Tomorrow, the third Mermaid Mystery, SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES, comes out. When I first conceived of these stories, all I knew was that I wanted to write cozy mysteries set in the ocean. I didn't have a firm grasp on who the characters would be or what the mysteries would entail, just underwater mysteries with mermaids.
I tend to work without a plan, but this was a stretch even for me.
Before I started writing them but after I had this idea, I discovered a fabulous cover designer (Mariah Sinclair from thecovervault.com) through a fellow author. Mariah was gearing up for a major premade sale (where she makes covers for series that she dreams up and authors can buy the completed covers). Mariah put a set of mermaid mystery covers into her premade sale and that was it. I bought the covers and started writing.
Yes, this is a backward way of doing things.
It was at this point that I decided I would write about three sisters instead of one character, and that each sister would have her own adventure.
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I was born a sister. My sister was not. She's three years older than I am, which means she had three years to exist as an only child. But my entire identity is infused with sisterly love (though there was the occasional sibling rivalry!). I've had friends, colleagues, partners, roommates, co-managers, and teammates, but I can't imagine a bond closer than the one I have with my sister.
We're not best friends. I don't tell her everything. We dress differently, listen to different music, read different books, live in different cities. We like different celebrities and shop at different stores.
But we are a lot alike, and nobody can make me laugh like my sister can.
It is this bond that I wanted to infuse into the mermaid cozy mystery trilogy, and the story that captures it the most is SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES. I didn't know at the time that the third story would include elements from the first two, or that all three sisters would come together for this third story, but when the plot led that direction, it felt natural.
In the series, Ava is the oldest. She's bossy and set to inherit the throne to her mermaid colony.
Zoe is the middle sister. She's the tomboy, the most inquisitive one, the one who breaks the rules, feels invisible, and doesn't understand why she can't do what she wants. Kyra is the youngest. She's pretty and flirtatious, is a natural performer, and is treated like the baby of the family.
Each of the three goes through a journey in her story and comes out stronger than she was before, which, I guess, means being a mermaid isn't all that different from being a human. Especially when you have sisters by your side.
xo,
Diane
check out the individual mermaid cozy mysteries here:
or preorder the collection (out 9/17/2019 in both print and ebook):
