.039
Donna Andrews: And we have it in Howard County, Maryland in November, and in Reston, virginia at libraries in December.
00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:28.619
Donna Andrews: So in a couple, I'll be appearing in a couple of bookstores and a couple of libraries in November and December.
00:29:29.199 --> 00:29:41.239
Donna Andrews: The chapter extravaganza, if you look at chessichapter.org, which is the website for our local sisters in crime chapter, it gives you the locations for the library events.
00:29:41.239 --> 00:29:53.479
Donna Andrews: And at least one of them is going to be a virtual event, meaning the authors will be there in person and there'll be an audience, but we are, the library does have the capability that they will be, they will be zooming it as well.
00:29:53.479 --> 00:29:54.819
Donna Andrews: Oh, that's a lot of fun.
00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:59.819
Donna Andrews: That's, I believe it's the first Saturday in November or no, first Sunday in November.
00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:00.319
Tim Link: Very good.
00:30:00.399 --> 00:30:05.399
Donna Andrews: And there's a couple of bookstores, Scrawl and One More Page and Mystery Loves Company in Maryland.
00:30:05.399 --> 00:30:10.039
Donna Andrews: They all do mail order and I managed to get books signed for them every year.
00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:10.819
Tim Link: Wonderful.
00:30:10.819 --> 00:30:11.579
Donna Andrews: It's good.
00:30:11.579 --> 00:30:16.579
Tim Link: So everybody get out and see Donna in action and learn from her.
00:30:16.579 --> 00:30:21.179
Tim Link: And if you can't, definitely go to, we'll get all the messages out there, go online and get you a book.
00:30:21.179 --> 00:30:24.439
Tim Link: I love the indie bookstores, so support them as always.
00:30:24.439 --> 00:30:25.959
Tim Link: But everybody pick up a copy of the book.
00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:29.439
Tim Link: It's the latest in the Meg Lanslow mystery series.
00:30:29.439 --> 00:30:30.639
Tim Link: It's the Christmas edition.
00:30:30.639 --> 00:30:33.319
Tim Link: It's Rockin Around the Chickadee.
00:30:33.379 --> 00:30:34.519
Tim Link: I can't, man.
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:36.819
Donna Andrews: Another one of the titles that you have to sing, yeah.
00:30:36.819 --> 00:30:37.159
Tim Link: Yeah.
00:30:37.159 --> 00:30:39.039
Tim Link: I was a music minor in college.
00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:39.779
Tim Link: You wouldn't know it.
00:30:39.779 --> 00:30:42.219
Tim Link: So.
00:30:42.219 --> 00:30:44.359
Tim Link: Well, Donna, well, thanks for coming back on the show.
00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:45.639
Tim Link: Great to hear from me again.
00:30:45.639 --> 00:30:49.919
Tim Link: We'll definitely keep up with all your activities and look forward to having you back on.
00:30:49.919 --> 00:30:50.159
Donna Andrews: Great.
00:30:50.159 --> 00:30:51.439
Donna Andrews: Thank you very much.
00:30:51.439 --> 00:30:53.539
Donna Andrews: And I will see you probably next year.
00:30:53.539 --> 00:30:54.399
Tim Link: There you go.
00:30:54.399 --> 00:30:54.799
Tim Link: Love it.
00:30:55.159 --> 00:30:57.019
Tim Link: So we're coming to the end of the show today.
00:30:57.019 --> 00:31:01.159
Tim Link: I want to thank everyone for listening to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.
00:31:01.159 --> 00:31:04.519
Tim Link: I want to thank the producers and sponsors for making this show possible.
00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:09.159
Tim Link: If you have any questions, comments or ideas or people you want to hear from on the show, drop us a line.
00:31:09.159 --> 00:31:16.739
Tim Link: You can go to petliferadio.com and we'll definitely answer your questions, entertain your comments and bring on the people you want to hear from most.
00:31:16.739 --> 00:31:19.579
Tim Link: While you're there, check out all the other wonderful shows.
00:31:19.739 --> 00:31:26.939
Tim Link: It's a corticopia, fun, barking, feathered, thin, frenzied, petliferadio.com.
00:31:26.939 --> 00:31:29.839
Tim Link: So until next time, write a great story about the animals in your life.
00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:34.479
Tim Link: And who knows, you may be the next guest on Animal Writes, PetLife Radio.
00:31:34.479 --> 00:31:35.759
Tim Link: Have a great day.
00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:41.779
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